Cultic Studies Journal, Vol. 14, No. 1, 1997, page 13
been in an environment of sexual control or direct sexual abuse. By this I mean that until
the cult‟s hidden agenda has been exposed, cult members or former cult members can
make little progress. Tearing apart and examining bit by bit the cult‟s covert program of
manipulation is critical to getting to the heart of the matter.
How is that done?
There is not one simple answer since each cult is different, and even within the same cult,
conditions may vary at different times and different locations. Equally important, every
person‟s experience is so individual, as is each person‟s recovery. But as much as cults
might differ from one another, in certain ways, they are similar. When the ideological veil is
stripped away, cults look very much alike because of their use of classic thought-reform
techniques and processes (colloquially, brainwashing). That is why in support groups of
former cult members, participants may come from groups that on the surface appear to be
vastly different (for example, from ultra-conservative Bible-based to radical left-wing
political to intensely interpersonal psychotherapeutic), yet they understand one another
quite easily because, across all types of cults, the control techniques more or less boil down
to the same familiar few.
Together, the former cult member and I begin to look at the system of influence to which
she was subjected. If she was involved in a group I‟m not already familiar with, I do
whatever I can to educate myself about that particular group, the leader, and the
underlying belief system. That way I can work as an interactive partner in her exploration.
Other tools I use are (1) suggesting related readings, including handouts, article reprints,
and books (2) together viewing and discussing videotapes on cults, psychological cons,
hypnosis, and related material and (3) assigning homework.
One helpful task is for the woman to do a chronology of her time in the cult. I usually advise
not doing this in great detail, but starting with broad outlines by year or by month. She is to
reconstruct as best she can what was going on, where she was living, what work or
“practice” the group was engaged in, what policies were in place, what the leader was
doing, what her level of involvement was, and so forth. Long-term cult members often have
trouble piecing together a chronology. But as the person reflects on her time in the cult,
more and more of the experience comes back to her, and eventually she is able to come up
with a specific sequence of events. This exercise serves at least four functions: (1) it gives
substance to what is often literally a “mush” in the woman‟s brain about what went on, (2)
it exposes manipulative patterns of behavior on the part of the cult leadership, (3) it
demystifies the woman‟s experiences and the power of the cult leader, and (4) it keeps the
person focused.
I also ask recovering cult members to do some reading to help orient our discussions and
their growing understanding of what happened to them. In addition to whatever might be
available on the particular group, select chapters from or summaries of the work of Robert
Jay Lifton, Edgar Schein, and Margaret Thaler Singer are the most helpful. Lifton, Schein,
and Singer are the early researchers who studied the type of psychological influence found
in cultic, or thought-reform environments.
Lifton‟s (1961) book Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism, based on his study of
brainwashing in Communist China, outlines eight psychological themes identified by him as
crucial to the creation of a totalist environment. These themes are milieu control, mystical
manipulation, demand for purity, the cult of confession, the “sacred science,” loading the
language, doctrine over person, and dispensing of existence.
Schein (Schein, Schneier, &Barker, 1961) wrote about coercive persuasion, using a model
of three stages: unfreezing, changing, and refreezing. According to Schein, the goal of the
group process is to reshape attitudes and behavior by destabilizing a person‟s sense of self

Cultic Studies Journal, Vol. 14, No. 1, 1997, page 14
(unfreezing), offering a solution (changing), then reinforcing with positive feedback when
the person behaves in the desired way (refreezing).
Singer‟s thought-reform model revolves around the identification of six conditions found in
the environment to induce change. These are (1) keep the person unaware of what‟s going
on, (2) gain control of the person‟s environment and time, (3) create a sense of
powerlessness in the person, (4) punish old behaviors, (5) reward desired behaviors, and
(6) have an authoritarian structure with a closed system of logic (Singer with Lalich, 1995).
Lifton, Schein, and Singer all reinforce the point that conditions of literal imprisonment or
physical restraint are not necessary to achieve the desired results of a thought-reform
program. Rather, a series of social and psychological influence techniques inflicted on a
vulnerable person are sufficient to break down the sense of self and induce the person to
adapt the new thinking required by the cult. This subversive feature is what makes thought
reform so powerful, and yet so difficult to comprehend for those who have never been
caught in such a psychological trap. A cult leader need not point a gun at a follower to get
her to submit he uses far more intrusive methods to first change the very fundamental way
she thinks about herself and the rest of the world and him. After that, compliance is almost
always ensured.
Discussions of the basic concepts of thought reform help former cult members gain insights
into their experiences. Taking each theme or condition, one at a time, a person might be
asked to list the many ways a particular theme was manifest in the cult. As she does this,
she begins to put together a picture of organized manipulation and control. Recognizing that
she had been influenced by sophisticated and effective persuasion techniques, her feelings
of confusion, guilt, and self-blame subside. Similarly, once she understands she was tricked,
taken advantage of, and used by the cult leader for his own selfish needs, the woman will
be able to more productively address her feelings about the sexual abuse, as well as other
residuals of the cult experience.
Healing from Psychosexual Abuse
Bearing in mind that cults control their members through deceptive and manipulative
techniques that induce dependency, anxiety, and fear, the recovery process for someone
who has extricated herself from a cult is indeed a rocky road. Former members typically
experience a range of feelings: fear, mistrust, and betrayal, as well as confusion and
disorientation. At the same time, they usually feel relieved to be out of the cultic situation.
Major areas of work will revolve around the following: reestablishing boundaries regaining
self-esteem and self-confidence dealing with feelings of betrayal learning to trust again
resolving identity crises (who am I? how did it happen?) and what I call exorcizing the
“hindering” emotions of shame, blame, and guilt.
Given the sophisticated and totalist nature of thought reform in a cultic environment, it is
hard to separate the effects of sexual abuse from the overall psychological rape perpetrated
by the leader and the group. The sexual exploitation is reinforced by the psychological
violation as a result, the harm to the individual is twofold.
Another significant factor is that typically cultic sexual exploitation and abuse is not a one-
time occurrence. Integral as it is to the cult philosophy and worldview, ongoing and
persistent abuse is likely to be part of daily life for some women, a decades-long reality.
Therefore, the abused female cult member --similar to certain battered women who are
also victims of mind manipulation --needs to unravel the psychological trappings that were
imposed on her by the perpetrator to ensure submission without challenge to his authority.
In some cases, the feelings related to sexual abuse may be the deepest and last layer of
cult-related trauma to explore. Acknowledging that one was sexually exploited in the name
of a greater goal is often a painful process. Consequently, some cult members deny,