hypnosis ← cult recovery 101

The Manipulation of Spiritual Experience: Unethical Hypnosis in Destructive Cults

Feb

2018

Linda Dubrow, Ph.D. & Steve K. Dubrow Eichel, Ph.D. Abstract The process of cult and mass therapy indoctrination may involve repeated inductions of trance-like states of consciousness similar to hypnosis. Environmental (milieu) control, social manipulation, isolation and the use of prescribed consciousness-altering techniques (e.g. repetitive and/or continuous chanting, meditating, or praying) are some of ...

Studying how brain responds to hypnosis

Dec

2012

San Francisco ChronicleStephanie M. Lee October 23, 2012 Despite what Halloween lore might have you believe, hypnosis isn’t all about swinging watches, magic spells and mind control. It is the oldest Western conception of psychotherapy and, in mainstream medicine, it has been shown to help patients manage pain, stress and anxiety, and combat traumas and phobia. ...

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NXIVM sex cult benefactor Clare Bronfman sentenced to more than 6 years behind bars September 30, 2020
David K. LiNBC NewsSeptember 30, 2020A federal judge on Wednesday sentenced an heir to the Seagram’s liquor fortune to 81 months behind bars for providing financial support to the NXIVM sex cult.The penalty handed down to Clare Bronfman, the 41-year-old daughter of late philanthropist and Seagram's CEO Edgar Bronfman, was more than the five years […]
The New Godless Religions: An Interview with Tara Isabella Burton September 29, 2020
Religion & PoliticsKenneth E. FrantzSeptember 22, 2020The United States has seen an increase in the so-called “nones”—people who don’t identify with any religious tradition. Some scholars have viewed this growing group as a sign that Americans are becoming more secular. Tara Isabella Burton argues in her new book, Strange Rites: New Religions for a Godless […]
How right-wing extremists, libertarians and evangelicals built Quebec's movement against COVID-19 restrictions September 29, 2020
They may appear to make strange bedfellows, but experts say they share some fundamental valuesJonathan MontpetitCBC NewsSeptember 25, 2020 The main event at a demonstration protesting COVID-19 restrictions last weekend north of Montreal was a speech by Steeve L'Artiss Charland, one-time leader of a far-right group that has since faded from view.In a parking lot […]
CultNEWS101 Articles: 9/26/2020 September 29, 2020
QAnon, Bleach Miracle, Troubled Teen Industry, Sergei Torop, Vissarion, Neo-Nazi, FinlandThe Guardian: Quite frankly terrifying': How the QAnon conspiracy theory is taking root in the UK"It began in the US with lurid claims and a hatred of the 'deep state'. Now it's growing in the UK, spilling over into anti-vaccine and 5G protests, fuelled by online misinformation. […]
Get Ready to Hear A Lot about People of Praise September 29, 2020
ALEXANDRA DESANCTISNational ReviewSeptember 25, 2020 As Ramesh Ponnuru noted on the Corner earlier this week, some media coverage of Judge Amy Coney Barrett — the leading candidate to replace late Supreme Court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg — has zeroed in on Barrett’s purported membership in a mostly Catholic group called People of Praise.Ramesh’s post chronicles […]
CultNEWS101 Articles: 9/29/2020 September 29, 2020
NXIVM, Legal, Australian Right-Wing Extremist, White Utopias, Burning Man, The World Wide Association of Specialty Programs, Heaven on Earth Inn's, Transcendental MeditationNY Times: Clare Bronfman, Facing Sentencing, Refuses to Disavow 'Sex Cult' Leader"For more than a decade, Clare Bronfman, an heiress to the Seagram liquor fortune, devoted her life to supporting a self-help group called Nxivm. […]
Explainer: Amy Coney Barrett is a charismatic Catholic. What does that mean? September 29, 2020
Mathew SchmalzAmerica MagazineSeptember 28, 2020President Donald Trump has nominated Judge Amy Coney Barrett to replace Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the Supreme Court. Questions have been raised about her association with the “People of Praise,” a nondenominational Christian charismatic community. The People of Praise leave it to individual members to disclose their affiliation, and Barrett […]
Cults in Occulture: Channeling September 28, 2020
Joseph SzimhartCults in OccultureChanneling"Channeling or spirit possession has ancient roots in human religious behavior going back beyond oracles in Greece to the first shamans. Channeling takes many forms like infusing life forces into crystals using mental power to performing on a stage before thousands of devotees as if your body is possessed by an angel. […]
Religious sect Twelve Tribes under police investigation after dig for remains September 28, 2020
Religious sect Twelve Tribes under police investigation after dig for remains HANNAH SPARKSAbout regionalSeptember 26, 2020A lengthy NSW Police investigation into religious sect Twelve Tribes is expected to continue for several more months.Strike Force Nanegai was established in September 2019 following allegations of unreported stillborn children. It is illegal not to report the births of […]
Former QAnon Followers Explain What Drew Them In - And Got Them Out September 28, 2020
Like those leaving cults, some people who believe in conspiracy theories like QAnon and Pizzagate can break free from their beliefsEJ DicksonRolling StoneSeptember 23, 2020Jitarth Jadeja is a hirsute man in his early thirties, charming and jovial, speaking with equal effusiveness about economics and his baby niece. He’s an atheist, pro-choice and pro-drug decriminalization, who […]
New York Threatens Orthodox Jewish Areas With Lockdown Over Virus September 28, 2020
Community leaders said residents have resisted the rules in part because of the influence of President Trump, whose views on masks have been embraced.Liam Stack and Joseph GoldsteinNew York TimesSeptember 25, 2020Facing a worrying spike in coronavirus cases in Orthodox Jewish neighborhoods, New York City health officials began carrying out emergency inspections at private religious […]
Donald Trump and His Followers: Are They a Cult? September 28, 2020
Politics, Psychiatry, and PsychoanalysisDonald Trump and His Followers: Are They a Cult?Psychiatrist Robert Jay Lifton and others explore the issue.John Martin-Joy M.D.Psychology TodaySeptember 27, 2020Is Trumpism a cult?This question, among other issues, has preoccupied certain psychiatrists and mental health professionals since Donald Trump rose to political prominence in 2016. How could one even begin to […]
QAnon: #7 Cults in the Occulture September 28, 2020
Joseph SzimhartCults in the OccultureSeptember 28, 2020[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXx1bay0Khg]"I express my views on QAnon, the now notorious pro-Trump Internet conspiracy fad that had bled over into a pseudo reality that people believe. Families have been torn apart, ex- Qs claim it’s a brainwashing cult, and people on the religious right and left are being manipulated from […]
CultNEWS101 Articles: 9/28/2020 September 28, 2020
Shincheonji Church of Jesus, Korea, Church of the Last Testament, Legal, Russia, QAnonRNS: Shincheonji's latest plasma donation raises questions on treatment from South Korean government "... Over 1,100 congregants of the Shincheonji Church of Jesus donated their blood plasma in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic. Their contribution was so significant that the Korea Center […]
Clare Bronfman, Facing Sentencing, Refuses to Disavow 'Sex Cult' Leader September 28, 2020
Ms. Bronfman will be the first defendant in the Nxivm case to be sentenced. Prosecutors have asked for five years in prison. Nicole HongThe New York TimesSeptember 28, 2020 For more than a decade, Clare Bronfman, an heiress to the Seagram liquor fortune, devoted her life to supporting a self-help group called Nxivm. She quit her […]
Matthew Gong, gay Mormon, reflects on his journey from inner war to inner peace September 28, 2020
Peggy Fletcher StackSalt Lake Tribune September 28, 2020Matthew Gong is a minority three times over — in his own words — “Chinese American, Mormon and queer.”All three parts of Gong’s identity have shaped him, including heroic tales of service and sacrifice, and are worth celebrating.Still, they often have warred within the psyche of this 29-year-old, leaving […]
Is Ramtha Real? September 27, 2020
Cults in the OccultureJoseph Szimhart"After my video on Channeling someone asked me to address Ramtha channeled by JZ Knight since 1977. I use the book Finding Enlightenment by J Gordon Melton (1997) as reference in which Melton tries to describe and explain the new Gnostic teachings of Ramtha. Melton arranged for Stanley Krippner, a parapsychologist […]
Visit Houston's Hidden Secrets: Oddities in the Bayou City! September 25, 2020
Jacob Tate The Rice Thresher September 8, 2020"After I submitted my college applications as a senior in high school, an odd sensation overcame me. I felt glad and freed, of course, but I also felt a little pit in my stomach as I realized that the schoolwork I’d dedicated the last three and a half years of […]
White Utopias: The Religious Exoticism of Transformational Festivals September 24, 2020
Jordana Rosenfeld High Country News September 23, 2020Amanda J. Lucia320 pages, softcover: $29.95University of California Press, 2020.In a geodesic dome in Joshua Tree, California, hundreds of festival-goers assemble for a workshop on prānāyāma, an ancient Hindu breathing practice. Amid an acoustic blend of drumming, chanting and birdsong, a workshop leader, flanked by “guardians” dressed in white, instructs […]