Stages of Faith And Development
Have you ever looked back on your spiritual journey and realized the beliefs that once felt solid now feel wobbly? Or maybe you have felt shame about outgrowing ideas that used to comfort you? You are not broken or backsliding, you are evolving. The Stages of Faith framework can help make sense of that evolution.
Developed in 1981, James Fowler’s model for the Stages of Faith offers a psychological and developmental lens for how faith (not necessarily religious belief, but the broader way we make meaning) shifts across a person’s life. It is based on cognitive, moral, and emotional development, drawing on thinkers like Piaget, Kohlberg, and Erikson. And while it is not a perfect system, and not everyone is going to fit perfectly into each developmental stage, it is a powerful tool for reflection and healing, especially if you are recovering from religious trauma.
Below is what the stages might look like in real life, and how to nurture growth at every step.
Stage 0: Primal Faith (Infancy)
Developmental Age: Birth to ~2 years
Core Experience: Trust and safety
How It Looks: This foundational stage is not about beliefs. This stage about attachment. Infants develop a sense of whether the world is safe and reliable based on caregivers’ responsiveness. This forms the building blocks for how we eventually relate to the idea of God, authority, and community.
Developmentally Supportive Practices in this stage include:
Consistent, loving caregiving
Secure attachment and emotional attunement
Safe exploration of surroundings
If Someone Is Stuck Here as an adult it could look like:
Chronic distrust of others or systems
Deep existential anxiety or spiritual dissociation
Trouble feeling safe in their body or the world
Supportive Practices for adults stuck in this stage include:
Somatic therapy, inner child work
Creating safety through routine and relational consistency
Gentle mindfulness and nervous system regulation
Even in adulthood, inner child work and somatic healing can help rework ruptures from this early stage.
Stage 1: Intuitive-Projective Faith (Ages 3–7)
Developmental Age: Early childhood
Core Experience: Fantasy and imagination
How It Looks: Children absorb beliefs through stories, images, and the behaviors of adults. Think of simplistic beliefs like, “God is like Santa” or “bad people go to hell.” There is little ability to distinguish metaphor from literal truth, which makes kids incredibly vulnerable to fear-based teachings (hello, rapture nightmares).
Developmentally Supportive Practices in this stage include:
Gentle storytelling that doesn’t rely on fear
Encouraging wonder and questions
Limiting exposure to rigid or punitive messages about morality
If Someone Is Stuck Here as an adult it could look like:
Magical thinking about blessings/curses
Rigid beliefs about divine punishment or “bad thoughts”
Anxiety about doing or thinking the “wrong” thing
Supportive Practices for adults stuck in this stage include:
Reframing metaphorical language (e.g., “sin” or “purity”)
Creative outlets for exploring new narratives
Gentle questioning of inherited fear-based ideas
If you grew up in a high-demand religion, this stage might have been infused with magical thinking and heavy anxiety.
Stage 2: Mythic-Literal Faith (Ages 7–12)
Developmental Age: Middle childhood
Core Experience: Rules, fairness, and concrete thinking
How It Looks: Beliefs are seen as concrete, unchanging truths. Right = reward, wrong = punishment. This stage emphasizes fairness and obedience. It is a stage where scriptures are taken as literal and at face value.
Developmentally Supportive Practices in this stage include:
Provide explanations that go beyond reward/punishment
Encourage empathy and seeing multiple perspectives
Begin conversations about nuance and context
If Someone Is Stuck Here as an adult it could look like:
Black-and-white thinking about morality and belief
Difficulty tolerating nuance or ambiguity
Literal interpretation of scripture (even when harmful)
Supportive Practices for adults stuck in this stage include:
Introduce the concept of metaphor, context, and cultural interpretation
Encourage curiosity, complexity, and empathy
Support values-based (not rule-based) identity development
Many adults in high-demand groups stay stuck here, especially if questioning was discouraged.
Stage 3: Synthetic-Conventional Faith (Adolescence and Beyond)
Developmental Age: Teen years into adulthood
Core Experience: Belonging and external authority
How It Looks: Faith is deeply tied to community identity. Beliefs often reflect what “my church” or “my group” says is true. Questioning feels risky because it might lead to rejection or loss of belonging. This is the stage where many people are told, “Doubt is dangerous.”
Developmentally Supportive Practices in this stage include:
Validate curiosity and doubt as healthy
Create safe spaces for dialogue and exploration
Model complexity without shame
If Someone Is Stuck Here as an adult it could look like:
Fear of asking spiritual questions
Feeling like doubt = betrayal
Shame around spiritual or ideological change
Outsourcing all moral authority to religious leaders or systems
Supportive Practices for adults stuck in this stage include:
Validate doubt as developmentally appropriate
Explore identity separate from the group
Introduce spiritual autonomy and critical reflection
Most religious institutions prefer people stay here. That’s because it is easier to control behavior when certainty feels sacred.
Stage 4: Individuative-Reflective Faith (Young Adulthood and Up)
Developmental Age: Often begins in 20s or 30s
Core Experience: Deconstruction and self-authorship
How It Looks: Here is where things can get messy and liberating. People begin critically examining beliefs they inherited. Faith becomes less about external authority and more about internal alignment. It often involves disillusionment, and for many, intense grief or anger. This is often a painful but freeing stage when people start asking, “What do I really believe?” It involves deconstructing inherited beliefs, evaluating authority, and prioritizing internal alignment over external approval.
Developmentally Supportive Practices in this stage could include:
Reading across spiritual traditions
Journaling, meditation, and creative expression
If Someone Is Stuck Here it could look like:
Cynicism, spiritual burnout, or paralysis
Isolation or grief after leaving community
Over-identifying with deconstruction without rebuilding
Supportive Practices for adults stuck in this stage could include:
Narrative therapy, IFS, or EMDR to process loss and trauma
Support for rebuilding meaning (not just tearing down)
Connect with others who hold space for complexity
This is a common stage for exvangelicals, ex-Mormons, and other religious trauma survivors. You may feel isolated, but you are actually growing.
Stage 5: Conjunctive Faith (Midlife and Beyond)
Developmental Age: Midlife (but not always)
Core Experience: Embracing paradox
How It Looks: People begin to hold opposing truths at once. There’s comfort with mystery and an appreciation for the symbolic, metaphorical, and even the mystical. Certainty becomes less important than compassion.
Developmentally Supportive Practices:
Interfaith dialogue or spiritual pluralism
Tolerance for ambiguity
Focus on inner transformation and interconnectedness
It is rare to be stuck here in a harmful way, but stagnation or reverting to previous stages can still happen:
Becoming so open-minded that no clear values are held
Avoiding action or advocacy in the name of “both sides-ism”
Supportive Practices if you are experiencing stagnation here:
Continued integration through spiritual practices
Deepening commitments to compassion-based action
Learning from pluralistic and interfaith communities
This stage often feels more grounded and integrated, which is less about being right, more about being whole.
Stage 6: Universalizing Faith (Rare)
Developmental Age: Few reach this stage
Core Experience: Transcendent, selfless compassion
How It Looks: This stage is actually rare for someone to reach. These are the people who live with deep alignment and non-attachment. Their lives are marked by nonviolence, activism, universal compassion and embody universal love, justice, and service. Their lives reflect radical integrity and a commitment to healing systems of oppression. Stagnation is not typical here. If there are problems here, it could look like reverting to previous stages or perspectives.
Supportive Practices:
Continued personal integration
Deep community engagement and support
Courageous activism grounded in love
Reflecting on motivations and embodiment
Why This Matters
Understanding these stages helps normalize the discomfort of spiritual growth, especially when you have been told that questioning is “backsliding” or sinful. Faith is not static. It is developmental. And just like emotional or cognitive growth, it takes time, support, and safety.
The stages of faith are not a ladder like other developmental models. They are more like a spiral. People revisit earlier stages in times of stress, trauma, or transition. And not everyone needs to “progress.” Growth is not a moral requirement, it is a process of becoming more aligned with your values, agency, and truth.
If you were punished or shamed for asking questions, if your worth was tied to certainty, or if you are just now wondering what you believe, know that you are not failing, you are developing.
Whether you are grieving a belief system, rebuilding a spiritual identity, or choosing to step away from faith entirely, your experience is valid. You are not regressing. You are evolving.
Reach out to start therapy or to learn more.
Sources for Further Reading:
Disclaimer:
⚠️ The content on this blog is intended for informational and educational purposes ONLY and should NOT be considered a substitute for professional mental health care, diagnosis, or treatment. Reading these posts does not establish a therapeutic relationship.
If you are currently in crisis, experiencing thoughts of harming yourself or others, or are in need of immediate support, please call 911 or contact a crisis line such as the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988 (U.S.) or access your local emergency services.
These blog posts are written to explore topics like trauma, religious deconstruction, cults, identity development, and mental wellness in a thoughtful and compassionate way. They may (or may not) resonate deeply, especially for those healing from complex trauma, but they are NOT meant to replace individualized therapy or medical care.
