Saved So Hard I Needed Therapy with Elise Heerde

In this episode, Rachel Bernstein interviews Elise Heerde, a certified coach and mental health practitioner specializing in religious trauma, cult recovery, and coercive control. Elise recounts being raised in fundamentalist Pentecostalism with fear-based teachings about hell and the rapture, leading to anxiety, depression, and insomnia. While on staff at a high-control Pentecostal megachurch, she sought pastoral care and experienced grooming and assault, followed by silencing, threats, and blame. She describes the challenges of leaving and explains her trauma-informed coaching approach versus unqualified “spiritual counseling.” Elise also discusses co-founding the Religious Trauma Collective Australia & New Zealand to connect survivors with resources and practitioners, and advocates for behavior-focused reforms such as group-based coercive control through Victoria’s parliamentary inquiry. Elise’s Links Website: Book: Connect with us on social media: ⁠⁠ Watch full video episodes of IndoctriNation here: ⁠⁠ Support IndoctriNation on Patreon for exclusive bonus episodes and more: Prefer to support the IndoctriNation show with a one-time donation? Use this link: Restart and Restore: A Journal for Survivors of Manipulation: Restart and Restore: Companion Notebook: Download a Free Chapter from Restart and Restore: Download Rachel’s Video Lectures and Webinars here: IndoctriNation is edited by The Podcast Consultant: ⁠ Advertising Inquiries:

You can listen to Saved So Hard I Needed Therapy with Elise Heerde online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

Saved So Hard I Needed Therapy with Elise Heerde is an episode from IndoctriNation by IndoctriNation.

This episode is 79:20 long.

This episode was published on Feb 25, 2026.

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