JW Shunning Recovery, Healing From Jehovahs Witness Shunning

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JW shunning is one of the most psychologically devastating 

practices of the Jehovah's Witnesses organisation. 

The moment you are disfellowshipped 

— or the moment you fade and refuse to return — 

the people you have known your entire life are instructed

 to treat you as if you do not exist.

Parents stop returning your calls. 

Siblings walk past you in the street. 

Friends of 30 years pretend they never knew you. 

And the organisation tells them this is love.

It is not love. It is control. 

And recovering from it requires more than time. 

It requires specialised support from someone who truly understands 

what shunning costs — and what it takes to rebuild.

My name is Lisa Magdalena. 

The Original ExJW Therapist. 26 years of experience. 

An ex-Jehovah's Witness myself. A

nd the daughter of Keith Playford, who died at 28 

in the Margate congregation following Watchtower doctrine. 

I know what it is to lose someone to this organisation. I know what it costs.

 Current Jehovah's Witnesses — including close family members — 

are instructed to have no contact 

with disfellowshipped individuals, even in their own homes.

This practice has been examined by governments 

and courts worldwide, including Norway's Supreme Court, 

which examined whether shunning violates human rights protections for children. 

It is increasingly recognised internationally as a form of 

coercive control and psychological abuse.

Complicated Grief 

Losing living people — parents, siblings, lifelong friends — 

who are still alive but act as though you are dead. 

This is a specific and devastating form of grief that most

 therapists have never encountered.

 I have worked with it for 26 years.

Abandonment Trauma

The body-level terror of having your entire social world removed overnight. 

The hypervigilance that follows. 

The difficulty trusting new relationships when the most important 

relationships of your life were withdrawn without warning.

Shame and Self-Blame

The organisation frames shunning as the natural consequence of your choices. 

Many disfellowshipped ex-JWs internalise this 

— believing they deserved to be abandoned, 

that they brought it on themselves, 

that they are fundamentally unworthy of love.

Social Isolation and Identity Crisis

When your entire social world was inside the congregation,

 leaving creates a void that can feel unsurvivable. 

Rebuilding a social identity, a friendship group, a sense of belonging 

— outside of a world you were told was dangerous —

 is one of the hardest parts of JW shunning recovery.

It is about building a life so full and so rich that their absence, 

while still painful, no longer defines you.

In our sessions together we work on processing 

the grief of what was lost, 

understanding the mechanisms of shunning 

so you stop internalising it as your fault, 

rebuilding trust and connection with people who love you without conditions, 

and creating a new social identity rooted in who you actually are 

— not who the organisation told you to be.

Full recovery from JW shunning is possible. 

I have watched it happen thousands of times. 

And you are brave enough to begin.

Lisa Magdalena | The Original ExJW Therapist | Specialised JW Shunning Recovery | Worldwide via Zoom