Church of Satan, Temple of Set, Luciferian orders

1. Introduction

Version followed: the organisations as scholarly and reference profiles describe them (Church of Satan, founded 1966; Temple of Set, founded 1975, as profiled by the World Religions and Spirituality Project in 2000; the Greater Church of Lucifer / Assembly of Light Bearers as an example of a Luciferian organisation), set beside Lewis's 2001 survey of Satanists, the FBI Lanning report (1992) and the La Fontaine report (1994). This is not a therapy. It is a set of organised religions and self-styled "Left-Hand Path" currents that clients may belong to, have left, fear, or have been accused of joining. The guide gives the psychotherapist's work with such clients.

The organisations as they and scholars describe them.

Church of Satan. Founded on 30 April 1966 in San Francisco by Anton Szandor LaVey, who led it as High Priest until his death in 1997. The Satanic Bible (1969) is its core text. The Church holds a materialist, atheistic view: members do not believe in or worship a literal Satan, who stands as a symbol of individualism, self-assertion and personal freedom. LaVey's writings also include ritual magic, which the Church frames as psychological and dramatic, not supernatural. After LaVey's death Blanche Barton led it until 2002, when Peter H. Gilmore was appointed High Priest; its base moved to New York. It does not publish membership lists and has historically organised local groups called grottos. It rejects other groups that call themselves Satanist, including theistic Satanists and the Satanic Temple. [source: Wikipedia, Church of Satan; uncertain: secondary, unverified] The Church's own website is reported to publish membership tiers and fees [uncertain: not verified].
Temple of Set. Founded in 1975 by Michael A. Aquino and a group of former Church of Satan members, who left over LaVey's leadership and over theology: Aquino held that Satan, understood as the Egyptian god Set, really exists, while LaVey held Satan to be a symbol. Set is presented as the principle of individual, isolate consciousness. The Temple's central concept is Xeper (from an Egyptian word for "to come into being"), its term for self-development or self-creation. It has six degrees, named Setian (I°), Adept (II°), Priest/Priestess of Set (III°), Magister/Magistra Templi (IV°), Magus/Maga (V°) and Ipsissimus/Ipsissima (VI°); higher degrees are conferred by the leadership (a Council of Nine, an Executive Director and the High Priest/Priestess). Regional groups are called Pylons, led by Sentinels; interest-based groups are called Orders. As profiled in 2000, a new Setian who did not reach Adept within two years lost membership, and most members remained Adepts. Aquino was High Priest until 1996. [source: Abrams, WRSP Temple of Set profile, 2000] These details date from 2000; current structure and any fees should be checked with the Temple's own publications [uncertain: not verified].
Luciferian orders. "Luciferian" names several small organisations and authors that take Lucifer as a light-bringer and a figure of self-illumination, often combining LaVeyan Satanism with ritual magic and witchcraft. One example is the Greater Church of Lucifer, founded in 2013 by the author Michael W. Ford and later renamed the Assembly of Light Bearers; it opened a public temple in Texas in 2015 amid protests, vandalism and threats, and lost its premises in 2016. The sociologist Massimo Introvigne is reported as describing it as presenting LaVeyan philosophy to outsiders while focusing on ritual magic with members. [source: Wikipedia, Assembly of Light Bearers, citing Introvigne 2016 and Houston Chronicle reporting: uncertain: secondary, unverified]
The Satanic Temple is a separate organisation. It was co-founded in 2012–13 by Lucien Greaves and Malcolm Jarry and is based in Salem, Massachusetts. It is non-theistic: it uses Satan as a literary symbol of rebellion against arbitrary authority, not as a being to worship. It is chiefly an activist body for church–state separation and religious and bodily freedom, and received US tax-exempt church status in 2019. Its seven tenets stress compassion, justice, bodily autonomy, respect for others' freedom, scientific understanding and correcting one's mistakes. The Church of Satan and the Satanic Temple publicly dispute each other's legitimacy. [source: GBH News, 30 April 2019; Wikipedia, The Satanic Temple, citing AP, New York Times and The Atlantic: partly uncertain: secondary, unverified]

Scholarly framing. Lewis's 2001 online survey (140 self-selected respondents) found that about 60% described Satan as a symbol, archetype or the self, about 18% as an impersonal force and about 14% in theistic terms; the average respondent was 26, had joined around 18, and most named reading (often The Satanic Bible) as the route in; Lewis stresses Satanists' marked individualism and treats joining as a considered religious choice. [source: Lewis 2001, Marburg Journal of Religion] Dyrendal, Lewis and Petersen's The Invention of Satanism (Oxford University Press, 2016) traces how Satan was taken out of Christian theology from the Romantic period on and how modern Satanism was then built as a religion [source: OUP chapter abstract, Petersen, "Satanic Precursors"]. The description of these currents as "self-religion" or "self-deification" paths is common in the scholarly literature [uncertain: not verified].

How change happens in the therapy. Nothing in these religions is a treatment. Change comes from the ordinary work of therapy, done without religious bias: the client is understood in their own terms, real distress is separated from belief, stigma and discrimination are named and worked with, and any abuse claims are handled by careful, non-suggestive practice. [synthesis]

2. Framework

No source gives phases or session counts for work with Satanist or Luciferian clients. The structure below is [synthesis], built from the Cultural Formulation Interview approach, the minority-stress findings of the IJSNR study, and the investigative cautions of Lanning (1992) and La Fontaine (1994).

Engagement and stance check. Goal: the client feels safe to name their religion without being treated as dangerous or ill. Format: first session(s). Move on when the client can talk about their beliefs and practice without guarding, and you have checked your own reactions.
Cultural and religious formulation. Goal: know what the religion means to this client (symbolic, theistic, solitary, group, how long, how central), what they bring for help, and whether it relates to the religion at all. Use the DSM-5-TR Cultural Formulation Interview with its spirituality, religion and moral traditions module. Move on when the presenting problem and the role of religion in it are clear.
Differential assessment. Goal: separate belief and practice from psychosis, mania, dissociation, OCD and trauma, without pathologising belief. Move on when risk is assessed and any disorder is identified or ruled out.
Focused work. One or more of: minority stress and discrimination; family conflict; group concerns (costs, secrecy, leaving); prior religious trauma; abuse disclosures or fears of having been ritually abused; harm from the Satanic panic. Uses standard evidence-based treatments for any disorder found.
Ending and referral. Goal: consolidate, plan for disclosure decisions and support networks, refer for any specialised need (trauma, psychiatric, legal).

Phase 3 runs alongside the others whenever new symptoms or risks appear.

3. Guiding principles

Neutral, non-judgemental stance. Neither endorse nor condemn the religion; your job is the client's wellbeing, not their theology. Practically: ask, do not argue; never try to convert or de-convert. [synthesis]
Membership is not a symptom. Most Satanists in Lewis's survey held a symbolic, non-theistic view and chose the religion deliberately. Practically: do not record Satanism as a risk factor or diagnosis in itself. [source: Lewis 2001]
Know which group you are talking about. The Church of Satan (atheistic), the Temple of Set (Set as real), Luciferian groups and the Satanic Temple (non-theistic activism) differ sharply. Practically: ask the client's own term and group, and do not merge them. [source: profiles in Section 1]
Stigma is real and clinically relevant. Satanism is a stigmatised minority religion, and mental health professionals have often viewed it as deviance; in a sample of 1,272 Satanists, anticipated discrimination related to depressive symptoms, and ties with other Satanists buffered that link. Practically: ask about discrimination and about in-group support. [source: IJSNR, "Mark of the Beast"]
Keep religious belief out of abuse assessment. Lanning advises that each case be judged on its facts with alternative explanations weighed, and warns against labelling crimes "satanic" because of symbols or beliefs. Practically: assess abuse disclosures like any other, without assuming a satanic link or ruling abuse out. [source: Lanning 1992]
Do not suggest memories. Leading questions, rewards, hypnosis, group influence and therapist belief can create sincerely held pseudomemories (Lanning, citing Dietz). Practically: no memory-recovery techniques, no suggestion that symptoms prove hidden ritual abuse; cross-refer Domain VI 110. [source: Lanning 1992]
Take children's disclosures seriously. Lanning holds that "children rarely lie about sexual abuse or exploitation" while also showing how ritual details can be shaped by intervenors. Practically: follow child-protection procedures; report the abuse, not the theology. [source: Lanning 1992]
No ritual content in therapy. The therapist does not teach, perform, interpret as true or false, or ask the client to demonstrate rites, and does not act as a magical or spiritual adviser. Practically: discuss the meaning and effects of practice, not its steps. [synthesis]
Respect confidentiality around religion. Disclosure can cost jobs, custody or family ties. Practically: record religion only where clinically relevant, and agree with the client what is written. [synthesis]
Competence and consultation. Spiritual and religious competencies for psychologists (Vieten et al. 2013) include knowing diverse traditions and one's own biases [uncertain: not verified]. Practically: read scholarly profiles, not sensational sources, and consult if your reactions are strong. Non-discrimination on the basis of religion is part of professional ethics [synthesis].

4. Intervention inventory

None of these procedures comes from the organisations themselves; they are clinical procedures for working with members, former members and people affected by beliefs about Satanism. Each is [synthesis] unless a source is named. No ritual content is given; rites are discussed only by purpose and effect.

4.1 Checking your own stance before and during the work

Purpose: prevent bias from shaping assessment. The IJSNR study notes that mental health professionals have often viewed Satanism as deviance [source: IJSNR, "Mark of the Beast"]. Use before a first session with a client who has disclosed Satanist or Luciferian identity, and whenever you notice fear, disgust, amusement or fascination.
Steps: (1) Name your reactions privately: fear of evil, associations with abuse, the Satanic panic, horror films, your own faith. (2) Check where your knowledge comes from; replace sensational sources with scholarly profiles (Section 1). (3) Note which group the client named and its actual stance (atheistic, Setian, Luciferian, activist). (4) If your reactions are strong or your own faith is engaged, take it to supervision before going further; refer on only if you cannot work neutrally, and do it without implying the client is the problem.
Example language (illustrative): to yourself or in supervision: "What am I assuming this client does or believes, and what has the client actually told me?"
Watch for: extra risk questions you would not ask a member of a mainstream religion; curiosity about rites beyond clinical need; avoiding the topic. It is working when your notes describe the client's problem in the same terms you would use for any client.

4.2 Opening the topic

Purpose: let the client name their religion on their own terms. Use at intake, or when the client hints at it (symbols, books, a group name).
Steps: (1) Ask an open religion and spirituality question as part of routine intake. (2) If the client names Satanism or Luciferianism, ask what the word means for them before saying anything else. (3) Ask whether they want it to be part of the therapy at all. (4) State that you are not there to judge or change their religion.
Example language (illustrative): "You mentioned you're a Satanist. People mean very different things by that. What does it mean for you?" / "Is your religion something you want us to bring into this work, or is it more in the background?"
Watch for: testing behaviour (the client watching for shock); relief when you stay calm. Working when the client volunteers more without prompting.

4.3 Cultural Formulation Interview with the religion module

Purpose: build a cultural and religious formulation. Use in the assessment phase.
Steps: (1) Use the DSM-5-TR Cultural Formulation Interview core questions on the client's view of the problem, causes, supports and stressors. (2) Use its supplementary module on spirituality, religion and moral traditions to explore: symbolic or theistic view of Satan, Set or Lucifer; solitary or group practice; which organisation, if any; how long; how the religion helps (meaning, self-respect, community, a frame for anger or autonomy) and where it causes strain. (3) Ask how the client's family, workplace and community see the religion. (4) Ask whether the client sees any link between their religion and the presenting problem. Paraphrase the questions in your own words; do not read the interview out as a script. [CFI content: uncertain: not verified]
Example language (illustrative): "How does being a Satanist help you, day to day?" / "Has it ever made things harder?" / "Who knows, and who doesn't?"
Watch for: the religion as a source of strength (autonomy, rejection of shame after a strict upbringing). Lewis found that most respondents were raised Protestant or Catholic and came to Satanism through reading in late adolescence [source: Lewis 2001], so ask about the previous religion too.

4.4 Differential assessment without pathologising belief

Purpose: distinguish religious belief and practice from psychosis, mania, dissociation, OCD, trauma and personality difficulties. Use whenever symptoms are reported.
Steps: (1) Start from what the client's group teaches. A Church of Satan member who calls themself "their own god" is using the Church's symbolic language; a Setian who speaks of Set as real is following Temple of Set theology [source: WRSP; Wikipedia, Church of Satan: uncertain]. Neither is a delusion in itself. (2) Check whether co-religionists would recognise the belief as normal for their tradition. (3) Look for features that are not tradition-bound: hearing commands, fixed beliefs of being personally controlled or persecuted, beliefs of special mission with reduced sleep and pressured speech, thought disorder, loss of function. (4) Ask about dissociation, derealisation or depersonalisation during or after ritual practice, and whether these persist outside it. (5) Ask about intrusive, unwanted fears of curses, damnation or having "sold one's soul" (often a former Christian's fear rather than a Satanist teaching), and about checking or neutralising rituals done to relieve that fear. (6) Screen for substance use around ritual. (7) If psychosis or mania is likely, arrange psychiatric assessment; if OCD, use exposure and response prevention as clinical sources describe it (IOCDF) [uncertain: not verified]. ICD-10-CM Z65.8 (Other specified problems related to psychosocial circumstances), whose inclusion terms list "Religious or spiritual problem", can name religious distress without implying disorder [source: Unbound Medicine ICD-10-CM Z65.8]; the DSM-5-TR wording is [uncertain: not verified].
Example language (illustrative): "When you do your ritual practice, how do you feel afterwards? Does any of it stay with you once you've finished?" / "Do other members of your Temple see Set the way you do?" / "Is this fear something you believe, or something that comes into your head and you wish it wouldn't?"
Watch for: two errors: calling belief psychosis, and missing psychosis because it is wrapped in religious language. Working when symptoms, not beliefs, drive the diagnosis.

4.5 Discussing ritual practice by purpose and effect only

Purpose: understand the role of ritual or magical practice without asking for or giving its content. The Church of Satan frames ritual as psychodrama for a non-supernatural purpose; the Temple of Set treats "black magic" as a skill members develop and which marks advancement to Adept [source: WRSP; Wikipedia, Church of Satan: uncertain]. Use when the client mentions ritual.
Steps: (1) Ask what the practice is for (release of anger, grief, self-assertion, focus, community). (2) Ask about its effects: calming, energising, frightening, dissociating. (3) Ask about frequency, solitary or group setting, and any substances. (4) If a practice is followed by lasting fear, derealisation or sleep loss, explore reducing or pausing it as the client's own choice, and assess as in 4.4. (5) Do not ask for words, symbols, sequences or texts; if the client starts to describe them, gently redirect to meaning and effect. (6) For questions of doctrine or practice, the client's own group or texts are the place to go, not the therapist.
Example language (illustrative): "You don't need to tell me what you do in the ritual. I'm more interested in what it does for you, and how you feel afterwards."
Watch for: practice used compulsively to manage anxiety; dissociation that persists; practice as a substitute for addressing a real conflict. Working when the client can describe practice in terms of function and choice.

4.6 Minority stress, discrimination and disclosure decisions

Purpose: address the effects of stigma. Use when the client reports discrimination, fears it, or hides their religion. In the IJSNR study, identity centrality and in-group ties went with more anticipated discrimination, while in-group ties and positive feeling about the in-group went with fewer depressive symptoms, and in-group ties buffered the effect of anticipated discrimination on depression [source: IJSNR, "Mark of the Beast"].
Steps: (1) Ask directly about experiences at work, school, in housing, in health care, in custody or family courts and in their own family. (2) Validate that religious discrimination is real; Satanist groups have taken discrimination cases to US courts (for example, over a city council invocation and a withdrawn monument permit) [source: Wikipedia, The Satanic Temple, citing Arizona Republic and Star Tribune: uncertain: secondary, unverified]. (3) Map who knows and who does not; weigh the costs and gains of each disclosure with the client. (4) Explore sources of in-group support (other members, a local group, online community) and whether the client wants more of it. (5) Address internalised stigma ("maybe I am bad") with standard cognitive or compassion-focused methods. (6) For legal discrimination, refer to an employment or civil-rights lawyer or advocacy body; do not give legal advice.
Example language (illustrative): "Has your religion ever cost you something: a job, a friendship, how your family treats you?" / "Who could you talk to about this who would get it?"
Watch for: depressive symptoms rising with isolation; suicidal thoughts after rejection by family (assess risk as usual). Working when the client makes deliberate disclosure choices and has at least one supportive tie.

4.7 Family members' concerns

Purpose: support relatives (often parents of a teenager or young adult) frightened by a family member's interest in Satanism. Use when a relative is your client or attends with the client.
Steps: (1) Hear the fear fully; ask where their picture of Satanism comes from. (2) Give accurate, neutral information: most organised Satanism is atheistic or symbolic; the Satanic Temple is a non-theistic activist group; the FBI and UK government inquiries found no evidence of organised satanic abuse networks [source: Lewis 2001; Lanning 1992; La Fontaine 1994]. (3) Separate the religion from any real warning signs (self-harm, drug use, withdrawal, school failure, contact with adults who exploit young people, violent statements); these are assessed in their own right. (4) Coach the relative to stay curious and in contact rather than ban or ridicule. (5) If the relative's own faith makes this painful, acknowledge it as their grief without asking them to change faith.
Example language (illustrative): "It sounds frightening to see those symbols in your son's room. Can we look at what you actually know about what he believes, and what you're most afraid of?"
Watch for: ultimatums that cut contact; a relative seeking deliverance or exorcism for a young person (a safeguarding question; see 5.6). Working when family conversation resumes and real risks, if any, are addressed directly.

4.8 Group membership: costs, secrecy, hierarchy and leaving

Purpose: help a client assess their own group experience neutrally. Use when the client belongs to, or is leaving, an organised group. These groups differ: the Church of Satan describes its members as radical individualists and does not share membership lists; the Temple of Set (as profiled in 2000) had degrees conferred by leadership, required Pylon affiliation and ended membership if a member did not advance within a set time, and was guarded about its internal life; a Luciferian church's co-founder resigned in 2016 citing mismanagement of funds [source: Wikipedia, Church of Satan and Assembly of Light Bearers: uncertain: secondary, unverified; WRSP]. Scholars of these currents (for example Petersen 2009 on schisms) stress individualism and frequent schisms rather than high-control dynamics [uncertain: not verified].
Steps: (1) Ask what the group gives the client and what it asks (money, time, secrecy, obedience to leaders, cutting off outsiders). (2) Use the same questions you would for any religious group: Can members question leaders? Can they leave without penalty? Are finances open? Is contact with family discouraged? (3) If the client describes pressure, threats, sexual or financial exploitation, or isolation, name the pattern and explore options, including leaving. (4) If the client is leaving, attend to loss of community and identity, possible conflict with former co-members, and what of the worldview they keep. (5) If a crime (assault, sexual abuse, fraud, threats) is disclosed, discuss reporting options and any mandatory duties.
Example language (illustrative): "What does the group expect from you, and how do you feel about that?" / "If you decided to step back, what would happen?"
Watch for: assuming coercion because of the name, or missing it because the group says it values individualism. Working when the client can weigh membership freely.

4.9 Clients who believe they suffered satanic ritual abuse

Purpose: respond to abuse disclosures without suggestion and without dismissal. Use when a client reports, or begins to wonder about, ritual abuse, especially memories that emerge in therapy, under hypnosis, in groups or after reading. Cross-refer Domain VI 110 (regression and recovered-memory harm account).
Background: the FBI's Kenneth V. Lanning (Supervisory Special Agent, Behavioral Science Unit) reported in January 1992 that in the cases known to him no bodies or physical evidence of satanic murder had been found and no well-organised satanic group had been identified; he listed alternative explanations for unverified accounts: pathological distortion, traumatic memory, normal childhood fears and fantasy, misperception, overzealous intervenors, urban legends and combinations of these; he warned that hypnosis, dreams, group influence, media and therapist influence can produce pseudomemories that people sincerely hold. He also stressed that real child sexual abuse, including multi-offender sex rings that use fear as control, does occur and must be investigated. [source: Lanning 1992] The UK study by Jean La Fontaine (1994) found no evidence that sexual or physical abuse of children formed part of rites with a magical or religious purpose; three cases involved ritual that was secondary to sexual abuse and was not satanic, and some younger children's satanic disclosures had been influenced by adults [source: La Fontaine 1994, NCJRS abstract].
Steps: (1) Take the client's distress and any report of abuse seriously; do not argue about what happened. (2) Do not use hypnosis, guided imagery, regression, dream interpretation, "body memory" reading, or survivor-group materials to search for or elaborate memories; do not suggest that symptoms prove hidden abuse. (3) Use open, non-leading questions; record the client's words, and when and how each memory first appeared. (4) Treat present symptoms (PTSD, depression, dissociation) with standard evidence-based treatment focused on current functioning, not on recovering more material. (5) If there is a current risk to a child or an adult, follow safeguarding and reporting procedures; police investigation, not therapy, establishes facts. (6) If the client already has memories formed in earlier therapy, acknowledge uncertainty openly and respectfully; avoid both confirming and attacking them. (7) Do not allow your view of any religion to shape your judgement of the report, in either direction.
Example language (illustrative): "What you're feeling is real and we'll work with it. I'm not going to try to dig up memories. That can sometimes create pictures that feel real but aren't, and I want to protect you from that." / "Whatever happened, we can work on how you're living now."
Watch for: escalating, increasingly elaborate accounts across sessions; growing dependence on the therapist or a survivor network; worsening function as "memory work" continues (all signs to stop memory-focused work and consult). Working when symptoms reduce and the client's daily life improves.

4.10 People harmed by the Satanic panic

Purpose: help clients harmed by the 1980s–90s panic: people wrongly accused, families divided by allegations, former patients of therapies built around ritual-abuse beliefs, and members of minority religions who were treated as suspects. Lanning cautioned against calling crimes "satanic" because of beliefs, symbols or bizarre acts [source: Lanning 1992]. Allegations reached the Temple of Set's founder in the mid-1980s; no charges were brought against him [source: WRSP Temple of Set profile].
Steps: (1) Hear the account and its effects (shame, broken family ties, loss of work, distrust of therapists). (2) Name the context: an investigated and documented moral panic, not a private failing. (3) For former patients, work with grief about lost years, uncertainty about memories, and anger at past therapists; support complaints to regulators if the client wishes. (4) For families, consider reconciliation work only when all parties want it. (5) Rebuild trust in therapy by being transparent about what you do and do not do.
Example language (illustrative): "A lot of people were caught up in this, and investigators later found the claims weren't supported. That doesn't undo what it did to you, but it may help to see it wasn't about you alone."
Watch for: retraumatisation by any technique that resembles earlier memory work; suspicion of you. Working when the client can tell their story as history and plan forward.

4.11 Religious trauma from an earlier religion

Purpose: address harm from a prior high-control or punitive upbringing, which may lie behind turning to Satanism. In Lewis's sample, 55% were raised Protestant and 20% Catholic [source: Lewis 2001]. Use when the client reports fear of hell, shame or family rejection tied to their former faith.
Steps: (1) Ask about the prior religion and the client's experience of it. (2) Separate present beliefs from intrusive leftovers (fear of damnation that the client no longer believes in). (3) Treat trauma symptoms with standard methods; treat intrusive religious fears as OCD where criteria are met (see 4.4). (4) Respect the client's present religion as their chosen frame for autonomy and self-respect.
Example language (illustrative): "Part of you has moved on from what you were taught, and part of you still flinches. Can we look at that flinch?"
Watch for: the therapist's own faith taking sides. Working when old fears lose their grip.

4.12 Boundaries, self-disclosure and records

Purpose: keep the role clear. Use throughout.
Steps: (1) Do not perform, teach, endorse or interpret rites, and do not act as a magical, spiritual or religious adviser. (2) Self-disclose your own religion only if it serves the client, briefly, and return the focus. (3) Record religion only where clinically relevant, in neutral terms, and tell the client what you record, since records may reach courts or employers. (4) If asked for letters for courts or employers, describe clinical facts, not religious judgements. (5) If you also practise any occult or spiritual service, keep it entirely separate from therapy.
Example language (illustrative): "I'm not the right person to advise you on your religion's teachings. I am here for how you're doing."
Watch for: fascination drawing you into discussing technique; documentation using words like "devil worship". Working when the frame stays clear.

4.13 Referral and involving the community

Purpose: connect the client with the right help. Use when needs go beyond your role.
Steps: (1) Psychiatric assessment for suspected psychosis or mania; trauma specialist using non-suggestive methods; OCD specialist for scrupulosity-type fears. (2) Legal or civil-rights advice for discrimination. (3) If the client wishes, contact with their own group or local organiser for community support; never contact a group without consent. (4) Scholarly and neutral information sources for families (for example the World Religions and Spirituality Project) rather than "counter-cult" or sensational material.
Example language (illustrative): "Would it help to have someone from your own community involved, or would you rather keep this separate?"
Watch for: referrals that send the client to faith-based deliverance or anti-Satanism services. Working when the client gets help that respects their religion.

5. Handling problems

All guidance in this section is [synthesis] unless a source is named.

The client tests or provokes you. Some clients use their religion's imagery to see whether you will flinch, having met judgement before (compare the stigma findings in the IJSNR study). Response: stay calm and curious, name the test kindly if it helps ("I wonder if you've had people react badly when you tell them"), and return to the client's concerns.
Resistance to discussing religion at all. Response: respect it; the presenting problem may have nothing to do with religion. Come back to it only if it becomes relevant, and say why.
The client wants you to agree or debate. Some clients want endorsement, others want an argument about God or Satan. Response: decline both, warmly: "My view on that isn't what matters here; yours is, and how it fits your life."
The client asks for help with ritual or magical practice. Response: say plainly that this is outside your role; direct doctrinal questions to the client's own tradition, and keep exploring meaning and effect (4.5).
Overwhelm, fear or dissociation after ritual practice. Response: grounding and stabilisation first; assess for psychosis, mania, panic, trauma and substance use (4.4); explore, as the client's own choice, pausing the practice; arrange urgent psychiatric assessment if there are psychotic or manic features or risk to self or others.
Fear of curses, damnation or having "sold one's soul". These are often fears carried from a former religion rather than teachings of the client's present group. Response: assess for OCD; if criteria are met, use exposure and response prevention as clinical sources describe it, without the therapist making any religious claim either way. Do not offer protective rituals or reassurance that you can lift a curse.
The client wants to recover memories of ritual abuse. Response: explain why you will not do memory-recovery work (risk of pseudomemories: Lanning 1992; cross-refer Domain VI 110); offer symptom-focused trauma treatment; take any current safeguarding concern to the proper authorities. If the client insists, refer only to a clinician who uses non-suggestive methods.
Another professional or a family member is pushing a "satanic abuse" frame. Response: share the investigative findings neutrally (Lanning 1992; La Fontaine 1994), focus on the client's actual symptoms and any verifiable risk, and consult a supervisor or safeguarding lead.
The client reports abuse within a group. Response: believe the client enough to act; follow mandatory reporting duties for children and vulnerable adults; support the client through any police contact; do not treat the religion as the cause. Lanning recommends evaluating each case on its own facts [source: Lanning 1992].
Children and young people. Safeguarding applies as for any family: assess actual care, risk and harm, not the parents' or young person's religion. Concerns run both ways: a child may be harmed by abuse whatever the family's faith, or by faith-based responses to a young person's Satanist interest (exorcism or deliverance attempts, harsh punishment, expulsion from home). Refer for safeguarding assessment where there is harm; seek the young person's assent and the appropriate consent for any intervention. Note that Satanist identity may begin in late adolescence (average joining age around 18 in Lewis's sample) [source: Lewis 2001].
Custody or employment disputes involving the client's religion. Response: do not write opinions on the religion; describe clinical facts only; refer to a lawyer. Be aware that records may be requested.
Rupture over a perceived slight (a word, a look, a question about safety). Response: name it, own your part, and ask what it reminded the client of. Repair directly, as the client may expect professionals to be hostile.
The therapist's own faith is distressed by the work. Response: supervision or personal therapy; if you cannot work neutrally, refer carefully, framing the referral around fit, not around the client's religion.
Non-adherence to agreed tasks. Response: check whether a task conflicted with the client's values (for example, a self-compassion exercise worded in religious language they reject); reword it in the client's own terms.
Leaving a group leads to isolation. Response: plan new social ties; some clients will want other Satanist or Left-Hand Path community, others none. In-group ties buffered depression in the IJSNR sample, so loss of them is a real risk factor [source: IJSNR, "Mark of the Beast"].
Suicidal thoughts. Assess and manage risk with standard practice, as for any client; rejection by family or community over religion can be a trigger. Do not treat the religion's imagery of death or darkness as a risk sign by itself; assess actual thoughts, plans and history.

Sources

Books and works cited (details as given in the pages above):

Dyrendal, A., Lewis, J. R., and Petersen, J. Aa. (2016). The Invention of Satanism. New York: Oxford University Press.
LaVey, A. S. (1969). The Satanic Bible. New York: Avon Books.
Petersen, J. Aa. (2009). Satanists and Nuts: The Role of Schisms in Modern Satanism. In J. Lewis and S. Lewis (eds), Sacred Schisms. Cambridge University Press [uncertain: not verified].
Introvigne, M. (2016). Satanism: A Social History. Brill [uncertain: not verified].
Vieten, C., et al. (2013). Spiritual and religious competencies for psychologists [uncertain: not verified].

Also cited [uncertain: not verified]: American Psychiatric Association, DSM-5-TR Cultural Formulation Interview and supplementary modules.

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