Emotional Abuse & Psychological Abuse in the Church of England
Did you experience emotional abuse or psychological abuse within the Church of England even though you were never physically or sexually assaulted? If so, you may have spent years wondering whether what happened to you really counts as abuse. Perhaps nobody ever gave it a name. Living with fear, humiliation, control, manipulation, or isolation at the hands of someone in a Church role can have a lasting impact. Even if there are no physical injuries to point to.
You do not need to have all the answers before reading this page. Take your time, read as much or as little as feels right, and come back whenever you are ready.
This page explains what the Church of England Redress Scheme means by psychological and emotional abuse, what it can look like in a Church setting, and how these experiences are considered under the scheme. It is written for survivors, and for anyone supporting someone they care about.
We explain everything in plain English first. Where the legislation is important, we have included the exact wording from the Measure or the Rules, so you can see that our guidance is based on the scheme itself rather than our interpretation alone.
A Note About Rules & Measures
Please note that all rules and measures quoted were accurate at time of publication and in line with the updated Church of England Redress Scheme rules and measures as at July 2026. These are subject to change in line with the Church of England Redress Scheme updates as the General Synod makes revisions ahead of the Scheme going live.
If you would rather speak first with someone who has no connection to any claim, the support organisations listed near the foot of this page offer exactly that: free, confidential help, entirely separate from Winston Solicitors and from the Church of England.
Does it Count if Nothing Physical Happened to Me?
Yes. You do not need to have experienced physical or sexual abuse to apply to the Church of England Redress Scheme. Psychological and emotional abuse are also valid reasons to claim.
The Church of England Redress Scheme specifically recognises psychological and emotional abuse as a form of abuse in its own right. That means experiences such as being intimidated, controlled, humiliated, manipulated or isolated by someone in a Church role may still fall within the scheme, even if there was no physical violence or sexual abuse.
Many survivors dismiss what happened to them because there was no single incident or visible injury to point to. Instead, the harm built up over months or years through fear, control or emotional manipulation. The Church of England Redress Scheme recognises that these experiences can have a profound and lasting effect.
Where This Comes from in the Measure
Section 4(2) of the Abuse Redress Measure 2025 says that abuse "includes" six categories:
- sexual abuse
- physical abuse
- spiritual abuse
- psychological or emotional abuse (other than spiritual abuse)
- financial abuse
- neglect and maltreatment.
Because the Measure uses the word "includes", these categories are not intended to be an exhaustive list. Psychological and emotional abuse is recognised in its own right, rather than being treated as part of another category.
The wider law has also increasingly recognised that abuse is not always physical. For example, controlling or coercive behaviour in an intimate or family relationship has been a criminal offence in England and Wales since December 2015 under Section 76 of the Serious Crime Act 2015. While the Redress Scheme is different from the criminal law, both recognise that abuse can cause serious harm even when it leaves no physical injury.
What Does the Scheme Mean by Psychological or Emotional abuse?
The rules describe a deliberate and sustained pattern of behaviour. That means someone setting out to control, manipulate, frighten or isolate another person. Here is the exact wording that the scheme works from.
Where this comes from in the rules
“The ‘psychological or emotional abuse’ by one person (A) of another (B) includes conduct: (a) which is characterised by a deliberate and systematic pattern of controlling or manipulative behaviour by A towards B, and (b) which involves an attempt by A to frighten, control or isolate B by, for example: (i) spreading rumours about B which a reasonable person would think could cause serious damage to B’s reputation, or (ii) subjecting B to treatment that is inconsistent with A’s treatment of others and has the effect of undermining B’s self-identity.”
Rule 2(4), Abuse Redress Rules 2025.
This definition helps explain the kind of behaviour the scheme is intended to cover.
The first point is that it describes a pattern of behaviour, rather than a single unpleasant incident. The focus is on someone repeatedly using controlling or manipulative behaviour over time.
The rule also highlights three common themes: frightening, controlling or isolating another person. That might include making someone feel constantly afraid, trying to control their choices or behaviour, or cutting them off from friends, family or other sources of support.
Finally, the examples in the rule are just that - examples. The Rule mentions spreading harmful rumours and treating someone differently in a way that damages their confidence or sense of identity, but it is not limited to those situations. Psychological or emotional abuse can take many forms, and the behaviour does not have to match the examples exactly to fall within the definition.
What Can Psychological and Emotional Abuse Look Like in a Church Setting?
The definition in the Rules is written in legal language, but the experiences it describes can happen in many different Church settings, including a parish, choir, Church school, youth group, children's home or vicarage.
Every person's experience is different, but psychological or emotional abuse could include:
- being repeatedly humiliated, criticised or singled out in front of a congregation, class or choir
- having rumours spread about you that damaged your reputation within the Church community
- being threatened to stop you speaking about what was happening
- being deliberately isolated from family, friends or other members of the congregation
- having someone misuse their position of authority to control your choices, relationships or everyday life.
Whether something falls within the scheme depends on the individual circumstances of your case. The redress body will consider the evidence as a whole before reaching a decision. If you recognise a pattern of controlling, manipulative or intimidating behaviour by someone in a Church role, it may be worth exploring whether the scheme could apply to you.
Is Spiritual Abuse the Same as Emotional Abuse?
Not quite.
The Church of England Redress Scheme treats spiritual abuse as a separate category of abuse. While there is often overlap between spiritual abuse and psychological or emotional abuse, spiritual abuse involves the misuse of faith, religious beliefs or spiritual authority to control, manipulate or harm another person.
Our Spiritual Abuse page explains this category in more detail and how it is assessed under the scheme.
Who Can Apply Under the Scheme?
The scheme has two main eligibility requirements, set out in Section 3 of the Abuse Redress Measure 2025.
First, the person who abused you must have held a role within the Church of England, or you must have had reasonable grounds for believing that they did.
Second, there must be a close connection between that Church role and the abuse.
The scheme is not limited to ordained clergy. Depending on the circumstances, it may also cover people such as teachers in Church schools, youth workers, choir leaders, churchwardens and volunteers.
Our Who Can Apply? page explains these eligibility rules in more detail, with the full statutory wording and practical examples.
How Is Psychological and Emotional Abuse Assessed for Compensation?
Every award under the Church of England Redress Scheme is calculated using the same five-step process set out in Schedule 1 of the Abuse Redress Rules 2025. Awards range from £5,000 to £660,000, depending on the circumstances of each case. Our Compensation Amounts page explains the calculation in full.
For survivors of psychological or emotional abuse, two parts of that calculation are particularly important.
The first is the impact that the abuse has had on your life. The scheme recognises that emotional abuse can have long-lasting effects, including anxiety, depression, difficulties with relationships, loss of confidence or a lasting impact on your faith. These effects form part of the assessment.
The second is how the Church responded. Rule 12 of the Abuse Redress Rules 2025 lists factors that can increase an award, including situations where someone was not believed after reporting abuse, was threatened into staying silent, or where the Church knew about a risk and failed to act. If you were under 18 when the abuse happened, that is also treated as an aggravating factor under the Rules. Our Childhood Abuse page explains this in more detail.
If you would like an early idea of what your case might be worth, you can use our Church of England Redress Scheme Compensation Calculator. It follows the statutory assessment tables, runs entirely in your browser, stores no personal information, and does not ask for your contact details.
What Does It Cost to Use a Solicitor?
If your application succeeds, your solicitor’s costs are met through the scheme and not deducted from your award. The full position on costs, and how it works, lives on our legal costs page.
What About a Civil Claim?
Accepting an award under the Church of England Redress Scheme means that you cannot later bring a separate civil claim against the Church in relation to the same abuse. For that reason, it is important to understand all of your options before making a final decision.
Winston Solicitors specialises in the Church of England Redress Scheme and does not advise on civil claims. If you would like to explore whether a civil claim might be a better option for you, you should seek independent advice from a solicitor with experience of civil litigation involving institutional or Church-related abuse.
Our Redress Scheme vs Civil Claim page explains the main differences between the two routes, so you can make an informed decision when the time comes.
Stacey on the doubt that keeps survivors from applying
“The sentence I hear more than any other on this category is, nothing actually happened to me,” says Stacey Flegg , Head of Church of England Redress Scheme at Winston Solicitors. “And then the same person describes years of being terrified of one individual, cut off from their family, told they were worthless, and made to believe all of it was their own fault. Something happened. Rule 2 recognises a deliberate pattern of controlling and manipulative behaviour as abuse, and the calculation takes the effect on your life seriously. Please do not grade your own experience out of the scheme before someone who knows the rules has looked at it. Deciding what meets the definition is the redress body’s job and helping you see whether it is worth applying is mine. It is not a weight you have to carry alone.”
Winston Solicitors focuses on Church of England Redress Scheme applications for survivors across England and Wales. Our team works with the legislation and Rules governing the scheme every day, including the definitions of abuse, the factors that can affect compensation, and the way awards are assessed. We use that knowledge to explain the process in plain English and help you understand what it means for your own circumstances.
Support that is Independent of Any Claim
Reading this page may have brought difficult things to the surface. If you want to talk to someone right now, separately from any decision about a claim, the following organisations are there for that. They are independent of Winston Solicitors and independent of the Church of England.
- Samaritans. Free, 24 hours a day, every day of the year. Call 116 123 from any phone in the UK, or email jo@samaritans.org.
- NAPAC, the National Association for People Abused in Childhood. Free support line for adult survivors of any form of childhood abuse, including emotional abuse. Call 0808 801 0331 or visit napac.org.uk.
- Safe Spaces. The Church of England and Catholic Church’s joint independent support service for survivors of church-related abuse. Confidential, and run independently of the Church’s own processes. Call 0300 303 1056 or visit safespacesenglandandwales.org.uk.
You do not need to be considering an application to use any of these services. They are there because the harm matters, whether or not you ever take a legal step.
When You Are Ready
If this page has put words to something you have carried without a name, there is no next step you have to take. When you do want to talk it through, Stacey Flegg, Head of Church of England Redress Scheme at Winston Solicitors, will speak with you in your own time. A first conversation is free and carries no commitment; whether anything follows it, and when, stays entirely in your hands.
Winston Solicitors works with survivors of Church-related abuse from across England and Wales, with over 4,000 five-star reviews across the firm’s wider work. We focus specifically on the Church of England Redress Scheme route, which is why Stacey can give you an honest read on whether your experience fits Rule 2, in plain English, before you decide on anything.
The questions below are the ones survivors most often raise about psychological and emotional abuse specifically. For broader questions on cost, time, evidence, and how the scheme compares to a civil claim, see our scheme FAQ hub.
Reviewed by Stacey Flegg, Head of Church of England Redress Scheme at Winston Solicitors. Last reviewed: 5 July 2026.
The definition in Rule 2(4) centres on a deliberate and systematic pattern, so a sustained course of conduct sits at its core. The rule’s use of “includes” means the list is not closed, and a single serious incident may fall within another of the scheme’s categories instead. If you are not sure where what happened to you fits, Winston Solicitors can tell you honestly in one conversation.
That is common, and one application covers everything. You describe all of what happened to you, across every category it touches, and the scheme assesses it together. Winston Solicitors helps survivors set out the full picture, from across England and Wales; our sexual abuse page explains how the scheme defines that category.
It means the role is what made the abuse possible: the position gave the person access to you, authority over you, or a standing in your life that they then misused. Where the person also held a role outside the Church of England, the Measure asks which role the conduct was more closely connected to, and if the outside role was the closer connection, the test is not met. The redress body decides that on the facts of each case, so an unusual set-up is a reason to ask, not to assume the answer is no.
Nothing in the scheme’s eligibility test asks whether you left the church or cut contact. Controlling and manipulative behaviour often works precisely by keeping a person close, and staying is a common part of these experiences, not a mark against your account. What matters is what the person did and its connection to their Church role.
No. Nothing in the Measure or the Rules requires a diagnosis, and you can apply without ever having seen a doctor or counsellor about what happened. Many people never sought help at the time, often because the person who abused them made sure they would not, and that does not count against them.
The scheme decides on the balance of probability, meaning more likely than not, and it is built to work with the kinds of record this abuse actually leaves. GP or counselling notes, school or parish records, letters or diaries from the time, and statements from anyone you told can all help, and having none of them does not stop you applying. Our evidence page explains what helps and how it is gathered.
No. Your account is given in writing, prepared with your solicitor at a pace you control, and you are not cross-examined. There is no requirement to see or confront the person who abused you at any stage.
You can still apply. There is no time limit on how long ago the abuse took place, and many survivors come forward decades later. The scheme itself runs for a fixed window once it opens, so the limit is on when you apply, not on when the abuse happened; our time limits page sets out the window in full.
Their death does not affect your eligibility. The scheme looks at what happened to you and the Church’s responsibility for it, not at whether the person who carried out the abuse is alive to answer for it.
