Dr. Grisel Lopez-Escobar, PhD (in Counseling),
Licensed Mental Health Counselor Providing Virtual Therapy to Adult Clients
in the States of AK, AZ, CA, CO, DE, FL, ID, IN, LA, MA, ME, NV, OR, SC, TX, UT, VT, WI & WY, USA
Specializing in Supporting Clients who are Newly Secular or Deconstructing from High Control Religions, Groups or Cults: Religious Trauma / Faith Crisis, Religious Deconstruction / Purity Culture / Religious Residue / Mixed-Faith Relationships / Secular Therapy
Divine Attachment Figures
Religious figures who serve as psychological attachment figures, often replacing or overriding human attachment needs
You are told a divine figure is akin to a parent who loves you more than your actual human parents.
You seek emotional comfort exclusively from prayer instead of reaching out to people.
You fear abandonment by the deity more than by any human being.
Potential clinical implications (especially in high control settings)
Displacement of emotional needs from human relationships may occur.
Hypervigilance about “displeasing” the divine figure can develop.
Maladaptive coping strategies could be based solely on spiritual bypassing.