Marlene has in-depth expertise in the specialized (but crucial) area of recovery from harmful religious indoctrination. She is generous, creative and good-humored in deploying her knowledge to help clients re-gain their equilibrium and begin to step out of toxic imprinting. Top qualities: Expert, Good Value, Creative.
In a world where dogma and religious doctrine have replaced reason and free thought, many people have been victimized. As victims, people need support and guidance – Leaving the Fold provides both. Reflecting on her own experiences, the author presents her book in a thoughtful and readable fashion. For people who have recovered, want to recover, or want to know what others have gone through, Leaving the Fold is a must read.
Leaving the Fold is a compassionate blueprint for healing.
Many people who are suffering from the effects of oppressive religious abuse seek help through our organization. Many times, the psychological effects far exceed our capacity and require professional attention. I am very grateful to have someone like Marlene. I can trust Marlene to sympathize with our community while also providing clinical treatment. She’s the best in the world at what she does. I have no doubt about that. Thank you, Marlene!
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.
The most meaningful associations I’ve made, during my exodus from faith, have been through the numerous supports provided by Dr. Marlene Winell. Marlene is a compassionate and understanding professional with a warm and friendly approach to counseling. Marlene and I were able to establish rapport together quickly which allowed me to reveal and release my fears and inhibitions relating to my own dysfunctional faith practice and issues with my own personal development.
As a 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. By using a select set of activities and special guests, Marlene is able to carry our group through numerous stages of discovery as she subtly guides our discussions from superficial, light and easy, fun and stimulating, to more serious and sober matters of heart and health. I am truly grateful for my association with Dr. Winell. The group activities using movement, personal contact, and touch, were particularly helpful for me. Overall, with Marlene’s help, I’ve begun a wonderful journey to reclaim my life, free from so many religiously-inspired burdens and with few regrets weighing me down. Marlene helped me rediscover a rich inner world that I can tap into and with which I now find comfort and rest.
There is a set of questions, responses, instruments for self-examination, pep-talks and therapeutic injunctions that may well help many.
Marlene has such a loving presence and approach. She is so wise, insightful, and fun.
I must say that I’m impressed! You point out the problems inherent in fundamentalism without taking a crusading stance. Leading off with your own story makes it easier for the reader to trust the rest of what you have to say. I like the way you acknowledge the positive as well as the negative aspects of dogmatic religion, reassuring former believers that their religious involvement was not some sort of pathology. Chapter by chapter you move from general considerations to the specifics of having been wounded by a restrictive belief system. The many exercises are especially helpful in personalizing the process of building up an autonomous self, in my experience the major part of recovery from fundamentalism. I am recommending the book to everyone I know with an interest in the subject.
Marlene is an outstanding professional. She speaks and writes with clarity and sensitivity. Marlene is one of the most prolific thinkers of our time.