Director, Dr. Marlene Winell, Ph.D., is the founder of Journey Free. She does individual Religious Recovery Consultation, facilitates groups, teaches, and trains professionals in the field of religious trauma.
Born and raised overseas by missionary parents, Marlene was immersed in fundamentalist Christianity from childhood. She moved away from that religion during college and found the transition process so difficult and intriguing that she began to research it professionally. In 1994 she published Leaving the Fold: a Guide for Former Fundamentalists and Others Leaving their Religion which has become a leading self-help book in the field of religious recovery. In 2011, she named Religious Trauma Syndrome.
Her undergraduate studies were in Social Ecology at the University of California, Irvine, where she focused on mental health and juvenile justice. She went on to earn a Masters in Social Ecology, with a special study of marriage and family relations. After a few years of working with adolescent programs, she earned her doctorate from Penn State in Human Development and Family Studies. Her area of special study was adult development – the changes people experience from late adolescence to old age. The division of the program was Human Development Intervention, which is the study and development of programs to enhance human development in adulthood.
Dr. Winell’s academic teaching began at Penn State and continued at Colorado State University, where she taught courses in adult development. At Boulder Graduate School and University of California, Santa Cruz, she taught communication skills for personal relationships and skills for living in a diverse society. She was licensed as a psychologist in Colorado where she had a private therapy practice. She also worked as a psychologist in Australia for seven years before relocating to California. It has been her privilege over the years to supervise other therapists and teach subjects in psychotherapy. At present, Marlene is based in Western Massachusetts.
Summary of professional background
- B.A. and M.A. in Social Ecology, University of California, Irvine, 1975, 1977
- Ph.D. in Human Development and Family Studies, Penn State University, 1983
- Licensed psychologist in Colorado, 1987
- Registered psychologist in Australia, 1994
- University teaching and research
- Social work and residential programs for adolescents
- Psychotherapy: individual, couples, group, family
- Human Development consulting and programs
- Religious Recovery training and coaching
- Author and speaker on religious trauma
- Certified Clinical Trauma Professional