Your inner life, your spirit, is personal to you. It is part of being human that you have control over what you believe and what you belong to. Spiritual abuse occurs when power or manipulation is used to force you to belong to a group or movement, or to make you adopt their beliefs.

This may involve hypnotism, drugs, psychological pressure, blackmail or other inducements which undermine your free will. Satanic groups, new religious movements and cults are commonly accused of such abuse. At its most extreme this may include paedophilia, depraved sexual activity and the practice of animal and infant sacrifice. Evidence of such activity is extremely hard to prove. It only adds to the feeling of being abused if a survivor of such an horrific experience does not have her/his account heard and understood. It is important that those who hear such accounts receive or seek supervision and support. The Deliverance Ministry Team will endeavour to provide this to Church of England ministers and priests or refer to others who can.

Beware of Christian groups or Church leaders who in seeking to heal, to exorcise or to free someone from a cult make accusations that can't be supported. Indoctrination or seeking to enforce beliefs is itself a form of spiritual abuse. True Christian witness allows a free response without any pressure.