The Corrupted Mind: How Power Imbalance between Leaders and Followers Puts Vulnerable People at a Disadvantage and High Risk - with Nowhere to Go
🖋️ PART I: The Corrupted Mind - A Recall
This is how it starts, I thought. A corrupted mind doesn’t always scream. Sometimes, it just smiles and holds a Bible. In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy what in the world is happening right now?
I saw them at the hospital. Two people, like regular visitors you would see on a daily basis, except for the way they communicate with each other. One wouldn’t pay attention to something so trivial. Not really, no, except one’s been binging one too many episodes of Law & Order: SVU or Criminal Minds, maybe NCIS, or the likes, but when you've lived it - when you’ve been institutionalised, disempowered, dismissed - you don’t just see things. You feel them. One carried a shaky tentative smile, the other quickly dismissed my futile attempt at small talk. They weren’t nurses. They weren’t doctors. They were something else.. visitors with purposes.
They reminded me of a time I’d rather forget: my bleak days back in university, the sterile echo of the halls, the silence of being watched but not heard. The way people speak at you when they think you’ve lost your mind. They moved like they belonged. Like they were on a mission. Like God Himself sent them. Like they were doing God’s work. But whose God? Whose will?” Like they’re helping others while.. I don’t know, looking back maybe they’re doing a spectacle about it, and I fell right into their trap. Now, lesson learned, business cards are a strategic networking tool, not something to be thrown around lightly. Imagine people like this infiltrating our safe space, we wouldn’t feel safe anymore. Which basically defeated our purpose as an anonymous safe space.
But I’ve met people like that before. The ones who say they’re there to help, but first you must surrender. First you must believe. First you must obey. As harmless as they might appear, they are anything but.
They were from a group I didn’t recognise, some organisation offering comfort and care. But when I looked closer, I couldn’t find a therapist among them. No psychologist. No trauma-informed expert. Just titles—law consultants, insurance trainers, a shepherd’s tone wrapped in corporate silk. Which red flag in itself, let’s call it red flag number one.
They followed us after I gave them our card. And I shivered, not because they followed us, but because I realised we might be walking the same halls for very different reasons. Someone only follow you instantly if they know you personally, they’re curious, or they’re scouting.. Now I’m scared and terrified what sort of can of worms I have opened up, and what worms will come crawling under my skin.
I remembered the girls who never came back. The ones who were told to "pray harder" instead of being offered meds. The ones who thought they were weak for still feeling suicidal. The ones who got slapped with scripture instead of support.
🗞️ PART II: The Corrupted Mind - OP-ED
How Power Imbalance Between Leaders and Followers Endangers Vulnerable Lives
In the overlapping space between religion and mental health, there exists a treacherous void—one where vulnerable people are often misled by those wielding unchecked spiritual authority. Too often, individuals facing crises are preyed upon by self-proclaimed healers, religious leaders, or “coaches” who lack the psychological expertise necessary to guide anyone safely through trauma recovery.
And yet, they are allowed to operate—especially in low-regulation, high-vulnerability environments like hospitals, shelters, or faith-based community groups.
Let’s be clear: combining spiritual advice with therapeutic techniques like CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy) requires formal training, ethical oversight, and licensing. Anything else is not just dangerous—it’s predatory.
🚨 The Red Flags We Must Name
Unqualified Deliverers CBT is not a weekend workshop skill. It is a complex therapeutic framework grounded in cognitive science. When individuals with no mental health education begin “delivering” CBT mixed with scripture, it distorts the method and risks retraumatizing those in fragile states.
The Mask of Good Intentions Abusers rarely enter the scene as monsters. Often, they are charismatic, charming, and appear deeply invested in their mission. They may offer prayer, promises of healing, and community—but what they lack is accountability.
Vulnerable Audiences People in crisis are not in a position to vet credentials or recognize manipulation. This is where power imbalance becomes dangerous. The leader holds not only influence—but control over narrative, emotion, and truth.
Spiritual Bypassing Encouraging someone to “trust God more” instead of acknowledging their trauma is not healing—it is spiritual gaslighting. It creates shame cycles and delays recovery.
💡 What We Need to Do
Credential Transparency Any organization offering psychological services must clearly state its qualifications and oversight mechanisms.
Trauma-Informed Interventions Faith can be a beautiful companion in healing—but only if it supports, not replaces, clinical support. Trauma-informed, spiritually sensitive care is the goal—not blind faith.
Protect the Vulnerable Institutions must vet who is allowed to interact with vulnerable populations. There must be boundaries in place to prevent spiritual or emotional manipulation.
Raise Awareness Survivors like myself and others must feel empowered to speak up. Organizations like WLICS exist to bridge the gap—where faith and mental health can coexist ethically and with compassion.
Final Words
The corrupted mind does not begin corrupted. It begins trusted.
It begins when we look the other way—when we mistake charisma for care, scripture for science, and submission for healing.
We must keep asking: Who is this helping? Who is being protected? Who is profiting from someone else’s pain?
And then we must build something better.
Always,
M13