Young, Religious, and Searching: What Lamorna Ash’s Journey Reveals About Faith and Mental Health in Millennials

Hook: Young, searching and stressed — why clinicians must treat faith as clinical data

Many clinicians and caregivers tell us they feel unprepared when a millennial or young adult in their care announces a sudden interest in religion: Is this healthy exploration, a coping mechanism, or a red flag for social isolation or coercion? As Lamorna Ash’s public journey from agnosticism to attending Quaker silence and Anglican worship illustrates, faith exploration is seldom a straight line. It can be a source of meaning and social support — and at times a driver of identity conflict and distress. In 2026, understanding the intersections of faith and mental health among young adults is no longer optional for quality care.

The context: Why faith exploration among young adults matters now

Lamorna Ash — a 31-year-old writer whose 2025 book, Don’t Forget We’re Here Forever, chronicled her reporting on conversions and curiosity about Christianity — is one visible example of a wider cultural movement. After years of surveys indicating rising “spiritual but not religious” identification, late 2024–2025 saw a notable uptick in organized religious interest among some millennials and older Gen Zers. By early 2026 clinicians report more patients describing active exploration of religious communities, ritual practices, and contemplative traditions.

Why now? A few converging trends shape this landscape:

• Post-pandemic shifts: isolation, economic insecurity, and collective trauma prompted renewed searches for meaning and stable social networks.
• Digital faith ecosystems: social media, podcasts, and online worship lowered barriers to sampling different traditions.
• Visible public stories — writers like Ash traveling between Quaker meetings and Anglican services — normalized non-linear spiritual journeys.
• Growing clinical attention to spiritual well-being: by 2025–2026 many behavioral health programs integrated chaplaincy, telechaplaincy, and spiritual screening into routine care.

What Lamorna Ash’s experience reveals about young adult faith exploration

Ash’s reporting and personal experimentations offer a compact case study in how faith exploration can affect mental health:

• Fluid identity navigation: Ash oscillated between traditions (Quaker silence, Anglican liturgy), illustrating that young adults often adopt a pluralistic approach. This flexibility can bolster identity experimentation but may also amplify uncertainty.
• Social reconfiguration: Moving between communities reshapes support networks. Ash found warmth in intergenerational Quaker groups and structure in Anglican worship — each fulfilling different social and emotional needs.
• Meaning-making as coping: Rituals and contemplative practices provided forms of consolation and cognitive reframing that clinicians recognize as adaptive coping strategies.
• Intersectional stressors: Ash’s openness about bisexuality highlights a central clinical consideration: faith communities are not uniformly safe. The fit between personal identity and community norms crucially determines whether religious involvement is salutary or harmful.

Evidence-based links between spiritual well-being and mental health

Multiple lines of research across the past decade show associations (not uniform causality) between spiritual well-being and mental health outcomes in young adults. Spiritual resources can correlate with:

• Reduced perceived loneliness and greater social support
• Improved coping with grief, existential distress, and moral injury
• Enhanced meaning and purpose scores on validated instruments

However, clinicians must also recognize harms: certain religious involvement can increase guilt, shame, or minority stress (particularly for LGBTQ+ young adults), and some communities may normalize avoiding mental health care.

Practical clinical takeaways: How to assess and integrate faith into care

Below are practical steps clinicians and caregivers can adopt immediately. These are designed to be trauma-informed, non-proselytizing, and patient-centered.

1. Normalize and screen

• Open the door: Include a brief spiritual-health question on intake forms (e.g., "Do religious or spiritual beliefs play a role in your life? If yes, how?").
• Use brief validated screens when appropriate — for example, the FICA (Faith, Importance, Community, Address) or HOPE framework — to structure a short assessment in under five minutes.
• Ask about both resources and risks: explore community support, rituals, and any experiences of exclusion or coercion.

2. Map faith-related coping

• Explore how faith practices function: Are they frameworks for meaning-making, sources of calm (prayer/meditation), or primarily social support?
• Ask concrete questions: "What do you do spiritually when you feel overwhelmed?" "Who do you turn to in your faith community when you’re stressed?"

3. Collaborate with spiritual care providers

• Establish referral pathways with local faith leaders who are known to be inclusive and trained to collaborate with medical teams.
• Where available, integrate chaplaincy into outpatient or telehealth services — telechaplaincy expanded substantially in 2025–2026 and can reach young adults who prefer digital access.

4. Weave faith into treatment goals — when the patient wants it

• Behavioral activation can honor faith: suggest community-based activities at church groups, meditation circles, or service projects aligned with the patient’s beliefs.
• Integrate faith-consistent cognitive reframing: identify scripture or spiritual teachings the patient finds comforting and use them as material to reappraise negative thoughts (with explicit consent).

5. Guard against harm and protect identity

• Screen for religious trauma and coercion: ask about pressure to conform, punitive theology, or threats to personal safety.
• For LGBTQ+ patients, explicitly assess the community’s stance on sexual and gender identities and be prepared with alternative affirming faith communities or secular support.

6. Document respectfully

• Record spiritual history as clinical data: what the patient values, how faith affects behavior, and any community supports or harms.
• Maintain confidentiality and avoid moral judgments in notes.

Advice for caregivers and family: Supporting a loved one who is spiritually searching

Caregivers often feel uncertain: when to encourage exploration, when to be worried. Use these practical strategies:

• Listen, don’t fix: Ask open questions: "What draws you to this community?" "How does this help you feel better?"
• Prioritize safety: If the community isolates your loved one from other support, or if you see signs of coercion, seek professional advice.
• Encourage plural social ties: Support your loved one in keeping friendships and activities outside the faith group to prevent social capture.
• Find affirming communities: If identity conflict exists, help locate faith communities or counselors known for inclusivity.
• Support help-seeking: Normalizing psychotherapy and psychotropic treatments alongside spiritual practices reduces false dichotomies between religion and mental health care.

How to triage when faith involvement appears harmful

Not every faith engagement is health-promoting. Red flags that warrant urgent attention include:

• Restrictive isolation from family/friends
• Pressure to abandon medical care
• Endorsement of self-harm or suicidal ideation rooted in punitive theology
• Physical or emotional abuse justified by religious authority

On identifying these, clinicians should assess safety, involve multidisciplinary teams (social work, legal if needed), and create a safety plan that respects the patient’s spiritual framework while prioritizing health.

Clinical vignettes: Applying lessons from Ash’s journey

Vignette 1 — The contemplative seeker

Patient: 29-year-old, reports evenings of silence at a local Quaker meeting help her sleep and reduce panic symptoms. Clinical approach: incorporate short daily silence or mindfulness into the care plan; refer to contemplative groups (Quaker or secular meditation) for social connection.

Vignette 2 — The oscillating explorer

Patient: 32-year-old, moves between evangelical small groups and liturgical services, reports both comfort and confusion. Clinical approach: validate plural spiritual identities; map which community practices reduce vs. increase anxiety; support selective engagement while monitoring for identity-based distress.

Vignette 3 — Identity conflict and religious exclusion

Patient: 24-year-old bisexual man attracted to the structure of a local parish but anxious about acceptance. Clinical approach: explicitly discuss safety and inclusion; offer referrals to LGBTQ+-affirming faith communities and secular support groups; collaborate with chaplains trained in LGBTQ+ pastoral care.

Trends to watch in 2026 and near future predictions

As of early 2026, several service and research trends are shaping clinical practice around faith and mental health:

• Telechaplaincy growth: Following expansion in 2024–2025, telechaplaincy services now sit alongside teletherapy as an accessible option for young adults exploring faith digitally.
• Hybrid spiritual communities: Churches and spiritual groups increasingly offer hybrid (in-person + livestream) participation, lowering barriers for mobility-challenged or geographically distant young adults.
• Clinical training expansion: Continuing education modules on spiritual assessment and LGBTQ+-affirming pastoral collaboration have become more widely available for mental health professionals in 2025–2026.
• Research momentum: Funded studies are increasingly focusing on which models of faith-integrated psychotherapies best serve diverse young adults. Expect more nuanced guidance in clinical guidelines by 2027.

Practical resources for clinicians

• Use standardized spiritual history tools (FICA, HOPE, SPIRIT) adapted for time-pressured settings.
• Maintain a vetted list of local and online affirming faith communities and chaplains.
• Build partnerships with community leaders to create safe referral pathways.
• Include spiritual-wellness metrics in routine outcome tracking when relevant (e.g., FACIT-Sp for spiritual well-being).

Ethical considerations and boundary guidance

Integrating spirituality into care demands clear ethical guardrails:

• Never impose your beliefs or proselytize.
• Obtain explicit consent before incorporating spiritual content into therapy.
• Recognize power differentials between clinicians and spiritual leaders within communities and document informed referrals.

Final synthesis: What Lamorna Ash teaches clinicians and caregivers

Lamorna Ash’s movement between Quaker silence and Anglican worship is a microcosm of modern spiritual searching: iterative, pragmatic, and entwined with identity work. For many young adults, religious exploration provides ritualized coping, intergenerational contact, and frameworks for meaning. Yet the clinical outcome depends on the community fit, inclusivity, and whether faith practices complement or replace evidence-based care.

In short: faith is neither a universal prescription nor a universal risk. It is clinical data — rich, complex, and worthy of routine attention.

Action checklist for your next encounter

1. Ask one routine spiritual question at intake and note whether faith plays a role in coping.
2. Use a 3–5 minute structured screen (FICA/HOPE) if faith appears central.
3. Map supports vs. stressors: who in the community helps, and who harms?
4. Offer chaplain/faith-referrals (telechaplaincy when preferred) and affirm concurrent mental health treatment.
5. Monitor for coercion, isolation, and suicidal ideation; prioritize safety.

Call to action

Clinicians and caregivers: begin including spiritual screening in routine assessments this month. Build at least one referral relationship with an affirming spiritual caregiver in your community and add telechaplaincy options to your resource list. For clinical teams, make 2026 the year spiritual well-being joins other routine outcome measures. Doing so will help young adults like Lamorna Ash — and the many patients quietly searching for meaning — get care that honors both mind and spirit.

Related Reading

• Turn Your Child's Favorite Game into Keepsakes: 3D-Printed Pokémon and MTG Accessories
• Streamer Safety Checklist: Protecting Your Accounts After the LinkedIn/Facebook/Instagram Takeover Wave
• Best Executor Builds After the Nightreign Patch
• Games Should Never Die? How Devs, Publishers, and Communities Can Keep MMOs Alive
• Why AI-driven Memory Shortages Matter to Quantum Startups