4 International Journal of Cultic Studies ■ Vol. 10, 2019
can also be distressing. Cults, while rigid, offer
the comfort of an absolute worldview. For those
who have not yet developed the ability to
tolerate ambiguity, breaking out of black-and-
white thinking can be as much an existential
issue as a developmental issue. Counselors must
be prepared to help clients learn to sit with their
discomfort and resist the urge to constrict critical
thinking even as they develop meaningful
worldviews (Beck, 2006 Perach &Wisman,
2016).
Relational Issues
A good portion of a cult’s damage lies in the
arena of connection and trust (Herman, 1997
Rosen, 2014). Within a cultic environment, the
boundaries between the self and the group are
violated in multiple ways, both disrupting the
connection a person has to the self and
muddying the distinction between the self and
others (Herman, 1997 Lifton, 1963). Survivors
may emerge from a group with little ability to
maintain boundaries in a healthy way. Survivors
of relational trauma in which boundary
violations were the norm may not recognize
typical red flags in other relationships as a
result, some individuals run the risk of
repeatedly entering into toxic relationships
(Herman, 1997). For others, trust seems
daunting, if not impossible (Rosen, 2014).
Having been violated by those closest to them,
survivors may see all people as a threat. In
addition, many survivors have been taught to
fear the outside world, especially professionals
such as law enforcement, doctors, and
counselors (Bardin, 2005 Kendall, 2016 Lalich
&McLaren, 2018 Singer, 2003).
Counseling will often need to involve an
exploration of boundaries as survivors struggle
to figure out a balance between having
connection and protecting the integrity of the
self (Kendall, 2016 Matthews &Salazar, 2014
Rosen, 2014). Counselors will first need to build
trust with survivors. Counselors can model
boundaries by setting and adhering to their own
boundaries while simultaneously respecting
those of their clients. Counselors must also be
conscious of the power structure created or
implied within the therapy room, acknowledging
its existence and taking steps to ensure that the
clients feel safe and capable of asserting their
needs and boundaries with their counselors
(Matthews &Salazar, 2014). The counseling
experience offers an opportunity for healing
connection whereby clients experience intimacy
with boundaries (Herman, 1997). In therapy,
survivors can also explore and practice social
skills that they can apply in other relationships
with family or friends (Kendall, 2016 Matthews
&Salazar, 2014).
As therapy progresses, counselors can assist
survivors in building an outer support network
(Rosen, 2014). Clients may need to learn basic
social expectations and norms of appropriate
behavior, especially if they have been physically
isolated from mainstream society (Kendall,
2016 Singer, 2003). Clients may also struggle
with finding an appropriate balance in
boundaries with others (Herman, 1997). For
many who survived controlling and abusive
relationships, boundaries often need to be rigid
before they can become flexible as survivors
learn to trust their own ability to hold a
boundary and respond to violations (Czerny,
Lassiter, &Lim, 2018). Matthews and Salazar
(2014) point out that cultic groups often limit all
major social relationships to those within the
group therefore, survivors may benefit from
developing a diverse body of connections with
people from multiple social groups and settings.
Group-therapy situations have the potential to be
healing for survivors by providing connections
with others who have gone through similar
circumstances (Durocher, 1999 Matthews &
Salazar, 2014) however, just as clients may
initially distrust an individual therapist, they
may also find it hard to trust a group-therapy
situation. Because group therapy can devolve
into toxic practices, groups should be facilitated
by someone who is knowledgeable about
totalistic influence and who can monitor and
intervene should the group begin demonstrating
concerning signs (Lalich &McLaren, 2018).
The presence of a cofacilitator can also be an
important check on the power of the group
leader.
In addition to building new connections, many
survivors will need to take some time to grieve
the connections they have lost in leaving a cultic

International Journal of Cultic Studies ■ Vol. 10, 2019 5
group (Kendall, 2016 Lalich &McLaren, 2018
Matthews &Salazar, 2014 Rosen, 2014). No
matter how abusive or toxic the group was, it is
important for clinicians to realize that one of the
draws of cultic groups lies in the intensity and
closeness of the relationships formed (Herman,
1997). Survivors will have happy memories in
addition to negative ones and may find it hard to
accept the existence of both simultaneously.
They will often lose contact with loved ones.
The losses need to be honored and grieved
(Kendall, 2016 Lalich &McLaren, 2018
Matthews &Salazar, 2014 Rosen, 2014).
Particularly for second-generation survivors,
leaving may mean losing every major
connection they have (Kendall, 2016 Lalich &
McLaren, 2018 Matthews &Salazar, 2014).
Often, the loss of connection may be the result
of shunning practices of the group that treats a
member who leaves as a nonperson, as dead or
nonexistent, or as a stranger (Hassan, 1990
Kendall, 2016 Lalich &McLaren, 2018 Lifton,
1963 Singer, 2003). However, there are times
when individuals may find that they must make
the choice to cut off former abusive connections
for their own well-being or to maintain
boundaries (Celani, 2016). Either way,
counselors must be able to help survivors
process and grieve their losses.
Emotional Issues
Cultic environments are saturated with pervasive
guilt and fear (Hassan, 1990 Lifton, 1963
Perry, 2006). As mentioned previously, fear of
the outside world and of authority figures such
as law enforcement, counselors, or doctors often
will have been deliberately fostered within the
group (Barden, 2005 Casoni, Pacheco, &
Kropveld, 2015 Singer, 2003 Ward, 2011).
Additionally, members may have been told that
leaving the group would result in their death,
whether through direct retaliation from the
group or through fated acts of divine will
(Hassan, 1990 Kendall, 2016 Nunes &
Timoner, 2007 Singer, 2003). Members
frequently have been conditioned to feel
worthless and guilty on an existential level
(Hassan, 1990 Kendall, 2016 Lifton, 1963),
and they may have been inured to accept
responsibility for their abuse (Herman, 1997
Kendall, 2016 Ward, 2011). While it is
somewhat normal for those who experience
overwhelming, violent, or life-threatening events
to struggle with a certain amount of fear, shame,
and self-blame (Rothschild, 2000), cult survivors
have the added layer of deliberately instilled
guilt, shame, and fear. Survivors may have very
specific phobias that need to be addressed for
them to reclaim normative experiences such as
sexuality or leisure (Hassan, 1990). Because
most fears may be largely ungrounded in reality
(Matthews &Salazar, 2014), survivors will
benefit from learning how to question and
dismantle their fear (Hassan, 1990 Matthews &
Salazar, 2014). However, Matthews and Salazar
(2014) discourage dismissing physical threats
from the cult without careful consideration of
whether those threats could be carried out some
groups can become particularly dangerous or
violent when people try to leave (Lalich &
McLaren, 2018 Singer, 2003).
Although it might be helpful for survivors to
notice patterns of response that might put them
in vulnerable positions, generally they will need
to let go of a sense of over-responsibility for
their abuse (Rosen, 2014). It is necessary to
empower them to see opportunities for choice or
change moving forward, while not blaming them
for what they experienced in the past (Herman,
1997).
Leaving a cultic group or abusive relationship is
complicated. Regardless of whether a survivor
could have physically exited the abusive
situation earlier, emotional readiness is equally
important. Questions such as “Why didn’t you
just leave?” or “Why did you stay/join?” are
often far more stigmatizing than helpful (Rosen,
2014).
One particularly sensitive area of guilt with
which survivors may contend is in regard to
their own participation in unethical or abusive
practices toward others. A totalistic system is
designed to gain the compliance and
participation of those within it (Lalich &
McLaren, 2018 Lifton, 1963). Different groups
have different ways of involving members.
Some have members participate in scam-like
activities that involve deception and exploitation
of nonmembers (Hassan, 1990 Singer, 2003).
However, even in the absence of con-like