Send us a Positive Review!Series Title: Community Healing: How our Greatest Wounds & our Greatest Healing Happens through Human Relationship [Part IV of VIII]Join Val in this beautiful episode with guest Joy, who shares some tender elements of her faith journey which began long before joining one of the growth & processing communities.Val and Joy talk about Joy's journey finding her "true self" after realizing that the core of her selfhood could *not* be her ability to have the large family she desired.They discuss what happens to a woman when what is "supposed" to happen slams into the reality of actually happens, and how pain and grief are often the catalysts to our deepest growth and personal empowerment.Support the showWant to support Valerie & Nathan?Share this episode Become a Monday & Friday Listener: Limited-time Sale on Annual Subscription $69: app.helloaudio.fm/feed/455929cb-0267-4c17-aa18-9469c4003feb/signup Monthly Subscription: $9.99. app.helloaudio.fm/feed/45de445a-7109-4ad4-a670-231a20dc02d9/signup Make a donation: ⁠Venmo or Patreon⁠ Join a group: https://valeriehamaker.com/support-groups/ Visit our website: https://valeriehamaker.com/

Send us a Positive Review!Series Title: Community Healing: How our Greatest Wounds & our Greatest Healing Happens through Human Relationship [Part III of VIII]In this episode, Valerie and Nathan set the stage for why those who commit themselves to Val's healing groups say that what they learn about the concept of the "true self" can be life changing.Val and Nathan talk about why this idea not only gives us access to full healing from LDS faith and trust crisis, it also offers a path to a more full, peaceful, and confident life.The "true self" concept is a fundamental aspect of Val's Latter Day Struggles group curriculum. Members discover how to heal from their Mormon faith crisis through understanding who they are and what they believe. A year later, members will graduate knowing so much more about themselves, tapping into a well of personal growth and freedom they never thought possible.This episode kicks off a series of voices that follow, where Val invites three different women and men to share their transformative experiences learning about their own "true selves". The Untethered Soul: The Journey Beyond Yourself - Michael SingerAwareness: Conversations with the Masters - Anthony De Mello The Different Drum - M. Scott PeckSupport the showWant to support Valerie & Nathan?Share this episode Become a Monday & Friday Listener: Limited-time Sale on Annual Subscription $69: app.helloaudio.fm/feed/455929cb-0267-4c17-aa18-9469c4003feb/signup Monthly Subscription: $9.99. app.helloaudio.fm/feed/45de445a-7109-4ad4-a670-231a20dc02d9/signup Make a donation: ⁠Venmo or Patreon⁠ Join a group: https://valeriehamaker.com/support-groups/ Visit our website: https://valeriehamaker.com/

Send us a Positive Review!Series Title: Community Healing: How our Greatest Wounds & our Greatest Healing Happens through Human Relationship [Part II of VIII]In today's episode Val and Nathan go deeper into what they have learned about the unique healing process of faith and trust crisis connected to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  You'll learn how our faith crisis journey might be a bit different from other religion's faith journeys and why being in a non-judgmental group of people (who are open to whatever spiritual path you choose) is perhaps the most healing part of the journey.  Why?  Because it helps you realize that you ARE capable of being the authority of your own life and your own relationship with spirituality and with your higher powers.  Listen in to find some confidence that there is a neutral space for discovering your own indwelling competencies for spiritual growth!  Referenced in this Episode: Gender Equity & Reconciliation: Thirty Years of Healing the Most Ancient Wound in the Human Family Living an Examined Life - James HollisSupport the showWant to support Valerie & Nathan?Share this episode Become a Monday & Friday Listener: Limited-time Sale on Annual Subscription $69: app.helloaudio.fm/feed/455929cb-0267-4c17-aa18-9469c4003feb/signup Monthly Subscription: $9.99. app.helloaudio.fm/feed/45de445a-7109-4ad4-a670-231a20dc02d9/signup Make a donation: ⁠Venmo or Patreon⁠ Join a group: https://valeriehamaker.com/support-groups/ Visit our website: https://valeriehamaker.com/

Send us a Positive Review!Series Title:  Community Healing: How our Greatest Wounds & our Greatest Healing Happens through Human Relationship [Part I of VIII]The LDS faith journey is not an 'individual sport' and although some of us try, we realize that it can't really be done alone.  In this episode Val and Nathan walk you through why so many of us try to walk through this "valley of the shadow" alone.  We try to  hide what’s happening to us due to what we've been taught about those who doubt, question, and seek for something beyond the correlated gospel. Then they talk about what they have learned from hundreds of you who have been instrumental in the creation of a phenomenon that no one expected would happen--little micro-communities of sacred growth and healing happening almost every day of the week on the Latter Day Struggles platform. If you want hope that healing your LDS-"crisising" soul is possible, once again, this episode is for you.  And you'll learn why community is so important to the journey.  Referenced in this Episode: Gender Equity & Reconciliation: Thirty Years of Healing the Most Ancient Wound in the Human FamilySupport the showWant to support Valerie & Nathan?Share this episode Become a Monday & Friday Listener: Limited-time Sale on Annual Subscription $69: app.helloaudio.fm/feed/455929cb-0267-4c17-aa18-9469c4003feb/signup Monthly Subscription: $9.99. app.helloaudio.fm/feed/45de445a-7109-4ad4-a670-231a20dc02d9/signup Make a donation: ⁠Venmo or Patreon⁠ Join a group: https://valeriehamaker.com/support-groups/ Visit our website: https://valeriehamaker.com/

Subscriber-only episodeSend us a Positive Review!Series Title: The Profound Impact of Feminine Suppression on Men & their Churches [Part VIII of VIII]This is the final episode in a groundbreaking series diving deeply into what a lack of the feminine looks like in both LDS men and the LDS church itself. This episode explores the profound ways in which patriarchal systems affect men's ability to discover and develop their true selves because patriarchies encourage the over-cultivation of traits that privilege power over partnership and external achievement over personal growth and development. Valerie and Nathan discuss the internal struggles that men face when conditioned to spend their whole lives constructing false self identities, leading to ego inflation, exhaustion, mental health issues, and sometimes a sense of meaninglessness late in life. Most importantly, this episode highlights how patriarchal systems distract men from the very purpose of life: to learn how to connect with one's own divinity, with others, and with their divine creators. Nathan's personal experiences and practical insights about his own growth journey provides a heartfelt look at overcoming patriarchal conditioning for a more holistic self-realization.Referenced in this Episode: The Will to Change: Men, Masculinity and Love - Bell HooksLiving an Examined Life - James HollisWant to support Valerie & Nathan?Share this episode Become a Monday & Friday Listener: Limited-time Sale on Annual Subscription $69: app.helloaudio.fm/feed/455929cb-0267-4c17-aa18-9469c4003feb/signup Monthly Subscription: $9.99. app.helloaudio.fm/feed/45de445a-7109-4ad4-a670-231a20dc02d9/signup Make a donation: ⁠Venmo or Patreon⁠ Join a group: https://valeriehamaker.com/support-groups/ Visit our website: https://valeriehamaker.com/

Send us a Positive Review!Series Title: The Profound Impact of Feminine Suppression on Men & their Churches [Part VII of VIII]In this episode Valerie and Nathan get personal as they share their marriage journey awakening to the impact that patriarchal influences had on their ability to connect and really grow closer as a couple and family. They candidly share VERY REAL moments of early distress and disconnection, especially the struggles that occurred before they realized the core of their struggles. What they realized and are still learning each day is that each human being thrives as an individual AND within marriage and family life only as they fully embrace both their divine masculine AND their divine feminine attributes. Before they understand this profound concept, they suffered without a map for healing. In short, if imbalanced energies in church are painful, amplify that pain exponentially within in the home.  Listen to this entire series to expand your potential for health and healing in every important relationship in your life.Support the showWant to support Valerie & Nathan?Share this episode Become a Monday & Friday Listener: Limited-time Sale on Annual Subscription $69: app.helloaudio.fm/feed/455929cb-0267-4c17-aa18-9469c4003feb/signup Monthly Subscription: $9.99. app.helloaudio.fm/feed/45de445a-7109-4ad4-a670-231a20dc02d9/signup Make a donation: ⁠Venmo or Patreon⁠ Join a group: https://valeriehamaker.com/support-groups/ Visit our website: https://valeriehamaker.com/

Subscriber-only episodeSend us a Positive Review!Series Title: The Profound Impact of Feminine Suppression on Men & Their Churches [Part VI of VIII]]In this heart-to-heart episode of Latter Day Struggles, Val and Nathan delve into the profound effects of patriarchal conditioning and its impact on men's abilities to become relationally and emotionally mature. Val and Nathan explore how little boys (raised in patriarchal cultures and churches) are often discouraged from cultivating traits fundamental to relational and emotional health due to a transmitted fear that these attributes are too feminine. They explore how this is not only a sad message for little boys, but that this messaging can be devastating for grown men who cannot experience true love and connection in their marriages and family lives. Don't miss a single episode of this compelling and possibly life-changing series. Val and Nathan care so much about our individual and collective healing.Want to support Valerie & Nathan?Share this episode Become a Monday & Friday Listener: Limited-time Sale on Annual Subscription $69: app.helloaudio.fm/feed/455929cb-0267-4c17-aa18-9469c4003feb/signup Monthly Subscription: $9.99. app.helloaudio.fm/feed/45de445a-7109-4ad4-a670-231a20dc02d9/signup Make a donation: ⁠Venmo or Patreon⁠ Join a group: https://valeriehamaker.com/support-groups/ Visit our website: https://valeriehamaker.com/

Send us a Positive Review!Series Title: The Profound Impact of Feminine Suppression on Men & their Churches [Part V of VIII]. In this compelling episode Valerie and Nathan delve deep into the subtleties of benevolent patriarchy and how it places harmful pressures on men. They explore the unrealistic expectations for men to always be strong, the emotional and psychological costs of these societal norms, and how these pressures can lead to personal and relational breakdowns. Once again, Nathan lays it all out there with his own life experiences and talks about the debilitating pressure that he dutifully carried until he realized that this load was not only not necessary, but that it was not helpful, loving, or good for himself or his loved ones. Support the showWant to support Valerie & Nathan?Share this episode Become a Monday & Friday Listener: Limited-time Sale on Annual Subscription $69: app.helloaudio.fm/feed/455929cb-0267-4c17-aa18-9469c4003feb/signup Monthly Subscription: $9.99. app.helloaudio.fm/feed/45de445a-7109-4ad4-a670-231a20dc02d9/signup Make a donation: ⁠Venmo or Patreon⁠ Join a group: https://valeriehamaker.com/support-groups/ Visit our website: https://valeriehamaker.com/

Subscriber-only episodeSend us a Positive Review!In this enlightening episode, Valerie and Nathan tackle another tough but important topic: the insidious issue of the male superiority complex fostered by systemic patriarchy. They discuss how patriarchal structures teach boys and men, both subtly and explicitly, that they are superior to women, impacting the emotional and psychological development of all genders. Nathan shares personal reflections on how he now sees that what he was taught and how he was treated as a boy and man in a patriarchal world and church deeply affected his own behavior and relationships. He invites all men to confront and unlearn these biases so that men both in and around the LDS church can embody their God-given potential, which frankly cannot be realized when their characters are crippled by patriarchal ideas. Want to support Valerie & Nathan?Share this episode Become a Monday & Friday Listener: Limited-time Sale on Annual Subscription $69: app.helloaudio.fm/feed/455929cb-0267-4c17-aa18-9469c4003feb/signup Monthly Subscription: $9.99. app.helloaudio.fm/feed/45de445a-7109-4ad4-a670-231a20dc02d9/signup Make a donation: ⁠Venmo or Patreon⁠ Join a group: https://valeriehamaker.com/support-groups/ Visit our website: https://valeriehamaker.com/

Send us a Positive Review!Series Title: The Profound Impact of Feminine Suppression on Men & their Churches [Part III of VIII]Glad you're back! In this episode Valerie and Nathan delve into the impact that the overemphasis on masculine energy has on the ideas and practices within the LDS church because it is an institutional patriarchy. Today they focus on the masculine trait of competitiveness and explore how this plays out in unhealthy ways when not balanced with collaboration, its feminine counterpart. They then show how the masculine attribute of protection can also go sideways when not balanced with the feminine trait of emotional connection. In each case, they will offer on-the-ground examples that you might have felt uncomfortable about but never thought to connect to the deprivation of feminine energies within the church. This episode and series was designed to show that healthy humans and systems need the divine, balancing energies of the masculine and the feminine and that there are very real consequences when both are not honored and celebrated. As they say, once you see it, you cannot "not" see it. Val and Nathan are honored to be a part of this eye-opening and healing journey towards balance and personal and institutional healing. Support the showWant to support Valerie & Nathan?Share this episode Become a Monday & Friday Listener: Limited-time Sale on Annual Subscription $69: app.helloaudio.fm/feed/455929cb-0267-4c17-aa18-9469c4003feb/signup Monthly Subscription: $9.99. app.helloaudio.fm/feed/45de445a-7109-4ad4-a670-231a20dc02d9/signup Make a donation: ⁠Venmo or Patreon⁠ Join a group: https://valeriehamaker.com/support-groups/ Visit our website: https://valeriehamaker.com/