At MUCC we believe in a God whose wildest dream is your absolute freedom, wholeness, and joy. We know that Jesus lived, preached, and administered a message of belonging before believing. Tragically, we also know that for many in the LGBTQ+ community. Religion has been a source of profound hurt rather than a sanctuary of love.
To help mend these wounds, MUCC is honored to announce the launch of a monthly religious trauma support group – Unburdened, specifically designed for the greater LGBTQ+ community and facilitated by a licensed professional therapist. We are offering this space because we believe that spiritual inquiry requires communal healing. It is not enough for our church to say “all are welcome” – we must actively part in dismantling the harm done in the name of God.
The group will be by a clinician, but it is not individual therapy. It is education, community, and room to be heard. Nick Erber-LaPierre will be leading the groups, he is a licensed mental health counselor in Washington State with nearly two decades of clinical experience in trauma recovery, mood disorders, identity work, and men’s emotional vulnerability. His work centers on sexual and gender minority communities and on religious trauma.
Nick is Core Faculty in the Clinical Mental Health Counseling program at Antioch University Seattle, where he teaches and advises graduate counseling students, and maintains a private practice, Nick Erber-LaPierre, PLLC.
The group will be held at Magnolia UCC in our Parlor at 6:00 pm on the second Tuesday of the month, starting on Tuesday, January 12th. It will continue for five months.