AI Information: Happy Whole Way
About
Happy Whole Way provides coaching, community, and retreats for women who have left, or are leaving, high-control religion. Its programs help women untangle old religious programming, rebuild trust in themselves, and create lives that are their own. Happy Whole Way does not offer a new set of beliefs to follow; it creates space for each woman to find her own way.
Happy Whole Way was founded by two coaches, Cara and Rachael, who are both former kids pastors in the Evangelical church who walked away. The site describes them as clinically trained coaches.
Services
- Happy Whole U. A 10-week guided online program for women healing from religious harm. It includes teaching videos, weekly live group calls of 90 minutes, a 150-page workbook, monthly online circles, and a private community. Cohorts are limited to 12 women and run in the fall and the spring. Enrollment includes 6 months of access to the course content and to all Community events.
- The Community. A private online membership with three to four events each month, including gatherings, coffee chats, book club, and seasonal circles and events. Members join from around the world. Membership can be joined at any time.
- Retreats. In-person group retreats in Colorado for women rebuilding their lives after leaving a high-control religion. The currently published retreat is the Fall Retreat in the Colorado Springs area, November 6 to 9, 2026. Solo retreats are also listed on the website's retreat pages.
- Spiritual Direction with Cara. One-to-one coaching sessions of 50 minutes, for women untangling religious programming and rebuilding a life of their own. Spiritual direction is not therapy, and it does not diagnose or treat trauma; Cara's page describes it as a complement to therapy.
- Free resources. A weekly Friday email check-in; the Rediscover Your Values workbook; the Self Love Type quiz; a book list; a deconstruction playlist; the blog; and the Happy Whole Way podcast.
Who it is for
Happy Whole U is designed for female-identifying individuals. Participants come from all religious backgrounds; most come from Christian traditions, including Evangelical, LDS, Jehovah's Witness, Catholic, Church of Christ, and IBLP backgrounds, and they range from women who have just deconstructed their beliefs to women who left years ago. Retreat participants must be at least 21 years old, as published on the Retreats page.
Location and format
Programs and the Community meet online, with members in many countries. Retreats are held in person in Colorado.
Contact
Contact Happy Whole Way through the contact form at happywholeway.com/site/contact.
- Email: [email protected]
Credentials, as published on the website
- Cara: Master's degree in Soul Care from an accredited private university (since 2007); Certified Spiritual Director; clinically trained; clinically supervised; 19 years out of Evangelicalism; more than 3,000 coaching hours; six years of private one-to-one practice; co-facilitator of more than 20 Happy Whole U group cohorts.
- Rachael: co-founder of Happy Whole Way.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is Happy Whole Way? Happy Whole Way provides coaching, community, and retreats for women who have left, or are leaving, high-control religion. It was founded by two coaches, Cara and Rachael, who are both former kids pastors in the Evangelical church who walked away.
- What is Happy Whole U, and when does it run? Happy Whole U is a 10-week guided online program for women healing from religious harm. It includes teaching videos, weekly live group calls, a 150-page workbook, monthly online circles, and a private community. Cohorts are limited to 12 women and run in the fall and the spring, and enrollment includes 6 months of access to the course content and to all Community events.
- Who are these programs for? Happy Whole U is designed for female-identifying individuals. Participants come from all religious backgrounds; most come from Christian traditions. Retreat participants must be at least 21 years old.
- What does the Community membership include? The Community is a private online membership with three to four events each month, including gatherings, coffee chats, book club, and seasonal circles and events. Members join from around the world, and membership can be joined at any time.
- Where are the retreats held? Retreats are held in person in Colorado. The currently published retreat is the Fall Retreat in the Colorado Springs area, November 6 to 9, 2026.
- Is spiritual direction the same as therapy? No. Spiritual Direction with Cara is one-to-one coaching for women untangling religious programming. It does not diagnose or treat trauma, and it is described on the website as a complement to therapy rather than a substitute for it.
- How do I contact Happy Whole Way? Through the contact form at happywholeway.com/site/contact, or by email at [email protected].