Although there is no agreed-upon definition of a cult, several seem to highlight key elements of high-influence group situations.
"An ideological organization held together by charismatic relationships and demanding total commitment. Charisma refers to a spiritual power or personal quality that gives leaders considerable influence or authority over large numbers of people. Hence, a cult is characterized by an ideology, strong demands issuing from that ideology, and powerful processes of social-psychological influence to induce group members to meet those demands. This high-demand, leader-centered social climate places such groups at risk of exploiting and injuring members, although they may remain benign, if leadership doesn't abuse its power.” (Zablocki, http://www.icsahome.com/infoserv_icsa/icsa_overview.htm Retrieved July 28, 2007).
"A cult is a group or movement exhibiting a great or excessive devotion or dedication to some person, idea, or thing and employing unethically manipulative techniques of persuasion and control (e.g., isolation from former friends and family, debilitation, use of special methods to heighten suggestibility and subservience, powerful group pressures, information management, suspension of individuality or critical judgment, promotion of total dependency on the group and fear of leaving it, etc.) designed to advance the goals of the group's leaders, to the actual or possible detriment of members, their families, or the community. (West & Langone, 1986)
From a sociological perspective, Janja Lalich, PhD, defines a "cult" in her book, Bounded Choice, True Believers and Charismatic Cults, (2004): “A cult can be either a sharply bounded social group or a diffusely bounded social movement held together through shared commitment to a charismatic leader. It upholds a transcendent ideology (often but not always religious in nature) and requires a high level of personal commitment from its members in words and deeds.”
It's so important to be educated and aware of cultic thinking in groups or movements which discourage critical thinking and promote clichéd answers to life's complexities. "Eastern", "Religious", "Political", "Terrorist", "New Age", "Psychotherapy", "Philosophical", "Large Group Awareness Training", "Commercial"/ "Multi-Marketing" , "One-on-One", and "Family" are categories of groups and relationships with cultic characteristics. These can exist in varying degrees of influence and harm.
Cults are never what they appear to be, and members never set out to join one. A cult or high-demand group can be defined as an authoritarian group or relationship in which the leader or dominant partner describes him/herself as having "special" attributes, often of a "divine" nature. The leader uses systematic methods of coercive persuasion and/or manipulation to recruit and control those in subordinate roles. He uses rewards for remaining loyal, such as "initiations", increased status within the group, secret privileges, or other "special" enticements; and fear and intimidation tactics to foster long-term dependency.
We may seek the altruistic life which a certain leader or group promises, but in reality be deceived by an absolutist dogma. Not only are cult members lives altered by cult recruitement and indoctrination; families are too. Partners or parents of an adult member can often become deeply distressed to discover that the person they knew before the cult has changed in essential ways. Heartbreaking to loved ones, cult members may modify relationships with families and friends after becoming indoctrinated to belief systems that devalue anyone "outside". Worse, they may be used by corrupt leaders of terrorist cults to destroy those the leaders scapegoat or vilify -- as in "them" vs. "us".
Children are the most vulnerable and dependent members of cults, raised in families with parents who may abdicate parental responsibilities, conforming to the dictates of the leader. Children who grow up in cults may suffer physical, emotional, or sexual abuse or neglect, in some cases believing that such abuse is "God's way." They may receive poor medical care or education. Boundaries of families in cults (like cults, themselves) are merged with little tolerance of differences and inadequate protection of the child's needs and age-appropriate personal rights. Children, like adults, are expected to conform to a primary identity as cult member, growing up with belief systems that obstruct healthy, developmental goals and view society-at-large as dangerous and evil.
Second Generation Adults (SGAs) those born and/or raised in cults, face particular challenges when they leave the cult related to building their own identity, finding their "voice" and place in the world. On a practical level, they may need to obtain an education and job skills. Because decisions affecting many aspects of life were made for them by their family and the cult, they may lack adequate trust in themselves, and be unaccustomed to using their critical thinking and problem-solving skills. Similar to those raised in significantly dysfunctional families of origin and without healthy, mature adult role-modeling, SGAs may need to learn how to effectively communicate, create healthy boundaries, and self-regulate emotions. They may also feel overly-responsible for relationship difficulties since in the cult, if conflict occurs in any way, something is wrong with the individual member, never the cult leader or ideology. Understandably, SGAs, like others who have suffered trauma and loss in childhood, may be in the process of catching up with some developmental tasks once they leave the cult. With each success, they can gain trust in themselves and their ability to not only survive, but thrive outside the cult and in a world of their own making.
Cultic thinking inhibits our self-expression, spontaneity, and creativity and perverts our understanding of trusting, intimate relationships. It encourages inflated views of ourselves while devaluing and vilifying others. In other words, cultic thinking prevents us from fully accepting ourselves and understanding the simple words of Harry Stack Sullivan, MD: "We are all more simply human than otherwise.”
Social scientists claim that the group with which one identifies, not one's personality, determines behavior. With pressure from the group and leader, a "true believer's" basic beliefs change without conscious awareness of the process of thought reform. As dependency to the leader and conformity to the cult increases, a member may find himself acting against his basic values and internalizing the values, activities, and goals of the cult leader(s).
Cults generally market themselves as providing all the answers or “keys” to life's problems. They often make false claims that their techniques are scientifically-based and proven to succeed. Cults promise the "right", "best", "only", "most direct way" to unlock the secrets of the universe while promoting formulas for quick personal success and happiness. Leaders persuade members that they are the “chosen ones” with greater awareness or consciousness than any other. Over time, dependency on the leader and group increases while trust in self erodes.
In signing on, members aren’t provided with adequate information to make fully informed decisions about what cults generally expect, including life-long memberships, giving up educational or professional goals, and making routine donations. More and more demands are made upon members’ time and loyalty to the leader and group, which, in turn, frequently disrupts relationships with family and friends. Over time, overt and covert threats are made and inaccurate beliefs develop about leaving the cult. This may include financial ruin, losing all “spiritual” gains, even death! As members become more involved with the group, critical thinking is systematically discouraged and usually prohibited, although the leader often claims otherwise. If members and/or outsiders ask critical questions regarding the leader's credentials, practice, or ideology, the blame is placed on those who question; they are "wrong," “evil” , or unable to see "the truth".
Most cult members leave or become inactive on their own, dissatisfied, disillusioned or devastated by their experience. Former members, including SGAs (second generation adults, those born and/or raised in cults or high-demand groups) leave cults to pursue normal developmental goals. Many former members confront major challenges in re-connecting or connecting with society at large. In addition to having the courage and self-initiative to leave, former members have reported a wide range of experience, including feelings of relief, excitment, fear, hope, confusion, anxiety, depression, pleasure, happiness, guilt, self-loathing, sadness, curiosity and loneliness. According to my observation, at some point on their post-cult lives, former members are often angry at the cult leader for deceiving them and wasting years of their lives. Even if cult members recognize the harmful consequences of cults, they also may report some beneficial gains.
Some former members who come to my office for professional help, frequently report symptoms of post traumatic stress, complex post traumatic stress, major depression, generalized anxiety, mixed depression and anxiety, and dissociation. These symptoms may have developed from family of origin, cult, and other experiences. Some may not be so affected and move on more easily to reestablish their lives. Many relate difficulties of having an accurate perception of themselves and others, having internalized self-limiting beliefs of the cult leader that they are in the process of disconfirming. Other challenges that clients have reported include trusting themselves and having healthy self-confidence, making decisions, tolerating stress, feeling safe in relationships, connecting with their feelings and thoughts, gaining self-acceptance and relief from harsh self-criticism, changing internalized patterns of "magical thinking" of "cosmic punishment" that make day to day life much more difficult to manage.
Certain "triggers" (words, incense, music, situations) may evoke painful or conflicting feelings, thoughts, images, etc. related to the cult and oneself. Former members may have periods of “spacing out” or dissociating, some of which may arise from such practices as chanting, meditating, listening to the hypnotic voice and "loaded language" of the leader, focusing on a split between emotional states, thoughts, and, in some cases, what the cult considers "spiritual" ("good") or mental ("bad").
Cult education and individual therapy with a qualified, competent psychotherpist who is knowledgeable in cults or high-demand groups is a recommended course to recovery. Participants in the Cult Recovery Support Group I facilitate report that the healthy group helps them deepen their understanding of themselves and their experience, gain support in pursuing individual goals, learn helpful coping skills, develop self-confidence and self-acceptance. With others who understand, participants may learn from each other and recognize that they're not alone, and that their experience "makes sense" given their history. The group facilitates healing from and integration of the cult experience in one's current life.
Using Elizabeth Kubler-Ross' phases of loss and grief as a guide, I have observed that former members may have the following experiences when they leave a cult:
1)Shock and disbelief, sometimes what is called "emotional numbing". This includes the realization that what was once considered "truth" is deception, self-limiting, and/or causing harm.
2)Anger about what some have called "spiritual rape", manipulation, deception and betrayal as well as how many years, money, time and other sacrifices one has made.
3)Bargaining, such as “What if...I could have done such and such" to avoid the losses associated with cult involvement or avoid participating in recruitment or other cult activities.
4)Depression, feeling a lack of pleasure in activities which were previously pleasurable, irritability, difficulty concentrating and making decisions, feelings of sadness, and changes in eating or sleeping.
5)Denial in that "I'm not affected significantly by the cult;" or "I'm over it!" without education, self-reflection, necessary changes, and/or professional support.
6)Acceptance which may mean something like "I understand the experience I had in the cult and how it affects me...I've made changes to accommodate who I am today." With genuine acceptance, one can understand the complexities involved in one’s cult experience, including beneficial and harmful aspects.
The above stages of loss do not necessarily occur sequentially. Rather, strong feelings come in waves, becoming less intense in time, while each person’s experience is unique. There is not a "right" or "wrong" way to grieve.
Because cult members experience is often traumatic, they may develop complex post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms. The three hallmark classes of post-traumatic stress symptoms are re-experiencing traumatic experience (e.g., flashbacks or intrusive thoughts); avoidance or numbing symptoms (e.g., avoiding reminders of the trauma); and arousal symptoms (e.g. difficulty falling or staying asleep; irritability; hypervigilence; difficulties concentrating).
In individual or group sessions I have found the following to be helpful to former cult members recovery in reclaiming their lives: increasing education about cults or high-demand groups; gaining trust in self and discerning trust in others; developing critical thinking skills; accepting anger and other feelings; learning how to regulate emotions, with the locus of control being within oneself; developing healthy coping skills including effective communication; understanding healthy boundaries and setting personal limits; knowing personal rights; developing one's innate skills and talents; accepting one's “humanness”; and disconfirming inaccurate, self-limiting beliefs internalized through thought reform and/or in families of origin.
In having the privilege of working with former cult members, I have witnessed how they not only heal but thrive, using their intelligence, courage, humor, motivation, self-honesty, resiliency and other strong survival traits to obtain more joyful, fulfilling, and meaningful lives.
-- Colleen Russell, LMFT
Former members, family members, and others affected by cults or high-demand groups may schedule individual, phone, or in-office sesions. Former members may participate in the support group in conjunction with individual sessions as needed.
The Cult (or High-Demand Group) Recovery Support Group meets every other Saturday from 4:00- 6:00 PM in my Mill Valley Office.It is a psychodynamic, educational, and exploratory group and currently has openings. Participants are former members and Second Generation Adults (those born and/or raised in cults). They generally give the feedback that they feel relieved to know they're not alone in many of their experiences and that they value support from others. In a healthy, non-authoritarian, safe group, participants can authentically connect with themselves and others, become more informed of the dynamics and structure of cults and cult leaders, gain understanding of their subjective and objective experience, continue healthy adult development, and heal from the damaging or traumatic consequences of a cult or high-demand group or relationship. Groups can be a powerful aid to recovery and continuting healthy adult development.
