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Hannah Smith shares her incredible journey from being trapped in an abusive cult to engaging in many self-destructive behaviors that nearly ended her life. She had a true Dark Night of the Soul experience that led to her finding her way back to spiritual health. She spent the last decade or more studying how God has wired us and has developed training programs for therapists.
Last year, Hannah had an incident happen that really tore the veil from her eyes about the oppression that is happening, especially with LGBTQ people. Now, her passion is to help those in church leadership who want to become affirming find a safe way to "come out" - and if not safe, then strategic, supported, and skillful.
This is truly a journey you'll want to hear her share!
Author, Educator, Therapist
Hannah grew up an only child. Her parents both experienced serious mental health issues. Growing up, she was subjected to physical, mental, and sexual abuse (both within and outside of her family). At age 13, was part of a cult that was very emotionally and mentally abusive. She escaped at age 28. Life outside the cult was not easy. She was hospitalized twice, married an abusive man who was in a "healthy church," who eventually threw her out on her own. She ran off to India for several years. There, she continued in a pattern of self-destructive relationships, which nearly got her killed.
At age 42, she started the journey toward healing, which included overcoming relational addictions, losing 150 lbs, and now has a functioning brain! She is neurodivergent (some processing issues and ADHD) and considers herself a miracle. For the last decade+, she has devoted herself to studying how God wired us (neuroscience, interpersonal neurobiology) and has developed training programs to teach therapists to integrate not only the person but all their connections (family, environment, nature), work with their nervous system and not just their thoughts.
Last year, she had an incident happen that really tore the veil from her eyes about the oppression that is happening, especially with LGBTQ people. Now, her passion is to help those in church leadership who want to become affirming find a safe way to "come out.”
