Help and resources
Sunday Scars is encouragement, not therapy. If you were abused, you deserve real, qualified help, and asking for it is not a lack of faith.
Call your local emergency number (911 in the U.S. and Canada, 999 or 112 in the UK, 000 in Australia). If a child is being harmed, contact the police or your local child protection service. A church is never the right place to handle a crime "internally."
Crisis and support lines
United States
- 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline: call or text 988, 24/7.
- Crisis Text Line: text HOME to 741741.
- National Domestic Violence Hotline: 1-800-799-7233, or text START to 88788.
- Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline: 1-800-422-4453.
- RAINN National Sexual Assault Hotline: 1-800-656-4673.
Outside the United States
- Canada: call or text 988.
- United Kingdom and Ireland: Samaritans, 116 123.
- Australia: Lifeline, 13 11 14.
- Elsewhere: search for your country's crisis line, or call your local emergency number.
How to find a good counselor
Look for a licensed counselor or therapist (LPC, LMFT, LCSW, psychologist) who is trauma-informed and, ideally, experienced with religious or spiritual trauma. Many people who were hurt in church want someone who respects their faith without using it against them. That is a fair thing to ask for.
- Use a therapist directory and filter for trauma and for faith or religious issues.
- In a first call, ask: "Have you worked with people hurt by church leaders? How do you handle faith in counseling? Will you respect that I want to keep my faith?"
- A good counselor will never pressure you to abandon your faith, and never pressure you to go back to an unsafe person or church.
- Be careful with "counseling" offered by the same church or leader who hurt you. Get help from outside the system.
Talking to someone you trust
Not everyone needs a crisis line. Sometimes the first step is one safe person outside the situation: a friend, a family member, or a pastor from a different, healthy church. Say it out loud. Isolation is how both hurt and abuse keep their power.
Where to start reading
- Church hurt vs spiritual abuse: what's the difference?
- How do you heal from spiritual abuse?
- How to heal from religious trauma without losing Jesus
- What should you do if your pastor is sinning?
Phone numbers last checked October 2026. If one is out of date, please let us know.