Episodes

Coming from a cult that actively discouraged even basic education at times, it can be daunting to even contemplate trying to pursue higher education. What is it like to be a non-traditional student? How can I afford to go? Are there ways to pursue this without the support of my parents? How do I even apply? In this episode we answer your questions as submitted through the Shunned Podcast Facebook group, r/exjw on reddit and so much more.

We talk strategies on how to finance your education, how to figure out what you even want to pursue, the unexpected benefits of the college experience, etc. You will hear the real world experiences of not just our main guest as she shares her experience and expertise in this field, but you will also get to hear four other short real world stories at the end to help round out your knowledge as you understand what this is like from people that have actually done it.

This is the first in our ExJwHelp series. The goal is to do a follow-up episode on careers that one can pursue without a college education if that isn’t for you, as well as self-employed or small business endeavors that you can strive for. The ExJwHelp series is part of the Cult Recovery Coaching program offered at ExJwHelp.com and the hope is to grow it to include a wide variety of topics that can help as you move forward in real and actionable ways.

Resources Mentioned:
Everything Starts With FAFSA for Federal Student Aid – FAFSA , UnderstandingFAFSA
Scholarships and other aid – National Merit Scholarship Corporation, AmeriCorps, myFuture, Upward Bound
Career Exploration Assessment Tool – O*Net OnLine
Places to brush up on skills or learn about various skills: OutSchool, Khan Academy, Udemy, SkillShare

Feel free to leave a comment of support for participants on the Shunned Podcast website HERE

Support the show by donating to the cause on our Patreon page, Patreon.com/shunned

Are you struggling in some area of life? Feeling stuck? Need an accountability partner or some encouragement? Need to talk to someone that understands cult life? Reach out and let’s talk. I have affordable programs to help as a certified life coach. Click HERE for more information.

Want more resources? Go to my other website exjwHelp.com

Join our Shunned Podcast Facebook group HERE

Leave us a review on iTunes

Find shunned podcast on Youtube, including new VIDcasts here.

Follow us on Twitter and Instagram.

You can listen to the Shunned Podcast Spotify playlist here for all of the songs chosen by guests of the show.

This podcast was made possible by my original podcast This JW Life. You can find it on any podcast app or on YouTube. It is a 9 part series about life as Jehovah’s Witnesses designed to help you understand how it worked in one comprehensive story and to help you process your own if you came from that environment.

Music provided by Jane and the Boy, entitled Save Myself.

Being raised in the cult of Jehovah’s Witnesses involves being taught to chase love. If a person can only be good enough, one day their god will love them. But being taught this can lead to people going back to things that treat them poorly, whether it is their god, their religion, their family, etc. as a part of chasing that love. Aaron was both disfellowshipped and divorced and each time he went back, something that many have done, always holding out hope that this time will be different. It is tough to learn this lesson and many have been held in suspension, but Aaron has found more solid ground today and has learned his lessons from going back.

The song that Aaron chose to represent his journey is Amazing by Aerosmith. He also added Take Me To Church by Hosier.

Support Aaron by leaving him a comment HERE

Support the show by donating to the cause on our Patreon page, Patreon.com/shunned

Are you struggling in some area of life? Feeling stuck? Need an accountability partner or some encouragement? Need to talk to someone that understands cult life? Reach out and let’s talk. I have affordable programs to help as a certified life coach. Click HERE for more information.

Want more resources? Go to my other website exjwHelp.com

Join our Shunned Podcast Facebook group HERE

Leave us a review on iTunes

Find shunned podcast on Youtube, including new VIDcasts here.

Follow us on Twitter and Instagram.

You can listen to the Shunned Podcast Spotify playlist here for all of the songs chosen by guests of the show.

This podcast was made possible by my original podcast This JW Life. You can find it on any podcast app or on YouTube. It is a 9 part series about life as Jehovah’s Witnesses designed to help you understand how it worked in one comprehensive story and to help you process your own if you came from that environment.

Music provided by Jane and the Boy, entitled Save Myself.

From the time he was 12, Matt had to work. With his father’s vices taking the family’s money and groceries to put on the table, Matt stepped up. That started young Matt down the path to workaholism which would be put to the test as he went through life, at times taking care of his dad after his parents divorced, and later taking that same dedication to his dad on to the cult of Jehovah’s Witnesses. Serving at one of the highest esteemed places in the organization, within the headquarters facilities, Matt’s ability to continue dedicating his everything to others that gave him little in return would be pushed beyond its limits.

The song that Matt chose to represent his journey is Never Going Back by Skillet.

Support Matt by leaving him a comment HERE

Support the show by donating to the cause on our Patreon page, Patreon.com/shunned

Are you struggling in some area of life? Feeling stuck? Need an accountability partner or some encouragement? Need to talk to someone that understands cult life? Reach out and let’s talk. I have affordable programs to help as a certified life coach. Click HERE for more information.

Want more resources? Go to my other website exjwHelp.com

Join our Shunned Podcast Facebook group HERE

Leave us a review on iTunes

Find shunned podcast on Youtube, including new VIDcasts here.

Follow us on Twitter and Instagram.

You can listen to the Shunned Podcast Spotify playlist here for all of the songs chosen by guests of the show.

This podcast was made possible by my original podcast This JW Life. You can find it on any podcast app or on YouTube. It is a 9 part series about life as Jehovah’s Witnesses designed to help you understand how it worked in one comprehensive story and to help you process your own if you came from that environment.

Music provided by Jane and the Boy, entitled Save Myself.

Jehovah’s Witnesses promote men to the role of head of the family, and of the congregation. Keion, as a brother in the congregation and also as a family head later in life, faced certain blowback for his actions due to this position that he was elevated to simply for being male. This is an interesting story of one man’s journey to find himself and his place in relationships without any healthy examples and input from those that claimed the position of teachers for young men like him.

This is the video that Keion mentions in his episode, CLICK HERE

Support Keion by leaving him a comment HERE

Support the show by donating to the cause on our Patreon page, Patreon.com/shunned

Are you struggling in some area of life? Feeling stuck? Struggling with perfectionism, building a social network, codependency, or feeling like you’re not enough? Need an accountability partner or some encouragement? Need to talk to someone that understands cult life? Reach out and let’s talk. I have affordable programs to help as a Cult Recovery Coach. I work with many ex-JWs, along with ex-other groups, and your average person that has never been in a cult that wants better things in their life. Find out more here:

 Click HERE for more information.

Want more resources? Go to my other website exjwHelp.com

Join our Shunned Podcast Facebook Support Group group HERE

Leave us a review on iTunes

Find shunned podcast on Youtube, including new VIDcasts here.

Follow us on Twitter and Instagram.

You can listen to the Shunned Podcast Spotify playlist here for all of the songs chosen by guests of the show.

This podcast was made possible by my original podcast This JW Life. You can find it on any podcast app or on YouTube. It is a 9 part series about life as Jehovah’s Witnesses designed to help you understand how it worked in one comprehensive story and to help you process your own if you came from that environment.

Music provided by Jane and the Boy, entitled Save Myself.

Growing up with parents that were not only Jehovah’s Witnesses but also suffering from their own addictions and mental/emotional struggles, Aubrey felt invisible. When he realized his sexual orientation and needed support, he was again ignored and felt invisible. But the reality is that there were invisible things going on within Aubrey as well, Aubrey is intersex. Listen as Aubrey is open about life after never speaking of these things for over 30 years so that he and others no longer have to feel invisible.

Support Aubrey by leaving him a comment HERE

Support the show by donating to the cause on our Patreon page, Patreon.com/shunned

Are you struggling in some area of life? Feeling stuck? Need an accountability partner or some encouragement? Need to talk to someone that understands cult life? Reach out and let’s talk. I have affordable programs to help as a certified life coach. Click HERE for more information.

Want more resources? Go to my other website exjwHelp.com

Join our Shunned Podcast Facebook group HERE

Leave us a review on iTunes

Find shunned podcast on Youtube, including new VIDcasts here.

Follow us on Twitter and Instagram.

You can listen to the Shunned Podcast Spotify playlist here for all of the songs chosen by guests of the show.

This podcast was made possible by my original podcast This JW Life. You can find it on any podcast app or on YouTube. It is a 9 part series about life as Jehovah’s Witnesses designed to help you understand how it worked in one comprehensive story and to help you process your own if you came from that environment.

Music provided by Jane and the Boy, entitled Save Myself.

Five year old boys should be walking around full of wonder about dinosaurs and big trucks, not full of shame. Imagine stumbling on things at such a young age that would kick off shame that would haunt your every thought and action for years. And all of this because you were in a cult like Jehovah’s Witnesses who shame human exploration and lack any understanding of how people truly work. Eventually Keagen would have to learn the lesson that he is enough, and he always was, it was the cult and the people in it that let him down.

The song that Keagen chose to represent his journey are The Light by Disturbed and Revival by Selena Gomez.

Support Keagen by leaving him a comment HERE

Support the show by donating to the cause on our Patreon page, Patreon.com/shunned

Are you struggling in some area of life? Feeling stuck? Need an accountability partner or some encouragement? Need to talk to someone that understands cult life? Reach out and let’s talk. I have affordable programs to help as a certified life coach. Click HERE for more information.

Want more resources? Go to my other website exjwHelp.com

Join our Shunned Podcast Facebook group HERE

Leave us a review on iTunes

Find shunned podcast on Youtube, including new VIDcasts here.

Follow us on Twitter and Instagram.

You can listen to the Shunned Podcast Spotify playlist here for all of the songs chosen by guests of the show.

This podcast was made possible by my original podcast This JW Life. You can find it on any podcast app or on YouTube. It is a 9 part series about life as Jehovah’s Witnesses designed to help you understand how it worked in one comprehensive story and to help you process your own if you came from that environment.

Music provided by Jane and the Boy, entitled Save Myself.

Wayne was never one of Jehovah’s Witnesses, and had nothing to do with the cult. Later in life circumstances would change, however, as his sister would fall prey to their teachings. Her enthusiasm for sharing what she learned with him would eventually lead him to researching the realities of the cult, and ultimately end with him being shunned because he knew too much and asked too many uncomfortable questions. You don’t have to be one of Jehovah’s Witnesses to have shunning touch your life, and Wayne graciously volunteered to share his story to shine light on that for others that may feel alone in their similar journey.

The song that Wayne chose to represent his journey is one of his own, Just Another Bad Day, by Wayne Marshall and the Jericho Riders.

Support Wayne by leaving him a comment HERE

Support the show by donating to the cause on our Patreon page, Patreon.com/shunned

Are you struggling in some area of life? Feeling stuck? Need an accountability partner or some encouragement? Need to talk to someone that understands cult life? Reach out and let’s talk. I have affordable programs to help as a certified life coach. Click HERE for more information.

Want more resources? Go to my other website exjwHelp.com

Join our Shunned Podcast Facebook group HERE

Leave us a review on iTunes

Find shunned podcast on Youtube, including new VIDcasts here.

Follow us on Twitter and Instagram.

You can listen to the Shunned Podcast Spotify playlist here for all of the songs chosen by guests of the show.

This podcast was made possible by my original podcast This JW Life. You can find it on any podcast app or on YouTube. It is a 9 part series about life as Jehovah’s Witnesses designed to help you understand how it worked in one comprehensive story and to help you process your own if you came from that environment.

Music provided by Jane and the Boy, entitled Save Myself.

Going back five generations in the cult of Jehovah’s Witnesses, back to the origins of what we know today by that name, Heath’s family runs deep in it. His great grandfather was of the anointed with the heavenly hope back in the 1930s when the option of an earthly hope was brought to the fore, his great grandmother holding that earthly hope. So this cult has its fingerprints all over the family, and Heath grew up only knowing one way of life.

“There was no doubt. There was no room to doubt. There was no way to doubt.” The prescribed path of a JW was set out before him, but a moment in 2003 changed everything for Heath. That “spiritual paradise” that he lived in was shaken up through some experiences, and over time Heath would have to find another path, one divergent from the one that his entire family had invested so deeply in.

The song that Heath chose to represent his story is Heaven Go Easy On Me by The Head and the Heart.

Support Heath by leaving him a comment HERE

Support the show by donating to the cause on our Patreon page, Patreon.com/shunned

Are you struggling in some area of life? Feeling stuck? Need an accountability partner or some encouragement? Need to talk to someone that understands cult life? Reach out and let’s talk. I have affordable programs to help as a certified life coach. Click HERE for more information.

Want more resources? Go to my other website exjwHelp.com

Join our Shunned Podcast Facebook group HERE

Leave us a review on iTunes

Find shunned podcast on Youtube, including new VIDcasts here.

Follow us on Twitter and Instagram.

You can listen to the Shunned Podcast Spotify playlist here for all of the songs chosen by guests of the show.

This podcast was made possible by my original podcast This JW Life. You can find it on any podcast app or on YouTube. It is a 9 part series about life as Jehovah’s Witnesses designed to help you understand how it worked in one comprehensive story and to help you process your own if you came from that environment.

Music provided by Jane and the Boy, entitled Save Myself.

Amber never knew her dad growing up. She looked around and saw other people with dads, including her step-siblings, and wanted the same. So when she was pressed by her mother to apologize to the School Overseer in her congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses one day, little Amber asked that brother to be her dad. This would touch off years of control and grooming at the hands of an elder in the Kingdom Hall. It took years for the truth to come out and for Amber to know who her real father was. Listen to the end and you will know too.

The song that Amber chose to represent her story is I Don’t Need You To by Samantha Mumba.

Support Amber by leaving her a comment HERE

Support the show by donating to the cause on our Patreon page, Patreon.com/shunned

Are you struggling in some area of life? Feeling stuck? Need an accountability partner or some encouragement? Need to talk to someone that understands cult life? Reach out and let’s talk. I have affordable programs to help as a certified life coach. Click HERE for more information.

Want more resources? Go to my other website exjwHelp.com

Join our Shunned Podcast Facebook group HERE

Leave us a review on iTunes

Find shunned podcast on Youtube, including new VIDcasts here.

Follow us on Twitter and Instagram.

You can listen to the Shunned Podcast Spotify playlist here for all of the songs chosen by guests of the show.

This podcast was made possible by my original podcast This JW Life. You can find it on any podcast app or on YouTube. It is a 9 part series about life as Jehovah’s Witnesses designed to help you understand how it worked in one comprehensive story and to help you process your own if you came from that environment.

Music provided by Jane and the Boy, entitled Save Myself.

If you’ve ever watched the show Seinfeld then you know that sometimes spite is a good motivator. In Jared’s case, spite motivated him to attend Ministerial Training School, an exclusive school for Jehovah’s Witnesses that taught men to lead congregations in various ways. Find out how that went for him, how he got there in the first place, and why he is now telling his story.

The song that Jared chose to represent his journey is Doses & Mimosas by Cherub.

Support Jared by leaving him a comment HERE

Support the show by donating to the cause on our Patreon page, Patreon.com/shunned

Are you struggling in some area of life? Feeling stuck? Need an accountability partner or some encouragement? Need to talk to someone that understands cult life? Reach out and let’s talk. I have affordable programs to help as a certified life coach. Click HERE for more information.

Want more resources? Go to my other website exjwHelp.com

Join our Shunned Podcast Facebook group HERE

Leave us a review on iTunes

Find shunned podcast on Youtube, including new VIDcasts here.

Follow us on Twitter and Instagram.

You can listen to the Shunned Podcast Spotify playlist here for all of the songs chosen by guests of the show.

This podcast was made possible by my original podcast This JW Life. You can find it on any podcast app or on YouTube. It is a 9 part series about life as Jehovah’s Witnesses designed to help you understand how it worked in one comprehensive story and to help you process your own if you came from that environment.

Music provided by Jane and the Boy, entitled Save Myself.