Sons of Patriarchy Understanding Spiritual Abuse
Feb 17, 2025
Dr. Karen Roudkovski, a licensed professional counselor specializing in trauma and spiritual abuse, shares her insights on recognizing and addressing spiritual abuse within religious institutions. She discusses how to identify key markers of abusers and the institutional factors that enable such behavior. Karen emphasizes the impact of spiritual abuse on faith and identity, offering empathy-driven guidance for supporting survivors. She also advocates for proper training for ministers and better protocols when addressing abuse claims in churches.
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Definition And Devastating Impact
- Spiritual abuse is a misuse of power in a spiritual context that uses coercive, manipulative methods to control victims.
- It causes spiritual, emotional, psychological, relational, or physical harm and leaves deep, often invisible scars.
Spot Control Patterns Early
- Watch for limiting personal agency, excessive accountability, performance-based acceptance, required obedience, and censoring as control tactics.
- These behaviors escalate toward punishment like shaming, shunning, gossip, and public humiliation when compliance fails.
Spiritual Abuse Can Resemble Cults
- Spiritual abuse sits on a spectrum and at its extreme overlaps with cultic or high-control-group dynamics.
- Many high-control markers mirror cult research, including isolation and mind-control tactics.
