Accepting Support
Building Safety
Religious Trauma Therapy
A safe, supportive space to heal, reflect, and redefine your relationship with belief, identity, and self.
Trauma doesn't need to hold you back
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It is possible to feel safe again
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It's okay to ask for help
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Trauma doesn't need to hold you back · It is possible to feel safe again · It's okay to ask for help ·
Your Pain is Real.
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Trauma Changes Your Nervous System
High control religious environments impact how you live, who you spend time with, and how you experience your own thoughts and feelings.
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It Becomes Hard to Trust Yourself
Highly controlling or manipulative leaders can make it hard to trust yourself, trust others, or put you in dangerous and traumatic situations.
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Leading to a Loss of Identity and Worth
Your self-worth can be deeply affected when your personal values and beliefs do not match the religious culture or if you are not accepted for who you are.
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Risking Loosing Your Community
Rejection based on gender, sexuality, race, appearance, and more, can lead many to lose the only community they’ve ever known.
Whether you stay in your current religious environment, leave religion, or change to a new religious environment, the pain of feeling judged or unworthy can stick with you - impacting your sense of self and your sense of safety opening up to others or knowing what you value. Religious Trauma Therapy is here to support.
Religious trauma therapy based in Kitsap County, serving Poulsbo, Silverdale, and clients across Washington State.
My Approach to Religious Trauma Therapy
I integrate Emotion Focused Individual Therapy to process trauma with Self-Compassion and Mindfulness work to help your body learn how to connect safely with yourself and others.
I want you to know what to expect and feel comfortable asking questions about my approach.
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Using mindfulness, stress cycle education, and taking time to build emotional safety in therapy helps your nervous system feel ready to process.
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I provide resources and tools to support you between sessions so you begin to feel empowered to care for your body and heart.
Wether you like mindfulness, reading, or listening to podcasts, I help curate the right resources for you.
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When your body feels safe and you have the tools to support your nervous system, we begin trauma processing with Emotion Focused Individual Therapy.
I am there as a support paying close attention to your emotional needs the whole time.
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If your body says talking about something is too hard, we focus on building safety and comfort, not pushing through. When you feel safe enough, your nervous system will tell us.
Frequently Asked Questions
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We move at your pace. If your body tells us something feels too overwhelming to talk about, we focus on building safety and stability rather than pushing through. When there’s enough safety, your nervous system will let us know. The process can be hard and I approach that with compassion and care.
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I’ve seen many clients develop a sense of safety in their bodies, in their relationships, and in the world around them that they didn’t realize was possible. This kind of healing takes time, and research tells us that steady, consistent engagement in therapy supports the deepest and most sustainable change.
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Because every person’s experiences are different, healing unfolds differently, too. Some clients attend weekly sessions for several months and then feel ready to pause. Others continue longer-term, either for ongoing support or for deeper self-exploration beyond trauma processing. We revisit your goals and progress along the way to ensure therapy continues to meet your needs.
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The initial 50-minute session is $200 and includes additional time outside of session for diagnostic assessment and treatment planning. Ongoing 50-minute sessions are $180 for the duration of your course of treatment.
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I am an out-of-network provider and offer Superbills, which many clients use to seek reimbursement from their insurance companies.
When you begin therapy, you will also receive a Good Faith Estimate outlining the anticipated cost of services for the year, so you can plan and budget with clarity and no surprises.
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I use SimplePractice as a secure, all-in-one client portal. You’ll receive an emailed video link before each session, and you can use the portal to manage appointments, update reminder settings, access shared resources, and download billing information for insurance reimbursement.
Meet your Trauma Informed Therapist
I’m Stephanie Thiessen, a Licensed Mental Health Counselor offering trauma-informed therapy grounded in compassion, curiosity, and relationship. Since 2017, I have helped clients understand and gently shift the emotional patterns shaping their relationships—with others and with themselves—so they can feel more grounded, connected, and at ease.
A Little About Me
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My Speciality
I specialize in supporting adults navigating trauma from harmful relationships at home, within religion, or from not being accepted in the world as a whole.
For many clients, these experiences show up as perfectionism, anxiety, burnout, loneliness, or a sense of being disconnected from who they truly are. I can hold the weight of those experiences and offer a safe place to feel seen and understood.
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My Training
My trauma therapy approach is informed by specialized trauma training in both Observed and Experiential Integration and Emotion Focused Individual Therapy.
These are experiential trauma-processing approaches that help you safely feel and work through emotions that once felt overwhelming or unsafe.
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Additional Insights
I also bring additional training in neurodiversity-affirming counseling—an approach that honors who you are at your core and never asks you to be someone you aren’t. Many clients come to me feeling like they’ve had to mask, perform, or be “less” to belong; therapy with me is a space where that pressure can soften and your lived experience is met with care and respect.
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My Style
I show up with warmth, clarity, and a collaborative presence—holding space for the messy, tender parts while supporting sustainable, meaningful change.
You are always going to see the real me as I create a safe place to be the real you.
Religious Trauma Therapy goes at your pace.
We build safety and trust.
We begin where you are.
