Melissa Duge Spiers: You Don’t Leave a High-Control Religion. Not Really.

About this episode

Melissa Duge Spiers discusses her experiences growing up in a high-control religious system and the complexities of leaving it behind.

I joined Melissa Duge Spiers to talk about her upbringing in the Seventh-day Adventist Church and what it means to leave a high-control religious system. We talked about the structure of that world and how it shapes identity, behavior, and relationships. Melissa talked about generational trauma and how it lives in the body, not just in memory. We talked about sexuality, repression, and the ways people try to reclaim control after leaving. And we talked about why these conversations continue. ...

People in this episode

Host: Frank Schaeffer

Guest: Melissa Duge Spiers

Topics covered

• high-control religion
• identity
• generational trauma
• sexuality
• repression
• control

Keywords

• high-control religion
• Seventh-day Adventist
• generational trauma
• sexuality
• identity
• repression

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Seventh-day Adventist Church

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