How do you know when a problem is primarily psychological or spiritual? Whether you need to see a therapist or an exorcist? Does the choice matter so long as you get some help for a vexing issue in your life? As an exorcist with a ministry spanning nearly 50 years, and as the founder of an online school of exorcism, I can assure you that the decision of what sort of help you engage matters a lot. Some problems are better dealt with by counseling, at least initially. Other kinds of dysfunction won’t get much better by seeing a therapist. The situation may be so dark and demonic that only a highly trained exorcist will solve the problem. But how does the average person know which road of help to go down?
The initial choice of intervention depends on the severity of the individual’s state and what aspect of the human condition is most affected. For example, if one struggles with reading the Bible or feels repelled by holy objects like a cross or Bible, the problem is more likely spiritual. That person needs to contact an exorcist. If, on the other hand, the issue is an eating disorder or a compulsive obsession, then a therapist may be the best place to start. Usually exorcists aren’t equipped to handle matters of neurological or psychological disordering. Likewise, therapists tend to shy away from solving conditions such as seeing a ghost or paranormal events like the terrifying movements of the planchette on a Ouija Board. When a demon possessed person seeks a therapist for what is basically a spiritual issue the clinician may end up essentially counseling a demon. Likewise, the exorcist who tries to solve an issue like attachment disorder or PTSD by commanding a demon to leave may do more harm than good.
In truth, both disciplines need each other. I’ve been told by psychiatrists and psychologists who have spent time watching me work with a variety of clients that what I do is often 75% psychological help without the technical framework of a clinical paradigm. This is known to those in deliverance ministry as “inner healing.” The other 25% is direct confrontation with a demon, an interjected evil identity which seeks to emotionally, physically, and spiritually hijack the host. As explained in our School of Exorcism, this approach seeks to identify the demon’s point of entry and right of habitation so these legal claims can be removed by prayer. Then the demon is cast out.
If you are wondering whether the help needed by you or someone you care about should begin with a therapist or an exorcist, contact us to schedule a personal, virtual session. We can quickly determine whether what you’re facing is best served by a process of emotional healing, curse breaking, and the biblical commands of exorcism or whether you first need clinical assistance for things such as medication as in the case of delusional psychosis, for example. I, or one of our high trained ministry associates, have the experience to give you suggestions on whether your primary approach should be spiritual.
In fact, all problems are ultimately spiritually grounded, even when mental instability seems to be the core problem. Prayer changes things, even with the most profound cases of psychological abnormality. The church and medical science need each other. Doctors and exorcist can be complimentary. We don’t need to be oppositional. James 5:16 says, “Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed (KJV).” This scripture espouses the best of both worlds, the therapist’s view of mental health and the exorcist’s intentionality of deliverance from evil. And this mutual accommodation is a great way to bring wholeness and health to every individual tormented by emotional disequilibrium or actual demons.
