Counseling Survivors of Religious Abuse by Swindle, Paula J.; Cashwell, Craig; Tangen, Jodi L.;

Short description:

This book identifies and analyses the forms, causes and potential treatments of religious abuse.

Long description:

This book identifies and analyzes the forms, causes, and potential treatments of religious abuse. Religious abuse can include experiences of sexual, physical, emotional, spiritual, and mental abuse connected to a religious context. The book will help readers understand different types of religious abuse, including where the perpetrator is a religious leader, a group, or a system, as well as when there is an overtly spiritual element connected to the justification for the abuse. It also describes common experiences of those who have experienced religious abuse and some treatment approaches that will be useful to mental health providers when their clients present with these experiences. The rigorous scholarly approach of this book provides an academically grounded insight into this complex topic. As such, it will be a key reference for those studying and working in Religious Studies, Religion and Psychology, the Sociology of Religion, and Counseling and Mental Health.

Table of Contents:

Section I: Overview

1 Integrating Spirituality in Counseling

2 Defining Religious Abuse

3 Common Experiences of Victims of Religious Abuse

4 Assessing Religious Abuse

5 Characteristics of Healthy and Harmful Religious Systems

6 Common Victim Populations

7 Ethical Principles in Treatment of Religious Abuse

8 Application of Ethics in Treating Religious Abuse

9 The Importance of a Trauma-Informed Approach

10 The Healing Process

11 Interventions for Religious Abuse

12 Supervision and Consultation

13 Summary