Oct 9, 2026

34 min

Did Church Sermons Accidentally Turn You Into an Anxious Perfectionist? | Safe to Heal, Part 2

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Michele Kus, M.A. is a Chicago-based spiritual formation teacher, certified Christian life coach, meditation guide, DJ, and music producer. She brings together grace-centered theology, neuroscience-informed practices, contemplative spirituality, and the creative arts.

Dr. Martin Trench, a native of Scotland, is a spiritual teacher, speaker, author, coach, and self-described part-time theologian with more than 40 years of ministry experience.

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CHAPTERS:

00:00:00 Welcome to Unhinged: Separating Faith from Fiction!

00:02:30 How Penal Substitutionary Atonement Theory Makes God Feel Unsafe

00:05:45 Disorganized Attachment & the Fear of an Unpredictable God

00:07:13 Healing from Trauma Requires Safety

00:09:17 “The Wrath of God Was Satisfied” — Bad Theology In Song Lyrics

00:12:25 God’s Wrath Is Directed at What Is Destroying Us

00:14:19 Sin Is a Sickness to Be Healed, Not Badness to Be Punished

00:15:14 Performance-Based Christianity or Legalism: “Do More to Get More”

00:18:48 Scrupulosity, Anxiety & Religious Perfectionism

00:19:44 Spiritual Hierarchy, Comparison & “Us vs. Them” Christianity

00:22:25 Is Our Relationship with God Relational vs. Transactional?

00:23:40 The “Eternally Disappointed” One & the Never-Enoughness of Performance Christianity

00:25:26 Serving for Significance — Just Come & Don’t Serve

00:28:02 A Therapist’s Surprising Prescription for Religious Performance: Pleasure!

00:28:59 How Rest & Pleasure Interrupt the Perfectionism Cycle

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