Send us a Positive Review! Are you curious about what has happened in the minds and hearts of the Hamakers eight months post-resignation from the LDS church due to the waves that this podcast has made throughout the world for the past couple of years? Well, one thing that happened changed Val's life and is now changing hundreds of Latter Day Struggles Podcast listener's lives too. It all started the day Val opened up a book that became a portal to an entire universe of deep...

Send us a Positive Review! Series Title: Unpacking LDS Polygamy Developments in 2025 [Part II of II] Join Valerie and Jana Spangler as they finish their conversation about the fascinating currents of 2025 surrounding polygamy in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. In this episode they dissect the release of a new gospel topic essay solidifying Joseph Smith's role as the originator of polygamy, the provocative digitization of a John Taylor revelation, and analyze President Oaks'...

Send us a Positive Review! Join Valerie and her guest Jana Spangler in the next two Monday episodes as they delve into the complexities of polygamy within the Mormon church, focusing on the year 2025 when several significant events around this topic unfolded. They discuss how early Mormon history, particularly Joseph Smith's revelation on polygamy, has impacted the faith journey of many members. Additionally, they explore the recent polygamy-related additions to the 'Come Follow Me' man...

Send us a Positive Review! Series Title: A Two-Hundred Year Old Mirror: How the Faith Expansion Journey has Always Made Christian Leadership Sweat! [Episode II of II] In this thought-provoking episode, Valerie and guest Casey McFarland dive into part two of their series comparing the dynamics between orthodox leadership and progressive membership in both the early Christian church and in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. They explore the discovery of the Gnostic Gospels a...

Send us a Positive Review! Series Title: A Two-Hundred Year Old Mirror: How the Faith Expansion Journey has Always Made Christian Leadership Sweat! [Episode I of II] In the next two Monday episodes you are going to LOVE this conversation between Valerie and her friend Casey McFarland (of @pioneerparadox) as they discuss a fascinating aspect of early Christian history that is sure to resonate with you on your own faith expansion journey. They delve into the world of early Christian Gnostics ...

Send us a Positive Review! Series Title: An Exploration of ‘Fabricated Fellowship’ & ‘Harmful Religiosity’ on the Path Towards Healing Spiritual Community [Part IV of IV] Join Valerie and her special guests, Steve and Ginger Hitz, in the final episode of a profound four-part series focused on the crucial role that community can play in fostering environments of growth and spiritual flourishing. In this episode one focus is on the harms of blind conformity and the importance of lea...

Send us a Positive Review! Series Title: An Exploration of ‘Fabricated Fellowship’ & ‘Harmful Religiosity’ on the Path Towards Healing Spiritual Community [Part III of IV] In this thought-provoking episode, Valerie and guests Ginger and Steve continue to delve into discuss their book, 'Igniting the Holy Flame.' In this episode the topic turns to a core principle key community spiritual healing. Paradoxically, the more each individual in a community is trusted to find God within, the mor...

Send us a Positive Review! Series Title: An Exploration of ‘Fabricated Fellowship’ & ‘Harmful Religiosity’ on the Path Towards Healing Spiritual Community [Part II of IV] In this second episode (of a four-part Monday series), Valerie dives deeper with Steve and Ginger Hitz, authors of 'Igniting the Holy Flame.' The conversation centers on the barriers to spiritual thriving in church communities, specifically the concepts of 'fabricated fellowship' and 'harmful religiosity' complete wit...

Send us a Positive Review! Series Title: An Exploration of ‘Fabricated Fellowship’ & ‘Harmful Religiosity’ on the Path Towards Healing Spiritual Community [Part I of IV] As Richard Rohr has often said, "It is through great love and great suffering" that the soul grows the most rapidly and the most durably. In this four-part series (every MONDAY for the next four weeks!) fall in love with Steve and Ginger Hitz, co-authors of 'Igniting the Holy Flame: Building Communities of Love from the A...

Send us a Positive Review! Join Dr. Julie Hanks & Valerie in a heartfelt audience Q&A addressing their shared passion as therapists working with thousands of people in and around The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Listen in and find hope and comfort as these two women answer questions about their eventful year promoting, leading, and trying to embody (although imperfectly!) lives of psychological and spiritual health. Stay tuned for the end of the episode where t...

Send us a Positive Review! In this eye-opening episode Valerie is a guest on the Inside Out Podcast with Ian Wilkes and Jim Bennett, where they dive deep into the complexities of women's roles within the LDS Church, locking in on the recent garment policy shifts. You might be surprised to learn Valerie’s take on this topic. A hint: adding women leaders to these policy-making gatherings is NOT the answer to this conundrum where it seems that thousands of LDS women across the belief &...

Send us a Positive Review! In this heartwarming episode, Val is the guest on the Therapy Brothers podcast hosted by brothers & fellow relationship therapists Brannon and Tyler Patrick. The topic is navigating the choppy waters of a marriage in distress due to the faith journey of one of the partners--a demographic of couples that is multiplying rapidly. The bottom line? A faith transition can (and has) weakened or destroyed many a marriage. But guess what? ...

Send us a Positive Review! In this episode Valerie is the guest on the podcast Black & White & Gold hosted by Carly and Rob Allred where they engage in a compelling conversation on gender and faith. Valerie is becoming the prominent voice for the LDS Church advocating for educating men around the harms of patriarchal indoctrination on male development. This work is yielding good results as more and more LDS men are becoming feminists in their own right and are declining traditio...

Send us a Positive Review! In this episode Valerie is guest on the Parrish the Thought podcast where Brian Parrish interviews Val on the resistance she experienced from local priesthood leaders as a mental health worker tending to the complex issues of faith crisis in an institution that has yet to understand either the faith journey itself or widespread mental/relational/spiritual health issues that come from pathologizing the faith journey. As we all know—fear of church leaders did n...

Send us a Positive Review! In this episode, Valerie shares an inspiring journey of self-discovery and spiritual growth with The Wholeness Network. The theme was Brene Brown's exploration of the concept of "Braving the Wilderness" and on the heels of three years of learning to live & love one's truth at a potentially high social cost, Val felt that she had a couple of things to say about this. This episode is a sharing of history, emotion on both ends of the spectrum and...

Send us a Positive Review! In this exciting solo episode, Valerie reflects on the profound personal growth she has experienced over the past few months and shares her plans for what she is informally dubbing the "Latter Day Struggles 2.0" era. In some ways, you will continue to get what you have come to expect--a respectful & honest conversation about all things Mormon through the lens of healthy psychology. Where 2.0 is going to shine is in several upcoming "Transcendi...

Send us a Positive Review! In this episode Val is a guest on the Join Latter Day Digest podcast & what unfolds is the very unlikely story that led to Val's and Nathan's eventual 'outlaw' status within the LDS church. Why is this so odd? Because this couple could not have been more traditionally believing for the majority of their lives--including spending most of their marriage following all of the traditional scripts of Mormonism...which in some ways worked and in other ways ...

Send us a Positive Review! Missed the LIVE Q&A where Val recently answered the flood of questions that have come in on the heels of her & Nathan's brave series venturing into the realm of politics, polarization & human/cultural evolution of consciousness? In this Q&A Val takes some very challenging questions and walks you through ways in which politics & religion are reflections how people make sense of some of their ultimate concerns about themselves & others.&n...

Send us a Positive Review! In this episode Valerie is the guest on the thought-provoking Inside Out Podcast, one of the first podcasts to interview her following the dramatic events that led up to the Hamakers' decision to resign from the LDS church rather than collude in an excommunication process that they did not endorse as ethical, legitimate, or appropriate. This episode takes you through Val's early life and path leading to her current work and delves into the challenges she...

Send us a Positive Review! In this episode Val is a guest on the wonderful In Her Image Podcast to discuss the complex emotional journey of awakening to the divine feminine. They explore common emotional responses to one's realization that s/he has been estranged from half of deity for one's whole life, awakening to the power that many of us give away in allowing others to define who the Divine is, and how this journey almost always leads to the need to redefine one's relationship with the LD...