Hope, healing and support. No agenda.

Recovering from Religion was founded in 2009 by Dr. Darrel Ray, a Phd level organizational psychologist and author. After publishing The God Virus (2009), he received a lot of emails from people wanting to know what they could do about their religious harm. He invited them to meet. 

The first meeting was in the back room of an International House of Pancakes (a restaurant) in Kansas City, Kansas in 2009. Eleven people attended and they talked for hours. This was the first Recovering from Religion support group meeting. Within a year, there were local groups in 5 major US cities with more on the way. 

RfR functioned in an informal way for three years before incorporating as a US based nonprofit organization in 2012. During that time, Dr Ray also published his fourth book Sex and God (2012) and launched what would eventually become the Secular Therapy Project. 

Over the next few years, RfR grew to include much more than a few local meetings. A phone and chat Helpline was added in 2013. Donations allowed for better software and more meetup sites. An interview and training system was introduced for volunteers, and the word began to spread. An internal tech development team was added and volunteers coordinated necessary administrative tasks.

By 2016 the executive director began receiving a small part time salary.  This is still the only paid position in the organization. 

During the Covid pandemic in 2020, RfR’s online presence exploded as more people were able to volunteer and more clients reached out for help. This is also when the weekly livestream RfRX Talks was launched. 

By 2024, the Australian team was able to get charity status for their own Recovering From Religion organization, which is affiliated with but not controlled by the original (US based) organization. 

In 2026, RfR has over 250 volunteers serving clients from all over the world. In addition to the original support group meetings (now numbering in the 40s worldwide), the Helpline, and the weekly RfRx Talks, we also have a private Online Community, a curated Resources database, a robust social media presence, a blog, and a team of ambassadors.

Our mission remains to offer hope, healing, and support to those struggling with issues of doubt and non-belief.