“Saving Face” with Aimee Byrd

The Allender Center Podcast

The Allender Center

Psychology, Religion & Spirituality, Mental Health, Christianity, Trauma, Health & Fitness, Theology

4.6 • 628 Ratings

🗓️ 6 June 2025

⏱️ 52 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Have you ever felt unseen in a place where you were supposed to be known? Or like the more you tried to bring your true self forward, the more you were asked to hide it?

Today on the podcast, author Aimee Byrd joins Dan Allender and Rachael Clinton Chen to talk about her new book, Saving Face: Finding My Self, God, and One Another Outside a Defaced Church.

It’s a deeply personal and theological reflection on spiritual abuse, identity, and healing—especially in the wake of church systems that no longer reflect the face of Christ.

Together, they explore what it means to reclaim your face—your personhood, your story, your sacred calling. Aimee draws on the rich insight of philosopher Emmanuel Levinas, who wrote that the face is not merely a physical feature, but the place where we encounter both God and one another. To truly see another’s face is to take responsibility for their dignity and to recognize Christ’s presence there.

Aimee shares her story of how a system that promised reform instead left her mocked, erased, and dehumanized. In that disillusionment, she came to a painful but powerful realization: we don’t just need reform. We need resurrection. A death to false forms of power, toxic moralism, and spiritual posturing—and a return to humility, presence, and love.

This conversation offers an honest look at the loneliness of holding onto your God-given identity when others turn away, the courage it takes to seek the face of God in others, and the deep hope that emerges when we begin to see—and be seen—face to face.

Listen to this week’s episode about “Saving Face” with Aimee Byrd, and be sure to pick up a copy of her book at:
https://aimeebyrd.com/saving-face/

Transcript

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0:00.0	Friends, you've heard us talk about spiritual abuse countless times on this podcast,
0:12.5	because it's a reality far too many of us face and have continued to contend with.
0:19.9	Spiritual abuse is a profound trauma that shatters trust,
0:23.6	trust in God and others and in ourselves.
0:26.6	And it can leave us feeling disconnected from our core cells
0:30.6	spiraling in fear, shame, and isolation.
0:34.6	Here at the Allender Center, we are committed to addressing our stories of harm,
0:40.0	not to dwell in the pain, but to move through it to discover true healing and restoration.
0:46.7	That's why I am so thrilled to personally invite you to take part in the newest online course
0:53.9	from the Allander Center,
0:55.7	led by my colleague, co-host, and friend Rachel Clinton Chen.
1:01.0	Rachel has devoted much of her work to examining, naming, and inviting others to heal
1:07.1	from spiritual abuse. She has assembled a team of seasoned instructors, therapists, spiritual directors, and researchers
1:15.4	to guide you through this nuanced topic in the new spiritual abuse and healing online course.
1:23.3	Through this self-paced course, you'll gain not only a deeper understanding of the wounds
1:28.3	inflicted by spiritual abuse, but also practical, compassionate tools for tending to those wounds.
1:36.3	You'll learn that healing requires engaging your whole self, your body, your mind, and spirit, and most importantly, that you don't have to
1:47.3	navigate this alone. You can find out much more about the spiritual abuse and healing online
1:54.1	course by visiting the Allender Center.org. I hope you will join us in this journey to healing and hope. Thank you for listening to the Allender Center podcast.
2:19.3	I'm Dr. Dan Allender.
2:21.3	And I'm Rachel Clinton-Centen.
2:23.1	We're fiercely committed to providing hope and healing to a fragmented world.
	...

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