Ann Russo LCSW

05/20/2026

Real connection isn’t about saying the right thing or fixing the other person. It starts with being willing to feel what’s happening inside you and not run from it. Emotional responsibility is the foundation of every relationship worth having.

05/19/2026

If you’ve ever been told your depression was a “lack of faith,” or that your boundary-setting was “rebellion,” this episode is for you.

In this powerful episode of the Unholier Podcast, we sit down with therapist and author Ann Russo to unpack the deep, often invisible scars of religious trauma. Far from just being “dramatic,” religious trauma is a calculated form of conditioning. High-control belief systems are systematically designed to override your identity, value obedience over intuition, and frame legitimate mental health struggles as spiritual failures.

Ann breaks down why religious trauma is an ongoing system rather than a single event, and how it manifests as nervous system dysregulation, chronic self-doubt, and fractured relationships. We also dive into the dark side of high-control churches—including how they weaponize mental health by labeling trauma responses as “demonic” to maintain control.

But healing is possible. Anne introduces her groundbreaking Religious Trauma Treatment Model (RTTM), a structured approach focused on somatic healing, nervous system regulation, and rebuilding your autonomy on your own terms. Whether you choose to stay, leave, or rebuild your faith entirely, this conversation offers practical steps to reclaim your boundaries and honor your evolving self.

✨ About Our Guest:

Ann Russo is a licensed therapist, author, and creator of the Religious Trauma Treatment Model (RTTM), dedicated to helping survivors heal from high-control environments and reclaim their autonomy.

05/19/2026

If you’ve ever been told your depression was a "lack of faith," or that your boundary-setting was "rebellion," this episode is for you.

In this powerful episode of the Unholier Podcast, we sit down with therapist and author Ann Russo to unpack the deep, often invisible scars of religious trauma. Far from just being "dramatic," religious trauma is a calculated form of conditioning. High-control belief systems are systematically designed to override your identity, value obedience over intuition, and frame legitimate mental health struggles as spiritual failures.

Ann breaks down why religious trauma is an ongoing system rather than a single event, and how it manifests as nervous system dysregulation, chronic self-doubt, and fractured relationships. We also dive into the dark side of high-control churches—including how they weaponize mental health by labeling trauma responses as "demonic" to maintain control.

But healing is possible. Anne introduces her groundbreaking Religious Trauma Treatment Model (RTTM), a structured approach focused on somatic healing, nervous system regulation, and rebuilding your autonomy on your own terms. Whether you choose to stay, leave, or rebuild your faith entirely, this conversation offers practical steps to reclaim your boundaries and honor your evolving self.

✨ About Our Guest:

Ann Russo is a licensed therapist, author, and creator of the Religious Trauma Treatment Model (RTTM), dedicated to helping survivors heal from high-control environments and reclaim their autonomy.



https://tally.so/r/nPKdOd

Podcast Episode · Un-holier Than Thou Podcast · May 19 · 1h 4m

05/19/2026

What you were taught to believe about yourself isn't the same as the truth about yourself.

Religious trauma leaves behind more than doubt. It leaves behind a version of you shaped by fear, shame, and the constant threat of belonging being taken away.

You are allowed to examine that version. You are allowed to put it down.

If you're in California and you're ready to do that work, we're here.

Sliding scale available. Link in bio.

05/17/2026

Connection doesn't just happen. It's built, slowly, through the willingness to stay present with yourself and with the people you care about. If that feels hard right now, you're not broken. You might just need some support getting there.

05/16/2026

Pride is protest, embodiment, community, and the right to exist expansively without apology. As a q***r therapist, I think there is something deeply healing about being witnessed fully and still choosing each other anyway. Happy Pride, ***soflongbeach ***s ***r

05/13/2026

An empowering healing journey.

What happens when you stop asking for permission to be yourself?

You find out who you actually are.

RTTM (Religious Trauma Treatment Model) is the framework I built over 20 years of sitting with people who were told their truest self was the problem.

It's not a crisis of faith. It's a belief system injury. And there's a way through it.

You don't need anyone's approval to heal. You never did.

05/12/2026

A somatic response is your nervous system communicating through your body instead of your thoughts.

Heart racing. Chest tight. Throat closing. Stomach dropping.

That's not drama. That's biology. That's your body doing exactly what it was built to do when it learned the world wasn't safe.

It's not a malfunction. It's a memory.

And it can be healed.

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05/10/2026

Research shows over half of therapists don't ask clients about sexual concerns. Over half. That means a huge part of who you are never gets addressed in the room that's supposed to be the safest place you have.

At AMR Therapy and in my work at annrusso.org, we don't skip that part. Sexual empowerment isn't a bonus topic. It's central to healing.

If you've never had a therapist who went there with you, you deserve one who will.

05/09/2026

It's almost here.

Healing Religious Trauma is a clinical guide for therapists who are ready to do this work with intention, precision, and real tools.

This book is the result of two decades of practice, research, and sitting with people who were hurt in the name of something holy.

Therapists — this one's for you.

Published by PESI. Coming soon.