In this episode of The Christian Wellbeing Show, host Michelle Simpson interviews Professor Lisa Oakley about the sensitive but very real topic of Spiritual Abuse.

What is spiritual abuse?

What are the characteristics of spiritual abuse?

How can you recognise you are in a spiritual abuse situation?

Should we obey leaders in everything as if obeying God?

You can find answers to these questions and more as they discuss the controlling and coercive nature of abuse in a religious context.

They explore the effects and its impact on trust, faith and relationships. Looking at spiritual abuse through the lens of the culture of the church, its leadership and its teachings, Lisa underscores the need for healthy and open leadership and how this can help not only members that are experiencing spiritual abuse, but also church leaders. 

They cover different forms of spiritual abuse, the impact they can have on your faith, the fear of speaking out, why people don’t talk about it, how scriptures can be used in a controlling way, and when expecting people to forgive can be wrong. 

You’ll also learn about being able to say “no” in church, the need to talk about church culture and communication, how to create healthy church cultures, and where to go to receive help and support. Join Michelle and Lisa in this episode to help you identify, overcome and recover from spiritual abuse. 

ABOUT THE GUEST

Professor Lisa Oakley is professor of safeguarding and knowledge exchange, and deputy programme leader for the Master of Science in Family and Child Psychology in the School of Psychology at the UK’s University of Chester. She is a chartered psychologist and chair of the British Psychological Society Safeguarding Advisory Group. She is co-author of Breaking the Silence on Spiritual Abuse and Escaping the Maze of Spiritual Abuse: Creating Healthy Church Cultures.

ABOUT THE HOST

Michelle has a doctorate in Cross-Cultural Mission with a specialism in Natural Health & Nutrition and is a passionate advocate for natural, healthy living. With a huge amount of experience of personal trauma, she is a certified trauma awareness trainer, animal-assisted-therapy certified, CPTSD survivor, and author of the book, ‘Surviving Trauma, Crisis & Grief’. Printed in two languages it is endorsed by US traumatologist and author, Dr H Norman Wright, one of America's most prominent Christian counsellors. Michelle is a ministry co-founder, voice for freedom, advocate for the family, speaker, artist and singer/songwriter. She homeschooled her three children, has nine grandchildren, is a dog lover and keen 

gardener with a love for self-sufficiency.

LINKS

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