Done: How to Flourish After Leaving Religion

This book draws from cutting-edge psychological research to provide advice for people who are undergoing religious change.

Americans today are leaving religion in record numbers. For many, the faith, practices, and institutions that once provided comfort and guidance no longer fit their beliefs and values. This shift often comes with a price, however. While turning away from religion can bring about freedom, awe, and wonder, it can also engender a profound loss of meaning, purpose, community, and identity. It can threaten our relationships with friends and family. And it can pose a significant challenge to the mental health of even the most resilient among us.

How can people who are no longer served by traditional religion find new meaning and purpose? How can they process the grief that often accompanies religious or spiritual change? And how can they address challenging interpersonal relationships with people who do not support or understand their religious change? In this book, psychologist Daryl Van Tongeren draws from psychological theories and research to examine the emotional and social processes involved with religious change and offers science-based guidance for building a new life--with or without religion.

If you are rethinking your religious beliefs, have experienced religious loss or struggle, or have undergone a significant religious change, you are not alone. By understanding how people before us have left or transformed their religion, we can discover new ways of finding peace, experiencing meaning, and, if desired, engaging with the transcendent. Let their wisdom--and this book--be your guide.

Daryl Van Tongeren, PhD, is an associate professor of psychology at Hope College. A social psychologist, he has published over 200 scholarly articles and chapters on meaning in life, religion, virtues, and well-being, and his work has been supported by numerous grants from the John Templeton Foundation. He was named a 2016 Rising Star from the Association for Psychological Science, won the Margaret Gorman Early Career Award for APA’s Division 36 (Psychology of Religion and Spirituality) in 2022, and won the Early Career Contributions Award from the International Society for the Science of Existential Psychology. Visit www.darylvantongeren.com for more information.