Dear George:

There is very little difference between Neil Lozano and myself as far as I know. In terms of giving an actual review of "Unbound", I cannot do that at the moment. I have only glanced through the book. Generally speaking, what I have seen, the book is okay, but I must reserve judgment until I have a chance to read it carefully.

I can address the issues you present in your question:

Jesus did give us all the authority to cast out demons, not just to priests (Mark 16:15-18; Luke 10:17). But, the Church has the authority to regulate any apostolic activity and has placed regulations and restrictions on what the laity can do in casting out demons.

Those restrictions include that the laity, or a priest outside of a solemn exorcism, may not seek out the demon's name or have conversations with demons. Imprecatory language cannot be outside a solemn exorcism by a priest, but imperative commands can be used. For years I relied upon erroneous information about that from those who turned out to not know what they were talking about. I explain the details about imprecatory vs. imperative commands in a previous post.

As for an obligation, we are obligated to pray for each other, but not all should do deliverance, even though may be allowed. St. Paul said, (1 Cor 6:12a)  "All things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful." (1 Cor 10:23b)  "All things are lawful, but not all things build up."

The principle taught by St. Paul here is "because we can do something does not mean we ought to do it." If we do not know what we are doing, then we are not helpful. In fact, those who are untrained and inexperienced can find themselves and their "clients" in very serious trouble when they do not know what they are doing. Everyone can apply first aid, but one a few become doctors.

The Foreword to Neil's book is written by Francis MacNutt, whom I really do not recommend for a variety of reasons (but that is another story). In the Foreword MacNutt seems to imply that doing deliverance is not dangerous. That is nonsense. In carefully reading his Foreword, however, I think MacNutt is saying the deliverance is not as dangerous as Hollywood (e.g., The Exorcist) makes if out to be. I agree with that completely, but the casual reader may think that MacNutt is saying exorcism/deliverance has little to no danger. That impression by the reader would be false.

There are dangers. I personally experience those dangers in the form of demonic attacks because I do this work. I have also had to pick up the pieces of a deliverance gone bad by others. I had two cases in which a charismatic priest harmed the client. The Charismatic Renewal likes to specialize in deliverance but few actually know what they are doing and most use techniques that are imprudent.

As for laying on hands, Neil is correct. When doing this only the leader should lay on hands. This should be done, however, only with the client's permission. Laying on hands indiscriminately can be dangerous. It is possible to effect a demonic transference. I have seen this happen with Charismatics laying on hands imprudently and without thinking.

Frankly, given the mess of the Renewal, I would never allow most Charismatics to lay hand upon me. See article Charism Gifts Building Up the Church for a thorough analysis of the pros and cons of the Renewal.

While anyone can use spiritual warfare prayers, we have a whole catalog of such prayers linked below, to do an actual deliverance requires prudence, training, and experience to be sure one knows what they are doing to prevent harm to oneself or others. Casting out demons is not a game. It is serious and dangerous business.

As for self-help, use the prayers found in the Spiritual Warfare Prayer Catalog and the Seven Steps to Self-Deliverance both linked below.

As for training for Deliverance Counseling, you are correct. Our training program is the most extensive in the world, Catholic or Protestant. It takes from three-four years to get through our program, plus another three years in "residency" (doing deliverance under supervision). There is a lot more to deliverance counseling than saying prayers. Subjects like theology is but a mere beginning. Even a little physics is required.

God Bless,
Bro. Ignatius Mary