Meet the Researchers
Rebekah Monroe
she/they
I'm a founder of NARC-RT. I am white, queer scholar with lineage in Osage and Cherokee tribes and Europe. I matriculated into the Clinical Psychology PhD program at Bowling Green State University in the fall of 2023, and graduated Summa Cum Laude with honors in May 2021 with a Bachelor of Arts majoring in Psychology, and minoring in Women's, Gender, & Sexuality Studies from Northeastern Illinois University. Formerly employed as a Research Assistant Consultant for the Global Feminisms Project at University of Michigan and for the Chicago Church Congregations Project for University of Notre Dame, as well as a NIH-funded grant at UIC School of Public Health. Published in Undergraduate Journal of Psychology at Berkeley on religious trauma, sex, sexuality, and gender (last article in Vol. 13).
While I feel like I have so much to celebrate now, it was definitely not an easy journey. When I was 19, I had just finished my first year of college in Missouri, where I grew up, as a vocal performance major. As per my religious upbringing, I was fixated on being a virgin, getting married and performing my role as a good Christian girl (read: conservative and abstinent before marriage). I felt like I was never going to fit that role, and to be honest, I didn’t want to. In the summer of 2013, I came to Chicago to visit the jazz scene with a suitcase, a guitar, and $300 to my name. I lived in Chicago for just under ten years before moving to Michigan with my boo, then off to Ohio for grad school. I continually struggle with religious trauma, in particular I fear death from being raised to believe if I did not maintain my faith that I'd go to hell. Also, like many who grew up in purity culture, I still sometimes feel dirty for being a sexual being.
BUT, I’m also the happiest I’ve ever been because I left the evangelical stereotypes that were being forced onto me. I now identify as a poly-monogamist femme athiest.
Feel free to check out my CV if you're interested in collaboration.
Liv Schultz
she/they
I am a founder of NARC-RT as well as a queer scholar with a Master's in Religious Studies from Concordia University in Montreal, Canada. When active in research, I study the history and affect of evangelical purity culture, as well as systemic intersectional religious trauma. My personal experience living with severe scoliosis and fibromyalgia has me interested in the intersection of religious trauma, disability, and chronic illness.
Beginning in 2015, I began to get unexplainable bizarre symptoms. I was heavily involved in a baptist church, various Christian mission organizations, and my reformed evangelical univeristy. Due to various religious traumas I experienced (sexual assault, family infidelity, spiritual abuse, being perceived as 'a jezebel', dissociation from my body, intuition and disability, and homophobia and sexist rhetorics), I began to realize that many of my symptoms would occur when I engaged in, or even just thought about my faith. My symptoms worsened to the point where I struggled to go into church without feeling unbearable dread and flu-like symptoms. My body was saying no and for my health I had to listen. I stopped attending church and it turned out to be one of the best things for me. There is emergent research demonstrating that the stress and repression we experience in our environments, such as religious settings, lead to chronic illnesses. Religious Trauma can have far reaching impacts. Trust that body of yours.
Bryan Montano-Maceda
he/him
Bryan M. Montano-Maceda, ACSW, MSW (he/him/his) is a NARC-RT founder and first-generation lighter skin Indigenous-Latino (Quechua people of Bolivia) that is dedicated to uplifting BIPOC voices and communities through advocacy in all areas of his life. Bryan is a culturally inclusive and holistic social worker, community organizer, program evaluator, public speaker, researcher, and consultant in Los Angeles.
Kai Ecker
they/them
I’m a founder of NARC-RT and an admitted MSW student at the University of Minnesota pursuing clinical licensure with the intention of serving those identifying as LGBTQIA+ and those impacted by religious trauma. My undergrad was focused on psychology and journalism, and I currently work in social services. Accessibility, transparency, and Black Feminist theory are at the forefront of my focus in approaching research. As a nonbinary lesbian raised in conservative evangelical doctrines, who married at 21 and then came out and divorced 18 months later, religious trauma is personal. I remember being told that I am not worthy of respect because of my gender and sexual identity; that being assigned female at birth means my purpose and existence is to serve men; that post-secondary education is a waste, as my purpose is to simply have children and cook; that despite my overflowing GPA, I was problematic because of my eyeliner and tight jeans; that being a lesbian made me an abomination; that my gender is shameful; that virginity was of the utmost importance; and that my happiness did not matter, as long as I had faith. But, to save myself, I’ve chosen happiness. I hope you can too.
Alyan Layug
he/they
Alyan joins NARC-RT as a research collaborator with a BA in Psychology and Ethnic Studies from UC Davis and is currently a Clinical Psychology PhD Student at Palo Alto University. He aims to uplift his community & collegiate space of folx of color and different marginalized communities through advocacies of hands on, interpersonal work. He is a creative individual who greatly enjoys visual media tasks and communications work. He aspires to further increase the scholarship being done to research the topics of queer, Filipinx identity formation, and the destigmatization of mental health in Asian migrant households.
A. Dorhauer
they/them
A. joins NARC-RT as a research collaborator. They are a visual artist as well as a published poet, statistician, and freelance editor. A. lived in several towns in Missouri growing up, and had the unique experience of being the child of a pastor. Although their father had more progressive views than most churches, A. still had a great deal of exposure to fundamentalist church culture that is prevalent in Missouri. Moving forward, A. aims to elevate research on religious trauma with a particular focus on the queer experience.
Alejandra Sanchez
she/her/ella
Alejandra joins NARC-RT as a research collaborator. Alejandra is an Associate Marriage and Family Therapist (AMFT) from Southern California, currently working with Latinx families and children ranging from ages 6-15 in the Los Angeles area. During her time as a Marriage and Family Therapist Trainee, Alejandra was fortunate to be introduced to community-based health in which she provided individual and family therapy to predominately Spanish-speaking, undocumented, low-income, uninsured women.
Prior to her traineeship, she had the opportunity to work as an ABA behavioral therapist for kids on the Autism Spectrum. Alejandra also worked as a graduate assistant part-time at California State University Fullerton where she received her Masters in Clinical Psychology. Prior to graduate school, Alejandra took a gap year and worked as a residential counselor for adults with Schizophrenia and other related mental health diagnoses. Alejandra received her Bachelors Degree in Psychology and minor in LGBTQ Studies from the University of California Santa Barbara.
Alejandra recently had the privilege to travel to Portland, Oregon for the Western Psychological Association Convention 2022 to present her thesis research on Spirituality on the Trans and Gender Diverse community. Alejandra’s goal is to continue her work as a therapist, serving as a bilingual therapist for the Latinx and LBGBTQAI+ community and explore more way to contribute to the growing body of religious-based trauma work and research.
Dr. Heidi Ellis
she/her
Dr. Heidi Ellis joins NARC-RT as a research collaborator. Heidi recently graduated from the University of North Texas Counseling Psychology Ph.D. program. Dr. Ellis currently works at a child and family-focused mental health practice. Her research has focused on attachment theory, religion, and spirituality. Currently, Dr. Ellis is focusing her attention on how religious and spiritual trauma and abuse impact various forms of attachment (e.g., adult attachment; attachment to a higher power/God).
Recent works include:
Ellis, H. M., Hook, J. N., Freund, C., Kranendonk, J., Zuniga, S., Davis, D. E., & Van Tongeren, D. R. (2023). Religious/Spiritual Abuse and Psychological and Spiritual Functioning. Spirituality in Clinical Practice. Advance online publication. https://dx.doi.org/10.1037/scp0000346
Ellis, H. M., Hook, J. N., Zuniga, S., Hodge, A. S., Ford, K. M., Davis, D. E., & Van Tongeren, D. R. (2022). Religious/spiritual abuse and trauma: a systematic review of the empirical literature. Spirituality in Clinical Practice. Advance online publication. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/scp0000301
Caroline Collins
she/her
Caroline Collins (she/her) joins NARC RT as a research collaborator and is currently a PhD candidate at the School of Divinity at The University of Edinburgh. She graduated magna cum laude from Southwestern University in 2019, receiving a Bachelor of Arts in Religion and the David Knox Porter Award, and summa cum laude from Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University, receiving a Master’s of Theological Studies and the Charley T and Jesse James Bible Award.
As a native Texan, a state with contested membership in the Bible Belt, Caroline is no stranger to the culture of the American South being religious culture. Her experiences with religious trauma— Satanic Panic, sexualization, and the politico-religion intersect, etc.— stem from early adulthood, namely, her undergraduate years immersed in interconnected, local groups coalesced in the White Evangelical schema. Much of her religious trauma is channeled in creative writing and visual art, pulling inspiration from— with much respect and reverence toward— the Gothic genre.
Currently, Caroline’s research is on the Devil’s literary significance in the fiction of Fyodor Dostoevsky and the Marquis de Sade. She aims to become a scholar in the Religion and Literature field.
Jules Zentz
she/her/they
Jules joins NARC-RT as a research collaborator and a 2024 graduate from Bowling Green State University with her Bachelor's in Psychology. Currently, she is working towards a Master's to become a Behavioral Analyst for kids with autism. Jules has worked as a behavioral technician for kids who have autism and as a domestic violence/ sexual abuse advocate.
Growing up as a missionary kid in the fundamentalist Baptist church, Jules saw the good and bad that the church produced in my childhood. Their research assisting Rebekah Monroe is focused on Religious Trauma and Spiritual Abuse.