You Don't Have to Navigate Recovery Alone
Leaving a high-control religion can bring relief, grief, confusion, fear, and uncertainty all at once. Even after leaving, many people continue to struggle with shame, self-doubt, intrusive beliefs, strained relationships, or difficulty trusting themselves.
At Journey Free, we understand that recovery doesn’t end when you leave. Our One-on-One Support offers a dedicated space to explore your experience, better understand the impact of religious trauma, and begin rebuilding a life that feels authentic, meaningful, and truly your own.
Whether you’re newly questioning your beliefs or years into your recovery journey, we’re here to walk alongside you.
"What happens after you leave?"
Recovery Is More Than Leaving
Many people arrive at Journey Free after taking the difficult step of leaving a harmful religious environment.
But leaving is only the beginning.
Long after you’ve left, you may still be carrying fear, guilt, shame, confusion, or a deep sense of loss. You may find yourself questioning your decisions, struggling in relationships, or feeling disconnected from who you are and what you want.
One-on-One Support provides space to explore these experiences with someone who understands the unique challenges of religious recovery.
Together, we’ll work toward:
- Rebuilding self-trust
- Understanding the messages that continue to affect you
- Navigating grief and loss
- Processing fear, shame, and guilt
- Developing a stronger sense of identity
- Creating meaning beyond harmful beliefs
A Safe Place to Talk
Share your story openly without fear of judgment.
Personalized Support
Explore challenges and opportunities unique to your experience and recovery journey.
Understanding Your Experience
Gain a deeper understanding of religious trauma, recovery, and the patterns that may still be affecting your life today.
Practical Guidance
Develop strategies for navigating triggers, relationships, and major life transitions.
Ongoing Connection
Explore additional opportunities for support through groups, retreats, and other Journey Free offerings.
Rebuilding Self-Trust
Strengthen your ability to make choices that reflect your own values, needs, and goals.
Why Journey Free?
Religious trauma recovery is a unique process. Many people find that traditional support doesn’t fully address the challenges of leaving a high-control religious environment, rebuilding trust in themselves, and creating a life beyond harmful beliefs.
Journey Free was created specifically for this work.
Led by Dr. Marlene Winell, a licensed psychologist with more than 30 years of experience in human development and religious trauma recovery, Journey Free combines professional expertise, lived experience, and a deep understanding of the challenges people face after leaving harmful religion.
Our team is dedicated to helping people make sense of what they’ve been through, reconnect with themselves, and move forward with greater clarity, confidence, and self-trust.
What People Say About Journey Free
This group has been a very important part of my recovery from fundamentalism. Knowing that I am not alone or crazy in the journey has been a great gift! Others’ stories, questions, struggles and insights have many times come across the net with perfect timing to encourage me in something I might be struggling with or questioning on any given day. I would highly recommend the group to anyone at any stage of questioning or leaving their faith.
I’ve begun a wonderful journey to reclaim my life, free from so many religiously inspired burdens and with few regrets weighing me down. . . As a therapeutic group facilitator for Release and Reclaim, both with her online forum and special retreats, Marlene is generous with her time and patient with our group progress. Her clinical skills are refined and impressive. . . I found her book, Leaving the Fold, invaluable in my ongoing healing process from authoritative religion and other authoritative ways. Marlene uses the exercises from her book combined with her own understanding and experience which has really made me feel like someone out there does understand and can help.
It is priceless to be able to have people understand exactly what I’m going through, and many times they have dealt with the same situation themselves. I feel like I have a base of friends that I know I can go to with any struggle I am having. I know they will be there for me and help me out. It’s a great feeling. It’s important to know others are there at some of the lowest points in my life. It also helps me to help them out, too. I am forced to think about other issues that are brought up, and it feels good to be there for someone else.
There is great safety in exploring issues related to religious trauma with others who have shared similar experiences with the moderation and direction of an experienced professional. Marlene is skilled, intuitive and informed. She has a gentle but firm way of guiding a person through the healing steps and skill building needed for coping with the negative aspects of religious upbringing.
The best part of being in the group was I felt like I had people who were ready at a moments notice to listen, understand, and support me. I also felt empowered by the fact that I could be an encouragement to them, and it felt really good to find ways to respond to others in the group.
I found the retreats enormously helpful, with a wonderful group of warm people who had been through much of what I had been through. Marlene is a uniquely gifted leader who understands like so few do what it’s like to be in the middle of the all-encompassing religious life many of us former “born agains” lived in. I HIGHLY recommend attending…you will not regret it.
It has been almost a year since I first fell apart emotionally. It is staggering to see how much growth I’ve experienced in that amount of time. I went from feeling my life was over to feeling that my life has just begun. I went from trying to shut out the world to wanting to welcome it back in. I have learned how to accept and listen to my feelings, both positive and negative, and to express them. I have learned to grieve what I have lost and to start dreaming again for the future. I still struggle at times, and I feel like I will always be on a path towards recovery. The difference now is that I have tools to deal with such episodes, and I am able to respond in much more effective and mature ways.
Marlene is skilled, intuitive, and informed. She has a gentle but firm way of guiding a person through the healing steps and skill-building needed for coping with the negative aspects of religious upbringing.
Marlene has such a loving presence and approach. She is so wise, insightful, and fun.
Working with Marlene has been a wonderful experience in many ways. Her experience and background offer a huge wealth of information and resources for those coming out of religion. She is also someone with a huge amount of compassion and sensitivity.
This Support May Be Helpful If You Are...
- Leaving a restrictive religious environment
- Deconstructing long-held beliefs
- Experiencing grief, fear, guilt, or shame
- Struggling with relationships affected by religious change
- Feeling disconnected from identity or purpose
- Looking for support as you rebuild your life on your own terms
You don’t need to have everything figured out before reaching out.
Many people come to Journey Free simply knowing that something no longer fits and wanting support as they determine what comes next.
Step 1
Schedule a complimentary 20-minute consultation.
Step 2
Meet with a Journey Free team member to discuss your goals and questions.
Step 3
Determine whether One-on-One Support is the right fit.
Step 4
Begin your recovery journey with personalized support.
You're Looking for a Way Forward
Recovery doesn’t happen overnight, and you don’t have to navigate it by yourself.
Journey Free offers compassionate, trauma-informed support for people recovering from harmful religious experiences and rebuilding meaningful lives on their own terms.