Tia Levings on The Self They Tried to Erase: Religious Trauma, Recovery, & Reclaiming Your Identity

She was told to die to herself, that her selfhood was the problem. NYT bestselling author Tia Levings returns with a survivor's guide to recovery after religious trauma. Full Description: What happens to your identity when the system that formed you was built to erase it? Tia Levings, New York Times bestselling author of A Well-Trained Wife, returns to A World of Difference with her new book: I Belong to Me: A Survivor's Guide to Recovery and Hope After Religious Trauma.In this conversation, Tia and Lori go deep on the mechanics of high-control religion: how "quiet is good, quiet is safe" becomes self-policing, why "no" is treated as defiance, how doctrine of suffering functions as control, and what the long road back to yourself actually looks like. TIMESTAMPS ─ 00:00 Introduction & Cold Open 01:07 Writing I Belong to Me — a different kind of book 03:22 When your personhood is the problem 06:25 "Quiet is good, quiet is safe" — two kinds of silencing 08:27 Relearning "no" after having consent conditioned out of you 11:30 Suffer well: doctrine as a control mechanism 14:20 Die to self, the JOY acronym, and the disappeared self 17:20 Why leaving isn't as simple as just leaving 20:01 What recovery actually looks like — the swamp and the car crash 23:55 Cult-hopping, fawning, and staying wary of gurus 31:23 "I had no self" — building identity and belonging to yourself 37:49 Outro and final reflections FIND TIA LEVINGS ───────────────────────────── Pre-order + gifts: tialevings.com/giftsSocial: @TiaLevingsWriter (all platforms) A WORLD OF DIFFERENCE Website: https://www.aworldofdifferencepodcast... Reviews: https://www.aworldofdifferencepodcast... Patreon:   / aworldadifference   LinkedIn:   / loriadamsbrown   Substack: https://loriadamsbrown.substack.com