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What Childhood Trauma Can Teach Us About Spiritual Abuse

What Childhood Trauma Can Teach Us About Spiritual Abuse

Last updated on: November 3, 2026 at 3:10 pm by Brad Thibodeaux

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What Childhood Trauma Can Teach Us About Spiritual Abuse 2026-11-03T15:10:47-05:00 Brad Thibodeaux

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Childhood Trauma and Spiritual Abuse

The role of trauma – especially childhood trauma – in our adult lives cannot be overstated. More research is coming out every day regarding trauma and how it affects our mental and physical well-being. However, spiritual abuse is a subset of this study that is just starting to be studied. The Church is supposed to be a hospital for the sick (Mk 2:17) – how did it become the place people run from?

It’s important to know the role that Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) play in development. This development in childhood then continues throughout adulthood. Psychology has developed a questionnaire for patients to see if they may have experienced ACEs in their childhoods. The next step is for psychology to develop a secondary screening specifically designed for those who experience harm in the hands of the Church.

What is ACEs?

The Cleveland Clinic defines Adverse Childhood Experiences as traumatic experiences from birth through 17 years old. Some of these experiences are:

Natural disasters
Violence (abuse, assault, neglect)
Life threatening illnesses and/or accidents
Witnessing serious accidents and/or death of another
Food and housing insecurity
Lack of quality education and/or healthcare
Discrimination

When we experience a traumatic experience, our bodies go into “fight or flight” mode. Our bodies produce cortisol and adrenalin – hormones that get us moving. We feel this in our body through elevated heart rates and blood pressures. We can also experience memory loss due to the overwhelming trauma of the experience. While we all experience some form of trauma over our lives, consistent exposure can change the way our brains work. These hormones that are designed to keep us safe in an emergency begin to be produced constantly and consistently. This can lead to “Toxic Stress”. This toxic stress can further lead to mental health conditions, insomnia, and PTSD.

The good news is that there are treatment options. These range from lifestyle changes to medications to treatment. So if you or someone you know has experienced adverse childhood experiences – there are ways to help manage and control potential disorders.

So now that we understand adverse childhood experiences, let’s look at a recent study on Spiritual Harm

The Spiritual Harm and Abuse Scale

A 2022 paper from the Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion published the Development of the Spiritual Harm and Abuse Scale. The goal of this study was to help develop a clinical questionnaire for providers to identify potential spiritual abuse in patients. The study notes that, while faith communities and spirituality can be beneficial in ones overall well being and mental health, there are many potentials for abuse as well. For me, the faith leader speaks both as a person of human authority as well as one with authority from God. Even if it is not explicitly stated as such from the pulpit, there is a lot of power in the pulpit that can be misused.

Through this study, they noted six factors that can be used in determining ones potential spiritual abuse. These are the following:

Maintaining the system. Pressure to not call out abuse as to not cause trouble or rock the boat.
Controlling leadership. Similar to the first, but this seems to be specifically from the leadership of the church.
Embracing violence. Allowing, excusing, or supporting violence in real-life or in Biblical accounts.
Gender discrimination. Unwelcome or excluded from the faith community due to sexual orientation or gender expression.
Harmful “God-image”. Described in the study as God being the “villain in a person’s story”.
Internal distress. Fear, anxiety, and depression are examples of internal distress.

There are a couple interesting things about this study. First, almost all of these factors for spiritual abuse are external. Pressure from the pew and the pulpit may keep someone from speaking out. They may experience psychological or physical harm if they do so. They may not be allowed to participate based on their gender identity and potentially be shunned from the community or their own families.

Secondly, the research noted a strong factor correlation between controlling leadership and embracing violence. The paper notes:

“The highest factor correlation is between controlling leadership and embracing violence… which may indicate that controlling leaders are more likely to use fear and terror to motivate religious decisions and loyalty. They may also be more likely to support or tolerate violence, either real-life or biblical accounts of violence, to maintain their authority and power. More research should be done to support this conclusion, however.”

What Now?

There are many reasons why people leave the church – some of which were described HERE. But it is so important to understand what an outsized role the Church has on the believers. As people in a faith community, it is our job to make sure everyone feels welcome and that everyone is safe from harm. This is especially true within the walls of the church and within the leadership.

If you or someone you know is struggling with mental health or spiritual harm, there are resources available. Therapy can be an extremely helpful tool in working towards better mental health. For those who are experiencing an emergency, 988 is a national hotline that can help connect people who are considering harming someone or themselves to services.

If you are interested in participating in a survey around adverse childhood experiences and spiritual harm, there is a survey study going on currently. Dr. Dan Koch and colleagues are conducting a research study on adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and spiritual abuse. Participation involves completing an anonymous 15-minute survey. For the survey and more information, go here.

Finally – I thought it was fitting for the Cleveland Clinic to have the last word. Grace and peace.

A child is constantly learning from the world around them. So, traumatic events may have a major effect on their growth and development.

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are common. With help from a healthcare provider, you can heal from your childhood trauma. Treatment may be lifelong, but you can overcome your ACEs.

It’s important to take care of your mental health.

Remember, you’re never alone.

Progressive Christian

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About Brad Thibodeaux

Brad Thibodeaux is a theologian and harm reductionist in New England. He earned his M.A. in Christian Theology and Social Engagement from Northwind Seminary and works to educate faith communities about the intersection of religion, harm reduction, and social advocacy throughout the history of the Church. You can read more about the author here.

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