In this episode, Patrick Casale talks with Michelle Moseley, LCMHC, who provides trauma-informed, weight-inclusive, and neurodivergent-affirming counseling for survivors of religious/spiritual harm and individuals who struggle with body image.

They discuss the factors that play into religious and spiritual harm, including the impact it can have on a person, and what therapeutic approaches are helpful vs. harmful.

Here are 3 key takeaways:

Specialization Goes Beyond Lived Experience: Lived experience with religious trauma can inform our work as clinicians, but true specialization comes from doing our own healing and seeking diverse, continuing education, not just relying on personal background.
Common Themes in Religious Trauma: Clients often present with gender-based discrimination, purity culture wounds, and a struggle with autonomy—especially when coming from high-control or patriarchal religious environments.
The Importance of Safe Community and Normalizing Questions: Questioning long-held beliefs is a healthy part of growth. Providing safe spaces and support groups can help those navigating deconstruction realize they’re not alone, and that curiosity is a sign of development, not wrongdoing.

More about Michelle

Michelle F. Moseley, LCMHC, (she/her) is a mental health counselor in North Carolina. She specializes in supporting folks who have received messages throughout life that they are "too much", yet somehow also "never enough." Her work includes providing trauma-informed, weight-inclusive, and neurodivergent-affirming counseling services to survivors of religious/spiritual harm and to those who struggle with body image or feeling disconnected from their body, as well as supporting late-identified neurodivergent individuals. In addition to her counseling services, she also provides consultation and continuing education courses for mental health professionals, as well as educational workshops for various groups and organizations. Michelle believes that ALL people deserve respect, compassion, and to feel heard.

Check out Michelle's continuing education courses. Info can be found at michellefmoseley.com/continuing-education

Instagram: @therapy_with_michelle
Facebook: facebook.com/MichelleFMoseleyCounseling
Website: michellefmoseley.com

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Mentioned in this episode:

Portland, Maine, Summit 2026

The 2026 Doubt Yourself Do It Anyway Summit is happening for the first time in the United States in beautiful Portland, Maine, on September 1st–3rd, 2026. Portland, Maine, is a beautiful coastal city in the Atlantic Ocean. There's a lot of history there, and it's a very funky, creative, safe, walkable, diverse, and progressive city. You will get 9 NBCC CEs. We have ASWB pending—we'll make an announcement when that's finalized—and have 13 prolific industry leaders. This summit has always been about showing that our skills are applicable in so many different ways, and to motivate you to think bigger, grow in this profession, take more risks, work through self-doubt, and really embrace the doubt-yourself-do-it-anyway...