Cult Hopping: Navigating the Spiritual Impulse for Those in Cult Recovery

Описание: Cult Hopping: Navigating the Spiritual Impulse for Those in Cult Recovery - Bo
-
Disclaimer: This session was delivered for the 2023 ICSA Conference. The speaker of this session does not speak on behalf of ICSA as an organization.
-
Abstract: Shortly after leaving a high-demand relationship (and sometimes while contemplating exiting), cult members are frequently vulnerable to the recruitment and influence of other controlling situations. This paper intends to examine the tribulations for those new to cult recovery who still identify as "spiritual seekers". Emphasis will be on those who were in religious/spiritual/new age coercive control groups and explore the phenomenon of "cult hopping".

We will begin by elucidating possible early-life attachment challenges that set up the conditions for seeking authoritarian/coercive oversight, followed by an exploration of ongoing psycho-spiritual issues that propel former members from one high-demand group to another.

We will look at the likelihood of a self-identified spiritual seeker to pursue other group involvement prior to fully recovering from a cult experience and identify benchmarks for readiness to engage in spiritual exploration. Identification of how to assess adequate healing and ego stability as markers for moving on will be presented.

Heidi Page is a psychologist with 20+ years of experience in cults. She first landed in a Hindu-based guru-focused cult from the late 1990s to 2022 and later into a Rajneesh-modeled guru cult from around 2012 to 2022. Gyanmitra Prem Prasad co-founded and co-led the latter cult as its spiritual director from 2004 until both members were excommunicated earlier this year after each began questioning the cult leader. Their unique perspectives and lived stories will be interspersed throughout the paper.