Understanding and Assessing Spiritual Abuse (2 vols.)

by Karen Roudkovski

Publisher:

B&H Academic

, 2024

Overview

Spiritual abuse is a widespread—and often misunderstood—issue. Church leaders may not understand how spiritual abuse manifests and spreads; meanwhile, the impact of spiritual abuse can be devastating to victims, damaging their relationships with themselves, the church, and God.

In Understanding Spiritual Abuse: What It Is and How to Respond, professor and licensed counselor Karen Roudkovski offers wisdom, clarity, and hope for those seeking to understand the nature of spiritual abuse and how to heal. Based on her extensive research and clinical experience, Roudkovski explains:

What spiritual abuse is, how the term arose, and what makes it distinct

Methods for assessing whether spiritual abuse has occurred, including instructions for the Spiritual Abuse Assessment

The tactics of spiritual abusers, including control, grooming, deception, and lack of accountability

The trauma of spiritual abuse, encompassing spiritual, emotional, physical, and relational harm

Suggestions for spiritual abuse recovery for therapists, survivors, and helpers

Recommendations for how churches can establish spiritually safe communities

Roudkovski’s Understanding Spiritual Abuse is an essential resource for survivors, church leaders, and mental health professionals. Roudkovski provides a counseling overview of the topic while practically guiding leaders to create safe and supportive environments for victims to recover and rebuild from spiritual abuse and its devastating impact.

Spiritual Abuse Assessment: A Tool for Survivors and their Helpers, developed by Karen Roudkovski, is brief eleven-item Likert scale screening tool to assess for spiritual abuse in various settings, such as churches, religious organizations, parachurch organizations, spiritual movements, and individual relationships. The assessment contains eleven statements representing eleven sub-themes underlying spiritual abuse.

Key Features

• Provides an essential resource for survivors, church leaders, and mental health professionals
• Based on extensive research and clinical experience
• Features a brief screening tool to assess for spiritual abuse in various settings
• Contains eleven statements representing eleven sub-themes underlying spiritual abuse
• Offers wisdom, clarity, and hope for those seeking to understand the nature of spiritual abuse and how to heal