The Psychology of Cults - All In The Mind - ABC Radio National (Australian Broadcasting... - 1 views
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participating without informed consent or proper screening
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They consisted of two people sitting opposite each other silently looking at the other person’s eye and the recipient in session was able to have a look at the experiences and emotions and things in their life that they had not fully come to terms with, and that were unconsciously stopping them from being who they wanted to be. It was very emotional.
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here’s a whole language that goes with this group, isn’t there, and processing is one thing that you would go through
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charismatic, he did have that capacity to have a group of people in front of him and hold their attention.
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nudity has no significance other than what you give it, and if you think that this is in any way inappropriate that’s your dirty mind.
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ut of research done by the CIA and the KGB after the Second World War in trying to understand how Hitler was able to persuade a whole population to a particular way of thinking and particular behaviour, and that research got out into the wider community
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on Hubbard used a lot of these techniques in his organisation and then a lot of people who had been in Scientology
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Hypnotic states are nothing magical but in fact natural hypnotic states occur on a regular basis if we allow them to, about every two hours during the day. There’s a natural down time when our left-brain sort of quietens and our right-brain and our body is able to do a bit of a tune-up of physical processes like blood-pressure and heart-rate and cortisol levels.
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o when people use techniques that are going to help induce this state it’s not something you’re necessarily going to resist if you don’t realise that perhaps there is an ulterior motive.
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It’s very interesting studying some of the gurus or the charismatic figures you say you often find that they are often people who have actually started out with very good intentions and just find they have this natural ability to attract people to them, or because they may be good listeners, people feel that they’ve got something to offer
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But there are some positive things about some groups and it’s likely that some people live happier lives being part of some groups than they would on their own.
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groups are often filling desperate needs in people that are not being filled by the way we now live. The way we are now is very isolating, people are often expected to work very long hours, or have very long commutes. More and more families are living apart, so we do not live in a community that is kind to people or respects people. So anybody really is vulnerable, it’s not just, you know, the weak-willed, it’s anybody at a particular time in their life, and particularly if they’re isolated from family and friends.
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Some of the factors that are most important in human wellbeing are a sense of connectedness and a sense of control over your life now and in the future. So what often these organisations do is offer a whole list of very simple rules, if you just follow these rules then you’ll feel okay. If you just remove yourself from that world and you just mix with us everything will be okay. So they often offer a sort of a way of getting back some feeling of control.
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describe some of the techniques, not necessarily the abuse that may have occurred, and then to help them understand that they were involved in quite a deliberate psychological process.
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what was missing before and helping them create a life now that is healthier and more balanced and does meet all their needs as a human being.
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people who grow up in these organisations and really are trapped, and for those that grow up and then start to rebel as teenagers or as young adults and leave, it is very, very difficult because that’s been their reality.
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recognition by the courts and by particularly the Family Law Court and we need education of the legal profession and I think the professional organisations, particularly the professional health organisations need to be more pro-active in first of all educating themselves about what these issues are and then making it very clear in their code of ethics of these different professional groups how the codes of ethics dovetail with belief systems.