shunned

Growing up with parents that were not only Jehovah's Witnesses but also suffering from their own addictions and mental/emotional struggles, Aubrey felt invisible. When he realized his sexual orientation and needed support, he was again ignored and felt invisible. But the reality is that there were invisible things going on within Aubrey as well, Aubrey is intersex. Listen as Aubrey is open about l...

Five year old boys should be walking around full of wonder about dinosaurs and big trucks, not full of shame. Imagine stumbling on things at such a young age that would kick off shame that would haunt your every thought and action for years. And all of this because you were in a cult like Jehovah's Witnesses who shame human exploration and lack any understanding of how people truly work. Eventuall...

Wayne was never one of Jehovah's Witnesses, and had nothing to do with the cult. Later in life circumstances would change, however, as his sister would fall prey to their teachings. Her enthusiasm for sharing what she learned with him would eventually lead him to researching the realities of the cult, and ultimately end with him being shunned because he knew too much and asked too many uncomfortab...

Going back five generations in the cult of Jehovah's Witnesses, back to the origins of what we know today by that name, Heath's family runs deep in it. His great grandfather was of the anointed with the heavenly hope back in the 1930s when the option of an earthly hope was brought to the fore, his great grandmother holding that earthly hope. So this cult has its fingerprints all over the family, a...

Amber never knew her dad growing up. She looked around and saw other people with dads, including her step-siblings, and wanted the same. So when she was pressed by her mother to apologize to the School Overseer in her congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses one day, little Amber asked that brother to be her dad. This would touch off years of control and grooming at the hands of an elder in the Kingdom...

If you've ever watched the show Seinfeld then you know that sometimes spite is a good motivator. In Jared's case, spite motivated him to attend Ministerial Training School, an exclusive school for Jehovah's Witnesses that taught men to lead congregations in various ways. Find out how that went for him, how he got there in the first place, and why he is now telling his story. The song that Jared ch...

At just 12 years of age, Jacelly got baptized as one of Jehovah's Witnesses with the promise of a great life. Shortly thereafter her illusions were shattered as she was promptly sexually assaulted within the congregation and met with apathy regarding her plight. Over and over again in her life with her family and the cult, Jacelly would find herself let down and confused, wondering how people coul...

Trigger Warning: This episode includes discussion of self-harm. The words spoken by her therapist in rehab, "In this religion, what do you really have", made Mackenzie look at the harsh realities of her life in the cult of Jehovah's Witnesses. Worried about what she would lose, she had to first take a look at what she really had. Sadly, what she had was a life that was so traumatic she developed D...

Like most kids growing up, Ali wanted to know that someone was in her corner. But the adults in her life had their own issues, issues that would prevent her from being allowed to have friends stay over at her house. Issues that would result in her, her sister, and her mother being moved out under the cover of darkness away from their father. Issues that never really went away, that were seen over...

Many Jehovah's Witnesses are holding secrets. In Chevoy's life, the secrecy around her father's actions meant that she would have to learn to find her voice in order to heal. Now she's sharing her story, shining a light on what once lived in the darkness. The song that Chevoy chose to represent her story is  Warrior by Demi Lovato . Support Chevoy by leaving her a comment  HERE Support the show by...

Struggling in school with dyslexia, struggling at the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses because her family was looked down on as being spiritually weak, and severely abused at home, young Michelle had no safe place to go for relief. Pushed into a caregiver's role later in life, she would once again find that Jehovah's Witnesses weren't safe as they would fight and steal to maintain control of he...

When we lose the ones we love, we say some words. We remember them. We reminisce about the good times, and it's for the memory of the ones we lose as well as for ourselves. Sarah was not given a proper funeral. This was due to her status of being Shunned (Disfellowshipped) from her religion, and as her husband I've not had closure. Because of this I've carried a burden and words unspoken for the l...

College is not the place for a Jehovah's Witness youth. That message was received by a 7 year old Lin, the very first time something seemed like it wasn't quite right to him. However, when a scholarship to Emory University would open for him later in life, he would have a choice to make. Jehovah's Witnesses discourage their youth from obtaining a good education, even seeing such as dangerous. Supp...

Trigger Warning – This episode deals with abuse and suicide. Born in raised in a family that looked the part of good Jehovah's Witnesses, Nicole knew the truth. Her father was a violent alcoholic, her mother suffered from dissociative identity disorder (multiple personalities), and her escape was to spend time with another JW family on weekends that put her in the clutches of a sexual predator. Wh...

Some people that were Jehovah's Witnesses simply hated every second of it. Jael is one such person. From an early age she knew that it wasn't for her, but her mother let her know that she would never help her out if she wasn't a JW later in life and that pressure was intense. Because of that Jael would find herself going in and out of the cult. In the end she finds that continued exposure to the c...

At the age of 11 or 12 Nia saw something happen that many Jehovah's Witnesses see, one of the teenagers in her congregation was disfellowshipped. But what she also experienced was her mother's reaction, a reaction that lacked care or compassion for the person that was now seen as lost, a reaction that lacked any real care for Nia as well. "Don't you EVER embarrass me the way she embarrassed her mo...

With four years of long-form personal stories from ten different cults and over 615,000 individual listens and views across many platforms, Shunned has become something more than I ever dreamed. Between the Cult Recovery Coaching Services that I offer, the Facebook support group, the Shunned Recovery Project online meetups, and all of these interviews, there is much to be learned. So for number 10...

Often when we grow up we are given roles to play in life. Whether we pick these up by observing the adults around us or we pick them up in our response to those same people, it isn't unusual to find ourselves repeating patterns from our past. Chelsea's story is one of living in confusion and eventually becoming strong enough to break out of the roles given to her by her family and the cult of Jeho...

Trigger Warning: This episode contains frank discussions of sexual abuse and suicide. Kintsugi is the Japanese art of taking items like broken pottery and repairing the cracks with gold. It is an acknowledgement of the scars that a piece has as part of its history. Drew has some scars, but he's not afraid to be vulnerable and talk about his life. From involvement with the cult of Jehovah's Witness...

Join in on the inaugural Ex-JW Help Day event on September 2 2021 by performing random acts of kindness in your community. For more information see: https://exjwhelp.com/index.php/exjwhelpday/

"The only reason I got baptized was…….I wanted to save my ass." The cult of Jehovah's Witnesses promote fear of death at the hands of their genocidal god. Unfortunately for Raene, from the time she was molested at the age of seven by someone in her congregation, she would spend her days trying to save herself in many ways. Saving herself from that violent god. Saving herself from the people around...

"So I can never change my mind. I can never leave. And I remember having the thought that I am trapped. That was the first time I realized that you can't just leave, ever, for any reason." Jake, known on YouTube and other platforms as AltWorldly, had to face a harsh realization that as one of Jehovah's Witnesses you can't just leave. It has been referred to as a "captive organization" at times bec...

"Honestly I just always felt horrible about going, it never felt like this was my calling or this was where I needed to be. It was quite the opposite actually." Baptized at 15 as one of Jehovah's Witnesses, Christina knew that this really wasn't the place for her but did what she needed to do in order to get by. When her life took twists and turns over the years, she would at one point find hersel...

Rama was a spiritual teacher in the 80s and 90s who inspired many of his students while leading what many of his detractors would call a cult.  He defied the typical vision of a New Age leader, trading in minimalism in favor of wealth and celebrity.  He was also a man ahead of his time, encouraging his students to develop careers in computer science before that was mainstream. For some, following...

"It's all F.E.A.R. They have that over your head with everything. Fear of Armageddon, fear of being shunned, fear of not doing enough, and at that age of 11, 12, 13, fear of being persecuted was so big……..From 2 or three up to 10 or 11 years old, life was fun, just being a kid….but once we were in it, life became scary." Justin's life changed when his family was introduced to the cult of Jehovah's...