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Individuals · Faith & Doubt · In Person
Forming · a private conversation first

When Faith Gets Complicated

For wrestling honestly with faith, doubt, and what you were taught.

A place to say the unsayable about belief — held with real respect, and no agenda about where you land.

When
Weekends · TBD
Length
Six weeks · 90 min
Circle
Five to eight people
For
Adults doing honest spiritual work
Language
English · Ukrainian · Russian
Where
182 Tamarack Circle, Skillman, NJ 08558

Faith can get complicated quietly. You may be holding doubt you’re afraid to say out loud, or questions about what you were taught, or the strain of keeping your belief and your mental health together at once. Maybe you’re grieving a faith that has changed, healing from a rigid or high-control religious upbringing, or trying to reconcile what you believe with your own suffering, your sexuality, or your family.

This isn’t therapy against religion, or for it. It’s therapy about your relationship with it — a place to hold the questions honestly, without being steered anywhere.

It’s a small, respectful group for adults doing honest spiritual work — questioning, grieving a changed faith, healing from religious harm, or simply trying to hold belief and doubt at the same time. It’s IFS-informed: the part of you that believes, the part that doubts, the part shaped by how you were raised — all are welcome in the room. A private conversation comes first, so we can make sure it’s the right fit and the right moment for you.

How this space is held

You facilitate the wrestling; the group doesn’t steer the outcome.

This group holds real neutrality. It is not pro-faith or anti-faith — it is a place for your own honest process, wherever it leads: toward a deeper faith, a changed one, or away from one. Devout questioners, people whose belief is shifting, and people healing from religious harm are all held here, side by side.

It’s an exploration, not a destination — no particular belief will be confirmed or argued away. And it holds the psychological and emotional dimension of faith, not spiritual direction: where you want spiritual guidance itself, that belongs with your own clergy or community. Naming that boundary is part of what keeps this space safe.

The six weeks

Over six evenings, among a few people doing the same honest work, we move through it gently.

Week
One

Room for the questions

Establishing that every position is welcome here and none is pushed — group agreements, a clear neutrality frame, and the relief of a place to say the unsayable.
Week
Two

What you were given

The faith you inherited, and honestly sorting what’s yours from what was handed to you — without contempt for either.
Week
Three

Doubt, guilt, and fear

The specific pain of questioning: the guilt of it, the fear of loss — of God, community, family — the loneliness. Met with compassion.
Week
Four

When faith and life collide

Reconciling belief with mental health, suffering, sexuality, or a rigid upbringing — wherever the friction is for each person.
Week
Five

Religious harm, held gently

For those carrying wounds from high-control or shaming religious environments: naming it without requiring anyone else to share that experience.
Week
Six

A faith of your own

What you keep, what you release, what you’re still holding open. Not a required destination — a more honest relationship with the question. A held closing.
How it works

Six sessions, ninety minutes each, with five to eight people, in a small closed group that stays the same throughout. Held in English, Ukrainian, or Russian.

Because this is personal and sometimes tender work, it begins with a short private conversation before it starts — so we can make sure a group is the right fit and the right moment. If you’re in the raw middle of a faith rupture or an acute crisis, individual work may serve you better first, and I’ll help you find it.

How payment works
$65 per person, per session
Six weeks · paid in full at enrollment

Groups run out-of-network and privately. Paying in full at enrollment holds your place for the whole series — and lets the group form as a stable, closed circle: the same people, from beginning to end.

Refunds

A full refund if you withdraw before the first session. In the first two weeks, a prorated refund or a credit toward a future group. Once the group has formed, the remaining sessions aren’t refundable — the circle was built around your place in it — but if something serious comes up, talk to me and we’ll find a fair way through.

Superbill

A superbill is available for possible partial reimbursement through your out-of-network benefits. Whether a group qualifies depends on its nature, so it’s best to check with your insurance company.

To begin — a short private conversation

If you’ve been carrying questions about faith you’re afraid to say out loud — wherever you are in it — you’re welcome here. Reach out, and we’ll find out together whether this is the right next step.

Contact to begin
alesia@ivycounselinggroup.com (609) 688-8300
Where we meet 182 Tamarack Circle, Skillman, NJ 08558