While I truly appreciate what they are trying to do here, and I acknowledge that they often need to walk a fine line, it does seem to me like they claim belief and faith in the church on one hand, but when it comes to the hard issues, they err appear to err on the side of deconstruction. I admit I have only heard a few episodes, one was very helpful. But another, episode 95, left me basically thinking that their solution mixed faith marriage problems when it comes to difficult doctrine is to toss out the doctrine. I would appreciate someone actually providing tools to navigate managing belief and dealing with the challenges it presents Rather than just tossing aside the problem and ignoring it. If this was advice received in a therapy session it would be manipulative because it would drive the person to change their beliefs rather than providing tools to navigate the challenge they are faced with.

Thank you for putting words and validation to my inner workings and struggles. I too am a trauma therapist and also came to it later in life due to the indoctrination of how I should be, who I should be, and what I should do. I am still struggling to know how to have congruence between my behaviors and emotions related to the church and am hoping your support group will eventually fall on a day and time that I can join.

It seems like a cult made up of cultists. I remember Benson, Kimball, etc. what they espoused is not “bad” nor “non biblical”. This podcast seems to be looking for some rationalization to disliking the scriptures. If you like the podcast chances are you are on your way out of the church.

This podcast took me from panicked to patient as I set out on my own faith journey. I couldn’t be more grateful!

This gift this podcast gives is spiritual autonomy. Life changing. Keep it up, Val!!!!

I started listening to Valerie’s podcast a few months ago and I am so very greatful I stumbled across it! Valerie does her research and provides a safe platform for those who are having difficulties reconciling LDS beliefs and culture with their own innate true selves. I grew up very orthodox LDS and struggled with most of the difficult subjects Valerie tackles on this show…and I KNOW I am not alone in this. I have been able to focus on turning from an attitude of self judgement and guilt for my viewpoints, to one of healing and loving others where they are at! I am a RN and I have been able to show a more Christlike love and acceptance of where my largely diverse patient load are at in their lives! But most importantly, I have more peace in my soul. Thank you Valerie for your genuineness and courage to do the great work you are doing….you are truly doing inspired, great work! I am sure Mother Eve is so very proud of you!

This podcast is changing my life! I had struggled in deep confusion and feelings of doubt that my Heavenly Parents loved me, or that They were even there at all. But Valerie’s ability to confront difficult subjects in the church and explain psychological concepts, while at the same time making you feel heard and validated, loved by God, and part of a community is incredible. I’ve never felt closer to God or understood the Atonement of Christ better than I do now. What I've learned here is helping me navigate a complicated relationship with the church and has made me realize that maybe I can be the growing, changing person I am and still be a part of the LDS church. I could go on and on about how amazing this podcast is but I’ll keep it short😊Thank you Valerie for doing what you’re doing!! God bless you🙏

I’ve been listening and growing with this podcast for over a year now. I have relied on the honest, thoughtful, and insightful messages shared with love. I can’t say enough good things about this podcast and the good it has brought me and those in my circles. Valerie’s expertise as a therapist and her life long membership in the Church is amazing! She shares her passion for individual and community development. She is inspiring, hopeful, and comforting to listen and learn from. Thank you for providing so many people with extra support and understanding as we all attempt a positive relationship with self, in or out of the church community.

So grateful for this podcast coming into my life. I’ve gone through a faith stretch this last year and it’s been both incredibly heartbreaking and beautiful. This podcast has helped me dig into the issues I struggle with and give me new ways to view them. I’m thankful to have found community and education through this podcast and realize I’m not alone and it’s ok to have questions. What a relief!

As I’ve started to really take a look at my LDS faith and how I’m personally trying to begin to own my faith journey and start trusting myself, Valerie and this podcast have been immensely helpful. I can’t wait to start attending her weekly support group soon!

I am so grateful to have found the Latter-Day Struggles podcast and community. It has been such a beautiful space full of support, inclusion, and expansion. I had a spiritual awakening a few years ago when I realized that my faith approach was no longer in alignment with my values and life experiences. It was really difficult and terrifying to sit in the discomfort of deconstructing what was no longer helpful to me. I was surprised to find that on the other side of that discomfort came some of the most profound and sacred experiences of my life. I have reconstructed something even more precious and sacred to me- my own spiritual path. I feel secure in my relationship with my Heavenly Parents and Savior as well as the relationship I have with myself and others. Thank you, Valerie, for providing this safe space that supports spiritual stretching and faith expansion. It has helped me and so many others along our personal faith journeys.

Dear Valerie, I am so grateful to have found your podcast. You bring me peace in so many ways, I can’t even begin to tell you. I’ve been a member of the church for 50 years. I’ve always had so many questions about the church but have had no way to find the answers. Your podcast is a gift to me. Not only do you articulate in a way I never could what is going on inside my brain, you then answer all the questions I’ve been storing over a life time. I finally feel seen and heard by you even though you have no idea who I am. I don’t feel crazy anymore. I don’t feel ostracised anymore. I finally feel at peace with who I am and the way I think. There is a place for me, and I am truly grateful to you for making that place here in your podcast. Thank you! And also to your husband who is amazing as well. ☺️❤️

Hello! Listening to your podcast, one thought comes to mind. With love I invite you Valerie to spend time out side of USA church culture and outside of your culture of costum. I believe this will bring much needed insight to your perspective. -Sonia

The episodes about the safest were amazing. Holy smokes. You got the nail on the head when talking about shameful it is to have to have everyone sitting around crane their neck to see you not taking the sacrament. It’s painful every Sunday to have to sit in the congregation and have everyone around me watch me pass the tray on.

It’s so nice to have someone who feels the way I do about issues in our church. She gives me hope for the future.

@latterdaystrugglespodcast you are my favorite!!! The work you are doing is so healing for me! For so long I have struggled with things in the church but haven’t been able to clearly define the why behind my cringy feelings. So many times I listen to your podcasts and I’m just like “YES!!” It feels so good to know I am not alone and that my thoughts and feelings are valid. I am realizing that I carry a lot of trauma from my upbringing in the church and I am trying to deconstruct and reconstruct around it all and I appreciate so much your insight!

This sounds an awful lot like apostasy. Nope no thank you. I’ll stick to truth.

Val eloquently articulates all the soul deep struggles I have been wrestling with for years. I’ve felt incredibly seen and heard, and I’m starting to find my own words and beliefs on my personal faith expansion journey that I never felt like I had permission to do before this podcast. I am incredibly grateful for her and this podcast.

Valery doesn’t shy away from emotion or difficult discussions in the Mormon culture and with in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She brings up many current and past events that many members wrestle with as they are striving to find Christ in the everyday. Many of the people she invites on add more information and insight that can increase one’s understanding of the topic. I have found that the main goal is to help the individual heal. Personally, this podcast helps me to deconstruct negative messages and give articulation to many of the feelings and thoughts that I have been figuring out on my own. By listening, I have felt stronger in staying and making space for myself in a church that often unintentionally pushes me out.

As a current member of the church, I value Valerie’s thoughts, education, and supremely balanced call to love. I subscribe to her podcasts and can say this is the best therapy and thought-provoking content that is the best $10 I spend each month—-a great way to tithe in a thoughtful way.

This podcast is for anyone connected to the LDS church who is realizing that they don’t fit the “mold” and are starting to wonder how to let go of the mold while holding onto the beautiful parts of their faith tradition. Listen here to find connection and courage to continue on your unique faith journey.

I feel like I was guided to this podcast at a time in my life when I needed it most. I have learning, my faith, my heart, my mind have all expanded so much since I started listening. As someone who was born and raised in the LDS faith, you’ve so eloquently put into words thoughts and feelings that have been weighing heavily on my heart and mind for so long. I feel seen. I feel validated. And most of all, I don’t feel alone. Thank you for doing what you do in the beautiful way that you do it. Your podcast is a true gift. I am eternally grateful… 🤍🙏🏽

If Mormon, theology and psychology, had a baby, it would be this podcast. Valerie and her husband take a deep dive into both and help us all understand why we think the way we do and what is a healthier way to think. It is so good. You won’t be disappointed.

I love the topics and insights shared in this podcast. It validates my thinking, inspires me to be more open minded, focuses on Jesus, and recognizes ways that one can find peace being a member of the church even when church doctrine/policy/culture seems paradoxical or contradictory.

I discovered this podcast 1.5 weeks ago and I started at the beginning. I am all the way up to episode number 42. I am so grateful for the ability the hosts have demonstrated to articulate my issues, to help me feel understood, and to get me out of isolation.

This has been a lifeline for me as I’ve worked to make sense of a faith crisis that evolved into a wonderful faith expansion. I love how Valerie brings a therapist’s lens of mental and emotional health into such a vital discussion of the beauty and real problems in the LDS church. This is in my top three podcasts for people going through a faith journey. I think people who are still very mainstream in their thinking (which was me for four decades) would find this podcast very threatening and scary, so it may be too much too soon if you’re in that demographic. I especially loved the episode covering the stages of community. It helped me understand so many dynamics in our church culture and classes. Also the episode about Pres. Benson’s talk “To the Mothers in Zion” hit me deep to the core. I also feel that instead of having to make a quick, emotionally-driven decision to stay in the church or leave, this podcast has given me permission to take my time and just do what feels healthy and safe as I evolve. Thank you Valerie and Nathan for being so open and sharing your incredible insights!

This podcast has helped me develop my own sense of spiritually in so many ways. Valerie and her quest's cover the topics no one wants to acknowledge. They come from a very spiritual sense and bring human psychology into every episode. The best part is they do so in a way that is neutral. They are not persuading anyone to stay or leave the LDS church, but rather encourage individuality and meet you wherever you are with love. Thank you Valerie and all the guests for your time and dedication to this podcast!

Thank you for putting into words what I have felt so deeply. This podcast has been so extremely helpful during my faith expansion. I finally feel seen and heard. Thank you thank you!!!

Valerie and Nathan host a great podcast with great information and dialogue, but unfortunately they only offer half their discussion FREE and their other half paid. They split their podcasts in various parts (ie Parts I, II, III,

Words cannot express how seen and heard I feel when I listen to this podcast. (I am a Latter-day Saint convert who participates in church.) This is a thoughtful and safe place to contemplate and confront the difficult questions and topics related to the Latter-day Saint experience. If you come from a more orthodox, dogmatic place, some of this discussion might be new or uncomfortable to you. If you are more nuanced or varied in your worldview, a lot of the topics may sound very familiar. Wherever you fall, this is an incredible place of learning and a wonderful opportunity to understand the lived experiences of church and community members.

I had been having thoughts and feelings for years that I could not put into words or even try to understand or start to attempt explanation. A friend told me about this podcast as I was getting my first tattoo and telling her about how I’d been feeling like God would totally still love me whether or not I had ink. I proceeded to tell her that I’d been feeling some type of way about the church. I started listening to this podcast and am in awe about how so many things discussed are EXACTLY what I couldn’t figure out inside myself!!!

As an adult child of God, it is helpful to have informed thoughtful faith expanding discussions regarding complex nuanced, faith and culture. This podcast gives me insight into ways to deal with difficult existential, faith based questions. I work with the youth as well as as a grandparent so I feel it is my obligation to be informed on how to gently escort loved ones through faith transitions from black-and-white and simplistic to complex and enriching. Listening to this podcast helps give me the language and pass forward in this great work.

I am quite about my faith crisis. But, I love Jesus, the ordinances, and the wild histories present in the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. However, the culture we call Mormonism is dangerous. I am SO grateful for a safe place to explore evidence-based insights on topics about which I am struggling.

This podcast does a great job sharing resources for those involved in faith expansion. It also provides good awareness for others on the challenges and opportunities for those who belief in The Church of Jesus Christ on Latter Day Saints and those who struggle with it. While I don’t always agree with everything shared in this podcast, I appreciate the focus on love, compassion, and uplifting all of God’s children.

I would recommend this podcast to anyone seeking peace, healing and understanding in a way the Jesus Christ I have come to know teaches. This is for anyone wanting to use their God given rights and responsibilities and critical thinking to know what is best for their own life journey. In my lived experience, I can echo what Valerie has said about seeing the fruits of a faith crisis/expansion. I’m finding goodness, seeing an increase in love, deepening bonds, expanding my soul, finding my truth and feeling closer to my Heavenly Parents. My circle of love has and continues to grow. No more margins, just love. Many thanks to Valerie and Nate and all the guests for their courage to make this space available. CS

Well researched, engaging, thoughtful.

This podcast has been a gift and a lifeline in the midst of my dark night of the soul. It’s been an invaluable tool for me as I’ve deconstructed and reconstructed and has contributed to my finding peace in my faith journey. Not that it should matter, but because of THIS LDS podcast, and others willing to engage in difficult discourse and face the messiness of humanity and religion, I’ve found a way to walk in peace as I honor my faith tradition, and choose to walk through my faith tradition, while creating and owning the space needed for me to claim my spiritual identity and sovereignty. This is important work and I’m grateful for it and hope to in some small way be a part of it. This is the true Gospel of Jesus Christ in action.

This show has been sooo helpful in my own deconstruction and struggles. I’m grateful for Valerie’s wisdom and willingness to share her thoughts and knowledge—she’s like a therapist in my pocket.

This podcast has helped me understand gospel topics in a broader scenario. It is so well done with an excellent variety of guests and topics.

So grateful for the thoughtful insights and respectful way you address difficult topics. I have appreciated this podcast so much as i have navigated the last year of deconstructing. These episodes bring me so much comfort and make me feel less alone in these feelings. I have recommended this podcast so many times. Thank you 🤍

I love this podcast. There have been so many wonderful guests on here as well as just Valerie and Nathan who continue to bring a spirit of love as well as truth telling.

As someone who grew up in the Mormon faith and continues to go to church this podcast has been life changing. Valerie has put so many of my thoughts into words and has helped me through my questions and frustrations. She gives helpful resources to those of us who are wanting to stay but find it can be challenging. The conversations on this podcast are real, honest and moving. Something I’ve been aching for. My relationship with Diety has developed with much more depth and my relationship with Jesus Christ is truly my own. I’m learning to use my own moral compass that God blessed me with and it’s liberating; too often was I feeling like a Mormon minion! I applaud the work that Valerie along with Nathan are doing. It takes a lot of courage to speak about taboo and touchy topics! There are things that are harmful within the church (any church), and I really appreciated the way they navigate their way through them in a productive way. Keep up the good work!

Great podcast and great topics. My one critique is that the multi-part series are difficult to follow because of the way they are organized in the app. You have to search around and every part and sometimes it’s tricky to figure out where they are all. Is there a better way to name/organize?

This podcast is everything I’ve needed to hear. They share legitimate concerns with respect, honesty, integrity, and sensitivity. They honor and respect everyone regardless of where they are in their faith journey. They promote the importance of open mindedness and personal autonomy in a culture that often discourages it. I truly cannot say enough good things about them! Thank you Valerie for your wisdom and thoughtful approaches to sensitive subjects!

Valerie is so thoughtful and these episodes resonate so well with me and my faith journey.

This podcast has been the most helpful thing for me on my faith journey. There are so many complicated things that are so difficult to unpack and process alone. Valerie is incredible at putting words to complex thoughts and feelings. I can’t express how grateful I am to Valerie and the much needed service she and others provide on this podcast.

This podcast is the epitome of scripture mingled with the philosophies of man. I listened to several of their episodes and always left with an icky feeling. The opposite of enlightenment.

This podcast popped up as one I might be interested in based on other things I’d listened to. The current episode was on President Nelson’s talk, “Think Celestial.” I was most surprised when the discussion began with an implication that President Nelson had somehow suggested that God loves some of His children more than others and thus assigns those He loves more to higher kingdoms. After re-listening to the talk “Think Celestial”, I cannot see any suggestion or implication of this idea at all. Instead I heard and felt President Nelson explain that God loves ALL His children so much that He gave His son to provide the way for all His children to be resurrected and to live in eternal happiness in the place where each would be most comfortable and happy, and that God would hope that place would be with Him in Celestial glory, but He loves His children so much that He won’t force anyone to spend eternity somewhere where they do not want to be. I felt President Nelson’s talk was uplifting and positive….what’s not to love about raising our perspective to higher views? The podcast claims to respectfully challenge anything that might be damaging to individuals struggling with their faith , but I find it very damaging to my faith as a child of God to have beautiful beliefs and truths lovingly shared construed into unintended meanings and false doctrines. This podcast felt a bit like a “wolf in sheep’s clothing” to me, and it was scary how I was innocently lured into what felt like a very damaging discussion.

Valerie has the courage to discuss topics that need to have light shown on them. Kudos to her for speaking up.

This podcast isn’t for everyone. This podcast is reaching out to the ones who’ve been wounded by the Church, and want a place to feel less alone. This episode specifically is balm for anyone who was hurt by President Nelson’s recent conference talk. It is outstanding. Well researched. Compassionate. Fair. It does not attach individuals, only false or misleading premises. It’s not an attack on President Nelson’s motives or intentions. It validates, however, those of us who were confused, othered, and sounded by this talk. I’m sharing this with everyone.