Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 5, No. 1, 2006, Page 7
of many coping skills to adapt to that task. They have difficulty adjusting to the problems
that the external world presents and difficulty dealing with a variety of situations that others
would find to be commonplace.
The lack of mastery of these coping skills is exacerbated by the former cult member‘s
impoverished sense of identity, poor self-esteem, and fear of the outside world. The blurring
of boundaries between the leader and the members and the need for idealization of the
narcissistic leader have led them to a feeling that they are nothing without him or her. They
believe that they need others to guide them. Furthermore, cult members are constantly
exploited and shamed. (Shaw, 2003) This treatment leads many into believing they are
failures because of their lack of success in the cult. This is true even if they left as a result
of their recognition of cult hypocrisy or felt proud of their ability to leave a destructive
environment. They may expect to fail in the outside world and go to some form of hell
because they have left the perceived protection and path to holiness offered by the cult. As
a result of cult suggestion as well as displacement of feelings from the cultic world onto the
wider world, they see the world outside the cult as a dangerous place (Markowitz and
Halperin, 1984).
Case Study: Tim
I will now discuss the situation of Tim, whose case illustrates many of these themes. Tim is
a 38-year-old man who has been seeing me for seven years. He began therapy about five
years after he left his cult, and his presenting problems indicated difficulty dealing with
periods of intense depression and anxiety. He was unable to take pleasure in his life.
Tim‘s parents joined a Bible-based cult when he was about three years old, and he was
raised in his family‘s home in the Midwest until he was 13. Although his parents continued
to live in the family home, their life was controlled by cult edicts, and Tim was sent to
religious schools within the community.
This large cultic group has a charismatic, living leader who establishes doctrine and
demands obedience to himself. The rules of this church were harsh, and Tim was disciplined
severely by both parents. Tim suspects that harsh treatment was consistent with his
parent‘s previous value system. He also believes, however, that their frustrations with the
high demands of the cult intensified their poor treatment of him. He believes that their first
allegiance always was to the cult.
Tim views his mother as more malignant than his father and has memories of her waiting
until his father arrived home to ―tattle‖ on Tim. Tim believes this was done, in part, to
deflect his father‘s anger from his mother because of her negligence in finishing her
household tasks. Actually, Tim was required to help his mother with many of these
household tasks, and he often would fail to live up to her high and demanding expectations.
In response to his mother‘s prodding, his father, exhausted from a long day at work, would
typically explode at Tim and severely beat him with a strap.
Many children in cults experience strict behavior and physical abuse from their parents,
according to anecdotal reports from former cultists and those who have written about this
topic (Singer, 1995 Markowitz and Halperin, 1984 Langone &Eisenberg, 1993 Siskind,
2001). Children are seen as extensions and reflections of their parents, and parents are
pressured to control their children. Because the parental tie to the cult leader needs to
become stronger than the tie to their children, breaking the will of the children becomes
acceptable and, sometimes, obligatory (Goldberg, 2003).
Children raised in cults often grow up feeling hated and hateful because of this harsh
treatment. They usually have experienced little help with regulating the strong affects that
are stimulated by the cultic environment, particularly anxiety, anger, and grief. To survive,
they often have had to suppress their emotions. Sometimes, as in the case of Tim, they
of many coping skills to adapt to that task. They have difficulty adjusting to the problems
that the external world presents and difficulty dealing with a variety of situations that others
would find to be commonplace.
The lack of mastery of these coping skills is exacerbated by the former cult member‘s
impoverished sense of identity, poor self-esteem, and fear of the outside world. The blurring
of boundaries between the leader and the members and the need for idealization of the
narcissistic leader have led them to a feeling that they are nothing without him or her. They
believe that they need others to guide them. Furthermore, cult members are constantly
exploited and shamed. (Shaw, 2003) This treatment leads many into believing they are
failures because of their lack of success in the cult. This is true even if they left as a result
of their recognition of cult hypocrisy or felt proud of their ability to leave a destructive
environment. They may expect to fail in the outside world and go to some form of hell
because they have left the perceived protection and path to holiness offered by the cult. As
a result of cult suggestion as well as displacement of feelings from the cultic world onto the
wider world, they see the world outside the cult as a dangerous place (Markowitz and
Halperin, 1984).
Case Study: Tim
I will now discuss the situation of Tim, whose case illustrates many of these themes. Tim is
a 38-year-old man who has been seeing me for seven years. He began therapy about five
years after he left his cult, and his presenting problems indicated difficulty dealing with
periods of intense depression and anxiety. He was unable to take pleasure in his life.
Tim‘s parents joined a Bible-based cult when he was about three years old, and he was
raised in his family‘s home in the Midwest until he was 13. Although his parents continued
to live in the family home, their life was controlled by cult edicts, and Tim was sent to
religious schools within the community.
This large cultic group has a charismatic, living leader who establishes doctrine and
demands obedience to himself. The rules of this church were harsh, and Tim was disciplined
severely by both parents. Tim suspects that harsh treatment was consistent with his
parent‘s previous value system. He also believes, however, that their frustrations with the
high demands of the cult intensified their poor treatment of him. He believes that their first
allegiance always was to the cult.
Tim views his mother as more malignant than his father and has memories of her waiting
until his father arrived home to ―tattle‖ on Tim. Tim believes this was done, in part, to
deflect his father‘s anger from his mother because of her negligence in finishing her
household tasks. Actually, Tim was required to help his mother with many of these
household tasks, and he often would fail to live up to her high and demanding expectations.
In response to his mother‘s prodding, his father, exhausted from a long day at work, would
typically explode at Tim and severely beat him with a strap.
Many children in cults experience strict behavior and physical abuse from their parents,
according to anecdotal reports from former cultists and those who have written about this
topic (Singer, 1995 Markowitz and Halperin, 1984 Langone &Eisenberg, 1993 Siskind,
2001). Children are seen as extensions and reflections of their parents, and parents are
pressured to control their children. Because the parental tie to the cult leader needs to
become stronger than the tie to their children, breaking the will of the children becomes
acceptable and, sometimes, obligatory (Goldberg, 2003).
Children raised in cults often grow up feeling hated and hateful because of this harsh
treatment. They usually have experienced little help with regulating the strong affects that
are stimulated by the cultic environment, particularly anxiety, anger, and grief. To survive,
they often have had to suppress their emotions. Sometimes, as in the case of Tim, they
