Cultic Studies Journal, Vol. 18, 2001, Page 78
What Attracts People to USCs? How Can the Underlying Needs be Satisfied in
Healthy Ways?
This handout must be carefully prepared so that it does not appear to accuse the client of
weakness that led to his or her involvement. Instead, the intent is to assist the client in
identifying his or her own needs that motivated their original participation or delayed their
departure. By bringing awareness to these needs, the client may be able to find alternate
means of addressing the needs that still exist, and by doing so, he or she will increase
enjoyment of life. These needs and motivations may include:
 Need for community
 Need for structure or comfort
 Belief in something pure
 Participation cleanses personal impurity
 Escape from a factor or factors in worldly life
 Coercion and fear
 Powerlessness, feeling dissociated, lack or suspension of critical thought
 Children may have little choice or understanding of having a choice
Other, more ephemeral, motivations may also be included. Many who join USCs have some
degree of spiritual seeking. For those in groups with idealized leaders, the object of spiritual
seeking is made concrete in the embodiment of the teacher. The desire for this intimate
relationship with spirituality, God, or a representative of God is not new or necessarily
pathological. In Psalms (42:2) David said, ―As the heart panteth after the water brooks, so
panteth my soul after Thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: When shall
I come and appear before God?‖ Another passionate example of the desire for the
experience of God can be found in the writings of Rumi from the Islamic tradition, ―Either
you see the Beloved or you lose your head!‖ (Rumi, p. 11). Many see the desire to see the
face of God as a blessing and path to health.
The presence of faith and community in one‘s life has even been shown to have many and
varied concrete health benefits (Koenig, McCullough &Larson, 2000). Examples can be
included in a handout to balance self-blame clients may hold due to their attraction to
spirituality and religion.
Techniques Used by Groups to Control Thought or Limit Critical Thinking
Singer‘s (1996) formulation of Thought Control has been described above. Shaw (1996)
paraphrases Lifton (1987) in another formulation that includes the following techniques: 1)
control of communication within the environment, 2) intentional deception to make it
appear that the leader has mystical power, 3) demand for purity, 4) required public
confessions, 5) dogmatic principles which are presented as unquestionable truth, 6) use of
simplistic clichés to distort complex concepts and limit critical thinking, 7) inducing
members to believe that doubts of the doctrine are evidence of personal defects or sins and
8) the leaders are the undisputed judges of deviance and deviance is not tolerated.
Additionally, there is a thorough description by Langone included on the reFOCUS website
(1998) under the title ―Deception, Dependency &Dread.‖ While lengthy and possibly more
relevant to communities that would be considered cults, it includes points that are likely to
be common (at least by degree) even for groups that are less extreme.
Again, the information presented in a handout could be balanced with discussion of methods
that may be similar to thought control, but can be used in beneficial ways. For example,
hypnosis, meditation, chanting and ritual are potentially harmful for some individuals and in
some USCs. Simultaneously, these techniques are increasingly incorporated in effective
health care (Emerson &Trexler, 1999 Kabat-Zin, 1990 Bourne, 1995).

Cultic Studies Journal, Vol. 18, 2001, Page 79
A movie that can be recommended that relates to this topic is ―Star Trek: The Search for
Spock,‖ in which a charismatic leader persuades a number of normally self-actualizing
people to follow him in breaking laws and commandeering a star ship to pursue his spiritual
quest.
Teachers, Gurus and Spiritual Leaders
Although the role of the teacher or authority is included in some of the other topics, the
influence of the authority is so profound that it warrants individual attention as well. Many
possible subjects abound for inclusion in this topic. It may be handled exclusively through
stories, such as that of Job or Hyakujo and the Fox (below), or some cognitive description
may be included in a handout to support the stories. Stendl-Rast (1996) argues that the
original story of Jesus depicts him as a radical who preaches for the rejection of any
intermediaries between individuals and their worship and understanding of God. Similar
experiential traditions exist in the world‘s major religions as Sufism for Islam, Kabalistic
practices in Judaism, and Zen among other traditions in Buddhism. Stendl-Rast also makes
the interesting distinction between the use of the word ―authority‖ to mean either ―power to
command,‖ or having a ―firm basis for knowing and acting‖ (Stendl-Rast, 1996). The
distinction may be utilized within a handout to provoke consideration of the clients‘
experiences of authority within their groups.
It is also important to understand the subtle role that authority can take in our culture. In a
document such as this one, the author commonly includes citations to substantiate each
theory or fact with published sources. Clearly there are good reasons for doing so. But how
would this material be perceived on its own merits? Leaving the factual citations aside,
many of the ideas presented could have been evaluated by the reader without reliance upon
other authorities to bolster them. In writing and reading professional papers it is, in some
ways, simpler and easier to rely upon previously-proven concepts than to go through our
own verification process. This is not fundamentally different from the way authority may be
used in healthy and unhealthy spiritual communities. The famous and disturbing Milgram
(1963) experiments on obedience and authority may also be used to demonstrate the great
degree to which we all rely on authority, whether members of USCs or not.
Another perspective on the teacher as authority can be drawn from Moore (1990), who
postulates that a healthy male will incorporate aspects of the King, the Warrior, the
Magician and the Lover. One might suggest that women would include the same aspects
with the Queen replacing the King. In USCs, one or more authority figures may take on
various of these four roles. Moore identifies healthy expression of the King/Queen as
providing order. The tyrant or the weakling are unhealthy or immature expressions of the
King/Queen. The Magician in his or her fullness provides insight. When unhealthy or
immature, the Magician is manipulative or naïve. This model may provide clients a means of
appreciating both the positive and negative traits of the teacher(s) in their communities, as
they may have been more mature in some roles or at some times. By doing so, we can also
respect ourselves even if we have both positive and negative qualities. Distinct from the
black and white expectations about purity in many USCs, an acceptance of ambiguity may
promote an understanding of the ambivalent feelings clients may still hold with respect to
their communities or teachers thus, the client and his or her view of the teacher (and
therapist) can be humanized.
There are two movies that may have aspects related to the student-teacher relationship. In
―Finding Forester,‖ a quirky but mutually beneficial student-teacher relationship is
portrayed. In ―Star Wars: Return of the Jedi,‖ Luke Skywalker disregards the advice of both
of his teachers (Yoda and Obi-Wan Kenobi), follows his own counsel, and is successful in
returning his father from the dark side.