Episode Details

Trigger warning: This episode includes discussions of suicide ideation, sexual trauma, and religious trauma. Please take care of yourself and skip this one if it feels triggering.

What happens when your entire life has been built on fear, control, and shame, and you finally decide to walk away?

This week, I’m joined by Courtney Wilder, author, speaker, and coach, who shares her powerful story of escaping a high-control religious group and learnt to rebuild her life from the inside out.

After years of suppressing her voice, questioning her worth, and living under constant scrutiny, Courtney made the brave decision to choose freedom, even when it meant starting over completely.

Through our conversation, she opens up about the messy middle of healing, and the anger and isolation that come with leaving everything you’ve ever known.

But she also shares how reconnecting with her intuition, building community, and doing the inner work helped her reclaim her sense of self.

In this episode, we chat about:

• Courtney’s experience growing up in, and breaking free, from a religious cult
• The pressure to be ‘perfect’, how she learned to suppress shame, and the impact of denying her darkness
• How hours of devotion and study led to damaging beliefs, and the link between control and grooming
• The night she packed her bags and left in search of life beyond those beliefs
• How partying, drugs, and stripping became her way of escaping a life that felt out of her control
• What led her back home, and back into the cult, after years of rebellion
• Her journey of rebuilding self-trust after years of fear and manipulation
• The role of the body and intuition when questioning beliefs and programming that aren’t your own

Courtney’s story is raw, honest, and full of twists and turns. A reminder that even after the darkest chapters, healing and freedom are possible.

Connect with Courtney:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/seekingwilder/

Website: www.seekingwilder.com

Support the show:

Got a topic idea or would love to share your story on the podcast? Connect with me on

Instagram @lifeafterileftpodcast - I would love to hear from you.

New episodes drop every Thursday. Make sure you’re subscribed, so you never miss a story that could change your life (or someone else's).

And we’d love a 5-star review to help these stories reach the women who need them most.

❤️ Remember: Don’t be silent. Be unstoppable.