Episode Details

Faith is supposed to be a refuge. For some people, it becomes the very thing an abuser uses to keep them in line. In this episode, licensed psychotherapist and certified partner trauma therapist Chelsey Brooke Cole joins Lisa to explain how narcissistic people exploit religious settings, and how to see it clearly.

Chelsey is clear this isn't an argument against faith. It's about how religious spaces reward trust, deference, and forgiveness, and how a narcissist can turn those values into tools for control while looking upstanding. She and Lisa cover leaders who use spiritual authority to avoid accountability, how "just forgive and move on" gets weaponized, why your gut is often right even when someone looks devout, and how isolating it is to speak up and not be believed. The goal isn't to leave your community, but to protect yourself inside it.

This is strategic education, not legal or mental-health advice for your specific situation.

✅ WHAT YOU'LL LEARN
✅ What spiritual (religious) abuse actually is, and what it isn't
✅ Why religious communities can attract and shelter narcissistic behavior
✅ How spiritual authority gets used to dodge accountability
✅ The way forgiveness and "second chances" get weaponized to bury harm
✅ Why your gut is often right even when someone looks devout
✅ Why survivors in tight communities are so often disbelieved
✅ How to protect yourself without abandoning your faith
✅ The first steps toward healing after spiritual manipulation

⏱️ TIMESTAMPS (+1:00 for the bumper)
0:00 Intro
1:00 What spiritual abuse actually is
5:43 Why narcissists gravitate to religious communities
21:41 How faith and forgiveness get weaponized
32:00 Trusting your gut, and where to find Chelsey

CTA (spoken): Recovering from narcissistic or spiritual abuse? Book a free discovery call at beentheregotout.com.
Books: Been There Got Out — https://www.amazon.com/Been-There-Got-Relationships-Circumstances/dp/194627495X/ · When Your Ex Turns the Kids Against You — https://www.amazon.com/Been-There-Got-Out-Against/dp/1967674183
More from Chelsey: chelseybrookecole.com
Tags: spiritual abuse, religious abuse, narcissistic abuse, religious trauma, spiritual manipulation, weaponizing forgiveness, narcissism, healing after abuse, high conflict divorce