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).

10 International Journal of Cultic Studies ■ Vol. 10, 2019
Historically, dissociation has been seen as
relatively negative. However, recent research
investigating the positive effects of dissociative
states indicates that dissociation in some
instances can activate healing by stimulating
social engagement with one’s self or with
transpersonal images (Granqvist, Gewirtz,
Mikulincer, &Shaver, 2012 Granqvist,
Hagekull, &Ivarsson, 2012 Stromsted, 2009
Tantia, 2012). Thus, helping clients learn to use
their dissociative states to reconnect with
themselves or to foster a spiritual sense outside
of the cult may ultimately be a more powerful
form of healing than trying to end dissociation.
With that being said, counselors should be
especially careful with their use of alternate
states. As with creativity, cults often use the
capacity for absorption and alternate states of
consciousness to further the influence over
members when they are more vulnerable to
suggestion and influence (Aguado, 2015
Jenkinson, 2010 Singer, 2003). It is especially
important with cult survivors that counselors
elicit meaning from the client rather than
imposing meaning on the client (Boik &
Goodwin, 2000). Moreover, clinicians should
never use an alternate state of consciousness
without first educating clients about the process,
what the risks are, and how they can make
informed choices to protect themselves. This
holds true for everything from deeply trance-like
processes such as authentic movement to
seemingly normative activities such as music
and dancing (Aguado, 2015 Nunes &Timoner,
2007 Tantia, 2012 Wolfe, 2011).
Ethical Issues
There are a number of ethical issues that
counselors should keep in mind in working with
survivors of cultic groups. Those associated with
power dynamics and cultural sensitivity are
particularly important.
Power and Control
Although multiple theoretical orientations can be
adapted to work effectively with cult survivors
(Eichel, 2016 Goldberg, 2006 Rosen, 2014), a
client-centered approach is imperative. Because
of the way power and authority are abused
within cultic environments, counselors run the
risk of repeating toxic power dynamics unless
there is active intention directed toward
deconstructing the power within the counselor-
client relationship (Matthews &Salazar, 2014
Rosen, 2014). Counselors who assume a savior-
like role run the risk of further inhibiting the
empowerment of the client (Herman, 1997)
additionally, treatments that take control away
from the client, perhaps by fostering obedience
or acquiescence to therapist instructions, may
seem effective in changing behaviors or
achieving goals, but ultimately may reinforce an
unhealthy power structure that fails to foster
either autonomy or critical thinking.
Survivors of cultic groups often come to
counseling in vulnerable states, many leaving
behind the very views with which they made
sense of the world. In many ways, survivors may
resemble children because the group has
deliberately stunted or regressed their
development (Singer, 2003 Ward, 2011). While
counselors may need to foster the emotional
growth of clients, they also must be conscious of
the fact that many clients may be looking for a
new anchor. Counselors need to be wary of
clients developing dependency on the counselor
as an authority figure to replace their lost leader
or group (Matthews &Salazar, 2014 Rosen,
2014).
Multicultural Concerns
Counselors must also show a willingness to
learn from their clients. A general knowledge of
cultic techniques is beneficial, but it cannot
replace the personal perspective and experience
of the individual (Matthews &Salazar, 2014
Rosen, 2014). This principle is especially
important when one considers the
intersectionality of various identities. None of
the literature I found for this paper examines the
specific experiences and needs of survivors who
fall under the Queer umbrella, or for survivors of
color, two populations that may have to contend
with discrimination or abuse in other arenas as
well.
As “invisible immigrants” (Rosen, 2014), cult
survivors often have a unique culture compared
to the surrounding community in which the cult
resides. Rosen (2014) emphasizes the
importance of not pathologizing culturally
different practices that may have been part of a