Aug 12, 2017
Cass Midgley and Dr. Bob Pondillo interview Dr. Marlene Winell. This is our second interview with Marlene, back in March of 2015 on Episode 35. She is the founder and director of JourneyFree.org. Journey Free is dedicated to helping people transition out of harmful religions, recover from trauma, and rebuild their lives. They develop programs for both individuals and groups. From their website, "If you are recovering from religious harm, we have great respect for your strength and courage. Please know that you are not alone and things can get better." We're honored to have her back on the show; she's been helping people recover from religion for 23 years.
Born and raised overseas by
missionary parents, Marlene was immersed in fundamentalist
Christianity from childhood. She moved away from that religion
during college and found the transition process so difficult and
intriguing that she began to research it professionally. In 1994
she published Leaving the Fold: a Guide for Former Fundamentalists
and Others Leaving their Religion which has become a leading
self-help book in the field of religious recovery. In 2011, she
coined the term for the condition she calls Religious Trauma
Syndrome.
She
holds a bachelor and a masters in Social Ecology from the
University of California, Irvine, with an emphasis on marriage and
family relations. She earned her doctorate from Penn State in Human
Development and Family Studies. Her area of special study was
programs to enhance human development in
adulthood.
Dr.
Winell has taught courses in adult development at Penn State,
Colorado State University, and Boulder Graduate School and
University of California, Santa Cruz. She was licensed as a
psychologist in Colorado where she had a private therapy practice.
She also worked as a psychologist in Australia for seven years
before relocating to California. Her primary focus is on developing
services for recovering from religious harm. She believes this is
important for individuals and for society to move
forward.
In this talk, we tackle issue of post-religious sexuality, sexism, and some really helpful tips on how to communicate and relate to religious family members around this issue.
Before we get into our talk with Marlene, I had a short 15 minute talk with Peter Montoya. We had Peter on back at the end of 2016 on episode 130. Peter is a true go-getter. He has an appetite for life and emotional health that sets him apart. If he wasn't such a genuine soul and a true friend, I'd pigeonhole him as one of the motivational speakers types, like a Tony Robbins or something. But the thing about these types of people, is if they don't fall into their own ego and greed and become cheap posers and charlatans, they have a lot to offer and their energy and passion is contagious. And Peter is one of those who has all the assets of motivated person without the masks and lies and deceit. He was there for me when I was drowning several months back and was a real life-line for me. He's got a project going that is not only relevant for Californians, where he lives, but the principles for building community that come through in this conversation will be helpful to all of us that hungry for intimate friendships post-Christianity. I know you're gonna like him. But more importantly, you may be quickened to do something in your town that fosters essential relationships. Seriously, as humans, we are not going to be our best selves or truly develop character or live up to our potential if we're not engaged with honest, intimate friendships on a regular basis. This is science. This is evolution. And I mean that in the meaningful sense too. Like more laughter, more looking forward to the coming week because of the events we have on our calendar. If you're feeling like your calendar is stale, you're starting to get bored with or even hopeless about the future, the ideas we discuss here may energize you to make some calls, host some get-togethers, and initiate ways to elevate your lifestyle by meeting and involving cool people in your lives.
So I'm happy to bring these two outstanding guests on and I'm confident that your life will be enriched is some way. First my one-on-one with Peter Montoya, then Bob and I talk with Dr. Marlene Winell.
We taped the conversation with Marlene on July 29th, 2017, and my talk with Peter on August 7th. We interview people you don’t know, about a subject no one wants to talk about. We hope to encourage people in the process of deconstructing their faith and help curb the loneliness that accompanies it. We think the world is a better place when more people live by sight, not by faith. Please subscribe to our podcast, and leave a review wherever you listen to podcasts. Our show is available on most podcast platforms. Also, you can support us monetarily in two easy ways: you can pledge one dollar per episode through Patreon; that’s www.patreon.com/eapodcast, or leave a lump-sum donation through PayPal at our website, www.everyonesagnostic.com. The smallest contribution is greatly appreciated.
Credits:
"Towering
Mountain of Ignorance" intro by Hank Green https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3v3S82TuxU
Intro bumper "Never Know" by
Jack Johnson
The segue
music is on this episode is me goofing off on various percussion
instruments from my collection.
Thanks for listening and be a yes-sayer to what is.
Dr. Marlene Winell's previous appearance on Everyone's Agnostic Ep 35
Peter Montoya's EA episode 130