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Many of us carry beliefs so deeply embedded that we don’t even realise they’re not our own. For those who’ve grown up in religious or spiritually strict environments, these beliefs often show up as quiet rules, shame-based narratives, or internal voices that shape how we relate to ourselves and the world. In Gestalt therapy, we call these introjects—beliefs or messages we’ve swallowed whole without chewing, without questioning whether they truly belong to us.

Introjected beliefs can sound like:

• “I must be good to be worthy”
• “Desire is dangerous”
• “Suffering makes me closer to God”
• “I should forgive no matter what”
• “Doubt means I lack faith”

These ideas often go unchallenged, not because we believe them deeply, but because we’ve never had the chance to explore them in a safe, non-judgemental space. For some, even naming the discomfort they feel around religion can bring up fear or guilt. Gestalt therapy invites a gentle and curious approach to this exploration. We don’t aim to argue with the belief, but rather notice how it lives in the body, how it affects our relationships, and whether it truly serves us now.

Contact with our inner experience—the sensations, emotions, and thoughts in the present moment—helps us begin to identify what is figure (emerging and important) and what is ground (the background context we may have internalised). Through this awareness, we can start to differentiate between what is truly ours and what was inherited or imposed.

For those who have left a religious community, or are questioning long-held spiritual frameworks, the process of deconstruction can feel disorienting and isolating. Grief, loss of identity, and family tension often accompany the shedding of beliefs that once gave structure or meaning. Therapy offers a relational field where this process can be witnessed and supported without pressure to resolve or replace what has been lost.

Importantly, Gestalt therapy honours the complexity of this journey. Some clients may find new meaning in spirituality on their own terms. Others may choose to step away from it entirely. There is no right way through—only your way, guided by awareness, choice, and the slow rebuilding of trust in your own voice.

If you’re noticing that certain beliefs no longer fit but you’re unsure how to let them go, you are not alone. Therapy can help you untangle the introjects, feel into what’s emerging, and gently reorient towards what’s true for you now. This is not about rejecting your past, but integrating it in a way that supports your wholeness.

You are allowed to question. You are allowed to change. You are allowed to reclaim what feels real.

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