religious trauma and the silent toll on female emotional development (a roundtable with stephanie ann and alyssa grenfell)

This episode brings together two former members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Stephanie Ann and Alyssa Grenfell) for a direct conversation about the psychological, emotional, and ritual structures of Mormonism and its lasting impact on women.

Both guests were deeply embedded in the church for most of their lives and made the decision to leave, but their paths diverge in many meaningful ways. This conversation invites those who listen to consider how systems of control shape emotional development, distort spiritual experience, and impose gendered expectations under the guise of divine authority from a “sky-daddy” figure. 

Stephanie brings a perspective shaped by both mysticism and integration work. Her journey included a pivotal psychedelic experience and a prolonged period of spiritual crisis, and she now supports others in navigating similar ruptures. Alyssa’s work is rooted in research, documentation, and cultural critique. Her content reaches hundreds of thousands of viewers who are either leaving the church or seeking to understand it from the outside.

What I hope emerges for you by listening to this conversation is a reflection on what is lost when a system suppresses emotional maturity and about what becomes possible when we collectively reject the inherited model of womanhood served up to us by high-control and toxically shaming patriarchal religious frameworks. 

In this episode, we cover:

– Emotional infantilization and the performance of obedience among Mormon women

– How purity culture, social hierarchy, and spiritual authority reinforce one another

– The structure and secrecy of Mormon temple rituals, and their overlap with ceremonial magic

– What it means to question a belief system built on exclusive truth claims

– The tension between abandoning religion and staying open to spiritual or metaphysical experience

– Sovereignty as a lived practice after deconstruction

– The different paths people take after leaving (some toward mysticism, others toward materialism, many toward silence) 

Connect with my guests: 

– Stephanie Ann: https://www.stephanieannagain.com/

– Alyssa Grenfell: https://www.mormontruths.com/ 

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