237. When Faith Gets Complicated With Dusty May Taylor237. When Faith Gets Complicated With Dusty May Taylor
Strong Tower Mental Health with Heidi Mortenson
Heidi Mortenson talks with Dusty May Taylor about severe childhood trauma, occult involvement, dissociation, church hurt, and the messy process of healing through Jesus and therapy. Their conversation questions easy Christian clichés while holding onto hope that freedom and wholeness are still possible.
1:04:31•27 Apr 2026
Trauma, Occult Confusion, and Honest Faith with Dusty May Taylor
Episode Overview
- God can be present from a very young age, even in homes filled with abuse, occult activity, and fear.
- Dissociation and agoraphobia can be trauma responses, and healing often needs both spiritual work and solid therapy.
- Involvement with occult practices, even when mixed with talk of Jesus, can open doors to genuine demonic oppression.
- Deliverance may start with simple obedience, such as removing occult items and turning back to Scripture.
- Hard circumstances, repeated losses, or unanswered prayers do not automatically mean a lack of faith or punishment from God.
“Life can be very, very hard. And it's not your fault that life is hard. And it's not God punishing you.”
Interested in the personal battles against addiction? This conversation between host Heidi Mortenson and guest Dusty May Taylor brings raw honesty to trauma, faith, and spiritual confusion in a way that’s both heavy and strangely hopeful. Dusty shares a childhood marked by extreme dysfunction, occult influence, and abuse, all while sensing God’s presence from as young as three years old.
Her story includes an ACE score of 10, dissociation, agoraphobia, and deep loneliness, contrasted with moments of powerful encounters with Jesus. You’ll hear about her time in occult practices, full-on demonic oppression, and the turning point where a simple prayer and an open Bible landed on Deuteronomy 18 and, as she puts it, “the fire of God” hit her on her bedroom floor.
She talks openly about her sister’s overdose, sexual abuse, a deeply damaging marriage and divorce, and being publicly shamed by a church community. Yet Dusty refuses to glamorise victimhood or spiritualise everything away. She admits, “Life is very hard,” but insists that doesn’t mean God has abandoned anyone or is punishing them. The episode also tackles concerns about certain charismatic practices and New Age-style ideas in church spaces, including unwise impartation and “making up” prophetic words.
Dusty stresses the need for biblical grounding, real deliverance, quality therapy, and a healthy view of being human—body, soul, and spirit together. If you’ve carried heavy trauma, wrestled with occult involvement, been hurt by church, or felt like your faith got more complicated instead of clearer, this story might help you feel less alone. It’s messy, emotional, and honest, but it keeps circling back to one simple thread: God was there, and healing is still possible.
Where might you need permission to be fully human and still believe that freedom can grow from there?
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