TPM shares many features with hypnotic induction (especially its focus on connecting emotional experience to a presumed historical memory) that could well account for the creation of DID and SRA accounts as well as “memories” of the abuse allegedly underlying these phenomena. Entwistle, D. N. (2004). Shedding Light on Theophostic Ministry 1
For legal purposes, I should add, the only reason I even encountered theophostic counseling was because Duane Miller said Thom engaged in it. Dan Vanvleet also acknowledged Thom’s use of theophostics. The client’s husband claims Thom did theophostics. This is when I met with both Duane and Dan separately. I am unsure how to interpret Thom’s claim that the church doesn’t do theophostics in my final meeting with all three of them.
I have limited the scope of criticisms to theophostics as it was presented from 1995 to the early 2000’s. I have purchased Beyond Tolerable Recovery, copyright 2000. There is an even more advanced workbook for dealing with Satanic Ritual Abuse and Disassociative Identity Disorder. I was disturbed by what I read, especially on demonic encounters and ‘alters’ in the counseling session, and how Jesus can reveal the truth of recovered memories. I spent many hours researching Ed Smith, the founder of Theophostic Prayer Ministry(now Transformation Prayer Ministry). A simple web search reveals many contradictory and shifting claims, due to the fact that Ed Smith has been constantly revising his practices.
Having been a member of the church so long, I recognize elements of Thom’s understanding of demonology and spiritual warfare that are present in the manual, including the binding of spirits. In the late 90’s, early 2000’s there were 1000’s of laymen and pastors using Ed Smith’s techniques to uncover Satanic Ritual Abuse, diagnose DID, and cast out demons. The current TPM website completely redefines demonic encounters in a ministry setting. But the damage as already been done. And no official renunciation or apology has been made. There are still Theophostic counseling services, specifically catering to Satanic Ritual Abuse. If they are advertising as “theophostic”, they aren’t even aware of, or reject, Ed Smith’s change of mind on such issues. They aren’t even aware of the name change of the counseling to Transformational, or Ed Smiths renunciation of memory work. Despite the overwhelming number of recovered memories of SRA linked to Theophostics, there is no mention of SRA in the current training manual(copyright 2019).
Here is the only link I can find to a renunciation of his heavy emphasis on demonic encounters in previous manuals – > Demonic Manifestation in a TPM setting
There have been two law cases, according to wikipedia, involving theophostics.
Theophostic Ministry (TPM) was defined by Ed Smith (2000), its founder, as “a method of delivering God’s healing grace to hurting emotional [sic] wounded people” (p. i). Smith coined the term Theophostic from the Greek words for God ([theta][epsilon]o[sigma]) and light ([phi][omega][sigma]) (p. 13). According to Smith, “Theophostic Ministry is a process of divinely accomplished miracles,” in which “the Spirit of Christ … [exposes] darkness with light” (p. 13). In short, TPM is predicated on the beliefs that current distress is rooted in a painful memory in which a “lie” is embedded, and that Christ can bring release by exposing the lie and replacing it with truth as He reveals His literal presence in the person’s memory.
“Theophostic Prayer Ministry in clinical practice: issues and concerns..” The Free Library. 2009 CAPS International (Christian Association for Psychological Studies) 29 Oct. 2022 https://www.thefreelibrary.com/Theophostic+Prayer+Ministry+in+clinical+practice%3a+issues+and+concerns.-a0342321832
There is nothing sinister in a description of TPM, but the smallest amount of digging beneath the surface reveals that Ed Smith has developed novel and new understandings of scripture, demonology, memory, and emotional healing. Unlicensed and unskilled pastors and counselors are equipped via a training seminar or purchasing workbooks to conduct a form of Christian pyscho-analysis, which should be very concerning. Under what supervision, what accountability was this counseling being offered? Is a pastor, acting as a counselor only under the umbrella of ‘clergy’, a cause for concern when dealing with deep trauma? If Thom was not a pastor when he was performing counseling, what qualifications at all did he have? Was informed consent given? The only academic papers I can find on TPM advise the strongest caution when using such a practice to help people. The only evidence for abuse, for a satanic family conspiracy, is recovered memories. Recovered memories are highly controversial. Do a simple Google search, and you will see this is an active debate. Here is a link to a paper published in 2012 as an overview of the debate, but you find dozens of papers for and against how credible recovered memories are.
Recovered memories in clinical practice – a research review
I think the key issue in evaluating TPM is whether or not it is a method in which Jesus or the Holy Spirit is directly and divinely revealing things in people’s memory and perhaps appearing in those memories . what I would like to suggest is the possibility that it might not be actually Jesus appearing; the possibility that what we might be seeing is actually someone’s God representation that is their understanding of what Jesus or God might say to them. If that is the case, then there are a number of possibilities that I think we need to take seriously. one of which is the possibility that someone could have false ideas of what God would say. A second thing is that when a memory is ‘revealed’ it might actually not be a legitimate memory. And that we would have to look at the possibility of iatrogenetically created false memories. (CAPS International Conference, Panel discussion, April 7, 2005; see Entwistle, 2004a for further discussion on false memories)
While John Mack’s personal brand of therapy was solidifying the alien abduction phenomenon in the UFO community, therapies like TPM were spreading a revival of the late 80’s early 90’s Satanic Panic. The proliferation of TPM is I believe a hitherto unstudied and unexplored aspect of the Satanic Panic from the religious side. Further research should be done on the influence of informal and novel therapies such as TPM on the rise of Satanic conspiracies. You cannot separate the early years of TPM from Satanic Ritual Abuse, as the two seem to go hand in hand.
The following are excerpts from the Christian Research Institute’s full article on Theophostics. The below section, dealing with satanic ritual abuse, is highly relevant to the discussion of the counseling Thom did, but I encourage everyone to read the full article. Access the Full Article Here
“It is impossible to interact with TPM training seminars and materials for long without encountering discussion of satanic ritual abuse (SRA). Next to Smith’s teachings on the sin nature and sanctification, this emphasis on SRA has been CRI’s greatest cause for concern with TPM.”
“At the height of the SRA hysteria speculations were rife about a global, all-powerful satanic conspiracy. SRA “survivors” accused parents, pastors, teachers, and other authority figures of horrendous crimes. Law enforcement officials often took these allegations seriously, leading to many arrests and prosecutions and some incarcerations. Many of the accused were later vindicated, but often too late to restore their families, careers, and reputations. Hundreds more have never been cleared.”
“During the 1990s both Christian and secular authors and groups (including CRI) published critical evaluations of SRA claims. They pointed out that directive therapy and a phenomenon called false memory syndrome were sufficient to explain most of the accounts of SRA; that even if some isolated cases of satanic ritual abuse did occur, there was no objective evidence for a vast satanic conspiracy; that flawed arguments (e.g., the evidence is missing because the conspirators hid it) were used to support such a conspiracy; and that the details of the conspiracy bore striking resemblance to the accounts of alleged Satanists-turned-Christians that were later proved to be fraudulent. Public support for SRA claims soon declined, and today true believers in SRA are mostly limited to die-hard contingents of some therapeutic communities.”
“It is clear that there remains a population in the larger counseling client pool that will, if given the opportunity, display abreaction and tell gruesome SRA stories. Smith and other TPM facilitators have experienced this phenomenon numerous times. CRI continues to view recovered SRA memories with profound skepticism and suspects that if they are not implanted through directive therapy, then they are most likely originating from the minds of clients who have heard such stories and are desperate to become the center of attention.”
‘This does not eliminate all cause for concern, however. If the alleged perpetrator is innocent, the TPM recipient’s choice to forgive him for wrongs he didn’t actually commit would not prevent harm from being done to their relationship by her believing he committed those wrongs. If he is a significant person in her life, then the consequences of this false belief would be severe.
Because claims of SRA are typically outlandish, whereas the objective evidence to support them is typically elusive, and because of the damage they can do to relationships and to innocent people’s lives, CRI cautions against getting caught up in this aspect of TPM. Directive therapy cannot be ruled out entirely even in the case of TPM. As Bob and Gretchen Passantino observe, it is possible for directive therapy to occur when the therapist has no awareness that he or she is leading the client: “Directive therapy can be as subtle as a meaningful silence, a nod of approval, or an assurance that the client is ‘believed.’”