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information control at a point when the individual is vulnerable and it raises a
doubt that can no longer be repressed, a gnawing feeling that something is very
wrong. That doubt, when nurtured, starts to make some "thinking space." This
is why I suggest to family and friends to use any situation with the cultist to
create a crack while avoiding direct confrontation. Interject some piece of
information that requires reflection and evaluation.
This might include:
• Reaffirmation of love and care
• Stimulating a favorable memory
• Asking a question about the cult that cannot be answered yes or no
Thinking is to the brain what exercise is to the body, and thinking is what starts
to open a crack in the cultist's closed mind.
Ex-cultists, who have had a formal intervention, often think that walkaways
have it a little easier in recovery because walkaways do not have the trauma of
the intervention process. Many walkaways will tell you, though, that the price
they have paid is one of extra lost years. Also, most of the thousands of
walkaways do not receive any exit counseling, often because they do not realize
they have been in a cult. They often wrestle for years with this major life
trauma without the appropriate help or guidance as to how the problems they
are facing may be cult-related.
Interventions
Until recent years, many ex-cultists were helped out of the clutches of these
insidious groups through forced deprogrammings or through non-forced exit
counselings. I did not appreciate the significant difference between these two
intervention methods until I stumbled into the realization that much of the fear
and anxiety I was experiencing as an ex-cultist (now known as Post Traumatic
Stress Syndrome) was due to the method of intervention-two forced
deprogrammings each with a conservatorship.
A conservatorship is a legal document which gave my parents legal guardianship
of me even though I was an adult. My parents took this measure to protect
themselves. If the deprogramming did not work and I returned to the cult and
was "encouraged" to sue them as many cultists have been instructed to do by
their cult leaders, my parents could have lost everything they owned. A
conservatorship is harder to get today than it was ten years ago.
Let me explain a little about these two very different methods of intervention
(See Clark, Giambalvo, Giambalvo, Garvey, &Langone, 1993 and Giambalvo,
1992).
Deprogramming
Forced deprogrammings involve the use of security personnel to abduct and
hold cultists against their will while a confrontational discussion takes place

Recovery from Abusive Groups Page 10
usually over several days. Conservatorship papers may or may not have been
granted. This type of intervention can be traumatic and, when performed on an
adult, may be declared illegal if charges are brought.
What makes this type of intervention so traumatic is that the loved one loses all
relationships with the cult instantaneously. Though this is often of great relief to
family and friends, it is an immediate and, therefore, traumatic sense of loss for
the individual, unlike the walkaway who has separated over time. It is my
opinion that this method of intervention should be used only after great
deliberation and as a last resort. Those who choose it should realize that they
may have to defend their decision in court. See Langone and Martin (1993) for a
discussion of the ethics of deprogramming.
Even when handled smoothly by a well-trained deprogrammer, this type of
"radical surgery" may cause scars and anxieties. Some families may have no
other choice, since most cultists are taught to flee any type of confrontation
about their involvement in the group. In addition, some cults teach their
followers to attack, escape, tune out, or commit suicide if confronted by a
"disbeliever" in a secured environment.
Exit Counseling
This intervention method is different from deprogramming in one very critical
way- individuals are not held against their will. Therefore, it is not illegal. It is
also not as traumatic for the individual. Cultists can leave if they choose and
are, therefore, more empowered than cultists in a forced deprogramming.
Empowerment can help to minimize the trauma of the intervention process
(Hassan, 1988).
This intervention method requires more interpersonal skill on the part of the
counselor. It also requires more upfront work with the family, preparing them
for their role in the intervention and the recovery.
Preparing the family can be very hard to do. Families often see the intervention
as the key part of the recovery process. But the work that follows the
intervention is the critical part of recovery. "Just get whoever out of that group
they can go on with their life." Exiting the cult is only the beginning of the work,
not the end of it.
The main goal in working family (and sometimes friends) is to build a well-
informed, healthy, support system that can help cultists during the intervention
as well as when they return home and start rebuilding their lives. Given that
some ex-cultists were in their groups 5-20 years, rebuilding their lives after the
intervention becomes a very significant issue.
Counseling the family before the intervention also helps to identify family
problems. All families have some problems. In order to build the healthiest
support system possible, these problems should be identified and addressed
prior to the intervention.
Working with the family only takes well-developed interpersonal skills, it takes
time. Time costs money. Some families cannot or will not spend the time and