But the larger driving force is a rise of Satanic cults, music and other malevolent influences that has opened more people to evil, he believes. Others say a decline in morals and family life is opening the door to demonic forces. At Harvest Rock Church in Pasadena, a team of 25 counselors focuses on exploring whether an afflicted person had childhood traumas or problems with parents. The counseling approach gets to the root of the problems. Whether possession is real or imagined has been debated for centuries.
Catholics are cautious about diagnosing possession.
An exorcism requires a bishop's authorization after all physical and psychological causes for problem behavior are ruled out. Despite that screening, Richard Woods, a Catholic priest and psychotherapist with Loyola Hospital in Chicago, says he has examined hundreds of cases and has not yet found one that convinced him of genuine demonic possession. Over time, he says, the story became embellished. In an interview years after the ritual, for instance, one participant reported that an exorcism manual spontaneously burst into flames. But the transcript, Woods says, reported merely that the boy tore out a page.