Doctoral research · Xavier University, 2022
Posttraumatic spiritual growth after religious trauma
A mixed-methods study of the LGBTQ+ and ally communities in the Midwestern United States — and the reason this curriculum does not ask anyone to name a higher power.
Why does a recovery curriculum need a dissertation behind it?
Because the standard language of recovery asks people to turn themselves over to a higher power — and for a substantial number of people, that language is where the injury happened.
24
in-depth interviews in Phase I, yielding 290 units of narrative meaning
407
complete survey responses in Phase II, measured with the PTGI-X
10
research questions across qualitative and quantitative phases
The study
Posttraumatic Spiritual Growth in the LGBTQ+ Community in the Midwestern US After Experienced Religious Trauma
Ryan Joseph Allen · Doctor of Education in Leadership Studies · Xavier University, Cincinnati · 2022
Dissertation advisor: Dr. Gail F. Latta, Ph.D. · Committee and co-researcher: Molly Dugan
What it found
More alike than different
The experiences of LGBTQ+ and ally participants who reported religious or spiritual trauma, and subsequent growth, were more similar than different. No differences were found in the posttraumatic growth reported between the two groups.
Growth moved people from religion toward spirituality
The clearest outcome across both groups was a shift in how people described themselves. Following posttraumatic growth, participants frequently moved from identifying with a formal religion to identifying as spiritual.
Growth turns on pivot points
All 24 interviewees identified multiple pivot points — a shift in thought, behavior, belief, action, or emotion that precedes growth. 141 were recorded, averaging roughly six per person, at nearly identical rates in both groups.
Words did most of the damage
Over 77% of all participants reported messaging-based trauma; among LGBTQ+ participants it exceeded 80%. Two sub-themes appeared only among LGBTQ+ participants: being told the condition could be prayed away, and the formulation about loving the sinner while hating the sin.
Five kinds of pivot point
The moments interviewees identified as turning them toward growth.
Acceptance emerged only among LGBTQ+ participants, and appeared often enough to warrant its own category.
Six themes of growth
Drawn from 290 units of meaning across the interviews.
What it changed about this curriculum
Connection to love, not a higher power
The three connections to optimal self replace “connection with the transcendent” with connection to love — defined by the participant. Mother Nature, Creator, Source, Oneness, or simply love itself.
Twelve steps without surrender
Rewritten as affirmations rather than admissions. No powerlessness, no confession, no higher power required — because for many people those are the exact words attached to the harm.
Pivot points as structure
The finding that growth turns on identifiable moments shaped how the curriculum is built: 365 small, concrete practices rather than one large demand.
Growth, not repair
Post-traumatic growth is the organising idea. The premise is not that something broken gets fixed, but that people can grow through what happened.
The full methodology page shows how this research sits alongside the trait-based model and the evidence-based practices.
Read the methodologyRequest the full study
The complete 221-page dissertation is available on request. Tell us who you are and we’ll send what fits — the full text, the abstract and findings, or the material relevant to your setting.
Step one
What brings you here?
Step two
Where should we send it?
Requests are reviewed individually. The dissertation has not been formally published, and we ask that it not be redistributed without permission.
Citing this work
Allen, R. J. (2022). Posttraumatic spiritual growth in the LGBTQ+ community in the Midwestern US after experienced religious trauma [Doctoral dissertation, Xavier University].
Further research
The study identifies open avenues: messaging-based trauma, the universality of pivot points across communities, and transgender-focused research specifically.
Collaboration
We’re open to partnership on replication, extension, or applied work in treatment and community settings.