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Tag Archives: counseling

What Sexual Abuse Counseling Can Do to Help You

12 June 2015, 19:59

Moderator

151

Christians and psychotherapy haven’t always had the best relationship. Growing up as I did, adjacent to cultural fundamentalists, I absorbed the following dominant assumptions: You don’t need counseling if you have Jesus. Counselors disapprove of homeschooling and Christianity and might want to take you away from your parents. The only good counselor is a Christian […]

Charlotte’s Story

5 February 2014, 06:00

Moderator

605

It is hard for me to bare my soul. I was raised to put my best face forward and act like all is well. I am a preacher’s daughter, the youngest of seven children. In the world I grew up in, the pastor and his family always had to be perfect. I have been told […]

Set Free by Grace

26 April 2013, 06:00

Moderator

22

It was around 6 a.m. on a Sunday morning in June 2011. I was home for the weekend from the eating disorder hospital where I was in treatment. Asleep in bed, I woke up when my phone beeped for a text message. The name on the screen put fear in my heart. Terrified, I opened […]

How “Counseling Sexual Abuse” Blames and Shames Survivors

18 April 2013, 06:00

Moderator

120

Versions of the Institute in Basic Life Principles (IBLP) document “Counseling Sexual Abuse” were distributed at Advanced Training Institute (ATI) Counseling Seminars for over a decade. The document speaks for itself, but Recovering Grace would like to point out how victim-blaming and/or callous dismissal of abuse survivors’ pain is built into almost every one of […]

Another Witness: Sexual Harassment at HQ

9 May 2012, 06:00

Moderator

94

There was a huge piece of me that did NOT want to read Lizzie’s article when I heard about it, so I intentionally avoided it. Now that I’ve read it, I’m pretty upset and having to process a great number of emotions. My story is that I was brought to HQ in the wake of […]

Finding Healing and Recovery From Abuse

11 April 2012, 06:00

BrandonS

5

Healing from abuse isn’t as cut and dry as many people would like it to be. Victims are often re-victimized by well intentioned, but often misinformed and insensitive friends and family members who try to encourage them to “just get over it and move on.”  To compound things, many victims of abuse are dealing with […]

Spiritual Abuse Recovery

17 February 2012, 06:00

BrandonS

8

When I was approached by Recovering Grace to write articles related to recovery and healing, they referred to the analogy of “ripping the scabs off.”  The idea is that people who are trying to get back on their feet–emotionally and spiritually speaking–open up old wounds, but then have no place to go to get help […]

My Journey Toward Healing (So Far)

2 February 2012, 06:00

Moderator

9

This is my story of how I have found healing from my experiences in Bill Gothard’s Advanced Training Institute (ATI) and Institute in Basic Life Principles (IBLP)–and in my family, as it was under the influence of these organizations. You may not agree with how I came to find healing; you may not agree with my […]

My Life in ATI, part two

5 December 2011, 06:00

DavidA

2

Life Focus Advanced. Soon after I turned 15, I received a letter about a new program called Life Focus Advanced. The concept of the program was this: two Life Focus graduates would room with a leader in training (LIT) for three months and try to counsel and help him out. I was like, “It’s the […]