"Holy Hurt" with Hillary L. McBride, PhD
The Allender Center Podcast
The Allender Center
4.7 • 648 Ratings
🗓️ 24 October 2025
⏱️ 52 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Healing from spiritual abuse and religious trauma is not a simple, linear journey. In this week's episode of the Allender Center Podcast, Rachael Clinton Chen sits down with Dr. Hillary McBride—psychologist, researcher, and author of "Holy Hurt: Understanding Spiritual Trauma and the Process of Healing"—to explore the invisible wounds that trauma leaves on our minds, bodies, and spirits.
They talk about:
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How trauma can be reinforced by the very systems meant to guide and protect us.
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The profound importance of witnessing, connection, and radical welcoming in your recovery journey.
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Recovering parts of ourselves that were buried under burdens we were never meant to carry.
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What it means to grieve, to repair, and to show up for ourselves and our communities.
This conversation is an invitation to sit tenderly with your own story, to bear witness to your pain, and to glimpse the possibility of love, mercy, and goodness in the midst of it.
You can order your copy of "Holy Hurt" by Hillary L. McBride, PhD, here: https://hillarylmcbride.com/holy-hurt-book/
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | The pain of abuse doesn't simply go away over time. |
| 0:06.4 | It lingers. It shapes how we live, how we relate, and even how we care for ourselves and others. |
| 0:13.2 | And in the busyness of everyday life, it can be really hard to face that pain. |
| 0:18.3 | Maybe you've talked with a trusted friend or have done some personal work. |
| 0:21.6 | But still, it can feel like you're not going deep enough to really address the weight of your story. |
| 0:27.6 | That's where Recovery Week comes in. For over 30 years, Dr. Dan Allender and the Allender Center have hosted these immersive workshops for men, for women, and now for women with |
| 0:39.0 | the focus on racial trauma and healing. Recovery Weeks gives you the time to step away from your |
| 0:44.0 | daily life and into a space with small groups, one-on-one sessions, and guided teaching. This is a |
| 0:50.3 | space where you can truly name the harm of your past, receive good care, and learn |
| 0:55.4 | to love your own story. |
| 0:57.6 | And as you engage your past with more honesty and compassion, you'll begin to see the |
| 1:02.3 | possibility of hope, restoration, and a future, shaped not by the abuse you suffered, but |
| 1:09.1 | by the healing, goodness, and life you are moving toward. |
| 1:12.4 | You can learn more about upcoming dates and the application process for recovery weeks at |
| 1:17.5 | the Allender Center.org slash workshops. |
| 1:33.9 | Thank you for listening to the Allender Center podcast. |
| 1:35.9 | I'm Dr. Dan Allender. |
| 1:37.5 | And I'm Rachel Clinton-Cenn. |
| 1:41.8 | We're fiercely committed to providing hope and healing to a fragmented world. |
| 1:44.1 | And restoration for the heart. |
| 1:45.7 | Thank you for joining us. |
| 1:47.5 | Let's get this conversation started. Good people with good bodies. |
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