Ann Russo LCSW

Ann Russo LCSW Founder and Director of AMR Therapy. Creator of the Religious Trauma Treatment Model. Together, we can reimagine what mental health care can be.

Specializing in religious trauma and sexuality, Ann Russo works at the intersection of faith, queerness, and power, developing structured pathways toward autonomy and r I’m a queer entrepreneur, author, and educator dedicated to transforming mental health care through compassion, inclusivity, and empowerment. As the Founder and Clinical Director of AMR Therapy, I’ve led a thriving practice that ha

s served over 2,000 clients, creating a space where marginalized communities feel seen and supported. Currently, my focus is on training mental health professionals and organizations to embrace culturally affirming, sex-positive practices. Through workshops, consulting, and my forthcoming book, [Working Title: Beyond Belief: Healing Religious Trauma and Reclaiming Identity], I equip providers to navigate complex trauma, religious shame, and identity-based challenges with confidence and care. Whether you’re a mental health provider seeking to grow or someone curious about the intersection of trauma, sexuality, and inclusivity, I invite you to connect with me here.

04/30/2026

Healing from religious trauma is real, valid, and possible. You do not have to leave your faith to recover, and you are not required to stay to be whole. Your path is yours.

04/29/2026

Are you a clinician ready to provide truly inclusive, trauma-informed care? CEUs are available, including ASWB‑approved, self‑paced, affordable options for busy clinicians. https://buff.ly/JfiEXR1

Religious trauma does not always announce itself. Sometimes it just looks like this. Quiet. Embodied. Familiar. Save thi...
04/28/2026

Religious trauma does not always announce itself. Sometimes it just looks like this. Quiet. Embodied. Familiar. Save this if it gave you language for something you have been carrying. 📌

This is what belief-system injury looks like in everyday life. Not a dramatic crisis moment but a quiet pattern of scann...
04/28/2026

This is what belief-system injury looks like in everyday life. Not a dramatic crisis moment but a quiet pattern of scanning, shrinking, and swallowing what is true for you to stay safe inside a system that required it. If you recognize yourself in this list, you are not broken. You adapted. And those adaptations can be unlearned. That is what the RTTM framework is built for. Learn more at annrusso.org or amrtherapy.com

04/26/2026

Now accepting 1:1 consulting for therapists, providers, and individuals. helping those navigating religious shame, sexuality, and identity. I brings decades of experience, a MA in Theology, and deep expertise in trauma-informed, affirming care.

Book your consultation today.
annrusso.org

04/23/2026

I believe in specialization. I believe in clinicians who commit years to study, practice, and refinement. I believe in depth of experience.

But when expertise loses humility, it becomes rigidity.

And rigidity has no place in mental health work.

What it means to practice in q***r-affirming ways today is not what it meant twenty years ago. Language has shifted. Lived experience has shifted. Power dynamics are more visible. Our clinical frameworks have to evolve accordingly.

In this clip, I talk about why staying “certain” is often the fastest way to become clinically ineffective.

Growth requires ongoing recalibration. Not just of skills, but of assumptions.

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One of the most human things we do is feel responsible for losses that were never ours to prevent. I wrote about this re...
04/23/2026

One of the most human things we do is feel responsible for losses that were never ours to prevent. I wrote about this recently after losing someone I loved to the long, quiet damage that religious shame can do to a life. Guilt lives in the body long after the mind has let go. If you are carrying that today, for a client, a loved one, anyone you could not save, I want you to know this: feeling responsible is human. Being responsible is something else entirely. There are losses no one person can prevent.

04/22/2026

Queerness and faith can coexist. The clinical task is not resolution through erasure. It is integration without harm.

Clients presenting with identity conflict shaped by religious doctrine require more than affirmation alone. They require a framework that addresses internalized theology, moral injury, and the somatic imprint of shame while preserving agency in belief.

Ann Russo provides LGBTQ+ affirming therapy, consultation, and clinician training grounded in religious trauma treatment.

Inclusive care is not optional. It is a clinical standard.

04/21/2026

A new clinical framework is on its way.

Ann Russo’s Religious Trauma Treatment model is designed for clinicians working at the intersection of faith, trauma, sexuality, and identity. It provides a clear structure for addressing religious shame and restoring connection to the body without requiring clients to abandon belief.

Early access, trainings, and consultation opportunities will be announced soon.

Join the mailing list at annrusso.org.

I joined The P***y Centered Living Podcast for a conversation that goes where most clinical spaces still hesitate.We get...
04/19/2026

I joined The P***y Centered Living Podcast for a conversation that goes where most clinical spaces still hesitate.

We get into purity culture, the Madonna–whore complex, sexual obligation, and the long tail of religious conditioning in women’s relationships to their bodies, desire, and consent.

This is not surface-level. And it is not sanitized.

Because the reality is this: many clients are not just working through “sexual shame.” They are working through entire belief systems that taught them their bodies were dangerous, their desire was suspect, and their role was compliance.

If you are a clinician, this is the work.

Reclaiming your sexual voice is not about confidence. It is about autonomy. It is about restructuring the internal framework that governs how someone relates to pleasure, agency, and self-trust.

This episode speaks directly to that process.

Listen here:
https://buff.ly/uycKJa7

04/16/2026

They called it protection. It was actually control.

This clip from the More Human, More Kind podcast names what many women already feel but have not been given language for. Religious systems that claim to safeguard sexuality often do so by policing it. Shame becomes the mechanism. Silence becomes the expectation.

This is not just personal. It is structural.

In my work, including my Religious Trauma Treatment model, I focus on helping people identify how these belief systems shaped their relationship to desire, pleasure, and self-trust. Healing is not about becoming “acceptable.” It is about becoming fully self-directed.

If this resonates, start here:
https://buff.ly/aFtaE1h
https://buff.ly/HTDJzL9

04/14/2026

Your desire is not a defect. Your body is not dangerous. And you don't have to choose between your faith and your pleasure.

Ann Russo, LCSW & Theologian, helps individuals reclaim their sexuality from the grip of religious shame — through therapy, consulting, and education.

Healing is possible. You deserve it.

Address

Unit 201
Long Beach, CA
90803

Telephone

+13232075901

Website

http://www.amrtherapy.com/, https://bellarmine.lmu.edu/theologicalstudies/, https://www.csulb.

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