8 International Journal of Cultic Studies ■ Vol. 10, 2019
feel safer to explore (Malchiodi, 2015). Sandtray
offers a method of utilizing alternate states of
consciousness that blends absorption with
conscious engagement in ways similar to active
imagination (Boik &Goodwin, 2000).
Depending on the approach of the practitioner,
sandtray therapy can involve an exploration of
family and social roles or patterns, a method of
safely reexperiencing the trauma and resolving
it, a means of seeking meaning around the
trauma, or a method of interacting with parts of
the self or internalized representations of others
(Eberts &Homeyer, 2015 Graham, 2016
Webber &Mascari, 2008). Because of the use of
figures and symbolism, sandtray is particularly
useful at helping clients create meaning around
their experiences.
Meditation and Mindfulness
Like EMDR, mindfulness is currently in vogue
as a means of therapy and boasts impressive
evidence as to its effectiveness (Baer, 2015 Doll
et al., 2016 Porges, 2017 Singleton et al., 2014
van der Kolk, 2014). Mindfulness can be used to
treat anxiety and depression and also trauma
(Baer, 2015 Desmond, 2016 Doll et al., 2016
Rothschild, 2000). It can also be effective at
helping individuals learn new ways to relate
interpersonally with others or to develop self-
compassion toward themselves (Baer, 2015
Desmond, 2016). Like EMDR, mindfulness
seems to have neurophysiological effects on
brain structures affected by trauma (Doll et al.,
2016 Porges, 2017 Singleton et al., 2014).
Porges (2017) has highlighted how mindful
breathing can stimulate the neurophysiological
state associated with safety, healing, and growth,
thus successfully combatting the
neurophysiological states associated with
mobilization or freezing. Neuroimaging studies
show that mindfulness can help calm
hyperactivity in the amygdala and increase
prefrontal-cortex control, thus increasing
emotional regulation (Doll et al., 2016).
However, although mindfulness may be
effective with some survivors, mindfulness as a
therapeutic intervention comes with a warning.
There is a tendency for clinicians to view
meditation as if it were a panacea, despite the
fact that it is not appropriate for everyone and
can create severe negative reactions in some
(Rosen, 2014 Rothschild, 2000 Singer, 2003).
This attitude may be particularly problematic
with cult survivors since meditation has been
heavily coopted by destructive groups as a
means of control, disconnection, and
dissociation (Lalich &McLaren, 2018 Rosen,
2014 Singer, 2003). For example, one of the
therapeutic goals of mindfulness is often to help
clients relax and engage the senses as a means of
mitigating anxiety and dissociation. For the
many cult survivors who have trauma related to
meditation practices, however, mindfulness that
resembles meditation can exacerbate rather than
help symptoms of anxiety or dissociation
(Rosen, 2014 Singer, 2003). In such cases,
finding other ways of accomplishing that goal
may be needed. Rothschild (2000) outlined
several ways that clients can disperse anxiety
and tension if mindfulness exercises create
negative reactions. Exercising, progressive
tensing, or body training, for instance, may be
more relaxing for many survivors than sitting
meditations. Yoga can also be an avenue
through which a survivor can access the benefits
of mindful breathing without the traditional
meditative sitting (Porges, 2017).
Survivors who exit meditation-based cults
may still be able to use meditation
techniques as part of healing, with it perhaps
offering an opportunity for them to reclaim
the same techniques from a different
standpoint. Whereas in the cult survivors
may have had meditation used to disconnect
them from their emotional responses,
particularly anger or doubt (Hassan, 1990
Lalich &McLaren, 2018 Singer, 2003),
they may still be able to use this technique
as a means of connecting with alienated
emotions and learning acceptance and self-
compassion within their healing process
(Desmond, 2016). With that being said, the
ultimate decision of whether to engage with
and reclaim mindfulness practices (or any
practice formerly used within a cult) should
reside with the individual.

International Journal of Cultic Studies ■ Vol. 10, 2019 9
Creativity
There is growing evidence that creativity is an
important vehicle for healing from trauma
(Forgeard, 2013 Malchiodi, 2015). The value of
creativity in recovery and growth is perhaps
higher for survivors of cultic abuse (Jenkinson,
2010). Art and music are often tightly controlled
and used within a cult to discourage
individuality and increase conformity. Creative
therapies can offer survivors a means to
reconnect with their core and express themselves
in a safe, healing environment (Jenkinson,
2010). Music therapy, for instance, can help
survivors access, express, and process emotions
(Sammons, 2011). Vocal music can help
stimulate the neurophysiological state associated
with safety, effectively helping calm the
hyperarousal associated with trauma and
facilitating social engagement and emotional
regulation (Porges, 2017). Exercises such as
drumming or improvisation can also help
survivors explore the concept of connection and
boundaries (Wolfe, 2011). Although intrusive
rumination is associated with negative
outcomes, deliberate and creative interactions
with trauma are correlated with posttraumatic
growth, which suggests that survivors who
engage in creative and expressive arts from a
therapeutic standpoint may be better equipped to
process their experiences and find purpose and
meaning around them (Forgeard, 2013).
However, because survivors are frequently
encouraged to use thought-stopping techniques
to distract from emotions, doubts, and memories
not supported within the cult (Hassan, 1990),
clinicians may need to assist survivors in
destigmatizing the expression of those elements.
Somatic and Movement-Based Interventions
As growing evidence emerges that not only the
mind, but also the body stores trauma (van der
Kolk, 2014, 2015), the importance of bringing in
bodily techniques is becoming more evident.
Some somatically focused interventions use a
bottom-up method, meaning treatment primarily
focuses on the body (Rothschild, 2000). For
instance, Somatic Experiencing (SE) is a form of
treatment that can help a trauma survivor
discharge the physical energy stored from
trauma by completing emotional and physical
responses that have been stored in the body
(Brom et al., 2017 Foundation for Human
Enrichment, 2016 Levine, 1997 Parker, Doctor,
&Selvam, 2008 Rothschild, 2000). Rosen
(2014) recommends SE as part of trauma
treatment for cult survivors because, in addition
to helping survivors move through trauma, it can
also facilitate survivors’ learning to pace their
own process by shifting their focus between
trauma sensations and anchors or calmness.
Although SE is a specific technique that requires
extensive training, clinicians can incorporate
somatic forms of processing in other ways that
can also be beneficial in helping clients re-
embody and heal (Levine, 1997 Rothschild,
2000). For clients who may not be able to
tolerate body attunement, body mapping may
provide a means of exploring the physicality of
trauma by externalizing it onto paper and
blending body awareness with creativity such as
coloring or drawing (Santen, 2015). Other
interventions, such as authentic movement,
drama, or dance movement therapy, also use the
body as a tool for a more creative process and
offer opportunities for an internal healing by
stimulating the social-engagement system
through connection to the unconscious (Bacon,
2012 Gray, 2015 Haen, 2015 Stromsted, 2009
Tantia, 2012).
A Note About Alternate States of
Consciousness
Some trauma-specific interventions may involve
or facilitate an alternate state of consciousness as
a means of stimulating healing and
transformation (Bacon, 2012 Boik &Goodwin,
2000 Singer, 2003 Tantia, 2012). Given the
type of trauma that many cult survivors have
experienced, such as prolonged, induced states
of altered consciousness or inescapable
interpersonal stress and physical or relational
abuse, survivors may be particularly susceptible
to dissociative states (Herman, 1997 Kendall,
2016 Porges, 2017 Rosen, 2014 Singer, 2003).
Although dissociation can cause significant
difficulties, it is not, in itself, a completely
negative phenomenon. Rather, dissociation is a
protective function of the psyche in response to
trauma or overwhelming threat to the self
(Herman, 1997 Levine, 1997 Lifton, 1963).