Newsletter and retreat dates from Marlene Winell

[Recovery from Religion]

Hello everybody,

I hope this finds you doing well.   You are receiving this newsletter either because you have either been recovering from harmful aspects of authoritarian religion or you have an interest in being of assistance to others.  As you may know, this has been both my personal and professional experience.  Leaving the Fold is the self-help book I wrote on the subject and I am now holding weekend retreats to facilitate small groups in sharing the healing process together.  Dates for more of these weekends are listed below.

Also in this newsletter is a description of our new website dedicated to recovery services.  We are inviting you to assist with this in any way you can.  You are also invited to visit my own renovated website, thanks to Ryan Wadsworth.

Please feel free to distribute this newsletter or post information on your website.  Thank-you in advance.

I'd love to hear from you and find out what's new with you!  If you know of any other counseling or recovery services, let me know and we'll add it to the data base in the new website.  

Kind regards,
Marlene

Marlene Winell, Ph.D.
Berkeley, CA  510-292-0509

Upcoming "Release and Reclaim" retreats beginning March 13-15 in Massachusetts

We are currently organizing several "Release and Reclaim" retreats:

• Amherst, Massachusetts: Friday, March 13th to Sunday March 15th
• Orange County: Friday April 18 to Sunday April 20
• SF Bay Area: May 22-24
• Colorado Springs: June. Exact dates TBA.

If you are interested in attending, please contact Dr. Winell as soon as possible: 510.292.0509. Space is limited. 

"Release and Reclaim" workshops and groups are designed to support you in releasing the toxic beliefs of religious indoctrination and reclaim your life, based on trusting yourself and building a life of your own choosing. The weekend retreat is a powerful group experience of sharing personal history, examining key issues, and exploring new concepts for life and spirituality. The group provides a safe and nurturing place to express feelings without judgment. In addition to discussion, we use experiential methods including art, guided visualization, movement, and role-play. There is also time for shared meals, relaxation, and fun. Participants are encouraged to develop networks for continued friendship and support.

For more information, comments from previous participants, and a video of excerpts from a recent retreat, please visit http://marlenewinell.net/page/release-and-reclaim-workshop

Retreat objectives are to help you:

• Release the hold of dysfunctional religious teachings.
• Reclaim your own thoughts and feelings.
• Discover self-love and learn to trust yourself.
• Recognize and draw from your own inner resources for wisdom and strength.
• Explore new avenues for meaning in life.
• Appreciate the freedom and power when you take personal responsibility for your life.
• Practice enjoying life now instead of waiting for the next.

A Resource list is provided with recommended books and readings and websites. You will also be invited to join the confidential group, "Release and Reclaim" for online discussion and regular conference calls for continued support.

Building a website with recovery resources: RecoveryFromReligion.org

As many of you know, recovering from harmful religious indoctrination can be a difficult process.  It helps to know you are not alone and discuss issues with others.  At present, there are quite a few excellent websites with testimonials and debates. People are challenged to think for themselves and many books are suggested that challenge authoritarian religious systems.

We believe there is still a need for a website with resources and services designed to help people emotionally heal from the damage of toxic religion.  In addition to the intellectual work needed to get free of old beliefs, there are psychological and interpersonal areas of growth that need attention.  

Because of this, we are currently assembling a team of people motivated to help others on the path to recovery. Specifically, we will be working to organize and redesign RecoveryFromReligion.org into a content-rich site that helps visitors to know they are not alone in their struggle, that others have successfully left, and that help is available. 

If you would like to be notified about an upcoming conference call where we will be getting to know each other and discussing vision and next steps, please fill out this questionnaire: http://drupal6.recoveryfromreligion.org/node/1

The site will be designed from the ground up to best meet the needs of people at various stages of leaving toxic religion.  This will not be a site for lengthy stories of what people have endured.  Rather, it will emphasize pathways to health.  We will have messages of hope and information about how to recover and thrive.  Resources will be listed for counseling, groups, retreats, events, and materials helpful to the recovery process.  

Building this resource is an exciting but sizeable task with many opportunities for people to help (not just web designers!). Some possible tasks that one or more people might be able to help with include:

• continuing to research and catalog the community of ex-fundamentalist websites. This includes collecting links and contact information, and contributing to an annotated bibliography of resources. 
• participating in conversations about long-term vision and short-term priorities.
• editing and uploading articles about the recovery process
• writing your own testimonial!
• drafting and contributing to new resources, including self-assessment quizzes, articles, and faq's.
• html/css/photoshop webdesign
• logo design
• editing and uploading video
• drupal configuration. (drupal is the open-source content management system we will be using.)
• testing the site and offering suggestions for how to make it easier to use. 
• and more...(we are open to ideas)

If you would like to be notified about an upcoming conference call where we will be getting to know each other and discussing next steps, please fill out this questionnaire: http://drupal6.recoveryfromreligion.org/node/1

If you have any questions, please contact Ryan Wadsworth: 510.712.6422

Refreshed!

We have rebuilt www.MarleneWinell.net as an easy-to-use access point for Dr. Winell's writings, recommended resources, and services. The new site features video interviews about the abusive effects of indoctrination by authoritarian religion: http://marlenewinell.net/page/recovery-harmful-religion , and excerpts from a recent "Release and Reclaim" workshop: http://marlenewinell.net/page/release-and-reclaim-workshop . Please send any feedback you have on the redesign to ryan...@gmail.com.