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I have never been a Scientologist but I have been a part of a few other group experiences. I am attempting to heal from the experience and all lot of the material about escaping and healing from cults comes from ex-scientoligists so I am here to be a part of the message board. Thanks!
 

Gib

Crusader
I have never been a Scientologist but I have been a part of a few other group experiences. I am attempting to heal from the experience and all lot of the material about escaping and healing from cults comes from ex-scientoligists so I am here to be a part of the message board. Thanks!

well, to be a scientologists means when one first gets involved, why the first goal is to go clear which means having prefect recall on one's life and increased ability, and then one is supposed to go OT which means one can leave the body at will and can be cause over life and illness, and thus live forever knowing one's full life experiences from the beginning of time and being able to recall such events from the beginning of time, why one can live forever with full recall of events, and hubbard's lectures tell us of the traps we fell for when we were not on planet earth, and he figured it all out for us.

The confusion is that scientology is a religion, so lawsuits against it for those persuaded results may or may not win in a lawsuit.

The confusion is that scientology procedures, or it's religious activities, have never once produced a clear or OT, but the media does not know this, and never think to report this fact.

Even Hubbard said he failed to Sarge, one of his most trusted friends in his final death days as depicted in the Lawrence book and Marty Rathbun book.
 

Knows

Gold Meritorious Patron
Scientology does damage like no other cult on this planet....well, except ISIS.

What cults were you in?

What areas of your life were effected?

Did your cult bankrupt you? Cause you to lose your beliefs? Dismantle your family and friends? Shatter your dreams? Fuck you up?

Are you suicidal? Can't Work? Can't function? Want to die?

Trauma is the #1 side effect of Scientology.

Lots of help out here. What do you need?
 
What cults were you in?
Superstar Machine




What areas of your life were effected?

All areas were affected.

Did your cult bankrupt you? I left angry and broke. Yes.
Cause you to lose your beliefs? yes and now I am working on putting together my own
Dismantle your family and friends? I either ignored or tried to recruit every woman I know. I also spent a lot of time in 12 step which I view as a cult now. I learned a lot of self judgment there.
Shatter your dreams? They did but I am attempting to dream again.
Fuck you up? It was the shittiest experience I have ever had.

Are you suicidal? I was right before I left and felt like it right after I left. but I know that was an implanted fear by the group.

Can't function? It is still hard for me to think and make decisions. I am used to consulting with cult members about everything. My mind is healing and it sucks sometimes for it to be hard for me to think.

Want to die? I do not want to die. I have been working with a trauma therapist and that has helped a lot. but I do not feel totally alive. It is like parts of me feel dead.

I was recruited into the cult but I also have a history of being around fucked up people so I have the cult trauma to digest and my family of origin stuff.


so right now I am wondering how much time do I need to spend on cult recovery and how to get my mind back.


What do you need? Right now I would like to hear stories about how people have recovered their minds back and moved on completely. I do not want to spend the rest of my life hating the cult but I want to make sure to heal from it and to not repeat it.

I have read so many books and understand how cults work and recruit. but getting my mind back is hard. and I read I need to feel the feelings I didn't feel in the cult. and I need a place to tell my stories.


Thank you for asking.
 
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hummingbird

Patron with Honors
:heartflower:

Welcome welcome welcome!!

You are smart and are doing the right things. Congratulations to you for being on the road to recovering yourself.

What's worked best for me (10 yrs in, 8 on staff) is just living life and (as trite as it sounds) enjoying the small pleasures. Go for walks and inhale, exhale.

When I left, I was on welfare. Married, two kids, dirt poor. But life has a way of improving when you're making your own decisions.

See the "Life After Scientology" area for many of our stories.

Wishing you the best.
 

Victoria

Patron Meritorious
We love stories!!

I've done some of my best healing on this forum.
Through a combination of writing my experiences, which helped me drill down to thoughts and beliefs I didn't realize I was harboring, and reading the stories of others which was an even greater relief, knowing I was just one fool of so many;)


So, I did a bit of googling, found this comment interesting on one of the blog posts;
"The Babe NYC2:46 PMI had the same experience. I spent 8 months in the cult when I was recruited by a "friend". When I asked about "International" I was also told to trust and not research. Gregory Scherick is desperately trying to live up to his father's success. He's a scam artist. So are the crazy women around him - particularly Shana who once called me "cocky" when I refused their "help". I already had one foot out the door but when my "friend" in the group who was a "Celebrity" (the highest level there next to "icon") slipped and said she "managed" 7 girls I got the F out. Nobody "manages" me. Scientology anybody?"
 
Yup you found my group. They told us just to trust. It was 100 percent cult. I see writing as an important tool and letting go of the thoughts and beliefs of the group has been hard work. I look forward to reading more. and I am glad to not be alone in getting my mind back.


"The Babe NYC2:46 PMI had the same experience. I spent 8 months in the cult when I was recruited by a "friend". When I asked about "International" I was also told to trust and not research. Gregory Scherick is desperately trying to live up to his father's success. He's a scam artist. So are the crazy women around him - particularly Shana who once called me "cocky" when I refused their "help". I already had one foot out the door but when my "friend" in the group who was a "Celebrity" (the highest level there next to "icon") slipped and said she "managed" 7 girls I got the F out. Nobody "manages" me. Scientology anybody?"[/QUOTE]
 

PirateAndBum

Gold Meritorious Patron
From this link http://jezebel.com/inside-superstar-machine-which-ex-members-say-is-a-cul-1775494367

Around 2009, a man then known both personally and professionally as Greg Scherick was living in Cotati, California, in a house he referred to as The Barn. Scherick was in a relationship with a woman about 25 years his junior; they lived with her young son and would soon have a child of their own.

Every month, Scherick traveled to New York to lead something called The Process, a group that met in the penthouse of the Roger Smith Hotel, a funky, three-star, slightly rundown place a few blocks from Grand Central.

“Poppy” says she was invited to join the group in 2010 2009 by Princess Superstar, the rapper and DJ. She says Princess told her Scherick was a “modern-day guru,” who would turn her life around, “make money flow to you,” and fix her every romantic problem. (Princess Superstar didn’t return an email from Jezebel requesting comment.)

According to Poppy, Scherick claimed to be receiving inspiration directly from “the Divine,” as he called it. The Process was meant to “usher in a new world,” she says, one where “everyone is conscious.”

The Process from what I've heard was a spin-off of Scn.

superstarmachine.com requires a user name & pswd for access. Looks like a very secretive cult indeed.

Another article: http://www.xojane.com/it-happened-to-me/womens-self-help-cult
 
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TheOriginalBigBlue

Gold Meritorious Patron
Yup you found my group. They told us just to trust. It was 100 percent cult. I see writing as an important tool and letting go of the thoughts and beliefs of the group has been hard work. I look forward to reading more. and I am glad to not be alone in getting my mind back.


"The Babe NYC2:46 PMI had the same experience. I spent 8 months in the cult when I was recruited by a "friend". When I asked about "International" I was also told to trust and not research. Gregory Scherick is desperately trying to live up to his father's success. He's a scam artist. So are the crazy women around him - particularly Shana who once called me "cocky" when I refused their "help". I already had one foot out the door but when my "friend" in the group who was a "Celebrity" (the highest level there next to "icon") slipped and said she "managed" 7 girls I got the F out. Nobody "manages" me. Scientology anybody?"
[/QUOTE]

Scientology promotes auditing (therapy by any other name) on an e-meter to eradicate pernicious subconscious influences. If a person is "enturbulated", aka upset, then that is said to diminish their case gains from auditing. Well, auditing is very expensive so if you permit yourself to get enturbulated by exposing yourself to anything critical of Scientology then it not only can get you punished or stigmatized but it can cost thousands of dollars in repair auditing. You learn to self censor this kind of exposure.

Cult equals control. If a group of people want to believe in alien ghosts or that LRH is Buddha, as long as there is no control then it is no big deal. The many different variations of the demands to "trust" are control. How ironic that Scientology claims Scientologists gain superior skills at controlling all aspects of life and survival except the ability to control anything critical of Scientology itself. Unraveling the residual influences of Scientology requires in great part recognizing and purging control mechanisms no matter how big or how small.
 
--We were working on our subconscious beliefs. We were taught that we were always sabotaging and we needed other people who were trained to give us "clear reflection" because we could not see who we truly are. So the members always got support from each other. There was an extreme amount of dependence on the group -- so you did not have to think. Just ask the leaders or other cult members for support. yuck.

Cult equals control. There did not seem on the surface too much control if you were in the lower level. Basically the people in the higher levels were trained how to love bomb and keep the other woman happy and we trained them to think everything good in their lives was because they were in the group and learning about consciousness. We kept them starry eyed and paying their monthly dues. We did not give them real support on real issues. We only gave them support on how to stay in their jobs and how to stay in the machine. Women were dealing with major depression, addiction issues, family issues and no real support was given.

Anyways. I was a leader for a while. After reading in the forums it seems that those who work for or are higher up get the most abuse in a cultic environment. It has been great to read about other peoples experience.

so now after 10 months of being out I still feel how I want to call people to make decisions for me. It is almost like my brain is so afraid of making the wrong choice that I do not want to be responsible for my own decisions. so that is my current problem today. Empowering myself to make decisions!!!!!!

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Scientology promotes auditing (therapy by any other name) on an e-meter to eradicate pernicious subconscious influences. If a person is "enturbulated", aka upset, then that is said to diminish their case gains from auditing. Well, auditing is very expensive so if you permit yourself to get enturbulated by exposing yourself to anything critical of Scientology then it not only can get you punished or stigmatized but it can cost thousands of dollars in repair auditing. You learn to self censor this kind of exposure.

Cult equals control. If a group of people want to believe in alien ghosts or that LRH is Buddha, as long as there is no control then it is no big deal. The many different variations of the demands to "trust" are control. How ironic that Scientology claims Scientologists gain superior skills at controlling all aspects of life and survival except the ability to control anything critical of Scientology itself. Unraveling the residual influences of Scientology requires in great part recognizing and purging control mechanisms no matter how big or how small.[/QUOTE]
 

Knows

Gold Meritorious Patron
What cults were you in?
Superstar Machine


What areas of your life were effected?

All areas were affected.

Did your cult bankrupt you? I left angry and broke. Yes.
Cause you to lose your beliefs? yes and now I am working on putting together my own
Dismantle your family and friends? I either ignored or tried to recruit every woman I know. I also spent a lot of time in 12 step which I view as a cult now. I learned a lot of self judgment there.
Shatter your dreams? They did but I am attempting to dream again.
Fuck you up? It was the shittiest experience I have ever had.

Are you suicidal? I was right before I left and felt like it right after I left. but I know that was an implanted fear by the group.

Can't function? It is still hard for me to think and make decisions. I am used to consulting with cult members about everything. My mind is healing and it sucks sometimes for it to be hard for me to think.

Want to die? I do not want to die. I have been working with a trauma therapist and that has helped a lot. but I do not feel totally alive. It is like parts of me feel dead.

I was recruited into the cult but I also have a history of being around fucked up people so I have the cult trauma to digest and my family of origin stuff.


so right now I am wondering how much time do I need to spend on cult recovery and how to get my mind back.


What do you need? Right now I would like to hear stories about how people have recovered their minds back and moved on completely. I do not want to spend the rest of my life hating the cult but I want to make sure to heal from it and to not repeat it.

I have read so many books and understand how cults work and recruit. but getting my mind back is hard. and I read I need to feel the feelings I didn't feel in the cult. and I need a place to tell my stories.


Thank you for asking.

Thank you for answering. You are not alone. I went through it too.

It takes a while to heal from the mind fuck. Good job working with a trauma therapist.

Learn everything you can about mind control in cults and high demand groups.

Listen to others on You Tube - Chris Shelton (from Scientology) Steve Hassan (from Moonies) Diana Langberg - Complex Trauma Therapist - tons more.

You are strong and resilient and will survive and even move past the hatred towards the cult. Just keep going!! Be gentle on yourself and love yourself for being YOU!!

Lots of love and peace we send your way!!

:flowers2::heartflower::kiss::bighug::grouphug::hug::dance2::console::heartflower:
 
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Victoria

Patron Meritorious

Victoria

Patron Meritorious
Here's a long video by Steve Hassan on recovering from cult mind control.

Steve is a brilliant guy who has made cult recovery into a passion.

Hes an ex moonie and all round wonderful person.

http://youtu.be/sw-oF-Z_I7U

I hear you, about wanting to ask others about decisions! One of the most pernicious parts of leaving a cult is usually a person is so immersed in that network that when they leave they have not so much as a friend on the outside.

What woman doesn't absolutely need a good girlfriend to bounce ideas off and help to wade through decisions. It's a lot of help!

When I left Scientology, I was completely unmoored for years, having lost literally everything.

But now at least we have the Internet and other people in the same boat. It's so helpful.

Anyway, enjoy the video, it's longish so make some popcorn;)
 
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I have been listening to and learning about Cults from those sources. also I went to one International Cultic Association meeting too. I also found the orange papers helpful as well. https://www.orange-papers.org/orange-deprogram.html and this article explaining about abusive groups. http://www.abuseandrelationships.org/Content/Communal Abuse/communal_abuse.html


Do any of you view your experience as kind of like a drug experience?

I kinda felt like I got hooked on something and used it until it was really hurting me.

This article kind of explains it: http://www.brahmakumaris.info/forum/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=3287

Learning about how cults work has been so helpful. When I first joined the group there was no negative information about it online. but then people started writing about it and I did not believe it until I really felt how I was not valued in the group for who I was.

I was only valued if I was obedient, subservient and compliant.

It is so great to read about other people's experiences here. The past 10 months have been freaking crazy.


A lot of people who left after me did not see it as a bad experience and that just confused me. but the people I have left in my life I really know care. and that feels great!!!!
 
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Thanks Victoria!!! I am going to watch it now!!





Here's a long video by Steve Hassan on recovering from cult mind control.

Steve is a brilliant guy that has made cult recovery into a passion.

Hes an ex moonie and all round wonderful person.

http://youtu.be/sw-oF-Z_I7U

I hear you, about wanting to ask others about decisions! One of the most pernicious parts of leaving a cult is usually a person is so immersed in that network that when they leave they have not so much as a friend on the outside.

What woman doesn't absolutely need a good girlfriend to bounce ideas off and help to wade through decisions. It's a lot of help!

When I left Scientology, I was completely unmoored for years, having lost literally everything.

But now at least we have the Internet and other people in the same boat. It's so helpful.

Anyway, enjoy the video, it's longish so make some popcorn;)
 
and what is crazy to me is that most people who have left the group do not view it as a cult and are not attempting to repair themselves from it. When I left I thought more people would come with me ( a few did) and want to know the truth as well. But a lot of people who left just left and said it was a good experience. or they told me "my experience was not your experience" so that was a continued --mind f&ct -- but they were not as high up. anyways...........this week I really felt the need to get some freaking help around this. so I am glad to find this forum.


and the secretive SSM website was just like this forum (same system??)

except for the posts were moderated, you could not DELETE OR EDIT WHAT YOU WROTE but they could...... and they had this thing called "post purgatory" where if what you wrote didn't fit the guidelines of kissing the ass of the machine. Your post would not be posted onto the website and you would get a talking to around it to get you back in line.

It was 100 percent propaganda and loaded with loaded language. ackkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk so glad not to be writing in code anymore..........
 
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