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Seeing God in New Ways: Recovery from Distorted Images of God

by Juanita R. Ryan God is waiting around the next corner with a club to punish me. God has a mean face, I don't like to think of him looking at me. These descriptions of God come from deeply committed Christians. Neither person would have signed a doctrinal statement which described God as someone who carries a large club, or as a someone with a mean face. They both would have affirmed … [Read more...] about Seeing God in New Ways: Recovery from Distorted Images of God

Recovery from Distorted Images of God — with Juanita Ryan

Do you worry that God is disappointed in you?  Or that God is angry with you?  Does it seem difficult to trust God’s love for you?   Many of us suffer with private fears and distortions about God. And these distortions create spiritual suffering in our lives.  We may intellectually believe in a God of love and grace but privately fear that God is impossible to please, … [Read more...] about Recovery from Distorted Images of God — with Juanita Ryan

Resources on Recovery from Distorted Images of God

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Seeing God in New Ways: Recovery from Distorted Images of God [Article by Juanita Ryan] Recovery from Childhood Trauma [Video series by Juanita Ryan] Distorted Images of God in Abusive Family Systems [Lecture video by Dale Ryan] Distorted Images of God in Addicted Family Systems [Lecture video by Dale Ryan] There are many other related resources here … [Read more...] about Resources on Recovery from Distorted Images of God

Dealing with Core Issues

Regardless of the kind of abuse the central damage to an abused person takes predicable forms. The core issues almost always begin with the creation of a distorted image of the self. This distorted self image is reflected in a distorted image of God and in distorted images of others. One way of thinking about recovery is that it is the process of undistorting these distortions. Recovery from … [Read more...] about Dealing with Core Issues

If your god is not God, fire him.

by Dale Ryan There is a difference—sometimes an enormous difference—between the God of our doctrinal statements and the god we live with every day. Our theological convictions may be thoroughly orthodox, but we may actually serve a god who is quick to anger and slow to forgive. Or a god who shames his followers. Or a god who is punitive and rejecting. That was my experience. I was close to … [Read more...] about If your god is not God, fire him.

Recovery from Spiritual Distress

by Dale and Juanita Ryan A few days after Steve first attended a support group for adult children of alcoholics, a powerful image came into his mind. "I saw myself in a large crowd of people. God was holding my hand. But suddenly, God's hand pulled away and I was lost in the crowd. I was separated from God, abandoned, completely alone." When Steve attempted to honestly face the needs in his … [Read more...] about Recovery from Spiritual Distress

Center for Spirituality and Recovery

There is a lot of truth in an old slogan you sometimes hear in twelve step fellowships: "Talking about the spiritual part of the program is like talking about the wet part of the ocean". Recovery is an inherently spiritual journey. What people do when they do the twelve steps, for example, is a series of spiritual practices -- all of which have long histories in the Christian tradition (e.g … [Read more...] about Center for Spirituality and Recovery

Seeing Ourselves More Clearly

by Juanita Ryan I remember looking in the mirror as a teenager and asking myself, Who am I? Who is that person staring back at me? At the time I didn't realize that I had already been answering that question for many years. As I look back now on those years it is clear to me that my answer to the question Who am I? was, I am a good person. That was who I was; I was good. I had a variety of … [Read more...] about Seeing Ourselves More Clearly

Recovery from Spiritual Anorexia

by Dale Ryan I remember when I first heard about people who were anorexic with respect to food. I was confused by the whole idea. Why would people refuse to eat? Why would people refuse to eat even when they were hungry? Why would people refuse to eat even when they were dying of starvation? But it does happen. Some people reject physical nurture. Sometimes, ironically, they reject it as if … [Read more...] about Recovery from Spiritual Anorexia