Almost Awakened – Almost Awakened

What if the reason you felt like you were never enough… wasn’t you? In this episode, Teresa explores the striking parallels between narcissistic relationship dynamics and high-demand religious systems, specifically within Mormonism. Through a compassionate but honest lens, she examines how institutional patterns like shifting expectations, avoidance of accountability, image preservation, and condi...

You were never broken. You were disconnected. In this unforgettable episode of Almost Awakened, we sit down with Kimberly Bryant — also known as Miss Bliss — a dominatrix and intimacy coach who helps people leaving high-demand religion reclaim the parts of themselves that were labeled “forbidden.” This isn’t just a conversation about sex. It’s about Eros — your life force. Your creativity. Your de...

What if humanity suddenly shared one mind? In this episode, Bill Reel and Britt Hartley dive into the provocative sci-fi film Pluribus and unpack the ethical, psychological, and existential questions it raises. Would you join a collective consciousness if it promised peace, belonging, and an end to loneliness? Or would you choose autonomy—even if it meant isolation? We explore: • Whether individua...

What happens after you leave religion — but still feel a deep pull toward meaning, ritual, spirituality, or transcendence? In this conversation, Bill Reel and Britt Hartley sit down with religious ethicist and author Liz Bucar to explore what fills the vacuum when traditional faith falls away. From modern wellness culture and yoga to psychedelics, embodiment, and moral pressure, we ask hard questi...

What happens when reason starts questioning itself? In this episode of Almost Awakened, Britt Hartley and Bill Reel sit down with Austin DiValentino, creator of the rapidly growing platform Reason & Religion (@austindivalentino). Austin has built a large following by exploring philosophy, belief, atheism, morality, and meaning—often asking the questions most people quietly avoid. While he has...

In this episode of Almost Awakened, we sit down with Rainn Wilson, best known to many as Dwight Schrute from The Office, for a wide-ranging conversation on spirituality, meaning, and the search for depth in a modern world. Rainn Wilson has spent the years since moving beyond sitcom fame to explore some of life’s biggest questions. Through his podcast Soul Boom, Rainn brings together voices from ac...

The Hardest Part of Leaving Religion: On Loss of Community Leaving religion often comes with a sense of relief, clarity, and freedom, but for many people, the hardest part isn’t the loss of belief. It’s the loss of community. In this episode, Teresa talks about the quiet grief that often follows a faith transition: losing built-in belonging, shared language, familiar rhythms, and the sense of soci...

In this solo episode of the Almost Awakened Podcast, Teresa Hobbs explores codependency through a nervous-system and systems lens, with a specific focus on why high-demand religious environments, especially Mormonism, are fertile ground for codependent patterns. Rather than framing codependency as a flaw or character issue, this episode reframes it as a survival adaptation that develops when safet...

Getting together with family during the holidays can be beautiful… or it can feel like stepping into a spiritual escape room you never signed up for. In this episode of Almost Awakened, Teresa and I dive into the real-life challenges that mixed-faith families face this time of year — from surprise prayers to passive-aggressive testimony moments to the subtle pressure to play your old role in the f...

Purity culture didn’t begin with religion, it began with control. In this episode, Teresa and Bill explore how ancient systems of ownership and inheritance evolved into moral laws that still shape our relationship to the body, desire, and worth today. Even after leaving high-control faiths, the conditioning remains embodied, showing up as shame, numbness, fear of pleasure, self-policing, and confu...

In this episode of Almost Awakened, we dig into the emotional weapon that too many of us have been shaped by—shame. Bill and Teresa break down how unhealthy systems—religious, familial, and relational—use shame to keep people small, obedient, and disconnected from their true selves. We explore the difference between guilt and shame, unpack the mechanics of control, and call out the subtle (and not...

What happens when trauma awareness turns into over-protection, and healing gets stuck in the identity of what harmed us? In this episode of Almost Awakened, Teresa Hobbs and Bill Reel unpack the concept of fragilization; the process by which individuals and cultures become organized around avoiding discomfort in the name of safety. Drawing from their work supporting people through religious trauma...

In this episode of Almost Awakened, Bill and Teresa explore one of the most misunderstood aspects of emotional health, boundaries. We unpack what safe and unsafe boundaries look like, how trauma and conditioning shape the ways we draw our lines, and why some “boundaries” are really just walls disguised as self-protection. You’ll learn how to identify when a boundary is rooted in fear versus self-r...

What happens when your church convinces you that your own memories, questions, and feelings can’t be trusted? In this episode of Almost Awakened, Bill Reel and Teresa Hobbs unpack the dark art of religious gaslighting — how high-demand faiths twist reality, dismiss legitimate concerns, and make believers doubt themselves under the guise of “God’s will.” We’ll explore: What gaslighting is and how i...

The Almost Awakened Podcast is planning out a “Opposing Viewpoints” series and in this first episode of our new Opposing Viewpoints series, Bill shares a recent confrontation he had with a Mormon apologist—an exchange where both sides walked away feeling the other had acted in bad faith. Together, Bill and Teresa unpack the experience, steelman the apologist’s position and motivations,...

In this episode of the Almost Awakened Podcast, Bill Reel and Teresa Hobbs explore why stillness can feel so uncomfortable, especially for those recovering from religious trauma, chronic stress, and nervous system dysregulation. Teresa shares a powerful moment between them as a couple when a simple request for soothing touch opened the door to a deeper mindfulness and somatic tracking practice. To...

In this episode of Almost Awakened, Bill and Teresa explore the transformative shift from external obedience to internal integrity. What happens when we stop living by someone else’s rules and start listening to our own inner voice? The conversation dives into the psychology of control, the cost of compliance, and the courage it takes to choose authenticity. With humor, vulnerability, and practica...

[Almost Awakened Ep: 191] What happens when obedience no longer defines you? In this episode, we explore the tender, disorienting, and ultimately liberating journey of shifting from a life shaped by external authority to one grounded in inner truth. We unpack how high-demand systems condition us to equate obedience with worth—and how, once that structure falls away, we’re left with a terrifying si...

Why do some relationships thrive after conflict while others crumble? What if conflict wasn’t the problem in your relationships—but the key to deeper connection? In this powerful episode of the Almost Awakened Podcast, Bill Reel and Terresa Hobbs dive into the vital but often misunderstood cycle of rupture and repair. From parenting to romantic relationships to friendships and even spiritual commu...

In this powerful episode, we explore the fascinating—and at times unsettling—truth that your body can carry pain, anxiety, and illness long after the danger is gone. Through bizarre medical stories and neuroscience-backed insights, we expose how the brain can misfire protective signals, trapping us in cycles of suffering with no clear physical cause. But we don’t stop at science. We take a hard lo...

In this powerful and vulnerable episode, Teresa Hobbs opens up about her personal journey through years of chronic illness, unexplained symptoms, and deep emotional and physical collapse — and what it took to slowly find her way back to life. From early signs of nervous system dysregulation to being dismissed by doctors, chasing countless integrative and alternative healing paths, and finally hitt...

What happens when the very thing that was supposed to save you ends up breaking you? In this deeply personal episode of Almost Awakened , Bill and Teresa dive into the hidden wounds left by high-demand religions and spiritual systems. From shame-laced teachings to fear-based obedience, they unpack the symptoms of religious trauma and explore what healing actually looks like. With raw honesty and a...

You’ve heard the word ‘trauma’—but do you really know what it means? In this powerful and eye-opening episode, we break down the truth about trauma: not just the dramatic events, but the subtle, often invisible wounds that live in our bodies, shape our behavior, and distort how we see the world. We explore: *What trauma actually is (hint: it’s not the event itself)? *Why trauma is more common than...

Ep. 184 | Almost Awakened In this episode we explore how nervous system dysregulation affects your health, relationships, emotions, and identity—and how understanding this system can radically change the way you live and heal. Welcome to the reboot of the Almost Awakened Podcast—where big awakenings meet real-life healing. Bill Reel is joined by his new co-host, trauma coach Teresa Hobbs, and they...

Britt Hartley returns to engage Bill on several questions that will create a fantastic awakened conversation and to reconnect on where being almost awakened has led them.