Is Bethel's SOZO Mentally and Emotionally Damaging? Thoughts From a Mental Health Professional 

I was a smoker for 13 years. I stopped smoking within about 10 Minutes and never had any withdrawals whatsoever. The crazy thing, I never prayed to be delivered from that. I only always said, if God wants me to stop smoking, he'll make it happen and now I can't even stand the smell of cigarettes. How wonderful is our God.

TLDR: I have schizophrenia and have battled with it as a believer for many years. Ive had a long-standing mental illness that has plagued my life since I was 4. I went to all kinds of churches, getting prayed over by pastors, friends, councilors, healing services, deliverance ministers, the whole shebang. The illness wasn't discovered until I turned 24. People talk about mental illness in the church but that seems to only touch depression and anxiety. I got the diagnosis of Schizophrenia. My illness looks like demon possession. I hear voices, see dead people, I go into fight or flight every day of my life because I think people are trying to kill me. I hear people breaking into my house all the time and when I look to see who their, it's no one. I live in unbelievable amounts of torment every moment of every day. I've been in therapy for about 12 years of my life and the illness was never discovered by professionals or the church. No word of knowledge about this issue. I was abused by the church for a very long time. I was told I needed to 'believe more', read more scripture, pray more, worship more, repent more.... like wtf. They couldn't help me. They couldn't see that my experience was different than others. (this is a criticism of the church more than any person) I had to shut up about the symptoms I was experiencing because believers don't really like those who don't believe like them, look like them, pray like them. The prayer lines were humiliating. People would just run up to me and command satan out and yell and scream. I would curl into a ball and cry as they would get the whole congregation in on it. Nothing like being yelled at by a whole room of people :D but I digress. Wish this was an isolated event... And like a fool I would do the same thing from church to church because I wanted freedom more than the fear of being ridiculed or yelled at and humiliated. I've done everything that I thought would work. For years! I attended Bethel church a few years ago and was at least meet with compassion. People didn't judge me for my illness and made me feel welcomed. Those same churches I mentioned before who would pray for me would also blame me for not having faith for healing :p I've never met a more compassionate group of people. They would go with me to the healing rooms and would believe with me that I would be healed. I tried the Sozo route for a bit, but the underlying issue was still never identified. The Sozo route wasn't what I needed and I knew it wouldn't help to go, but went anyway. The experience wasn't negative in any way and it helped me out with some doors I left open. Sozo isnt the end all be all. I cant trust a church, program, worship set, minister, to fix all my problems. It has to be Jesus. I'm honestly just tired of the whole, it has to be a demon thing. I think that it undermines the person who suffers if the 'demon' isn't removed. If you think it's a demon do you keep praying over and over again? Well if you don't like doctors then that's all you have. It kinda isolates people who desperately want help and I think it pushes people from doctors who can help these people. I wouldn't tell a person who has cancer to stop chemotherapy and tell them they need more faith and should stop treatment. I was on antidepressants for years before my diagnosis and was told I didn't have faith if I kept taking those. I'm the rare few who got humiliated church after church and still kept going. 14 years of trying to get victory and Im still going after it. My relationship with God isn't determined by me getting healed or not.

Praise God! 6 years ago Jesus delivered and healed me from 23 years of bulimia, depression and suicidal thoughts- like immediately, overnight, a miracle! I am forever changed and grateful for His gift of salvation. He delivered me from the powers of darkness and conveyed me into the kingdom of the Son of His love. Jesus loves you, too. Surrender all to Him. God bless.

2 take aways for me. 1) the Body needs to be more compassionate and humble about someone's struggles and avoid shame or judgment. 2) I love the fact that there are Christian mental health counselors who are able to use Biblical truth in therapeutic counseling. Praise God!

Wow Melissa, as someone who is dealing with a few mental health disorders, and going to therapy this perspective from Britt really encouraged me a lot. Mental health is often misunderstood by the church which can be very hurtful and dismissive to anyone struggling with it. I would be interested in some more mental health perspectives in the future! ❤️

It’s true. With a degree in psychology, it was a red flag when one of the sozo people described my father quite differently than who he is. I was smart enough to say no that’s not right. I was required to do a sozo to be on the bethel healing team. We studied the Bible in depth in two different bssm classes but a lot of the exotic teachings I never heard before came from Beni Johnson’s lectures. Now I know why they were so exotic; they were mixed with new age beliefs.

My husband has severe OCD/scrupulousity & he has been very harmed by various deliverance ministries. I do believe in supernatural healing & deliverance, but I believe there is an important role for Christian therapists & medical professionals. I think humans are complex beings that need physical, mental & spiritual healing 🙏

A 'Christian' friend and her boyfriend did the Sozo course, and were raving how 'accurate' the prophecies were, which sounded like 'fortune telling'. Alarm bells rang when I was told the instructor asks the person at the start of the session who they want to come into the room 'Father, Son, or Holy Spirit' (like ordering God to do our biding), and the 'separation' sounded like the non-trinitarian view of God. Of course, the counsellor never told them what God would say, which was stop living together and stop having sex outside of marriage. Only 'good words' were told of health, wealth , and success. This is not from God.

Melissa is very nice in her treatment of these false teachers. I don't have as much restraint, but I digress. Keep up the awesome work & channel!

“It’s ok, things won’t leave this room”.....and it’s published in a book

Thank you for this! I went through a SOZO session years ago. I don’t recall feeling any different afterward. In fact, I’ve spent the last 8 years actively healing from last trauma. The last year and a half or more have been in therapy to dig deep. So much of my healing in the beginning years was focused on how I viewed God just like SOZO does because I was in the NAR movement. Which is really the charasmatic/prosperity gospel/word of faith, they are all a part of it. This last year and a half in therapy my focus has changed to putting the blame where it rightfully belongs and not on God. I realized as I’m listening to this video how much the focus gets taken off of the real issue and turned into something else and essentially just shifting the blame. Thanks for doing this video!!

If only Christians will regards humans as nothing but humans regardless of their gifts and positions, and put their total faith and allegiance to Jesus Christ, so many craziness we see in churches today will stop.

*Gos bless everyone reading this* ✝️🙏😊

I had one session of Bethel’s Sozo, I thought it was a little “out there”. We stopped going there a few years ago, but not before our daughter graduated from Bethel’s School of Supernatural Ministry. We are thankful that our daughter has since realized as well that they teach a lot of non biblical ideas.

My husband and I went to a Sozo healing class. We got bad vibes [thats Holy Spirit discernment]. It does not matter what credentials a person does or doesn't have. The Lord will warn you. We asked God to give us wisdom. We left when the Sozo instructor had us close our eyes and go back to our mothers womb. She wanted us to stretch as if we were in the womb again. Thank you for doing this Michelle and inviting your friend to add her input. God bless you.~ Kathleen 💖

As I mentioned in a previous video, I was deeply involved in a SOZO-type ministry for years as a leader. It wasn't called SOZO, but it is was a knock-off. And today many churches have deliverance ministries based on SOZO but not called SOZO, and they use various names such as "deliverance", "inner healing" and "spiritual warfare". Most of them are based in whole or in part on theophostic counseling, meaning “God bringing to light the truth.” The danger is the fact there is an element of truth in them but they are not fully biblically sound, which both Melissa and Britt explained. They lead people into a false theology of healing and deliverance. Thank you for this video.

Melissa- I love your heart. You NEVER come off as “bashing” anybody! Anyone who thinks differently has an issue with truth. Thank you for being bold & sharing truth, though it makes some uncomfortable. I love your videos. Keep doing your thing girl!

Thank you for having a RU-vid chat with the counselor. I like that. Please do it more.

I also went to a group of 3 people praying over me. They said they were doing Sozo over me. They told me that if God showed me something to say outloud what He showed me. I had 2 visions and God used those visions to minister emotional healing to me. They just prayed while my eyes were closed praying as well. What the enemy means for evil God turns around for good for those who love Him and are acalled according to His purpose. The Lord protected me. ~ Kathleen

I felt depressed after my father passed away, then again (15 years later) after my mother passed away. I never saw these episodes of depression as a spiritual or clinical issue, but rather as a natural element of grief. I recognized, though, that I needed to take care of myself by getting around other people or engaging in activities that could be uplifting so that the sadness wouldn’t become a deeper issue. Some things are just a matter of good common sense.

Fantastic interview. I am a physician assistant who works in inpatient and consultation psychiatry and the parent of a young adult worship leader. My son is integrated into a ministry that is flirting with some beliefs about deliverance ministry, word of faith, prosperity gospel, and supernatural healing. Your videos have helped equip me with more understanding of these issues so that I can have discussions with him and help him see ways that they do not align with scripture.

Great conversation! Thank you for covering this with a CURRENT Licensed Therapist !!! You are both making a HUGE difference! God bless 💗

“Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.” ‭‭Matthew‬ ‭11:28‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Great topic of discussion and I appreciate you both handling this graciously, without coming off malicious but rather genuine and sincere to help Christians alike to examine what is being taught!

Before watching this, I never realized that so much of the "freedom ministry" that I have been through (and I'm talking more than a decade of it) was modeled after SOZO. Thank you both so, so much. This brings a lot of clarity.

I'm reminded of parental alienation in the examination of their practice. When a parent, mentor, gaurdian, person of influence on said child, leads the child on with detailed questions full of veiled suggestions for the child to build on. May God bless us with His discernment and wisdom. 💙✝️🙏

This was a great conversation. I had a mental health episode about 5 years ago where I had to get hospitalized. At the time, I was very very confused and didn't know if it was a spiritual attack or psychological disorganized thinking. After getting out of the hospital, I spoke to a few Christian friends and they recommended that I get deliverance ministry. I did not feel like that was the best approach for me so I sought out regular counseling and group therapy. I'm so so so glad I did. I think if I would have gone to a deliverance ministry I would have overspiritualized my experience and it would have been damaging for me. I would not have gotten help with having correct coping strategies in dealing with depression and anxiety if I did deliverance ministry. I'm still a work in progress but I've come a long way! Praise God!

I love this video, I could talk about new age “healing” with you ladies for HOURS! Wonderful guest, excellent content as usual. Thank you!

So glad this is out... thank you so much Melissa for all you do to bring truth !

Another negative aspect I could see for someone who has been through a “one and done” Sozo session is that there will be expectations out on them to never struggle with that issue again since they are “healed” so they might hide their problems after that. Talk about unhealthy!!! Also they do not mention anything about the person taking responsibility for their own actions and attitudes or repenting of sin! You don’t get healed of sin! You repent of it! And you might get healed of the pain and damage from your trauma!!!

I've been waiting for you to release this content for a while. I am excited to watch it.

Thank you. I met a girl who does SOZO last week and she refuses to look at Bethel's teaching as anything but good. She is so deceived. I may show her this.

What a wonderfully thoughtful and comprehensive discussion. When I was in Word of Faith we had 'Prayer counseling': a traumatizing event that made you feel even worse after you were done. No discussion, just two or three people yammering loudly in tongues while laying heavy hands on you. It was a bonus if you threw up your 'demons'. It was nonsensical. I would go to someone like Brit in a heartbeat.

I did a couple sozo sessions myself. back when i was very deceived..I had a “positive” experience but I really had no long lasting results. I always wondered why everyone could speak n tongues and do all these spiritual things while I couldnt. well God brought me out of all that and that has been a blessing itself.

Yes!!!! I've been waiting for this video. It's here!!!!

I absolutely love her! She really talked about things in a way that we could understand. Thank you Melissa for bringing her to your channel! God bless you girls!

Thank you for bringing this! As someone who was subject to well intended spiritual deliverance abuse, the conversation you just played out is necessary and needs to go even deeper. Thank you Ladies!

This was phenomenal Melissa and Britt! Thank you!

Thank you soo much for this video. Very impactful. You either need to have a mental health topic once a month or she needs her own RU-vid channel. Thank God for you both.

This is great 👍 I learned so much! Thank you for bringing awareness.

Thank you, ladies! This was a great topic to cover.

I so appreciate this session and video! There was a situation in our church where someone wanted to introduce this ministry, and honestly, it almost split our church. The problem was though, that many people did not even understand how to express why they thought it was right or wrong. As someone who dreams of being in and/or starting a lay ministry counseling group, this was extremely sensible to see why science, talk therapy, and spiritual growth all work together and are necessary to have together. Thank you again!

Jeez Melissa the thoughtfulness you put into the questions you ask is really helpful. Thank you for your ministry And Brit and her insights were amazing.

So good ladies thanks so much for bringing awareness

Love the balance expressed in this vlog conversation- spiritual and mental therapy

Hi Melissa, thank you for posting your videos. They have encouraged me to understand how to minister to friends who, knowing God's word, have turned to Bethel and fully embraced the Bethel "experience." Thank the Lord that someone calls this out.

I never went through Sozo by that name but this sort of teaching was rampant in every church service in my charismania days and huge part of what I was fed from childhood on. I will never cease to praise God for opening my eyes and supplying the courage it took to get out of that church. Thanks for sharing these hard but necessary truths.

Thank you so much for this VITAL message and conversation. It is So encouraging to hear such a beautifully balanced way to healing. ( I do believe God loves balance, which is not always a popular word it seems in some of the more progressive circles! :) ) I have been healed through prayer in His presence and through counseling. He uses it all. I am grateful I have always said NO to Sozo when approached and have warned others I care about. Many blessings to you both and your ministry to others. I appreciate all the time and devotion you take to bring forth His Word. It's a jungle out there! :)

Such a great episode ! There should be more dialogue about the scripture/ mental health space. I’m a Christian therapist from Australia and reflect daily on these matters, particularly how prosperity/ NAR teachers prey on the psychologically vulnerable. It is so unethical, immoral ... sinful! 😞

I went to Bethel several years ago (before my eyes were opened to its deception) and considered a SOZO. Thankfully, I didn't do one. Still, I came back home and was hit with panic attacks. I had to start taking anti-anxiety meds and get counseling. Took years to figure out what happened. This video has been helpful.

Thank you for another video Melissa! Please keep me and my hubby in you prayers. I'm sure you get asked that a ton just to be closer to Christ and fully trust He Accomplished it all. We tend to fall back in the I'm not good enough amd that spirals quickly.

Thank you for doing this video!! I’ve heard of SOZO and wanted to do it because it sounded like a one and done healing thing (maybe shortcut to healing) but because of geographical location I haven’t been able to do it and now I’m really thankful I wasn’t able to!

Thank you so much for this, Melissa! As a student working towards an LMHC degree, a follower of Christ, and a lover of theology and apologetics, this has helped me put it all together. I love the way your friend reached into her professional toolbox meanwhile still maintaining her Christian basis ❤️

This was so so good🙏🏽💙

One of the best Christian videos on mental health I've watched!

Thank you for Bringing for the the Truth I am praying for you and your ministry!!

Melissa, you are such a breath of fresh air. A Christian who speaks with love and yet desires and seeks truth. I love you.

Great video! Thanks for talking about this topic

At a small prayer meeting once I shared some struggles I was having with my oldest son who was in kindergarten or 1st grade I believe and how he is on the autism spectrum (high functioning) and a lady there began telling me not to speak that over his life ( 🤔 ) and then asked if my father had ever abused me ( 😠😳🙄 ). I said nø and she kept digging. I said I have a great relationship with my dad but she kept trying to put a negative spin on my dad. My red flag 🚩 alert started going up and I shut down. I think I remember the people there had recently went to some prayer training trip in a different state and now I wouldn’t be surprised if it was sozo. Thing is, people can carry these damaging practices and attempt to sozo other Christians without the formal training. It can look like sozo, taste like sozo, smell like sozo just not be formally called sozo because they aren’t fully prepared and trained. It was introduced in a little place prayer meeting on a Tuesday morning.

Good video. Thanks to Brit for her breakdown on mental health counseling from a biblical perspective. Please consider doing more sessions with her in this important discipline. As an engaged Christian and servant leader, I have opportunity to counsel others and would very much appreciate additional teaching. Thanks also Melissa for your channel and ministry.

This was well spoken. I am an inner healing and deliverance coach. Combining all areas of the human condition is so important because Human Beings are very complex and need time to heal in all areas of their life. Well done.

I have an extended family member that has a mental illness (BPD) from severe childhood abuse. She went through healing ministries like “SOZO” and kept saying she had break throughs and healing, but she never really got better. Now, years later, the mental illness has really progressed and it’s pretty much to late to fix it since dementia has set in. If she’d been steered to real counseling rather than being told everything was a spirit of this or that, she might have been helped. It’s a tragedy to see the results first hand of this kind of misleading “therapy.” I am a believer and know God can transform us in amazing ways, but sometimes those transformations involve getting some real counseling and reality from the Word, not spiritual witch hunts when the problem is psychological. Sometimes that person needs to be held accountable for their actions and actively take their thoughts captive to the obedience of Christ. What I observed is that the family member was never held accountable for hurting others in various ways from lying to gaslighting etc, and instead they get a free pass on abusing others because it’s just some “spirit” attached to them. So wrong. What does God do with this kind of situation where a professing Christian is abusing others as a result of their own abuse, but being told they just have an orphan spirit or some other nonsense? I think God isn’t pleased with this kind of approach because it isn’t wise or helpful and doesn’t result in obedience to God’s Word.

This was a great discussion!!! Thank you 😊 I like how this therapist said you have to find the answers yourself...the therapist can’t give you solutions!!! The great thing is, Jesus is called wonderful Counselor. He is the one who helps us look inside and self-reflect! It’s a PROCESS!!! ❤️👍

So glad yu interviewed Britt . . A trained therapist. As a Christian Social Worker and clinical therapist myself I often find it frustrating to hear Christian leaders try to explain MH issues without the knowledge of psychology, the traumatic brain, psychosocial spiritual concepts, etc. Britt did a great job explaining how human are complex and our MH issues are also complex. SOZO is full of leading questions which as Britt explained in not appropriate in the counseling profession and is very manipulative. Also the big issue is that people who receive SOZO rype counseling and their lives don't change are often blamed for their lack of results being told it's their fault due to their lack of faith. This is very damaging. I had a client in the past who experienced this and I spent multiple sessions helping to undo the damage that was done. Anyway . . Good podcast and Britt did a great job answering yur questions.

Hey Melissa.. my former church that I used to go to treated Bill Johnson as a god. I recently tried to warn them but of course it wasn’t taken well. I was told not to listen to the slander going on against Bill Johnson. My former church made Bethel look like Disney Land.

I so needed this

This gave me so much helpful terminology and methodology for how to think about things

What a great conversation! Thank you ladies. I've had to deal with complex childhood trauma in my own life. Any Christian counselor who says any of the following should be avoided like the plague: "you just need to grow your faith", "speak your deliverance into existence", "see yourself as healed and whole", "just pray more", "just tithe more", etc. It's the Burger King drive-thru Christianity: you're way right away.

You are both so intelligence this video has helped me a lot. God bless you guys ❤️🙏 and Melissa I love all your videos 😁

This SOZO process and "healing" sounds a GREAT deal similar to the Church of Scientology "cleansing of mind engrams", etc....

I cannot possibly tell you how much I value all that was was said in this video. I wish an acknowledgement of the Fall of man could be acknowledged by Sozo and our need throughout Scripture regarding our care of those in the world with the training we could appreciate from those who have dedicated their lives to the calling of serving God by helping those who suffer from depression and anxiety. Paul’s thorn in the flesh could have been several things we see listed in the Scriptures and we need grace for. I appreciate the gift you 2 ladies gave to your audience.

Melissa, I love you and Britt!!! I was excited about this video and you two didn't disappoint! I'm really curious about biblical approaches to dealing with more debilitating mental illness like schizophrenia or any psychotic disorder. It seems with SOZO, they tend to focus on a person's "problems" with God. Another side of the pendulum is blaming the devil - possession, "casting out demons"..... If you could recommend a solid resource on any of that, I'd really appreciate it!

Thank you for this video! While I do believe in spiritual warfare I definitely agree that SOZO hasn’t helped me. I went to a session and felt so much grief afterwards and a couple years later I found out that some of my issues stemmed from unforgiveness. Loved this video thank you.

Thank you! Your videos have helped shed light on past events that had me scratching my head. In the early 2000s, my church had a lay-Christian counseling ministry called Self-Confrontation. I was struggling with trust in dating relationships so I went for counseling, I wanted to be better. The counselor I saw told me that I have a problem with God as a father figure. I had/still have no idea what that means. So I walked away thinking she’s crazy and not feeling any better. I wonder about the validity of Self-Confrontation as well.

I love you! The look you gave the camera as you sat down at the start was just brilliant and had me in giggles before you even opened your mouth!

So back before I was a Christian I had dealings in witch craft. When Britt was reading from the book about Sarah and Grace, how the "session" played out reminded me of doing past life regressions I would be lead through. I'm not saying Bethel is directly involved in witch craft... but hearing that being read really took me back to that. It's really creepy.

Thank you for this video- so interesting and well done. I attended bethels school for two years and was traumatized from my sozo

Would love to know what Mellissa thinks about actual deliverance from demons and being filled with the holy spirit and fire.

Fantastic video! They should teach the importance of mental health in schools. Well done!

I admire how Melissa and Alan (Polite Leader) respectfully ask us to pray for whomever they just got done bashing. It’s like that old parental mantra, “this is going to hurt me more than it hurts you”

Showing this to my church group tonight.

Just saw an office near my home that’s sign said Sozo holistic ..... and I remembered this video ... hummmmm 🧐. Thank you sister!!!

Thank you for this conversation, Melissa and Britt!! I'm a psychology/counseling student at a Christian university, planning to continue to graduate studies and attain licensure for Christian mental health and therapy sessions. It was so awesome to see this topic covered from this perspective and gain insight on what makes it different from "legit" Christian counseling sessions. Hope to hear more from Britt soon!! =D

Wonderful video, thank you for sharing! Stay healthy and safe! 👍😊🍓

Thank you. Much needed conversation about mental health, trauma & spirituality & how to appropriately handle emotional issues that arise w/a Christian believer. I think too often among certain groups of Christians, all problems are given over as too much negative thinking & not enough positive confession or faith. What if one struggles with negative thoughts due to an abusive childhood or some traumatic experience? That can't be dismissed. It must be acknowledged & as Britt said, seldom is it a one & done experience in dealing with the mental & emotional struggles, & certainly, God is not the problem.

Really interesting! Please have more interviews and discussions with Britt!

This was so awesome ! I actually was trained to do Sozo and I had a Sozo session. my discernment was right . There was something wrong but couldn't pinpoint it . Thank you for this education it's so needed . I appreciate your time and love for the body of Christ and bringing clarity to this topic. Thank you Thank you!

Thank you for great video with very good insights

This was so good & clearly explained. It is really true that in a Sozo session (been in a few) only the spiritual is addressed & they (like Britt said) tell you what your problem is. They only give you 3 possible choices (problem with Father, Son or Holy Spirit) which is ridiculous. Not every problem is demonic or has to do with your relationship with God. We are mind, body, spirit & emotions. It is gnostic thinking that the spiritual is everything & the physical means nothing. It can lead to foolish & untrue conclusions about complex problems. The sessions reinforce hyper spirituality & dependence on your next emotional “breakthrough” but not much changes. Thank you for going so in depth on this topic!

I tried to tell my friend there was something wrong here. She said no then she learned for herself. Hallelujah Jesus for discernment.

Thank you for this !

Thank you for speaking about this

As an unchurched individual the Lord Jesus Christ and Him only delivered me from major depression, generalized anxiety. As I talked with Him while reading my Bible He did more internal healing. He healed my broken heart. He rescued me from a 17 year abusive marriage. Out of love and gratitude I read my Bible to get to know this God who revealed Himself to me when I wasn't looking for Him. I wanted to know who this God was that reached out to me and saved my life.

This is a real problem with real consequences. A church with similar beliefs "healed " my sister in law's bi-polar disorder. 4 months later, without her normal meds and support she fell victim to suicide. And yes I feel that the irresponsible unqualified 'treatment" of her mental health problem made her a victim.

it's not always all spiritual, it's not always all mental. Most of our issues are both! So good

Thank you for this video. I have thankfully never done Sozo with Bethel but I visited there several years ago and was woefully disappointed at how they failed to live up to their reputation as a center for healing and spiritual power. I've had Sozo sessions in my local area that mirrored the pattern you described, and they didn't help at all. I've also had sessions that were called "Sozo" but there the similarities stopped. I saw the same person repeatedly over a long period of time. She's very sensitive to Holy Spirit and so am I. We're both trauma survivors so she understands what I'm going through. She doesn't have a formula; she just asks Holy Spirit to be the counselor and lead the sessions. It's very powerful and I've gotten real healing through these sessions. I wish I could recommend the ministry she works with but unfortunately they don't all do what she does. She's an amazing lady and I love her dearly. She has become my friend through the years we've worked together. I really feel that she loves me. The way she talks to me is affectionate and kind. Thinking about it makes me happy. I wish there were more people like her. I believe Y'shua chose her for me. It can be done right, and when it is, it's very powerful. Unfortunately too many people don't do it that way. I wish they would do it the way my friend does. She's wonderful. I really love her. Bethel is a nightmare. I used to hear good things about them and I don't know if the rumors were true. I'm starting to really doubt them. Something is very wrong there. I realized it when I was going to a charismatic church in Vancouver, WA that became a sister church to Bethel. Before the Bethel folks started coming, it was a much better church. I made many friends there and was invited to lunch on my first Sunday there. When the Bethel folks started showing up, our church became immature and relationally disconnected. The older generations (over age 25) started being disrespected as the focus became a youth revival. The older generations started to leave. Soon, every Sunday people were "drunk in the spirit", having "fire tunnels" and laughing hysterically for no reason. They even walked like they were drunk. They started to act like interpersonal relationships, caring for the poor, and building community were irrelevant. I left eventually and joined a messianic fellowship, and that was much more stable.

I wish Brit was in my area. Good solid counselor!!! Really good video!!

I had a positive experience with sozo it helped me with unforgiveness

When I started watching this video, I thought to myself that SOZO and Bethel Church is mainly a problem in the English speaking part of the world. But I just found out that SOZO is also offered here in Switzerland. Thank you for this informative and helpful video.

Although Sozo has a bigger exposure, there are many other “similar” ministries out there. They all work on the same premise. Ellel Ministries, Elijah House, Lamplighters. Very much under qualified counselors practicing pseudo psychology and passing it off as the Holy Spirit. Although I believe many of them start out well meaning, it becomes a cycle of needing more and searching for “trauma”. I’m sure many people being counseled whose lives aren’t suddenly amazing after a “deliverance” session start to imagine or invent (completely believing they are actually real) past traumas and in some cases are open to the power of suggestion in an effort to have something to heal. Thank you for this video, I’ve been to some of these deliverance sessions. They reek of superstition and lack understanding of the Cross.