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I kneeled before my bed to pray. I clasped my hands,
and a rush of thoughts and desires clouded my mind.
Praying was so easy for me all my life, but I couldn’t find
the words after getting married and leaving my home. With
tears in my eyes, I finally said to God the very thing I didn’t
want to say. “I can’t do this anymore; I don’t know how to
talk to you.” The way I had been taught wasn’t working. I
thought back to all the times I heard how I didn’t deserve
God to love me. If you question God or what the church
says, then you must not be in good standing. The devil is in
everything, including my questioning thoughts. By nature, I
am a sinful lowly person. I have always had a very
spiritual connection to God as a devout fundamentalist Christian
woman. I felt shame and guilt knowing that I would have to
skip a prayer for that night and many other nights to follow.
I thought to myself, I am so burned out on praying to
a God I’m supposed to fear. I grew up in a strict Christian
home. I had all the necessary things in life: love, shelter,
clothing, food, and so forth. Surely, I should be grateful, as
I know others had it worse than me. I accepted Jesus as my
savior at an early age. Looking back,
I thought my soul was good for all
eternity; why was I miserable? Soon, I
found out a lot of other people felt the
same way. It wasn’t until I left home
that I realized that, since birth, I was
raised in a fear-based Christian home.
When families and churches engage in
this kind of fear-based Christianity, it
opens the door to spiritual abuse.
We often hear about other forms
of abuse like physical, emotional, and
mental. However, rarely do we hear
the term “spiritual abuse.” According to WebMD, “Any attempt to exert
power and control over someone using religion, faith, or beliefs can be spiritual abuse. Spiritual abuse can happen within a religious organization or
a personal relationship.”1
We see this in cults or extreme
religious practices. Sometimes it’s even accompanied by
other types of abuse. According to a study on behalf of
the church’s Child Protection Advisory Services (CCPAS)
from Bournemouth University, they received 1,591 responses from Christians. Of the people surveyed, 1,002 identified as having experienced spiritual abuse.2
Examples of Spiritual Abuse and Fear-Based
Christian Worship:
This list isn’t extensive, but it provides some of the
most common examples for understanding aspects of
spiritual abuse.3
• Using religious beliefs and guilt to accuse, belittle,
and condemn the victim to engage in activities (i.e.,
sexual, or non-sexual in nature) in which they do not
want to engage.
• Exploit doctrines of forgiveness and reconciliation to
How Reiki with Spiritual Coaching Has Helped Others
I offered my Reiki services locally, and soon a line of
Christian women flooded my door, many with similar
stories of spiritual abuse. During my Reiki healing practice, I incorporated the spiritual coaching techniques I had learned from both trainings. A spiritual coach is
someone that takes a spiritual approach to normal life
coaching practices. We help others delve beneath the
subconscious to help you become more congruent with
the life you want to live. Remember that iceberg psyche
picture? We help you tap into the subconscious that is
beneath the waterline.
I follow the energy through hand placements, tapping
into energy centers in the body. The Distant symbol helps
to recover memories and experiences, and incorporating
the Mental/Emotional symbol supports understanding the limiting beliefs and traumatic experiences. As I move my
hands and scan the body, I take the client through a series
of prompts and questions about their spiritual journey.
Clients would report back to me they felt God’s peaceful
energy and connection; they felt relaxed, experienced more
of a connection to who they truly are, and could be released
from the negativity they were carrying. Over time, they re-
built their relationships, set healthy boundaries, found peace
and clarity, and created daily habits to promote mental and
emotional health, including consistent Reiki sessions.
Examples of Spiritual Abuse:
• Use their sophisticated knowledge of the Bible to position themselves outside of the teaching and authority of church leaders.
• They may pressure the victim to “move on” from on-
going hurts, playing them off as ungodly bitterness
and resentments and instructing that forgiveness of
any abuse will restore ones standing with God.
• Teaching that you are undeserving of God’s love and
using the “Wrath of God” to control thoughts, behaviors, and chosen lifestyles.
• Using religious doctrine and shame or guilt to influence a persons choice in deciding how they choose to worship.
• Teaching that God will punish a person for thoughts,
decisions, and behaviors if they do not comply with
the person’s wishes or definitions of what a person’s
life should entail.
How Reiki Helped Me Recover
I decided I didn’t want to abandon my connection with
God because of someone else’s limiting beliefs and lifetime
of false understandings of God. I found a different church;
I incorporated yoga into my daily life. Then I found Reiki.
I scheduled my first Reiki appointment with a local healer.
My first session was intense and released a lot of energy. I
felt at peace, more confident, and had clarity. Soon after
I tried to pray again, words of genuine expression flowed
out. It felt freeing to speak to God in my way—not the way I
was programmed. Eventually, the more I did this, the more
I found my voice and decided how my relationship would
look with God. I was free to design how my thoughts, beliefs, and lifestyle would look while listening to what God had to say to me directly, not through someone else.
Two years later, I became a Reiki practitioner trained
in Reiki I & II, in the Usui tradition, by a local Reiki
Master. As I began my self-Reiki sessions, fears and false
beliefs fell away, and I rebuilt my relationship with myself and God. Taking my body out of the fight-or-flight response helped me calm the storm of emotions, returning me to a state of surrender and trust. Knowing God is my
source moved me from a fear-based relationship to one
based on love. I knew I needed to help others with this
and similar issues to have a deeper and more meaningful
relationship with God and self.
God from 2 different religious perspectives
Fear Based
You reap what you
sow. God punishes me
for what I do or don’t
do. You are judged by
your actions, thoughts,
and how you obey the
church.
Love Based
God gives us mercy and grace. He
doesn’t punish, merely helps us
learn life lessons from situations
we put ourselves in. He requires
our free will love. Our relationship
is based on our communication
and how I speak to myself daily.
What Can a Christian Reiki and
Spiritual Coaching Session Accomplish?
While Reiki isn’t associated with any religious beliefs,
it’s important to find a Reiki practitioner with whom you
feel comfortable. I have found that Christians connect and
feel more comfortable with a Reiki healer that also practices their similar foundational beliefs. While all spiritual and non-spiritual believers are welcome, Christian Reiki uses
the foundational Reiki practices and concepts of Christian-centered beliefs.
During a Reiki and spiritual coaching session it is important to help someone:
1. Find their voice—Invoke the Mental/Emotional symbol and use coaching to clear traumatic experiences, allowing a person to cleanse the body of pent-up emotions such as anger. This approach relaxes the client with Reiki and asks them to speak their truth about
God or their abuser. This process may also help the client find understanding about their experience, gratitude for it, and forgiveness. Finding their voice helps
strip away the false ideas learned in the past.
2. Set their boundaries—Using the Power symbol, helps
the client understand they are protected and gives
them the strength to overcome challenges. Because
of this, they are able to set healthy boundaries which
help them feel safe and allow them to know when
their emotions are compromised, so they can speak
up and stop further abuse.
3. Remove limiting beliefs—The Distant symbol is used
to heal limiting beliefs from the past. Once these beliefs are deconstructed, the client can put the pieces back together in the way they want. This reconstruction allows for a more intimate experience with God,providing clear knowledge of what God expects from
them from God’s perspective versus an outside source.
4. Opening the Chakras—Chakra means “wheel” and refers to energy points in your body along the spine. They are thought to be spinning disks of energy that should
stay “open” and aligned, as they correspond to bundles
of nerves, major organs, and areas of our energetic body
that affect our emotional and physical well-being.4
I focus the Reiki energy and symbols in the crown, heart,
and solar plexus energy centers, or where I feel led to do
so. Most spiritual connections start with a clear crown
center. Still, it’s important to know the person has the
personal power (solar plexus) to develop a new rela-
tionship with God and feel confident about doing this.
In addition, the heart chakra plays an important part.
This area focuses on forgiveness of the past, compas-
sion for self, and accepting the love of God.
What to Do If You Think You
Have Been Spiritually Abused
Should you feel that you have been spiritually abused,
please reach out to local professionals such as shelters,
non-profit organizations, counselors, or online resources such
as www.thehotline.org. Many can be used with Reiki and
complement each other. Finally, if you are a Christian and
have questions about Reiki, there are great scriptures such as:
www.reiki.org • Winter 2021 • © Reiki News Magazine 51
Healing Spiritual Abuse with Reiki—A Christian Perspective
Elizabeth Powell is a Reiki practitioner, a fitness
instructor, and spiritual coach. She became a
Reiki Level I & II practitioner June 2021, receiving
her training and attunements from Reiki Master
Carrie Jeroslow. Since then, Elizabeth has been
helping fellow women, particularly Christian
women, deal with issues such as spiritual abuse, removing limiting
beliefs, and reconnecting to God and Self. In addition, she enjoys
teaching Zumba, yoga, meditation, and energy-healing classes.
You may reach her online at www.ElizabethPowellFitness.com.
Endnotes
1 WebMD Editorial Contributors, “Spiritual Abuse: How to Identify It and
Find Help,” WebMD (WebMD, December 1, 2020), https://www.webmd.
com/mental-health/signs-spiritual-abuse.
2 Lisa Oakley and Justin Humphries, “2018-01-07 Understanding Spiritual
Abuse in Christian Communities,” Spiritual Abuse Resources, https://www.
spiritualabuseresources.com/e-news-archive/2018-01-07-understanding-spir-
itual-abuse-in-christian-communities.
3 Erica Hamence, “Part 2: The Characteristics of Spiritual Abuse,” Common
Grace, July 21, 2017, https://www.commongrace.org.au/the_characteris-
tics_of_spiritual_abuse.
4 Gretchen Stelter, “Chakras: A Beginner’s Guide to the 7 Chakras,” Health-
line (Healthline Media, December 19, 2016), https://www.healthline.com/
health/fitness-exercise/7-chakras.
• Luke 9:2
• John 14:12-14
• 1 Corinthians 12:7-11
• John 3:12
It’s common for Christians to display fear of Reiki
since it is a concept outside of their beliefs. I remind them
that Reiki doesn’t require any spiritual beliefs to receive
its benefits. Receiving Reiki doesn’t alter your state of sal-
vation. First, decide if you have or are currently experi-
encing any of the examples of spiritual abuse presented
here. If you are uncomfortable because the limiting be-
liefs of others have made you feel a false understanding of
God, or a disconnection, seek support. Reiki and spiritual
counseling can help you find your voice, set new bound-
aries, remove limiting beliefs, and establish a new rela-
tionship with
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