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My group, Purity Culture Survivors, is for women ages 30 to 45 who feel negatively impacted by Evangelical Purity Culture. PCS will be a place to learn communication skills in sexual and romantic relationships and practice them in a safe setting with others who have a common background.

I have been involved in a Facebook group called “Women Helping Women Recover from Purity Culture”. I have also posted on my personal social media about the topic to get feedback from friends and acquaintances. I initially posted about this subject in 2020 when I first learned the term “Purity Culture”. The responses were overwhelming and at times heartbreaking. These things have led me to books and other scholarly sources that I will use in the formation of PCS.

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I will post an advertisement for my group on social media, in the "Women Helping Women Recover from Purity Culture" group on Facebook. I will pay for Zoom Pro so that I can hold meetings for 50 minutes at a time.

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Clients will self-select from my social media posts and choose to apply via a Google Form.

Prospective members will demonstrate a need for the group (by having self-identified deficits in relationship/communication skills) and have a history with Evangelical Purity Culture.

The women chosen for the group will ideally both benefit from the group AND help others benefit.

I will do a 50 minute test group call with all prospective group members that are potential good fits (max 10).

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These mindsets and behaviors will be met through group participation.

M 1. Belief in development of whole self, including a healthy balance of mental, social/emotional and physical well-being

B-SS 8. Advocacy skills for self and others and ability to assert self, when necessary

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Group Counseling Consent Form for Adults

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After the test group meeting I will give out a digital copy of the informed consent form. I will send a second digital copy right before the first virtual meeting and ensure I receive all participants' electronic signatures (via DocuSign).

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I will offer rules and allow the group to flesh out the specifics. The women in the group may be accustomed to other people making rules for them, and I want them to participate in crafting their own. This is practice for building their own sexual ethic later in the group.

We will make explicit rules about being on time, respecting others, and giving everyone time to talk.

Confidentiality is a requirement so that participants can feel safe sharing and learning from each other. If confidentiality is broken, the member in question will be removed from the group.

I will be mindful of implicit rules that could arise, and be aware of the Evangelical teachings to women that may cause them to defer to me as a leader or avoid any big emotions that aren't lady-like or "Christ-like".

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Ground Rules Form

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This group population is adult women who are struggling with the beliefs they were handed in adolescence about sexuality and their bodies.

Stage 1 will have introductions and an ice breaker. We will share our names, age, church affiliation (past and present if applicable), and relationship status.

Stage 2 will involve naming lies Purity Culture told us and refuting them with facts and affirmations. If one member struggles with valuing themselves, they can instead focus on an affirmation about another group member. Sometimes it's easier to say kind things about other people than ourselves.

Stage 3 is the closure stage. We will explain our plans for implementing our new skills and thought processes in relationships with both ourselves and our partners. I will encourage members to stay connected to each other if they so choose.

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Purity Culture Survivors often come from a high control religious* background. I believe they will benefit from a participative or democratic style of leadership.

*"A high-demand, high-control religion is a faith community that requires obedience; discourages its members from questioning its rules, principles, and practices; expects subservience and loyalty; discourages trusting relationships outside the group; perpetuates the notion that those within the group are right and superior to those outside of it; promotes extreme or polarizing beliefs; and expects its members to suppress their authentic selves in exchange for the sense of belonging and security the group offers" (Shipps, 2023).

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Jane Illustration, L. (n.d.). Healing Isn’t Linear. Retrieved September 12, 2024, from https://liberaljane.store/products/digital-download-healing-isnt-linear?_pos=1&_sid=2f5498877&_ss=r

Shipps, K. (2023). LEAVING A High-Demand, High-Control Religion. Psychotherapy Networker Magazine, 47(1), 40–53.

Texas Behavioral Health Executive Council and Texas State Board of Examiners of Professional Counselors. (2024, July). Rules. https://bhec.texas.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/2024-August-LPC.pdf

Yalom ID. (1995). The theory and practice of group psychotherapy (4th ed.). New York: Basic Books.

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Background information on Purity Culture and High Control Religion

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A.4.b. Personal Values

As a survivor of Purity Culture myself, I feel I am uniquely qualified to lead a group on the subject. However, I understand that I am at risk of imposing my own conclusions or attitudes on my clients. I will work to respect differing beliefs in the group and encourage members to do the same. People with a high control religious background can have a tendency to be evangelical about new ideas; we will all remember that believing different things is acceptable.

B.4.a. Group Work

PCS is a counseling group. Guidelines around confidentiality for all members will be clearly stated and agreed to before we begin.

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Several therapeutic factors (Yalom, 1995) may be present in PCS.

Universality is the idea that we in the group have all been impacted by Purity Culture and we have a common goal.

Imparting of information can include sexual health facts and defining PC as a specific religious movement (not simply "God's design for relationships").

Catharsis could happen when we read passages from PC related resources and we discuss the feelings that come up. Evangelical women are often taught to not display anger and to "count it all joy". Having this chance for a strong expression of affect is important.

Development of socializing techniques is one of the main goals for PCS. Developing appropriate skills in romantic relationships is a primary focus.

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Standard 2 of 681.31 in the Texas Behavioral Health Executive Council and Texas State Board of Examiners of Professional Counselors (2024) states the following:

"Group counseling, which uses interpersonal, cognitive, cognitive-behavioral, behavioral, psychodynamic, and affective methods and strategies to achieve mental, emotional, physical, social, moral, educational, spiritual, and career development and adjustment through the life span"

is "limited to professional counselors appropriately trained and competent in the use of such methods, techniques, or modalities."