Summary

Laurel Rourick shares her story of growing up inside IBLP, the controversial religious movement founded by Bill Gothard. She opens up about authoritarian control, purity culture, childhood abuse, and being taught obedience without being given the language to recognize what was happening to her.

Laurel discusses the lasting effects of trauma, how therapy and EMDR helped her finally name her experiences, and the family disclosure that confirmed part of what she had spent years questioning. She also shares how motherhood changed her perspective and strengthened her determination to break the cycle.

Today, Laurel is rebuilding her relationship with faith, raising her boys with open conversations about boundaries and grooming, and speaking publicly through Once Upon a Wound and her upcoming book, Mandatory Religion.

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