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Lorna Goldberg |Intergenerational Transmission of Cult Trauma
aspect of an extensive control process. Additionally,
suggesting books, articles, or conferences helps
former cult members understand and objectify these
experiences (Goldberg, 1995).
Psychoeducation demystifies the cult and aids former
cult members in reflecting on how the cult has
influenced post-cult patterns of behavior. To achieve
this, therapy brings the unconscious repetition of
learned cult behaviors into consciousness. For example,
Anika became aware of feeling uncomfortable when
she was not “productive.” Exploring how this emotion
originated in cult control allowed her to engage in
various pleasurable activities. Thus, this process
strengthened Anika’s self-reflection capacities and
allowed her to consider her individual beliefs and
desires, leading to a more balanced life (Goldberg,
1995).
Safe Base and Empathy
The therapist provides a safe base that increases
feelings of trust and encourages the free expression
of memories and spontaneous reactions (Bowlby,
1988). They become an emotionally empathic witness,
allowing previously dissociated parts of their client’s
personality to come alive in therapy. For instance, while
collaborating on this paper with the author, after Anika
and David began to share their emotional reactions to
cult memories, they deepened their empathy for one
another. According to Whitsett (2014), after a life
centered on ignoring the right brain, therapists need to
enhance right-brain communication by helping clients
identify and resonate with their affective states.
This therapeutic environment sharply contrasts with
the control and judgment that former cult members
likely faced while in the cult (Goldberg, 2022). To
change such critical attitudes, therapy also explores
the cult personality impacted by identification with the
aggressor (Fenichel, 1949).
Child-Rearing and Intergenerational Trauma
Examining how cult control impacts parenting, as
Anika experienced, helps reduce shame, lessen post-
cult moral injury, enhance agency, and promote
healing. This approach also assists those raised in a cult,
like David, in gaining perspective on their childhood
and developing empathy for parents who might have
been more devoted had they not been cult members
(Goldberg, 2017).
Sometimes, joint sessions with cult parents and their
adult children can be beneficial for the therapist to
conduct. These sessions should occur when parents
are receptive to hearing their adult children describe
the harm received from cult parenting. Joint sessions
allow adult children to listen to the conditions under
which the parents became cult members and how the
cult influenced them. Hearing if their parents were
conflicted about certain child-rearing attitudes and
practices is helpful for adult children (Goldberg 2017).
Addressing a Harsh Internalized Conscience
This style of therapy acknowledges both Freud’s (1914)
concept of unconscious repetition compulsion and
somatic repetition in trauma (Levine, 1997). It addresses
and ultimately softens the harsh conscience by linking
past experiences of attack to the re-experiencing of
present self-attack or fear of attack.
Therapists promote self-compassion and self-
acceptance. For example, when either the former
cult member or the therapist makes a mistake, the
therapist can serve as a model of compassion and self-
compassion (Goldberg, 2002 Goldberg, 2024).
As former cult members become more self-accepting,
they become more open to expressing themselves
and, consequently, to becoming their authentic selves.
Their unique identities can emerge, including genuine
preferences and favored aspects of their personalities.
Understanding Transference and
Countertransference
Former cult members may project feelings and
expectations that originated in the cult onto
their therapist. Therapy, which incorporates an
understanding of transference, focuses on the former
cult members’ present experience of the therapeutic
relationship and identifies unconscious repetitions of
past relationships played out with the therapist and
others (Freud &Breuer, 1895). For example, a cult
member might expect her therapist to have a critical
reaction to hearing that she joins her friends in the
Lorna Goldberg |Intergenerational Transmission of Cult Trauma
aspect of an extensive control process. Additionally,
suggesting books, articles, or conferences helps
former cult members understand and objectify these
experiences (Goldberg, 1995).
Psychoeducation demystifies the cult and aids former
cult members in reflecting on how the cult has
influenced post-cult patterns of behavior. To achieve
this, therapy brings the unconscious repetition of
learned cult behaviors into consciousness. For example,
Anika became aware of feeling uncomfortable when
she was not “productive.” Exploring how this emotion
originated in cult control allowed her to engage in
various pleasurable activities. Thus, this process
strengthened Anika’s self-reflection capacities and
allowed her to consider her individual beliefs and
desires, leading to a more balanced life (Goldberg,
1995).
Safe Base and Empathy
The therapist provides a safe base that increases
feelings of trust and encourages the free expression
of memories and spontaneous reactions (Bowlby,
1988). They become an emotionally empathic witness,
allowing previously dissociated parts of their client’s
personality to come alive in therapy. For instance, while
collaborating on this paper with the author, after Anika
and David began to share their emotional reactions to
cult memories, they deepened their empathy for one
another. According to Whitsett (2014), after a life
centered on ignoring the right brain, therapists need to
enhance right-brain communication by helping clients
identify and resonate with their affective states.
This therapeutic environment sharply contrasts with
the control and judgment that former cult members
likely faced while in the cult (Goldberg, 2022). To
change such critical attitudes, therapy also explores
the cult personality impacted by identification with the
aggressor (Fenichel, 1949).
Child-Rearing and Intergenerational Trauma
Examining how cult control impacts parenting, as
Anika experienced, helps reduce shame, lessen post-
cult moral injury, enhance agency, and promote
healing. This approach also assists those raised in a cult,
like David, in gaining perspective on their childhood
and developing empathy for parents who might have
been more devoted had they not been cult members
(Goldberg, 2017).
Sometimes, joint sessions with cult parents and their
adult children can be beneficial for the therapist to
conduct. These sessions should occur when parents
are receptive to hearing their adult children describe
the harm received from cult parenting. Joint sessions
allow adult children to listen to the conditions under
which the parents became cult members and how the
cult influenced them. Hearing if their parents were
conflicted about certain child-rearing attitudes and
practices is helpful for adult children (Goldberg 2017).
Addressing a Harsh Internalized Conscience
This style of therapy acknowledges both Freud’s (1914)
concept of unconscious repetition compulsion and
somatic repetition in trauma (Levine, 1997). It addresses
and ultimately softens the harsh conscience by linking
past experiences of attack to the re-experiencing of
present self-attack or fear of attack.
Therapists promote self-compassion and self-
acceptance. For example, when either the former
cult member or the therapist makes a mistake, the
therapist can serve as a model of compassion and self-
compassion (Goldberg, 2002 Goldberg, 2024).
As former cult members become more self-accepting,
they become more open to expressing themselves
and, consequently, to becoming their authentic selves.
Their unique identities can emerge, including genuine
preferences and favored aspects of their personalities.
Understanding Transference and
Countertransference
Former cult members may project feelings and
expectations that originated in the cult onto
their therapist. Therapy, which incorporates an
understanding of transference, focuses on the former
cult members’ present experience of the therapeutic
relationship and identifies unconscious repetitions of
past relationships played out with the therapist and
others (Freud &Breuer, 1895). For example, a cult
member might expect her therapist to have a critical
reaction to hearing that she joins her friends in the
