ABSTRACT
Milestone 10 is designed to help the reader to understand the dynamics involved in a coercive, cultic and/or spiritually abusive group or relationship. It focuses on ‘thought reform’ or ‘brainwashing’, applying the theory outlined by Robert Jay Lifton in his book Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism (1989).
Lifton’s eight components of thought reform are discussed in turn, showing how each applies in a variety of coercive, cultic and spiritually abusive settings, and how they operate together to form a powerful system of psychological control. The components are milieu control (control of the environment and communication), mystical manipulation (stage-managed phenomena to elevate the leader), demand for purity (as defined in the setting), confession (oversharing), sacred science (considering the system of beliefs to represent ultimate truth), loading the language (thought-stopping clichéd words and phrases), doctrine over person (following the teaching is more important than individual well-being) and dispensing of existence (deciding who has the right to exist).
The aim is to help the reader to realise they may have been part of a complex and coercive system of control, recognise how thought reform applied to their experience, reduce self-blame, externalise their experience and understand it objectively; thus facilitating recovery. Worksheets throughout help the reader reflect on their experience.
