When Faith Heals and When it Hurts -- A Conversation with Janeen Martin
Feb 15, 2025
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Janeen Martin, a therapist and researcher focused on religion and mental health, shares her insights into the dual role of faith in people's lives. She discusses how faith can be a source of healing for some while causing distress for others. Key topics include attachment styles in spiritual relationships, the contrast between intrinsic and extrinsic motivations, and the importance of nurturing a healthy faith environment. Janeen also emphasizes the significance of self-awareness and community support in cultivating a balanced relationship with God.
Faith can act as a source of both resilience and distress, influenced by individual personality, family dynamics, and church culture.
Attachment styles significantly shape how individuals relate to God, impacting their interpretation of religious teachings and experiences.
The podcast emphasizes fostering a safe dialogue around faith that encourages curiosity and acceptance, promoting emotional health within spiritual communities.
Deep dives
Exploring the Intersection of Faith and Mental Health
The podcast examines how religion can act as both a source of resilience and a source of distress in people's lives. Therapist Janine Martin shares her experiences with clients who often display contrasting responses to their religious beliefs. For some, faith provides immense comfort, while for others, it exacerbates feelings of shame and struggles with mental health. This dichotomy raises important questions about what factors contribute to these differing experiences, including individual personality, family dynamics, and church culture.
The Role of Attachment Styles
Attachment styles play a significant role in how individuals relate to their faith and formal religious institutions. Martin discusses how people’s early relationships with authority figures can impact their attachment to God, affecting how they interpret religious teachings and experiences. An individual with a secure attachment style may view God as supportive and loving, while someone with an anxious or avoidant style might feel distant or fearful. Understanding these attachment styles can illuminate why individuals perceive their faith journey in vastly different ways.
Religious Orientation and Mental Health
The podcast delves into three types of religious orientations: extrinsic, intrinsic, and quest. Extrinsic orientation focuses on personal gain from religious participation, while intrinsic orientation emphasizes the inner value of faith and its transformation of the individual. Martin argues that quest orientation, which involves a lifelong search for truth and understanding, encourages curiosity and openness. This orientation can foster emotional resilience, as it allows individuals to hold space for ambiguity, doubt, and questions without losing connection to their faith.
Healthy Approaches to Faith Education
The discussion emphasizes the importance of creating a safe and empowering environment for exploring faith within families and communities. Martin suggests that discussing faith should involve dialogue around questions and uncertainties rather than rigid adherence to dogma. Encouraging curiosity and acceptance of diverse experiences can help individuals develop a relationship with their faith that is emotionally healthy and supportive. This approach can mitigate feelings of isolation felt by those grappling with spiritual doubts or complexities.
Navigating Personal and Collective Faith Journeys
The podcast concludes by highlighting the need for awareness and compassion toward one another in spiritual communities. Recognizing that each person’s experience with faith can differ vastly promotes a healthier environment for shared worship and growth. Martin stresses that while individuals should explore their own faith journeys deeply, it's also crucial for institutional practices to evolve in ways that prioritize mental and emotional well-being. Striving for a balance between personal exploration and community support can ultimately create a richer, more fulfilling engagement with faith.
This week, Tim and I are sharing a fascinating conversation with therapist and researcher Janeen Martin about the complex and deeply personal ways that religion and mental health intersect.
Janeen has spent years working with clients navigating the full spectrum of religious experience—some who find their faith to be a source of deep resilience and healing, and others for whom it has been a source of pain and struggle. That contrast led her to ask some big questions: What makes religion a protective factor for some and a source of distress for others? How do individual personality, family dynamics, and church culture shape the way we engage with faith? And most importantly, how can we cultivate a relationship with God and our faith that supports our mental and emotional well-being?
One of the most interesting ideas we explored was the concept of attachment styles—how the way we relate to God often mirrors the way we’ve experienced relationships with authority figures in our lives. Janeen also introduced us to three different religious orientations—extrinsic, intrinsic, and quest—and how our approach to faith can evolve over time. We talked about how religious communities can create spaces for both conviction and curiosity, how parents can help their kids develop a healthy and secure faith, and how we can each pay attention to the signs that our relationship with God is either building us up or weighing us down.
This conversation was rich with insight and practical tools for anyone wanting to engage with their faith in a way that is both deeply meaningful and emotionally healthy. We hope you find it as valuable as we did. And with that, we’ll jump right into our conversation with Janeen Martin.
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