The Cult Mind Control Narrative: Is it Helpful?

My history on this topic is available for all to see on the Internet, as doing a Google search on my name will reveal. I had an extraordinary experience severing my ties with Scientology, which I have written about elsewhere. Twelve years after leaving, I discovered Steve Hassan’s book, Combatting Cult Mind Control (CCMC). Although I had moved on with my life, I still was unable to find a satisfying explanation for what I went through. I was also still searching for a satisfying career in life and at the time was doing some soul-searching as to what I wanted to do with the rest of my life. I happened upon Steve Hassan’s book, CCMC, one day in the bookstore and was so fascinated, I could not put it down. It seemed to explain everything I had gone through, 12 years before in Scientology.

I ended up getting in touch with Steve and we worked together on a number of interventions -- nonforcible ones where the person voluntarily agreed to speak with us.Eventually, I ended up going to graduate school and getting my Masters Degree in Social Work in 1996. The year after receiving my MSW, I ended up getting very involved with Thought Field Therapy (TFT) and became one of its top practitioners. I have written about this at length on my blog and in articles I have published in professional journals, so I will not repeat the details here.

In 2004, I ended up realizing that I had made some serious errors in accepting TFT, that resulted in my discontinuing its practice. At that time I phoned Steve Hassan and told him about this. He immediately responded that I had been under Roger Callahan’s “mind control” and that TFT had been hypnotic. He advised me to get intensive post-cult therapy to deal with my experience with TFT, including going to a residential facility called Wellspring to recover. His concern was very genuine and his intentions were good.

However, I decided not to take his advice. I did not go to Wellspring and did not seek therapy but instead chose to educate myself on evidence-based practice and critical thinking about unfounded therapeutic claims. That is one of the best decisions I have ever made. I thought things through very carefully. I also, through introspection, observed that when I thought about my experience through the lens of Steve's narrative of being a victim of Callahan's alleged "mind control" I felt very upset, anxious and confused, even panicky. Had I gone that way, I'm sure I would have displayed all kinds of "post-cult" symptoms. For all I know, I may have been in "post-cult therapy" for years dealing with those suggested "symptoms". That would have been good for the pocket book of someone promoting such therapy, but probably not so good for my emotional well-being. In contrast, when I looked at the situation from an educational perspective of analyzing where I went wrong and what I needed to know more about, I felt much calmer, empowered and on the road to healing from the entire situation because I learned what my errors were and what I might have done differently. I took responsibility for my mistakes rather than playing the victim of "mind control" role. This might not apply to everyone who has gotten involved with a cult, since in some cases there was deception and nothing the person could have done differently, but it was definitely the case with my experience in TFT. Even in those cases where there was deception, though, I think we need to remain open to the possibility that developing good critical thinking skills might prevent being lured in, at least for some people

It was then that I began to doubt universality of Steve’s theories and explanations of “cult mind control” which to me just did not seem to fit my experience with TFT. Note that there is no evidence that hypnosis even has this kind of power over people and even the idea of a "trance" state is highly controversial, let alone the idea that Roger Callahan was doing anything like that. He most certainly was not. TFT is not “hypnotic”. Although I had plenty of criticism for Roger Callahan, I really could not honestly accuse him of “mind control”.

At the same time I had been reading about narratives people put to symptoms and experiences they found puzzling (for example, people who believe they were abducted by aliens or had multiple personalities, as an explanation for symptoms and other troubles they were having in their life). It dawned on me that the “cult mind control” narrative seems to work that way for people who have had experiences in groups such as Scientology that they could not explain. However, using that narrative to explain my experiences with TFT seemed a real stretch, so I rejected it and even stated that I did not consider it a “cult” and that I took full responsibility for my mistakes. While the "mind control" model, especially if it is defined in terms of undue influence does fit some people's experience with some cults, it is far from as universal as is commonly believed in the anti-cult movement.

I also began to notice how Steve used “cult mind control” and “post-cult syndrome” to explain troubles ex-“cult” members were having in life as well as putting a wide variety of experiences (e.g. my experience with TFT) under the wide umbrella of cult mind control. On his website, he uses a symptom checklist of difficulties ex-cult members may have. I don't mean to single Steve out, as he is not the only one who uses this sort of checklist, which is not unlike the kind of checklists used for repressed memories of sexual abuse, alien abduction, being electronically harassed, and many other claimed explanations for difficulties people have in life. The problem with these kinds of checklists is that the symptoms could have many alternative explanations, yet when someone is caught up in the cult mind control and post-cult syndrome narrative, that person uses it to explain any trouble they are having.

Someone could be away from a “cult” for 30 years, and yet in anti-cult circles, if they exhibit any behavior that anti-cult activists don’t like, it is attribute to their being un-recovered ex-cult members, a label I have had slapped on me whenever I questioned some anti-cult dogma. Recently, one person who had been out of Scientology for 27 years referred to him self as a “recovering ex-cult member.” It seems there is no end to the “recovery’ process for some people and I have to seriously question how healthy that is. I have been called an un-recovered ex-cultist who needs years of intensive therapy by some supporters of Hassan because I dared to challenge some recent statements Steve has made to the press about the death of Jett Travolta.

One point of clarification -- I am not saying that people are never traumatized by their experiences in cults, nor am I saying it is easy to leave cults and adjust to life in the outside world. However, there is a philosophical principle called Occam’s Razor, that the most parsimonious (simplest) explanation for something that fits the facts is usually the correct one.

If people have spent many years in a group that was isolated from society, of course they are going to have culture shock returning to mainstream society, as well as other difficulties, especially if they experienced abuse and trauma. That is very real and I do not mean to minimize anyone’s pain. People in need of therapy after such an experience should by all means seek it out with a competent professional. Rather, my point is that many people leave these groups and begin to attribute every difficulty they are having in life, being told they will need years of therapy to recover, (as Steve Hassan and others have been known to tell people). That is what needs to be challenged and questioned. The studies showing high rates of post-cult symptoms were done with samples of people who had been exposed to anti-cult narratives or people who were having difficulties and sought professional help. Not included in these samples are people who left these groups and did not have such difficulties. Not everyone needs to be in therapy for this. With any kind of trauma, research shows that only a minority go on to develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and there is no reason for this to be any different with cults. Moreover, not everyone in cults even experienced trauma.

What concerns me is that people leaving these groups are often confused and seeking explanations for what they just went through and the cult mind control narrative can look very inviting. I just have to question if it is helpful in all cases or if for some people, more harm than good is being done. When people are labeled as having “post-cult syndrome” and needing years of therapy, this could become a self-fulfilling prophecy, just as it has been for people who have had other sorts of narratives imposed on them. As Richard J. McNally and Susan Clancy found in their research, people who believe they were abducted by aliens, manifested the same physiological signs as Vietnam veterans who had been traumatized in combat. They bought into that narrative (explanation for their troubles) and along with that, came all the very measurable physiological symptoms.

My concern is that, although not as exotic as being abducted by aliens, something similar could be happening with people who are being told they have “post-cult syndrome” and need years of expensive therapy to deal with it. Thus, I would say caveat emptor (buyer beware) when looking at websites of people who advertise so-called post-cult therapy. There is no evidence that this kind of therapy is superior to conventional therapy or even that it does no harm. At this point there is no research on it and we just don't know. It may be very helpful for some individuals, but not for others.

I'm not saying everyone should necessarily stay away from this sort of therapy. It may well be helpful for some people. I am not dismissing it out of hand. What I am saying is be wary of therapists who make unsupported claims of superiority and if you are in this sort of therapy with a self-proclaimed "expert" and you don't seem to be benefiting, you might want to reconsider. There are no good studies on this sort of "therapy," so listen to your gut. If you feel worse after week after week of such therapy, pay attention to that. In general, be very skeptical of therapists who tell you that you have to get/feel worse before you get better. All too often, that is nothing more than a line to keep people in endless therapy they will not benefit from. Undoubtedly there are some who say they have benefited and offer testimonials but we don't usually hear from the ones who did not or perhaps felt worse after the therapy. The same principles that apply to any form of therapy without support apply here. If you have had a troubling experience you cannot explain, it is very tempting to latch onto these kinds of explanations but they can sometimes come at a very high price, both literally in terms of dollars spent, and emotionally.