Working With Individuals Who Have Been Spiritually Abused

Abstract

As noted in previous chapters SA changes people. It changes their experience of their ‘self, their understanding of who they are as a person, their relationship with others — and often with God — their ability to trust and even their sense of ontological security. SA is abuse of a person’s spirituality, their core beliefs and values, the essence of what makes them the person they are and gives meaning to their life. All this makes it particularly pernicious. As Bent-Goodley and Fowler (2006) comment, SA affects a person’s fundamental values and alters their view not only of their self but, also, of the world. Further, Jenkins warns, ‘Precisely because spirituality is at the heart of how people understand themselves in the world, an attack on someone’s spirituality… is an attack on the heart of the person, on their integrity, their wholeness’ (2011:29). ‘It attacks right at the heart and spirit of a person.’ Thus, the consequences of SA are that people become ‘deeply scarred, emotionally, psychologically and spiritually’ (Parish-West, 2009). ‘The wounds the church gives you never wash away.’