the blogArticles & Reflections
Faith, Trust, and Control: Making Sense of Spiritual Abuse
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: What Helps and What Doesn’t
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.
Understanding Control in Relationships: Insights from Our Latest Research
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.
Adult Clergy Sexual Abuse and PTSD: When Trust Turns into Trauma
Adult clergy sexual abuse causes profound psychological and spiritual trauma. Research shows high rates of PTSD, relational harm, and loss of faith following abuse by trusted religious leaders. This article explores the impact of adult clergy sexual abuse, institutional betrayal, and pathways to healing through trauma-informed, faith-sensitive support.
“Why Am I Like This in Relationships?” A Look at Attachment and Emotional Reactivity
Attachment theory explains why we react the way we do in relationships. This article explores secure, anxious, avoidant, and disorganised attachment styles, their links to emotional reactivity and conflict, and how therapy helps create healthier connections. Learn how early caregiving shapes intimacy, trust, and emotion regulation, and discover practical ways to heal insecure attachment patterns for stronger, more resilient relationships.
Life After Leaving a High-Control Religious Group: What People Often Experience
Leaving high-control religious groups or spiritually abusive churches can cause deep wounds. Psychologist Kylie Walls provides information about identity loss, trauma, family impacts, and pathways to healing and resilience.
When Love Becomes an Invisible Cage: Recognising the Signs of Coercive Control and Emotional Abuse, and Religious Abuse
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.
Disrupted Attachment, Control, and Emotion Dysregulation: A Path to Violence in Netflix's Adolescence
this article unpacks the psychological forces driving the protagonist’s actions in Netflix's Adolescence