Diane Langberg, PhD
@dianelangberg.bsky.social
Psychologist.Trauma Expert. International Speaker. Consultant. Author. https://linktr.ee/dianelangberg?utm_source=linktree_profile_share<sid=6b3b4f52-72f4-4cb4-9419-f034fba65a75
We often trust others in positions of authority because we assume that those with knowledge, intellect, and skill MUST be trustworthy. But that is not always the case. How often have we seen that the power that comes with knowledge, intellect, and skill can be abused?
November 22, 2025 at 12:49 PM
We often trust others in positions of authority because we assume that those with knowledge, intellect, and skill MUST be trustworthy. But that is not always the case. How often have we seen that the power that comes with knowledge, intellect, and skill can be abused?
Trauma profoundly impacts our relationship with God, as He is often viewed through a powerfully distorted lens that leads to seeing Him as the evil one.
November 21, 2025 at 12:55 PM
Trauma profoundly impacts our relationship with God, as He is often viewed through a powerfully distorted lens that leads to seeing Him as the evil one.
Trauma brings silence because it feels like there are no words to really describe what happened. Many times people need us to sit with them in silence. It is a way of joining with them so they are not alone in their experience of struggling to find words.
November 20, 2025 at 10:00 PM
Trauma brings silence because it feels like there are no words to really describe what happened. Many times people need us to sit with them in silence. It is a way of joining with them so they are not alone in their experience of struggling to find words.
When we choose fame, size, our own comfort, or success, our preferred system—in doing so we say, “Away with Him…crucify Him, kill Him…we have no king but Caesar.” Those who said those words chose earthly power over Christ, and in doing so, they chose their master.
November 19, 2025 at 10:00 PM
When we choose fame, size, our own comfort, or success, our preferred system—in doing so we say, “Away with Him…crucify Him, kill Him…we have no king but Caesar.” Those who said those words chose earthly power over Christ, and in doing so, they chose their master.
When someone is vulnerable, they are susceptible to attack or injury. Whenever power is used in a way that wounds the vulnerable or that exploits trust, abuse has occurred.
November 18, 2025 at 10:00 PM
When someone is vulnerable, they are susceptible to attack or injury. Whenever power is used in a way that wounds the vulnerable or that exploits trust, abuse has occurred.
Systems that cover up abuse through deception, coercion, or abuse of power mimic the perpetrator and re-victimize the victim. Many lives have been sacrificed on the altar of secrecy for the sake of the church or the mission.
November 15, 2025 at 12:52 PM
Systems that cover up abuse through deception, coercion, or abuse of power mimic the perpetrator and re-victimize the victim. Many lives have been sacrificed on the altar of secrecy for the sake of the church or the mission.
Violence and abuse disconnect us from caring relationships. Telling the trauma story gives a place of caring connection that cares for the soul. Trauma recovery requires talking, and as the story is repeated over and over, strength to speak and grasp the truth grows.
November 14, 2025 at 12:58 PM
Violence and abuse disconnect us from caring relationships. Telling the trauma story gives a place of caring connection that cares for the soul. Trauma recovery requires talking, and as the story is repeated over and over, strength to speak and grasp the truth grows.
Trauma stories do not first come out with a beginning, middle, and end. They come out in broken pieces, disordered and perhaps unclear.
November 13, 2025 at 10:00 PM
Trauma stories do not first come out with a beginning, middle, and end. They come out in broken pieces, disordered and perhaps unclear.
To tolerate sin, pretense, disease, crookedness, or deviation from the truth is to do something other than the work of God, no matter the words used to describe it.
November 12, 2025 at 5:01 PM
To tolerate sin, pretense, disease, crookedness, or deviation from the truth is to do something other than the work of God, no matter the words used to describe it.
Most people need connection with a caring and patient person to help them have the courage to face the truth of what happened and how it hurt them. A companion in tragedy or difficulty always helps us have courage.
November 11, 2025 at 5:00 PM
Most people need connection with a caring and patient person to help them have the courage to face the truth of what happened and how it hurt them. A companion in tragedy or difficulty always helps us have courage.
When a body is so broken that it is entirely dependent on the care of others or a mind is basically gone, we are called to give dignity to what remains, for it still houses one created in the image of God.
November 7, 2025 at 12:59 PM
When a body is so broken that it is entirely dependent on the care of others or a mind is basically gone, we are called to give dignity to what remains, for it still houses one created in the image of God.
Self-deception works in concert with temptation so we can convince ourselves of the rightness of actions that are, in fact, wrong. We use deception to say that external circumstances justify reactions. Truth and lies become confused or even reversed.
November 6, 2025 at 10:00 PM
Self-deception works in concert with temptation so we can convince ourselves of the rightness of actions that are, in fact, wrong. We use deception to say that external circumstances justify reactions. Truth and lies become confused or even reversed.
Deception becomes systemic when we use our collective power to protect what we desire to be true rather than face the destruction and the pain that accompanies the actual truth. Deception functions as a narcotic in protecting us from seeing or feeling that which is painful to us.
November 6, 2025 at 5:01 PM
Deception becomes systemic when we use our collective power to protect what we desire to be true rather than face the destruction and the pain that accompanies the actual truth. Deception functions as a narcotic in protecting us from seeing or feeling that which is painful to us.
We are complicit with ungodliness when we turn a blind eye, support, and protect existing perversions in the name of success or anything else. Examine the longings of the systems you belong to because they make you vulnerable to fulfillment in once unthinkable places.
November 5, 2025 at 10:00 PM
We are complicit with ungodliness when we turn a blind eye, support, and protect existing perversions in the name of success or anything else. Examine the longings of the systems you belong to because they make you vulnerable to fulfillment in once unthinkable places.
Faith in God is a struggle in ordinary life. Faith in God when we have seen tragedy and trauma is a massive struggle. But it is a good fight because it is a fight against those things that tried to destroy us and make us like themselves.
November 5, 2025 at 5:01 PM
Faith in God is a struggle in ordinary life. Faith in God when we have seen tragedy and trauma is a massive struggle. But it is a good fight because it is a fight against those things that tried to destroy us and make us like themselves.
Systemic abuse occurs when a system, such as a family, a government entity, a school, a church, a religious organization, or a political group, enables the abuse of the people it purports to protect.
November 4, 2025 at 9:59 PM
Systemic abuse occurs when a system, such as a family, a government entity, a school, a church, a religious organization, or a political group, enables the abuse of the people it purports to protect.
A toxic leader demands you “reflect back to me the image of myself as being all that I say I am and want to be. And God help you if you fail.” What a burdensome and perilous charade.
November 4, 2025 at 4:59 PM
A toxic leader demands you “reflect back to me the image of myself as being all that I say I am and want to be. And God help you if you fail.” What a burdensome and perilous charade.
The same gifts and abilities that can make a man or woman an effective and powerful leader can hide a dangerous level of self-absorption and hidden insecurities with zero regard for anyone but themselves.
November 3, 2025 at 5:00 PM
The same gifts and abilities that can make a man or woman an effective and powerful leader can hide a dangerous level of self-absorption and hidden insecurities with zero regard for anyone but themselves.
We often confuse the system of Christianity (Christendom) with Christ. But no so-called Christian system is truly God’s work unless it is full of truth and love.
November 1, 2025 at 11:57 AM
We often confuse the system of Christianity (Christendom) with Christ. But no so-called Christian system is truly God’s work unless it is full of truth and love.
Whenever the body of Christ, through denial or actual choice, ignores the sin of protecting evildoers in its midst, the entire body suffers terribly as a result.
October 31, 2025 at 12:01 PM
Whenever the body of Christ, through denial or actual choice, ignores the sin of protecting evildoers in its midst, the entire body suffers terribly as a result.
The more vulnerable and needy we feel, the more dangerous our use of power becomes, because we are far more likely to exploit the vulnerable to feed ourselves. Compelled by their own anxieties, fears, and weaknesses, leaders often abuse the power they have been entrusted with.
October 30, 2025 at 9:00 PM
The more vulnerable and needy we feel, the more dangerous our use of power becomes, because we are far more likely to exploit the vulnerable to feed ourselves. Compelled by their own anxieties, fears, and weaknesses, leaders often abuse the power they have been entrusted with.
When someone is vulnerable, they are more likely to be attacked or injured. Abuse occurs when power is used to inflict harm on the vulnerable or to exploit trust. Abuse occurs when a person in a position of power uses another for their own gain, discards them, or destroys them.
October 30, 2025 at 4:01 PM
When someone is vulnerable, they are more likely to be attacked or injured. Abuse occurs when power is used to inflict harm on the vulnerable or to exploit trust. Abuse occurs when a person in a position of power uses another for their own gain, discards them, or destroys them.
When someone is particularly gifted verbally and theologically, it is easy for us to assume maturity. The ability to articulate theological truths well does not necessarily mean that one is an obedient servant of God.
October 29, 2025 at 9:00 PM
When someone is particularly gifted verbally and theologically, it is easy for us to assume maturity. The ability to articulate theological truths well does not necessarily mean that one is an obedient servant of God.
We are flooded by words daily. We hear good words on social media and assume they are backed up by good character. The danger of good words without good deeds must be continually discerned.
October 29, 2025 at 4:01 PM
We are flooded by words daily. We hear good words on social media and assume they are backed up by good character. The danger of good words without good deeds must be continually discerned.
If any doubt creeps in when listening to a victim tell their story of abuse about someone you think you know to be fine, it is easy for the hearer to lean on his/her own capacity for self-deception and talk themselves out of considering the truth of what has been told.
October 28, 2025 at 9:00 PM
If any doubt creeps in when listening to a victim tell their story of abuse about someone you think you know to be fine, it is easy for the hearer to lean on his/her own capacity for self-deception and talk themselves out of considering the truth of what has been told.