By: Brooke Richardson

“I think it’s cruel to tell people that you have to choose God or your self-identity.” 

That quote from Ann Russo—mental health advocate, theologian, and founder of AMR Therapy—summarizes the heart of her work: helping LGBTQ individuals heal from religious trauma while reclaiming their right to faith, identity, and wholeness.

On Just Breathe: Parenting Your LGBTQ Teen with host Heather Hester, Russo shared her personal story, her clinical approach, and her new Religious Trauma Treatment Model—offering hope to those navigating the pain left behind by high-control religious environments.

A Queer Therapist’s Journey From Rejection to Liberation

Ann Russo wasn’t raised religious. In her words, “I wasn’t really raised deeply in the faith.” But her experience in an evangelical Christian community as a young queer adult left lasting scars. “I had a very intense emotional connection with another woman in the church… she was just very much in the doctrine of that this is sinful, this is wrong, and I’m wrong and I’m sinful. So that did traumatize me.”

That early heartbreak drove her to seek answers. “How can love be wrong?” she asked. Her search for truth led to a bachelor’s degree in Southeast Asian religion and a master’s in theology with a focus on liberation and queer theology. Now, she integrates that academic background with clinical expertise to serve clients who have been spiritually harmed, especially LGBTQ individuals and those with diverse relationship experiences.

Naming the Wounds Religion Leaves Behind

Russo explained that religious trauma often hides in plain sight, especially for those raised in high-control, dogmatic faiths. “The more dogmatic they become and the more high control they become, the women really show up as kind of lesser than the man.” She cited purity culture, fear-based theology, and shame around identity as common sources of trauma.

Even if someone no longer identifies as religious, the pain can linger. “People oftentimes, when you’re raised in something from birth, you don’t even know what to ask.” She shared how she uses tools like faith-based quizzes and deep dialogue to help clients rebuild their spiritual understanding on their terms.

Russo’s Clinical Approach to Faith-Based Trauma

Her upcoming book introduces a structured framework: the Religious Trauma Treatment Model. “It is evidence-based practice,” she said. “So a lot of behavioral therapy and narrative therapy, somatic therapy.”

Russo emphasized that this work is not about rejecting faith. “My goal is to help you understand some of this other stuff and maybe help you hone in on what it means for you to have faith.”

Her model explores values, trauma responses, and existential concerns. It includes somatic work and body-based strategies to process lingering fear and shame. As she shared, it can show up with a client who followed the expectations of their faith around relationships, only to later experience deep confusion or discomfort that felt hard to resolve.

Reclaiming Faith After Harm

A key challenge Russo sees among LGBTQ clients is internalized rejection from religious narratives. “They paint this horrifying picture… they’re not going to be part of God’s plan anymore.” Russo helps people separate their identity from those damaging messages.

For many, the fear is generational. “Parents often think, I need to help them not live that life. I need to make sure that they remain saved,” she explained. But Russo works to reframe that fear, offering alternatives rooted in love, truth, and personal agency.

“There’s a narrative that’s really fed to high-control religious groups about what it means to be LGBTQ… but you can believe in God and also be part of the LGBTQ community.”

Faith, Identity, and the Right to Heal

Asked for tools that listeners could use right away, Russo offered a simple but helpful suggestion: “Be kind to yourself. We’re all trying to figure this out.” She added, “Just open your mind to learn… it shouldn’t be a crime or bad to learn something different.”

She stressed the value of body work—whether that’s meditation, breathwork, or movement—to help individuals process stored trauma. And for those who still identify with faith, she said, “Just know God is bigger than all of this.”

You can listen to Ann’s full episode on the podcast here. Feel free to reach out to her via the links on her website or click here to subscribe to her newsletter.