What Every Bishop Needs to Understand About Betrayal Trauma | An Interview with Ashly Leavitt

Ashly Leavitt has an associate degree in theatre and music, a
bachelor's degree in broadcast communications, and a master's
degree in clinical mental health counseling. After a 10-year career
as an educator, Heavenly Father made it clear that He wanted her to
shift to counseling and specialize in betrayal trauma recovery,
relationship repair, and divorce recovery. Ashly loves helping
those who have experienced betrayal trauma to discover and
reconnect with themselves again. As a co-founder of Rejoice!
Recovery, she enjoys using her educator and counselor experiences
together to create classes on healing and relationships, leading
discussions on boundaries, and co-hosting the podcast, Phoenix
Forte: Connecting to Healing and Joy After Divorce. You can catch
Ashly presenting at conferences and retreats. On Sunday, you'll
find her serving in her all-time-favorite calling as a Relief
Society instructor. Ashly has previously served in Primary and
Young Women's Presidencies, but she's been honored to serve by
teaching Relief Society in multiple wards over the last 12 years.
However, Ashly’s biggest accomplishment is managing to survive as a
single mom of two. During her free time (if such a thing exists)
you would find Ashly supporting the local theatre scene, playing
board games with friends and family, participating in the Lamb of
God Easter production on Temple Square, and laughing with her kids
while they dance in the kitchen together. Links The Choice to Leave
Abuse, by Ryan Anderson PsychologyToday.com There is already a
discussion started about this podcast. Share your thoughts here.
Watch on YouTube Read the transcript of this podcast Highlights
2:10 What is betrayal trauma? Why do church leaders need to
understand it? 4:10 Ashly explains betrayal trauma and the
sub-behaviors that come along with it. Betrayal trauma has lots of
side effects on your health. 7:45 A common source of betrayal
trauma is sexual infidelity. 9:00 The "hit by a truck" analogy. The
importance of focusing on the person that was betrayed or wounded.
Too often we focus on fixing the person that is looking at
pornography or being unfaithful. 13:15 The other behaviors that
normally come with cheating or viewing pornography. There are abuse
tactics, such as lying, gaslighting, blaming, and defensiveness.
15:30 What is gaslighting? Making someone question the truth and
their own sanity. Making them second guess themselves. A lot of
women have their intuition saying that something is off but their
husband makes them feel like they are crazy. 18:00 Often the shame
spiral keeps people from telling the whole truth. They are scared
of what people will think if they share everything that is going
on. In cheating scenarios the wife feels something off but the
husband says they are fine. 18:50 Bishops should work with the
individuals instead of the marriage. Talk to the husband and wife
separately so that they can speak their truth and get validation.
19:45 Everybody in the relationship is trying to maintain control.
Wives try to control the behaviors and situations to feel safe and
stop from getting hurt again. 22:20 The bishop isn’t supposed to be
the one healing everyone. Don’t take on roles that aren’t yours.
23:30 What should leaders and couples consider when the betrayal
bomb goes off? 25:20 A great question that a bishop can ask is,
"How can I help you feel safe?" Prioritize safety and not the
emotions of the betrayer. 28:30 The push from the wife to "punish"
their husband by taking away the sacrament or membership council.
They are trying to fix the problem but it’s not theirs to fix.
31:30 Shame makes people want to hide and not tell anyone so
finding a safe place to share and a support group for those in
recovery is important. 35:20 What can we do to help the children in
these situations? 38:10 The importance of boundaries and the
process of forgiveness 44:30 Appropriate disclosure and things
leaders should keep in mind 46:00 Leaders want to sav...