Is It Spiritual Abuse?

How would you know?

Photo by Laura Chouette on Unsplash

At Help[H]er, Safe to Hope is more than a podcast. It’s one of our most important tools for extending trauma-specialized education, advocacy, and hope to women harmed in the church and to those seeking to serve them well.

This season’s topic, Is It Spiritual Abuse?, is such a significant discussion. Consider what Ann Maree wrote in the premiere Substack article on Feb. 10, 2026, Am I Some Portion of a Whole?

Although spiritual abuse (SA) has been a “thing” for a very long time, it has only recently been a matter for discussion in the church. And, because of a perceived “newness,” as a concept it doesn’t have an agreed upon (nor comprehensive enough) definition. One of the most influential academics doing work on this topic (Lisa Oakley) suggests that, in researching for her dissertation, there didn’t seem to be a consensus for what it means.

With no clear, agreed upon definition, nor perhaps even buy-in that SA even occurs, how does one navigate what happened to them? How do they find the language?

Using Julia Fillnow’s excellent Substack article on March 17, Who Gets to Decide? we’ve pulled together a questionnaire to help aid those who are asking the question, Is It Spiritual Abuse? We’ve also added a bonus questionnaire derived from Ezekiel 34.

Check out these latest resources and let us know what you think. We’ll be anxious to hear if you think these will help!

Click “Resources” below to access the questionnaires on the Safe to Hope podcast page.

Click below for additional Resources from the team at Help[H]er!