May 2, 2022
Mahrs Schoppman, born and raised in California, is a queer & trans somatic psychotherapist with a private practice based out of his home office in Occidental, California. He specializes in working with the queer community and with those who live with the embodied traumatic impacts of growing up in an oppressive religious environment. He is passionate about walking with people on their journeys of reclaiming embodied knowing, sensation, emotional range, and vitality. Currently, he is launching a series of religious trauma therapy groups with an understanding that group-based trauma needs group based healing.
Born queer and raised orthodox Mormon, Scott Sessions knows about navigating worlds that seem like polar opposites. Scott, who now identifies as an agnostic post-Mormon mystic, is developing a career as a spiritual life coach. He helps those who have left restrictive religions to cultivate new spiritual practices that bring healing and inner peace. In addition to coaching, Scott runs monthly reading events (both online and in-person) called Queer Bedtime Stories, where folks come together to share and be moved by the words of LGBTQ authors. With a commitment to help meet the spiritual needs of this particular moment, standing firm in both Mormon and queer identities, Scott proudly carries the pioneer tradition into the 21st century.
Episode Highlights
- Mahrs shares
about his upbringing in the Evangelical Christian church, and how
that effected him as a queer and trans person.
- Scott shares
about his childhood growing up queer in a Mormon community, and
struggled with his queer identity and coming out in that
space.
- They both share
how they found their path out of the dysfunction of those religious
sects, and discovered their new spiritual
practices.
- Mahrs shares how
his relationship with the sensations of his body deeply impacted
his ability to reconstruct his spiritual self.
- Scott talks about
how he felt numb when he left his church and reconnected to
spiritual sensation through writing and poetry. He also shares that
learning about the spiritual practice of other queer folks informs
his practices as well.
- Mahrs shares how
his work as a psychotherapist is expanding to offer groups for
folks recovering from religious trauma. He explains more about what
somatic psychology therapy practices look like in
practice.
- Scott shares
about his new life coaching groups for queer folks who have left
restrictive religions. He also talks about his Queer Bedtime
Stories for folks to gather in a soft space to connect online and
in-person.
- They both share their struggle to stay present in groups generally as a result of religious trauma, and how they stay grounded in their bodies in those moments.
Web links
- Find Mahrs online at TherapyWithMahrs.com
- Find Scott on Instagram @scott-strolls & @queerbedtime
Join the private Queer Spirit Community to continue the conversation and connect with other listeners.
Grab your FREE Mini-Course: The Self-Confident Queer - start
here.
Join our mailing list to get news and podcast updates sent directly to you.