Hidden Struggles

send us an email to myhiddenstruggles@gmail.com Jehovah’s Witnesses are well known for offering free Bible studies. At first, it may seem simple: a friendly conversation, a Bible discussion, and a message of hope. But what many people may not realize is that the Bible study is not just a casual conversation. It can be the beginning of a process that leads into a worldwide religious organization wi...

send us an email to myhiddenstruggles@gmail.com Dr. Felicia Blakeney joins Hidden Struggles for a deeply layered conversation about growing up around Jehovah’s Witness culture while also being exposed to very different beliefs and perspectives at home. In this first episode, she lays the foundation of her story by reflecting on: the emotional atmosphere inside the Kingdom Hall the fear surrounding...

send us an email to myhiddenstruggles@gmail.com In Part 2 of this Hidden Struggles interview series, Dr. Felicia Blakeney shares painful experiences involving disfellowshipping, family division, and the emotional damage caused by religious shunning. This conversation explores: public humiliation inside family settings conditional love and emotional distance how shunning affects entire families the...

send us an email to myhiddenstruggles@gmail.com Door-to-door ministry is often presented as peaceful and spiritually uplifting, but for many families there are also real concerns involving safety, fear, and vulnerability. In this short but powerful segment, Dr. Felicia Blakeney reflects on the growing fear she experienced watching her aging mother continue field service despite dangerous encounter...

send us an email to myhiddenstruggles@gmail.com In this emotional final episode, Dr. Felicia Blakeney shares the terrifying medical emergency that nearly claimed her mother’s life — and the decision that changed everything. This conversation explores: the Jehovah’s Witness blood transfusion doctrine fear, guilt, and medical pressure family conflict during a medical crisis emotional trauma surround...

send us an email to myhiddenstruggles@gmail.com If you missed it: Part Two - Jehovahs Witness Elders Questioned Her Career 👉 https://youtu.be/iZADwQTVn8U Part Three - Jehovah's Witnesses: The Car They Didn't Want Her to Buy 👉 https://youtu.be/ebJpFgssC18 Part Four 👉 https://youtu.be/q9hu_pcHZN0 In this episode of Hidden Struggles, Crystalyn opens up about the quiet realities many Jeho...

send us an email to myhiddenstruggles@gmail.com If you missed it: Part One - The Silent Struggles of Jehovah's Witness Women 👉 https://youtu.be/WGAttmTGpVA Part Three - Jehovah's Witnesses: The Car They Didn't Want Her to Buy 👉 https://youtu.be/ebJpFgssC18 Part Four 👉 https://youtu.be/q9hu_pcHZN0 In this episode of Hidden Struggles, Crystalyn opens up about the moment she chose t...

send us an email to myhiddenstruggles@gmail.com #exjw #exjwstories #exjwcommunity #exjwomen #jehovahswitnesses #hiddenstruggles #ladycee #cultrecovery #highcontrolreligion #religioustrauma #healingjourney  If you missed it: Part One - The Silent Struggles of Jehovah's Witness Women 👉 https://youtu.be/WGAttmTGpVA Part Two - Jehovahs Witness Elders Questioned Her Career 👉 https://youtu.be/iZA...

send us an email to myhiddenstruggles@gmail.com #ExJW #HiddenStruggles #LadyCee #JWMarriage #JehovahsWitness #ReligiousTrauma #FaithDeconstruction #JWWomen #CultSurvivor #EscapingControl #WatchtowerRules #freedomstory  Visit Jada's YouTube channel to view some of her activism work 👇 YouTube - www.youtube.com/@AwakentoFreedom Website - https://awakentofreedom.ca/ Jada grew up inside the stric...

send us an email to myhiddenstruggles@gmail.com Jada's YouTube Channel - https://www.youtube.com/@UCsFKdyJwjygw0qZ9abQSEGA  Website - https://awakentofreedom.ca/ After years of emotional and spiritual abuse, Jada finally found the courage to walk away—from her controlling Jehovah’s Witness husband and from the belief system that told her she couldn’t. In this powerful continuation of her stor...

send us an email to myhiddenstruggles@gmail.com #HiddenStruggles #LifeAfterChurch #ReligiousTrauma #FaithDeconstruction #LeavingReligion #SpiritualRecovery #QuestioningBelief #ExReligious #HighControlGroups #ReligiousIndoctrination What happens when someone rises to leadership inside a church—but never truly believes? In Part Two of this conversation, Ray opens up about becoming an ordained minist...

send us an email to myhiddenstruggles@gmail.com If you missed it: Part One - The Silent Struggles of Jehovah's Witness Women 👉 https://youtu.be/WGAttmTGpVA Part Two - Jehovahs Witness Elders Questioned Her Career 👉 https://youtu.be/iZADwQTVn8U Part Four 👉 https://youtu.be/q9hu_pcHZN0 In Part Three of my conversation with Crystalyn, we open with the moment she decided to buy a new car—and t...

send us an email to myhiddenstruggles@gmail.com Now that the noise of the new year has settled, many of us start reflecting. Time outside of a controlling environment has a way of bringing clarity. Things that once hurt start to make sense. Judgment starts to look like performance. And exclusion starts to feel… different. In this reflection, I talk about: Why certain behaviors were punished How pe...

send us an email to myhiddenstruggles@gmail.com What happens when your childhood feels like a scary movie — only the fear came from faith itself? In this episode, Lady Cee and Maya share what it was like to grow up Jehovah’s Witness — constantly warned about demons, Armageddon, and invisible dangers that turned childhood into a Rated R experience. 🎓 Educational Purpose Statement: This video is pr...

send us an email to myhiddenstruggles@gmail.com How to contact Maya: https://reposecounseling4u.com/ What really happens behind the scenes when you’re married to an elder? In this raw and eye-opening conversation, two former Jehovah’s Witness women—Lady Cee and Maya—pull back the curtain on the hidden pain, the patriarchy, and the pressure that came with being “the perfect elder’s wife.” From bein...

send us an email to myhiddenstruggles@gmail.com For therapy or coaching resources: 🧩 Maya’s website – www. ReposeCounseling4U.com After years of pressure, guilt, and hypocrisy, Maya finally reached her breaking point — over a simple family reunion and a birthday cake. What followed exposed the Watchtower’s obsession with control and the emotional toll it leaves behind. In this final chapter of Ma...

send us an email to myhiddenstruggles@gmail.com Ray - Ex-Minister of the House of Jacob Link to channel 👇🏼 https://www.youtube.com/@RayTheEx-HOJ At some point, I had to stop and ask myself: how much was my faith really costing me? In this candid conversation, an EX-Jehovah’s Witness and an EX-House of Jacob minister compare their journeys of waking up, breaking financial manipulation, and learni...

send us an email to myhiddenstruggles@gmail.com Michael thought marriage meant building a life together. Before they married, his wife celebrated birthdays and holidays just like anyone else. But after the wedding, everything changed—she went back to Jehovah’s Witnesses, bringing with her a strict set of rules and beliefs he never saw coming. At first, it looked like a normal weekly church routine...

send us an email to myhiddenstruggles@gmail.com In this first part of our series, we take a deep dive into the painful reality of shunning—how it divides families, isolates loved ones and forces us to face life’s hardest moments alone. Shunning isn’t just about being cut off—it’s about the silence, the rejection, and the ripple effect it leaves behind. In this episode, we explore the weight of tha...

send us an email to myhiddenstruggles@gmail.com #HiddenStruggles #ExJW #EXJWCriticalThinker #jehovahswitnesses #EXJWStories Robin's YouTube Channels https://www.youtube.com/@UCSyBt5uqbRdllf3W0TQHjjg https://www.youtube.com/@UCgjoY3_cUZKcFCOGIxlJZnQ https://www.youtube.com/@UCKi_uWlfJz3X11xFQ2bBAtw   Struggles of Jehovah's Witnesses - Interview with Robin https://youtu.be/2_hA3tHk-xg?si=1...

send us an email to myhiddenstruggles@gmail.com Growing up as one of Jehovah’s Witnesses, higher education wasn’t an option—it was discouraged, shamed, and treated as a waste of time. Like many others, I was told I might not even graduate high school because Armageddon was “just around the corner.” Jehovah’s Witnesses told me college was not an option. In this video, I share how indoctrination sha...

send us an email to myhiddenstruggles@gmail.com In this episode of Hidden Struggles, Lady Cee sits down with Ra'Shuna — an award-winning teacher, wife, and mother — to share her extraordinary story. From navigating a terrifying medical crisis under Watchtower pressure, to being shunned by her own family, Ra'Shuna reveals how she and her husband flipped the script: cleaning houses by nigh...

send us an email to myhiddenstruggles@gmail.com Leaving Jehovah’s Witnesses comes with questions nobody prepared us for: Who am I? What do I believe? How do I rebuild? For me, books became lifelines. Authors like Mel Robbins and Viola Davis gave me practical tools for growth and self-confidence. And even in fiction, I found truth — Carl Weber’s novels opened my eyes to real-world situations, relat...

send us an email to myhiddenstruggles@gmail.com In this raw and unfiltered interview, Deanna June opens up about life after leaving the Jehovah’s Witnesses — including her battle with addiction, bipolar disorder, and the emotional cost of being shunned. 🎙️ If you’re struggling to rebuild after religious trauma, this conversation is for you. 💬 Need Help? You're Not Alone. If you or someone yo...

send us an email to myhiddenstruggles@gmail.com Follow Daria on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/daria.l.ross?igsh=MWQ4cHFrN3Z3bzVseg== In the first conversation of my three-part series with Daria, we talk about what it was like growing up as one of Jehovah’s Witnesses, the pressure to conform, and the moment she realized she needed to walk away. Leaving isn’t just about closing the door on a r...