- Keep lines of communication open. The cult may try to shut you away from the person. ...
- Spend time with your loved one. The cult leader hopes that you'll do something drastic, that will make the person shun you.
- Mention other friends and loved ones. ...
- The person may believe that the world revolves around their cult. ...
- Be loving and non-judgmental. ...
Full Answer
How can I escape a cult?
Anyone can get pulled into a cult, but not everyone has the courage to leave and rejoin mainstream society. You can escape a cult by planning your getaway carefully and finding ways to recover from spiritual and emotional abuse. Part 1
Can a psychotherapist help a cult victim?
Psychotherapist licensed in New York, New Jersey and Massachusetts specializing in narcissistic abuse, cult recovery and trauma. Mental health professional that treats cult abuse victims. Specializes in treating post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, anxiety, and recovery from high-demand and abusive relationships.
How can I help my loved one find out about cults?
Research cults. It can help to have a better understanding of the institution that your loved one has fallen victim to. Find out how cults work, so you know what the person is facing.
What did the cult teach you about yourself?
For instance, the cult may have taught you that when bad things happen, it's your fault for not behaving correctly. Remind yourself that these thoughts are not true.
How to get out of a cult?
What to do if you leave a cult?
What does exit counseling do?
How to break ties with a cult?
What to do if you think someone will find your bag?
Can a group be a cult?
Can you come and go freely in a cult?
See more
About this website
How do you survive a cult?
0:156:57How to Survive a Cult - YouTubeYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipFamily you need to escape. But how it won't be easy but you can do it. You're not the first personMoreFamily you need to escape. But how it won't be easy but you can do it. You're not the first person to be alerted to occult. And you won't be the last.
What are the psychological effects of being in a cult?
Clark, ''are similar to those seen or reported as resulting from cult conversions: increased irritability, loss of libido or altered sexual interest; ritualism, compulsive attention to detail, mystical states, humorlessness and sobriety, heightened paranoia. ''
What are the signs of a cult leader?
Checklist of CharacteristicsThe group is focused on a living leader to whom members seem to display excessively zealous, unquestioning commitment.The group is preoccupied with bringing in new members.The group is preoccupied with making money.Questioning, doubt, and dissent are discouraged or even punished.More items...
What are the 3 characteristics of a cult?
Specific factors in cult behaviour are said to include manipulative and authoritarian mind control over members, communal and totalistic organization, aggressive proselytizing, systematic programs of indoctrination, and perpetuation in middle-class communities.
What is Religious Trauma Syndrome?
Winell, who refers to herself as a “recovering fundamentalist,” coined the term “religious trauma syndrome” more than a decade ago. It's “the condition experienced by people who are struggling with leaving an authoritarian, dogmatic religion and coping with the damage of indoctrination,” Winell has written.
Who is more likely to join a cult?
Women are more likely than men to join a cult. According to various research, women make up a whopping 70% of cult members around the globe. Psychologists have different ideas about why more women than men join cults.
Who is the most famous cult leader?
James Warren Jones (May 13, 1931 – November 18, 1978) was an American cult leader, political activist, preacher, and faith healer who led the Peoples Temple, a new religious movement, between 1955 and 1978....Jim JonesChildren96 more rows
What is the head of a cult called?
Usually, a cult leader is a person of tremendous charisma who makes followers feel loved and accepted. It's often suggested that cult leaders use brainwashing tactics to attract and keep followers. In many instances, cult members deeply identify with and admire their leader.
What are the consequences of cultism?
The consequences of cultism include the following: Threat to peace and security in campuses and the larger society when intra-cult clashes occur. Cultists cause death and cause unhappiness to the families affected by their activities. They make those who work diligently not to reap the result of their hard work.
How to escape a cult physically and mentally
Consultations . Would you like to talk to someone about your situation? If you think you are or have been in a cult or a destructive relationship, or a friend or family member might be in a cult and you want to talk to someone, send me a message on the Contact page and we can arrange to talk. All communication will be treated in the strictest confidence.
How to Rescue a Loved One from a Cult or Controlling Relationship: The ...
Development of the Strategic Interactive Approach. Family members and friends often feel angry, confused, hurt, frustrated and helpless when they realize a loved one has gotten involved with a controlling person or group.
4 psychological techniques cults use to recruit members - Big Think
Love-bombing. Originally coined by the Moonies, love-bombing is more or less self-explanatory. Having identified a stressed, emotionally vulnerable target, cults flood that person with affection ...
How to get out of a cult?
Work on your boundaries. Stay strong in your decision to leave the cult. Remind yourself why you wanted to get away, and tell any current members of the group that you don't want to talk to them. Practice making your own decisions, and work on rediscovering your personality.
What to do if you leave a cult?
If you're leaving a live-in cult arrangement, try to line up a safe place to stay in advance. Consider staying with family or friends who aren't involved in the cult, or search for shelters in your area. If you think you'll be in danger after you leave the cult, go to the police. They can help you find a place to stay.
What does exit counseling do?
Exit counseling can help you readjust to life outside the cult. If you were in the cult for a long time, or if you're having severe emotional withdrawals, a counselor will be able to help you change your thought patterns and live independently. Look for a counselor who has experience helping former cult members.
How to break ties with a cult?
Stop attending services or meetings. If you're living on your own, break ties with the cult by not going to meetings anymore. Plan to do something else during that time. If you're idle, you may end up talking yourself into going back to the group.
What to do if you think someone will find your bag?
If you think someone might find your bag, don't take the risk of packing. Plan to leave your possessions behind if you need to.
Can a group be a cult?
While no group or organization admits to being a cult, you're probably dealing with one if you are not allowed to ask questions, make your own decisions, or disagree with the leader. Anyone can get pulled into a cult, but not everyone has the courage to leave and rejoin mainstream society.
Can you come and go freely in a cult?
If you're not allowed to come and go freely, you may be able to make a break for it when other people visit the cult or when you're taken outside the cult's shared home or community. Otherwise, take the bus if there's a nearby bus stop, call a taxi to come and get you, or ask a friend or family member to pick you up.
What percentage of counselors agree with ritual abuse?
And in an Australian study of workers at the Center against Sexual Assault(CASA) including psychiatrists, psychologists, and other clinicians, 70 percent of all counselors agreed with a single definition of ritual abuse and 85 percent agreed that ritual abuse was an indication of genuine trauma.
What is ritual abuse?
According to psychologist Louis Cozolino of Pepperdine University, ritual abuse is characterized by a number of perpetrators of both sexes and the presence of many victims. The abuse is often carried out in contexts where children are in groups, and within families or groups of families.
Do Casa workers believe in ritual abuse?
CASA workers were much more likely to believe their client’s ritual abuse and marginally more likely to identify ritual abuse cases than other therapists. Cozolino references a vast amount of corroborating evidence for the existence of ritual abuse, such as police reports and therapeutic case studies.
Is it necessary to have a support group for ex-cult members?
It may seem counterintuitive to treat ex-cult members as a group because their abuse took place in a group setting. However certain precautions may be taken to make treatment effective.
Do ritual abuse survivors have PTSD?
Researcher Patricia Precin of the New York Institute of Technology, alongside Cozolino, report that many ritual abuse survivors suffer from PTSD. Clinicians also see a high frequency of Dissociative IdentityDisorder (DID) among such adolescent and adult patients.
How to get rid of a cult?
Keep lines of communication open. The cult may try to shut you away from the person. Don't give them any excuses. Tell the person that you're there for them, and they can contact you any time.
How does a cult keep people in?
A cult keeps people in by its magnetizing and entrancing environment, so if the person gets away from this environment, they'll have space to think and reflect. A place with limited internet or phone will be especially helpful in giving them time away from the cult.
What does being pushy do to a cult?
Being pushy or confrontational may lead to their resenting you and strengthen their faith in the cult. They may consider your efforts religious persecution. Be kind, loving (even to strangers) and understanding with them. ...
What are the problems of cults?
Someone facing instability in their lives. Bright people with no sense of direction. People facing problems such as a bad breakup or personal failure. People with problems at home. ...
How to tell if a group is a cult?
1. Notice signs of a cult. Some religions are very community-based or unusual, but this does not automatically make the group a cult. They spend time only with other members, pushing everyone else away. They don't trust anyone other than their "superiors" within the group. They try to convince family and friends to be a part of their group.
How many people edit wikihow?
wikiHow is a “wiki,” similar to Wikipedia, which means that many of our articles are co-written by multiple authors. To create this article, 15 people, some anonymous, worked to edit and improve it over time. This article has been viewed 61,483 times.
California
Rachel Bernstein is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, as well as an educator. She has been working with former cult members and their loved ones since 1991. She has a private practice in a suburb of Los Angeles and also runs a weekly Former Cult Member Support group in her office.
Colorado
Leona Furnari, MSW, LCSW, is a psychotherapist in Boulder, CO, specializing in recovery from trauma, including recovery from abusive groups, spiritual abuse and harmful relationships. Ms.
Connecticut
Vanessa N. Weber, MSW, LCSW has worked with victims of cults and their families, since 1980. She was one of the original founders of reFocus and the original Cult Awareness Network, NY/NJ chapter. She has a BA in Religion from Barnard College, studied at Union Theological Seminary, and received her MSW at Yeshiva University.
Delaware
Steve K. D. Eichel, PhD, ABPP, ICSA President, is Past-President of the American Academy of Counseling Psychology and the Greater Philadelphia Society of Clinical Hypnosis.
Florida
Carol Giambalvo’s interest in cults and thought reform began in 1978 when her step-daughter began exhibiting a drastic personality change following becoming a devotee in ISKCON. She began researching cults and thought reform and lectured in local high schools, churches and civic organizations.
Indiana
Peter Malinoski, PhD, has been a clinical psychologist in private practice since 2001. In 1999, he received the John G. Clark Award for Distinguished Scholarship and Cultic Studies from the International Cultic Studies Association, and he has been involved in research with former cult members since 1993.
Maryland
Mary Moore is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker currently practicing in Maryland. She participated in Divine Light Mission, later renamed Elan Vital and The Prem Rawat Foundation, from 1973 to 2001, having been recruited in her first year of college.
What is a cult in psychotherapy?
Several psychotherapy cults are described to illustrate the coordinated programs of exploitative influence and behavior control that characterize these groups. The term “cult” is often associated with a process that has been given a variety of labels, including “thought reform” (Lifton, 1961), “coercive persuasion” (Schein, 1956, 1961), ...
What are the characteristics of a cult?
Cults, then, are likely to exhibit three elements to varying degrees: 1 members’ excessively zealous, unquestioning commitment to the identity and leadership of the group; 2 the induction of dependency through the use of manipulative and exploitative techniques of persuasion and control; and 3 the tendency to harm members, their families, and/or society.
Why do cults disintegrate?
Because cults tend to be leader-centered, exploitatively manipulative, and often harmful, they come into conflict with and are threatened by the more rational, open, and benevolent systems of members’ families and society at large. Some cults eventually disintegrate as a consequence of this tension.
What are the differences between cults and purely authoritarian groups?
Cults also differ from purely authoritarian groups, e.g., military organizations and some types of sects and communes. The latter, though rigid and controlling, lack a double agenda and are not extremely manipulative and leader-centered.
What is cult relationship?
Singer (1986) stated that cultic relationships refer to those relationships in which a person intentionally induces others to become totally or nearly totally dependent on him or her for almost all major life decisions, and inculcates in these followers a belief that he or she has some special talent, gift, or knowledge. (p. 270)
What are the elements of a cult?
Cults, then, are likely to exhibit three elements to varying degrees: members’ excessively zealous, unquestioning commitment to the identity and leadership of the group; the induction of dependency through the use of manipulative and exploitative techniques of persuasion and control; and.
Who was the second group of psychotherapists?
The second group was begun by a parolee described as a middle-class, fortyish man who had learned confrontational attack therapy while in a drug rehabilitation program to which he had been remanded in lieu of prison time. His history reveals a character-disordered man, who upon leaving his drug rehabilitation program, saw the economic advantages of providing “therapy” to troubled, employed adults in a state that has no legal requirements about who can proclaim themselves to be psychotherapists. Using his assured, smooth, aggressive, and controlling ways, he “set up shop.” Initially, he attracted a few clients by initiating cafe and restaurant conversations, later instructing them to recruit their friends and families. Later, he enlisted the cooperation of a psychiatrist and psychologist. They were to “screen” and “study” certain of his clients, apparently to create an aura of “science and credibility.” Legal documents (not cited here in order to protect the anonymity of peripheral parties) suggested that no one he sent for screening was ever screened out or referred to more appropriate medical or psychological treatment and the research withered into a mere folder of random notes, drawings, and invoices for services.
What is the next step after milieu control?
“The inevitable next step after milieu control is extensive personal manipulation … Initiated from above, it seeks to provoke specific patterns of behavior and emotion in such a way that these will appear to have arisen spontaneously from within the environment… They [the group] are the agents ‘chosen’ (by history, by God, or by some other supernatural force) to carry out the ‘mystical imperative,’ the pursuit of which must supersede all considerations of decency or of immediate human welfare. Similarly, any thought or action which questions the higher purpose is considered to be stimulated by a lower purpose, to be backward, selfish, and petty in the face of the great overriding mission… This requires that he participate actively in the manipulation of others…whatever his response…he has been deprived of the opportunity to exercise his capacities for self-expression and independent action.”
What percentage of the world would be destroyed in Armageddon?
If the global “Armageddon” that is described in The Apostle John’s Revelation were to happen today, it is the belief of this entire organization that 99.887% of the planet would be destroyed, leaving approximately 0.112893539474% of the people alive; Jehovah’s Witnesses.
What is the most basic feature of thought reform?
“The most basic feature of the thought reform environment…is the control of human communication. Not only the individual’s communication with the outside…, but also…his communication with himself…extensive information about everyone is being conveyed to the authorities [of the group] is [common knowledge]…Having experienced the impact of what they consider to be an ultimate truth…, they [the authorities of the group] consider it their duty to create an environment containing no more and no less than this ‘truth.’ [The group member] is deprived of the combination of external information and inner reflection which anyone requires to test the realities of his environment and to maintain a measure of identity separate from it…”
What are the three things that keep cult members in line?
Shame, guilt, coercion, and fear appeals keep members in line. Members are taught to discount their own intuition and healthy instincts in favor of the leader or cult's teachings. Over time, members can lose touch with their healthy habits and innate values. 5.
What are the characteristics of a cult leader?
1. Cult leaders act larger than life. They claim to be innately good, possessing special wisdom, answerable to no one, with no one above them. 2. Cult members are expected to subjugate their own needs for the “good” of the leader or cause.
What are the similarities between cult leaders and narcissists?
Similarities between narcissists and cult leaders include a tendency to lie and turn others against each other for their own ends, along with little tolerance for dissent.
What is the rightness of a cult?
The “rightness” of the leader and cult justifies behavior that violates most people’s standards for ethics and honesty. In the zealotry of the cult, anything goes. 7. Closeness to the cult and leader is rewarded, while independence is punished.
What is temporary ostracism?
Temporary ostracism is used to punish behavior that doesn’t conform to group rules. Members fear being estranged from the group and losing the promised protection and benefits offered by the leader and group.
What was the name of the session that Dederich gave to people who kicked heroin?
Dederich loved it. The sessions became known as “synanons, ” a portmanteau of “symposium” (or perhaps “seminar”) and “anonymous.”. Dederich, who provided couches for people to crash on as they kicked heroin, would come to believe that addicts weren’t full-fledged adults and shouldn’t be treated as adults.
What was the name of the drug that Bathum gave his patients?
In February 2018 Bathum was convicted of rape and 30 other counts of sexual assault, sexual exploitation, and giving his patients crystal meth and heroin . He faces another trial for 46 counts of insurance fraud.
When were addicts considered incurable?
These questions have lingered since the beginnings of modern addiction treatment. Well into the 1950s, addicts were considered hopelessly incurable. If they were treated at all, it was by doctors in hospitals. More often than not, they were sent to jail. Synanon changed all that.
How to get out of a cult?
Work on your boundaries. Stay strong in your decision to leave the cult. Remind yourself why you wanted to get away, and tell any current members of the group that you don't want to talk to them. Practice making your own decisions, and work on rediscovering your personality.
What to do if you leave a cult?
If you're leaving a live-in cult arrangement, try to line up a safe place to stay in advance. Consider staying with family or friends who aren't involved in the cult, or search for shelters in your area. If you think you'll be in danger after you leave the cult, go to the police. They can help you find a place to stay.
What does exit counseling do?
Exit counseling can help you readjust to life outside the cult. If you were in the cult for a long time, or if you're having severe emotional withdrawals, a counselor will be able to help you change your thought patterns and live independently. Look for a counselor who has experience helping former cult members.
How to break ties with a cult?
Stop attending services or meetings. If you're living on your own, break ties with the cult by not going to meetings anymore. Plan to do something else during that time. If you're idle, you may end up talking yourself into going back to the group.
What to do if you think someone will find your bag?
If you think someone might find your bag, don't take the risk of packing. Plan to leave your possessions behind if you need to.
Can a group be a cult?
While no group or organization admits to being a cult, you're probably dealing with one if you are not allowed to ask questions, make your own decisions, or disagree with the leader. Anyone can get pulled into a cult, but not everyone has the courage to leave and rejoin mainstream society.
Can you come and go freely in a cult?
If you're not allowed to come and go freely, you may be able to make a break for it when other people visit the cult or when you're taken outside the cult's shared home or community. Otherwise, take the bus if there's a nearby bus stop, call a taxi to come and get you, or ask a friend or family member to pick you up.