Spiritual abuse in high-control religious environments often draws people in through love-bombing, trauma patterns, or authority dynamics. This article explores why people join, stay, or become complicit in spiritually abusive churches, using insights from psychology, coercive control, and betrayal trauma. Learn how power, obedience, and gaslighting keep people trapped—and how Christian psychology support can help survivors find healing, autonomy, and freedom.

A exploration of family estrangement, faith, trauma, religious trauma and boundaries — examining when distance becomes necessary and how healing can occur with compassion and discernment.

Religious trauma can develop within family systems shaped by control, silence, and spiritual authority. This article explores lived experiences of those who have experienced spiritual abuse, coercive control and domestic violence in religious families.

Understand how grooming operates in adult, faith, and professional settings. A faith-sensitive psychologist explains the psychology of grooming across contexts, manipulation, power imbalance, and recovery after spiritual or relational betrayal.

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.

Adult clergy sexual exploitation is not an ‘affair’ but a betrayal of trust, power, and spiritual authority. This article explains the stages of grooming in clergy sexual abuse, highlighting patterns of coercive control, manipulation, and boundary violations. Learn how grooming erodes autonomy, the profound psychological and spiritual impact on survivors, and why survivor-centred, trauma-informed responses are essential for healing, justice, and safer faith communities.

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

A psychologist explores how power and coercion distort “consent” in clergy sexual abuse—and how faith-sensitive, trauma-informed therapy supports healing.

Adult clergy sexual abuse is not an affair—it is exploitation rooted in power imbalance, grooming, and spiritual abuse. In Emily’s story, we see how manipulation, secrecy, and distorted theology erode trust and cause lasting trauma. This article explains the signs of clergy abuse, the psychology of grooming, and pathways to healing. Christian psychology support is available through Refuge Psychology with registered psychologist Kylie Walls.

Scapegoating occurs when blame or shame is unfairly placed on one person or group, often silencing those who raise concerns. In churches and faith communities, scapegoating can appear through shunning, silence, or distorted narratives. Psychological theories such as displacement, social identity, cognitive dissonance, and obedience to authority help explain why communities avoid confronting systemic issues. This article explores the impact of scapegoating in spiritual contexts.

Psychologist explains the five stages of sexual grooming and how manipulation unfolds in spiritual or authority contexts. Learn how understanding these patterns helps survivors rebuild trust, recognise coercive control, and begin healing from abuse.

Spiritual abuse and coercive control can leave deep psychological, emotional, and spiritual scars. This article explains how manipulation, misuse of scripture, and clergy exploitation erode autonomy and faith. Learn how spiritual abuse impacts identity, mental health, and relationships—and why independent, trauma-informed care and Christian psychology support are essential for recovery, resilience, and healing in faith contexts.

Spiritual abuse occurs when faith or religious authority is misused to control, shame, or silence. Learn how a psychologist explains its signs, impact, and recovery pathways. If you’re in distress, call Lifeline on 13 11 14.

Spiritual abuse counselling provides a safe space to heal from the misuse of faith, authority, and control. Learn how therapy can help survivors of spiritual abuse rebuild trust, process grief, and reclaim their voice—while avoiding common pitfalls that may repeat harmful dynamics.

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.

Scrupulosity is religious OCD, where faith and fear collide. Learn how a faith-sensitive psychologist helps break the cycle of intrusive thoughts, compulsions, and guilt using evidence-based, compassionate therapy.

Leaving high-control religious groups or spiritually abusive churches can cause deep wounds. Learn about identity loss, trauma, family impacts, and pathways to healing and resilience.

Coercive control and emotional abuse often begin subtly—masked as concern, faith, or guidance—before escalating into an invisible cage of fear, guilt, and isolation. This article explores the signs of coercive control, emotional and spiritual abuse, and the devastating psychological impacts. Learn how to recognise red flags in relationships, why early intervention matters, and how professional Christian psychology support can provide healing, autonomy, and recovery from abuse.

this article unpacks the psychological forces driving the protagonist’s actions in Netflix's Adolescence