Religious Trauma and Cult Resources
If you're trying to understand religious trauma, life in a cult or high-control environment, or what comes after leaving one, you don't have to figure it all out from scratch.
I've collected some books, podcasts, websites, and films that may offer language, context, or perspectives worth exploring.
Websites
A resource hub for people questioning or leaving harmful belief systems, with resources on religious trauma, cults, mental health, LGBTQ+ concerns, and specific religious backgrounds.
Survivor stories and resources about coercive control, undue influence, and high-control groups and relationships.
Religious-trauma resources and support founded by Marlene Winell, author of Leaving the Fold, with material on leaving harmful religion, rebuilding afterward, and developing self-trust.
International Cultic Studies Association (ICSA)
Research, education, and recovery resources for people affected by cults and high-control groups, including resources for survivors, families, and mental health professionals.
Peer support for people questioning, changing, or leaving religious beliefs, including support groups, a helpline, online community, and secular mental-health resources.
Writing from a longtime sex therapist on sexuality, sexual shame, religion, and developing an ethical approach to sex that isn't based on religious rules.
Books
Leaving the Fold: A Guide for Former Fundamentalists and Others Leaving Their Religion- Marlene Winell
A foundational book about the psychological effects of leaving fundamentalist religion and the process of rebuilding afterward.
When Religion Hurts You- Laura E. Anderson
An accessible introduction to religious trauma and the effects of high-control religion.
Terror, Love and Brainwashing: Attachment In Cults and Totalitarian Systems- Alexandra Stein
An exploration of attachment, isolation, and the psychological dynamics that can keep people connected to cults and other high-control systems.
Uncultured- Daniella Mestyanek Young
A memoir about growing up in the Children of God and later joining the U.S. Army, exploring high-control dynamics in very different institutions.
Educated- Tara Westover
A memoir about family loyalty and the complicated process of developing a life outside the isolated world that raised you.
Podcasts
A Little Bit Culty- Sara Edmonson and Anthony Ames
Conversations with cult survivors and experts about coercive control, high-control groups, recovery, and recognizing when devotion becomes harmful. The hosts draw partly from their own experiences leaving NXIVM.
Mormon Stories Podcast- Dr. John Dehlin
Long-form interviews about Mormonism, faith transitions, religious doubt, and leaving or renegotiating a religious identity. Especially relevant for people from LDS backgrounds, though many conversations touch on experiences that show up across high-control religions.
The Influence Continuum with Dr. Steven Hassan
Conversations about undue influence, coercive control, cults, and authoritarian systems. Hassan explores how people become involved in high-control groups, what makes leaving difficult, and how people can understand their experiences afterward.
Conversations about religious trauma, spiritual abuse, and the effects of harmful religious environments, with particular attention to evangelical Christianity. The podcast explores both what happens within these systems and the complicated process of making sense of life afterward.
Films and Series
Going Clear (Scientology)- HBO
A documentary about Scientology, its leadership, and the experiences of former members. Useful for understanding how control, loyalty, fear, and consequences for leaving can operate within a high-control organization.
Keep Sweet, Pray, and Obey (Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints)- Netflix
A documentary series about the FLDS community under Warren Jeffs, including the ways religious authority, gender, sexuality, family, and obedience were used to exert control.
The Vow (NXIVM)- HBO
A documentary series following former members of NXIVM as they make sense of their involvement in and departure from the group. Particularly interesting for understanding how intelligent, well-intentioned people can become deeply invested in a coercive system.
Jesus Camp (Evangelical Christianity)
A documentary following children in an evangelical Christian summer camp. It offers a window into how religious beliefs about sin, salvation, politics, obedience, and responsibility can shape children’s understanding of themselves and the world.
Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath (Scientology)- A&E
A documentary series featuring former Scientologists describing their experiences within the church and after leaving. It focuses heavily on the personal and relational costs that can accompany questioning or leaving a high-control community.
Shiny, Happy People (Institute in Basic Life Principles)- Prime Video
A documentary series examining the teachings and influence of the Institute in Basic Life Principles and Bill Gothard. It explores authority, gender roles, family structure, abuse, and the consequences of a religious system organized around strict obedience.
Stolen Youth: Inside the Cult at Sarah Lawrence (secular, high-control group)- Hulu
A documentary series about a coercive group that formed around a group of college students. It shows that cult dynamics and coercive control are not inherently religious.
Yes, God, Yes (Christian purity culture; fictional film)
A comedy-drama about a teenage girl navigating sexual desire within a Catholic environment shaped by shame and restrictive messages about sexuality. Unlike most of this list, it uses humor and fiction to explore some of the tensions created by purity culture.
Unorthodox (Orthodox Judaism; fictional film)- Netflix
A drama about a young woman who leaves a Hasidic Jewish community and begins building a life outside it. It explores belonging, family, sexuality, autonomy, loss, and the complexity of leaving a community that has shaped nearly every part of a person’s identity.