[This is a part of a series on spiritual abuse.  You can see other posts in the series here as they get published.  A lot of this content is from the research of Dr. Lisa Oakley from Chester University.  I highly recommend her book with Justin Humphrys if you want to learn more about this!  In that book, the team outlines the characteristics that are associated with spiritually abusive behavior. This post is my attempt to unpack two of those (with lots more to come!).]

Spiritual abuse characteristics are hard to nail down.  They’re complicated – and much like everything else I’ve mentioned – they exist on a spectrum.

This post is a part of a series on spiritual abuse.  You can see other posts in the series here (as they are published.)  A lot of this content is from the research of Dr. Lisa Oakley from Chester University.  I highly recommend her book** with Justin Humphrys if you want to learn more about this!]

One of the reasons it’s so hard to label something ‘spiritual abuse’ or ‘spiritual misuse’ is that it feels like such a personal and dramatic accusation.  That’s also one of the reasons we often fail to see our own responsibility in abusive situations.  It feels impossible to reconcile the possibility that we have been a part of something abusive when we know our intentions were anything but that.