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Scrupulosity
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Spiritual Abuse
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Scrupulosity
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Scrupulosity and Attachment to God: Why Early Bonds Can Make Faith, Life and God Feel Scary
Scrupulosity—religious OCD—can make faith feel like constant fear of disappointing God. Psychologist Kylie Walls explains that these struggles often stem from deeper attachment patterns shaped in childhood and reinforced by harmful spiritual environments. When leaders are controlling or shaming, the nervous system may learn to view God the same way. Healing is possible with supportive, evidence-based therapy.

Kylie Walls
Nov 1510 min read


What Grooming Is (and what it isn’t)
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.

Kylie Walls
Nov 1111 min read


When Calling Becomes a Burden: Signs of pastoral burnout
Many pastors and ministry leaders quietly experience burnout. This article explores why clergy face unique pressures, how faith and exhaustion intertwine, and how psychological support can help restore balance, purpose, and spiritual wellbeing.

Kylie Walls
Nov 119 min read


Understanding Spiritual Bypassing: When Faith Language Replaces Feeling and Processing of Emotion
Explore how spiritual bypassing develops and how it affects emotional and relational wellbeing. A trauma-informed psychologist offers guidance on healing, integrating faith and feelings, and building emotionally healthy Christian and religious communities.

Kylie Walls
Oct 296 min read


When Faith Leads to Avoidance: Understanding Spiritual Bypassing in Christian Contexts
Learn how spiritual bypassing can show up in Christian communities—when faith is used to avoid pain or accountability. A faith-sensitive psychologist explains how to recognise bypassing, support healing, and build emotionally healthy spirituality.

Kylie Walls
Oct 288 min read


When Silence Hurts: Creating Safe Spaces for Honest Mental Health Struggles in Faith Communities and Churches
Creating emotionally safe faith communities begins with compassionate language and honest support. When churches listen, validate emotional pain, and walk alongside those who suffer, they reflect the heart of grace, mercy, and belonging.

Kylie Walls
Oct 268 min read


It Wasn’t an Affair or Romance: Understanding Power, Consent, and Coercion in Clergy Sexual Abuse
A psychologist explores how power and coercion distort “consent” in clergy sexual abuse—and how faith-sensitive, trauma-informed therapy supports healing.

Kylie Walls
Oct 258 min read


Sacred Burdens: Why Ministry Can Wound Those Who Serve
Many pastors and chaplains quietly carry emotional exhaustion and spiritual distress. A psychologist who understands ministry can help faith leaders process burnout, compassion fatigue, and trauma, and rediscover meaning and wellbeing in their calling.

Kylie Walls
Oct 177 min read


The Sexual Grooming Model: How Manipulation Unfolds, and How Understanding it can Help you Heal
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.

Kylie Walls
Oct 157 min read


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.

Kylie Walls
Oct 1410 min read


Breaking the Scrupulosity Cycle: What Drives Religious OCD
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.

Kylie Walls
Oct 148 min read


Adult Clergy Sexual Abuse and PTSD: When Trust Turns into Trauma
Adult clergy sexual abuse shatters trust and faith. Learn how trauma impacts mind and body, and how a faith-sensitive psychologist can support recovery through safe, compassionate, trauma-informed care.

Kylie Walls
Oct 58 min read


You Can Have Faith and Still See a Psychologist
Feeling anxious, low, or overwhelmed doesn’t mean you’ve lost faith. Discover how therapy and Christian belief can work together to support mental health, strengthen resilience, and help you reconnect with peace through faith-sensitive care.

Kylie Walls
Oct 49 min read


Ministry Burnout and the Cost of Caring: Support for Pastors and Clergy
Many pastors and chaplains experience burnout, fatigue, and spiritual exhaustion. Learn why ministry takes such a toll and how counselling with a faith-sensitive psychologist can help restore balance, purpose, and emotional wellbeing.

Kylie Walls
Oct 48 min read


When “Perfect” Is Never Enough: Perfectionism, Scrupulosity and the Quest for Certainty
Struggling with faith-based anxiety or perfectionism? A psychologist for scrupulosity or moral OCD can help you find peace, understand your thoughts, and rebuild trust in your faith through compassionate, evidence-based therapy.

Kylie Walls
Oct 48 min read


Breaking the Cycle of Rumination and Worry
Do you stay up at night worrying and ruminating? Discover psychology for Christians that addresses rumination and worry. An Australian Christian psychologist explains schema therapy, the inner critic, and faith-sensitive ways to find freedom from thought loops and live with greater peace.

Kylie Walls
Sep 2612 min read


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. Learn about identity loss, trauma, family impacts, and pathways to healing and resilience.

Kylie Walls
Sep 239 min read


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.

Kylie Walls
Sep 96 min read


The Pain of Being Scapegoated in a Church Community
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 context

Kylie Walls
Aug 266 min read


When Choice Isn’t Really Choice: The Reality of Coercion
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, tra

Kylie Walls
Jun 2112 min read
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