Practical help for what comes after leaving

Support for people rebuilding their lives after leaving a high-control religious group, work, money, family, and the parts nobody warned you about.

Free. Confidential. No account required to browse.

Dear friend,

If you've found your way here, chances are you already know that leaving isn't the end of the story. It's usually where the harder chapter starts, and that's exactly why we built this.

Every one of us on the Open Space Support team were once Jehovah's Witnesses. We know what it's like to rebuild a career when your qualifications don't exist, or don't count. We know what it's like to sit with a bank account, a CV, or a doctor's form for the first time and realise no one ever showed you how. We know the particular kind of quiet that comes with losing family, friendships, and a community all at once, and we know how long it can take to feel steady again.

We didn't build this from research alone. We built it from having lived it.

That means we're not here to tell you what to believe, or to relitigate what you left behind. We're here for the practical part, the part that so rarely gets talked about, and that nobody else seems to be building for. Work, money, housing, education, family, and the harder emotional weight underneath all of it.

There's no test to pass here, and nothing you need to explain before we'll help. Start wherever makes sense to you today.

With understanding,

The Open Space Support Team

A family walking together along a sunlit tree-lined path
A woman walking away down a bright countryside path in golden light

Find what you need, right now.

Practical and emotional support across twelve areas - pick whichever one fits today.

A small support group sitting together in a warm, welcoming room

"Built from real experience, not guesswork. We're gathering evidence directly from people who've been through this, so the support we build actually matches what's needed."

The need is real, and well documented.

We're not guessing at this. Here's what the research shows.

One study found former Jehovah's Witnesses rated their wellbeing meaningfully higher once they'd had time to rebuild than they did right after leaving.
That's what this site is here to support.

Source: Ransom, Monk & Heim, Pastoral Psychology, 2020

80,000+

People disfellowshipped from Jehovah's Witnesses each year

Source: Watchtower/JW.org reporting (self-reported by the organisation)

1 in 100

JWs disfellowshipped every year

Source: Watchtower/JW.org reporting (self-reported by the organisation)

1,000,000+

Former JWs alive today being shunned - over 10% of active membership

Source: Watchtower reporting, via Psychology Today, 2024 (self-reported by the organisation)