Spiritual abuse can cause lasting psychological harm, including complex PTSD, a fragmented sense of self, and deep shame. This article explores the trauma symptoms associated with spiritual abuse — including emotional dysregulation, disturbed relationships, and a negative self-concept — and what recovery can look like. Psychologist Kylie Walls explains the symptoms of complex PTSD and how they present in the context of spiritual abuse and religious trauma.

This article by psychologist Kylie Walls explores the psychological effects of adult sexual grooming and exploitation in religious and spiritual settings, including clergy sexual abuse, spiritual abuse, and clergy sexual misconduct. Written by a psychologist with an area of focus in religious trauma, it examines how grooming works in faith communities, why survivors often do not recognise it as abuse, and what the aftermath looks like, including PTSD, complex trauma, shame, loss of faith, and disrupted sense of self.

Why do survivors of spiritual abuse so often return to the person who harmed them — and grieve them even after leaving? Psychologist Kylie Walls explains trauma bonding: the powerful attachment that forms through power imbalance and intermittent warmth, and why churches, ministries and religious communities are particularly fertile ground for it. Drawing on the work of Dutton and Painter, Patrick Carnes, and recent Cambridge research, this article explores how the bond is actively built through grooming and sacred authority, why doubt about a leader can feel like doubt about God, and what recovery involves. Written for survivors and those who support them, it makes clear that the pull back is a conditioned response, not a personal failing.

Understanding adult clergy sexual exploitation requires insight into spiritual abuse and the psychological dynamics that make victims more vulnerable. This article explores how cognitive dissonance, schema chemistry, and reverence for spiritual leaders can cloud victims' perceptions, making abuse harder to recognize. Highlighting the importance of appropriate vulnerability in relationships and the misuse of pastoral authority, it addresses the spiritual harm victims experience.

What sustains harm in spiritually abusive churches isn't the perpetrator alone — it's the quiet, semi-conscious compliance of those around them. A psychologist’s analysis of Václav Havel's The Power of the Powerless and his greengrocer as a lens for religious trauma, bystander complicity, and the slow work of repair.

This article explores why many survivors of abuse remain silent for years and how silence can function as a powerful survival strategy. Using Rachael Denhollander’s experience of speaking out against Larry Nassar, the piece highlights the role of fear, shame, disbelief, and the nervous system’s freeze response in keeping survivors quiet. It also examines betrayal trauma, where abuse is perpetrated by someone trusted or depended upon, making disclosure feel even more dangerous. The article emphasises the profound impact of being believed, the importance of creating safe spaces for disclosure, and how finding one’s voice—when the time is right—can be a meaningful step toward healing and reclaiming agency.

Coercion can appear in relationships, workplaces, churches, and faith communities through emotional pressure, manipulation, withholding, and spiritual abuse. This article explains the meaning of coercion, coercive control, and subtle threats, showing how they erode autonomy, trust, and wellbeing. Learn how coercion impacts intimacy, family, leadership, and religious settings, and discover strategies to recognise coercive behaviour, break unhealthy patterns, and seek safe, trauma-informed support

Why do some people use control in relationships? Research led by psychologist Kylie Walls (2024) links controlling behaviours to insecure attachment, emotion dysregulation, and shame. This article explores how anxious and avoidant attachment styles contribute to unhealthy dynamics and how therapies like EFT, DBT, and shame resilience work can foster emotional safety, healthier communication, and healing in couples. Includes Christian psychology support.