Pastoral Counseling for Congregants Experiencing Inner Wounds Caused by Toxic Leadership in the Church
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.61132/ijcep.v1i2.560Keywords:
Church Leadership, Inner Wounds, Institutional Betrayal, Pastoral Counseling, Religious TraumaAbstract
Toxic leadership in church contexts is not merely an organizational problem; it can become a psychospiritual wound when pastoral authority is used to shame, silence, manipulate, or control congregants in the name of God. This article examines pastoral counseling for congregants who experience inner wounds caused by toxic leadership in the church. The study addresses a gap in previous research: leadership studies have clarified the concepts of abusive supervision and destructive leadership. In contrast, religious trauma research has described spiritual abuse, yet fewer works have developed a constructive pastoral counseling synthesis that integrates both fields. Using a conceptual and integrative literature review design, this article draws on peer-reviewed studies on toxic leadership, spiritual abuse, institutional betrayal, moral injury, trauma-informed care, and spiritually integrated psychotherapy. The synthesis proposes that pastoral counseling in this context must be trauma-informed, spiritually competent, ecclesially accountable, and clinically humble. Three findings are advanced: toxic church leadership wounds identity, agency, and God-image; pastoral counseling must begin with safety, validation, narrative reconstruction, and protection of conscience; and recovery requires individual care and institutional repair through accountability, referral pathways, and anti-retaliatory church culture. The article concludes that pastoral counseling is most constructive when it becomes a ministry of truth-telling, non-coercive accompaniment, and communal restoration rather than a tool for preserving abusive systems.
References
American Psychiatric Association. (2022). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed., text rev.). American Psychiatric Association Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.books.9780890425787
Berger, E. (2019). Multi-tiered approaches to trauma-informed care in schools: A systematic review. School Mental Health, 11(4), 650–664. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12310-019-09326-0
Black, S. W., & Klinger, K. (2022). Building spiritual strength: A spiritually integrated approach to treating moral injury. Current Treatment Options in Psychiatry, 9, 311–326. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40501-022-00276-0
Captari, L. E., Hook, J. N., Hoyt, W., Davis, D. E., McElroy-Heltzel, S. E., & Worthington, E. L., Jr. (2018). Integrating clients’ religion and spirituality within psychotherapy: A comprehensive meta-analysis. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 74(11), 1938–1951. https://doi.org/10.1002/jclp.22681
Captari, L. E., Sandage, S. J., & Vandiver, R. A. (2022). Spiritually integrated psychotherapies in real-world clinical practice: Synthesizing the literature to identify best practices and future research directions. Psychotherapy, 59(3), 307–320. https://doi.org/10.1037/pst0000407
Doehring, C. (2015). The practice of pastoral care: A postmodern approach. Westminster John Knox Press.
Ellis, H. M., Hook, J. N., Zuniga, S., Hodge, A. S., Ford, K. M., Davis, D. E., & Van Tongeren, D. R. (2022). Religious/spiritual abuse and trauma: A systematic review of the empirical literature. Spirituality in Clinical Practice, 9(4), 213–231. https://doi.org/10.1037/scp0000301
Exline, J. J., Pargament, K. I., Grubbs, J. B., & Yali, A. M. (2014). The Religious and Spiritual Struggles Scale: Development and initial validation. Psychology of Religion and Spirituality, 6(3), 208–222. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0036465
Fernández, S. (2022). Victims are not guilty! Spiritual abuse and ecclesiastical responsibility. Religions, 13(5), Article 427. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel13050427
Fischer, T., Tian, A. W., Lee, A., & Hughes, D. J. (2021). Abusive supervision: A systematic review and fundamental rethink. The Leadership Quarterly, 32(6), Article 101540. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2021.101540
Gallegos, I., Guàrdia-Olmos, J., & Berger, R. (2022). Abusive supervision: A systematic review and new research approaches. Frontiers in Communication, 6, Article 640908. https://doi.org/10.3389/fcomm.2021.640908
Gardner, F. (2022). Institutional betrayal: Psychoanalytic insights on the Anglican Church’s response to abuse. Religions, 13(10), Article 892. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel13100892
Griffin, B. J., Purcell, N., Burkman, K., Litz, B. T., Bryan, C. J., Schmitz, M., Villierme, C., Walsh, J., & Maguen, S. (2019). Moral injury: An integrative review. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 32(3), 350–362. https://doi.org/10.1002/jts.22362
Harris, J. I., Usset, T., Voecks, C., Thuras, P., Currier, J. M., & Erbes, C. (2018). Spiritually integrated care for PTSD: A randomized controlled trial of “Building Spiritual Strength.” Psychiatry Research, 267, 420–428. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2018.06.045
Holton, M. J., & Snodgrass, J. L. (2023). A theoretical and theological reframing of trauma. Pastoral Psychology, 72(3), 337–351. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11089-023-01063-1
Koch, D., & Edstrom, L. (2022). Development of the Spiritual Harm and Abuse Scale. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 61(2), 476–506. https://doi.org/10.1111/jssr.12792
Koenig, H. G., & Al Zaben, F. (2021). Moral injury: An increasingly recognized and widespread syndrome. Journal of Religion and Health, 60(5), 2989–3011. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-021-01328-0
Langberg, D. M. (2020). Redeeming power: Understanding authority and abuse in the church. Brazos Press.
Litz, B. T., Stein, N., Delaney, E., Lebowitz, L., Nash, W. P., Silva, C., & Maguen, S. (2009). Moral injury and moral repair in war veterans: A preliminary model and intervention strategy. Clinical Psychology Review, 29(8), 695–706. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2009.07.003
Lucchetti, G., Koenig, H. G., & Lucchetti, A. L. G. (2021). Spirituality, religiousness, and mental health: A review of the current scientific evidence. World Journal of Clinical Cases, 9(26), 7620–7631. https://doi.org/10.12998/wjcc.v9.i26.7620
Mackey, J. D., Frieder, R. E., Brees, J. R., & Martinko, M. J. (2017). Abusive supervision: A meta-analysis and empirical review. Journal of Management, 43(6), 1940–1965. https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206315573997
Maynard, B. R., Farina, A., Dell, N. A., & Kelly, M. S. (2019). Effects of trauma-informed approaches in schools: A systematic review. Campbell Systematic Reviews, 15(1–2), Article e1018. https://doi.org/10.1002/cl2.1018
Oakley, L., Kinmond, K., & Humphreys, J. (2018). Spiritual abuse in Christian faith settings: Definition, policy and practice guidance. The Journal of Adult Protection, 20(3/4), 144–154. https://doi.org/10.1108/JAP-03-2018-0005
Okray, Z., & Şimşek, A. H. (2020). Toxic leadership: Systematic review based on studies made in Turkey. Istanbul Management Journal, 89, 73–96. https://doi.org/10.26650/imj.2020.89.0004
Padilla, A., Hogan, R., & Kaiser, R. B. (2007). The toxic triangle: Destructive leaders, susceptible followers, and conducive environments. The Leadership Quarterly, 18(3), 176–194. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2007.03.001
Schyns, B., & Schilling, J. (2013). How bad are the effects of bad leaders? A meta-analysis of destructive leadership and its outcomes. The Leadership Quarterly, 24(1), 138–158. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2012.09.001
Smith, C. P., & Freyd, J. J. (2013). Dangerous safe havens: Institutional betrayal exacerbates sexual trauma. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 26(1), 119–124. https://doi.org/10.1002/jts.21778
Snyder, H. (2019). Literature review as a research methodology: An overview and guidelines. Journal of Business Research, 104, 333–339. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2019.07.039
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. (2014). SAMHSA’s concept of trauma and guidance for a trauma-informed approach (HHS Publication No. SMA 14-4884). U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Tepper, B. J. (2000). Consequences of abusive supervision. Academy of Management Journal, 43(2), 178–190. https://doi.org/10.2307/1556375
Torraco, R. J. (2016). Writing integrative literature reviews: Using the past and present to explore the future. Human Resource Development Review, 15(4), 404–428. https://doi.org/10.1177/1534484316671606
Vieten, C., Scammell, S., Pilato, R., Ammondson, I., Pargament, K. I., & Lukoff, D. (2013). Spiritual and religious competencies for psychologists. Psychology of Religion and Spirituality, 5(3), 129–144. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0032699
Whittemore, R., & Knafl, K. (2005). The integrative review: Updated methodology. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 52(5), 546–553. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2648.2005.03621.x
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2024 International Journal of Christian Education and Philosophical Inquiry
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
