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Brainwashing is the concept that the human mind can be altered or controlled by certain psychological techniques. Brainwashing is said to reduce its subjects' ability to think critically or independently, to allow the introduction of new, unwanted thoughts and ideas into their minds, as well as to change their attitudes, values and beliefs.
Transcendental Meditation (TM) is a form of silent mantra meditation advocated by the Transcendental Meditation movement. Maharishi Mahesh Yogi created the technique in India in the mid-1950s. Advocates of TM claim that the technique promotes a state of relaxed awareness, stress relief, and access to higher states of consciousness, as well as physiological benefits such as reducing the risk of heart disease and high blood pressure.
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The term large-group awareness training (LGAT) refers to activities - usually offered by groups with links to the human potential movement - which claim to increase self-awareness and to bring about desirable transformations in individuals' personal lives. LGATs are unconventional; they often take place over several days, and may compromise participants' mental wellbeing.
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Recovery from Cults: Help for Victims of Psychological and Spiritual Abuse a 1995 book about counselling and therapeutic approaches for individuals exposed to coercive or harmful practices in cults. It is edited by Michael Langone, director of the anti-cult non-proft organization International Cultic Studies Association, and is published by W. W. Norton & Company. The book examines coercive cult practices through theories of social influence, cognitive psychology, and psychotherapy.
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Stephen A. Kent is a professor in the Department of Sociology at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. He researches new religious movements (NRMs), and has published research on several such groups including the Children of God, the Church of Scientology, and other NRMs operating in Canada.
Steve K. D. Eichel is a psychologist known primarily for his work on destructive cults, coercive persuasion, mind control, brainwashing, and deprogramming. He is a former president of the Greater Philadelphia Society of Clinical Hypnosis and the 2006–07 president of the American Academy of Counseling Psychology, the national membership academy comprising American Board of Professional Psychology (ABPP) Board-certified counseling psychologists. In 2012 he was installed as the President of the Board of the International Cultic Studies Association.
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The APA Task Force on Deceptive and Indirect Methods of Persuasion and Control (DIMPAC/DITPACT) was formed at the request of the American Psychological Association (APA) in 1983. The APA asked Margaret Singer, a leading theorist in cults and coercive persuasion, to chair a task force to "expose cult methods and tactics". Some examples that led to the task force's creation were the Manson family murders, Patty Hearst kidnapping, and the Jonestown massacre.
Paul R. Martin (1946–2009) was a psychotherapist, licensed clinical psychologist, author, pastor, and director of the Wellspring Retreat and Resource Center in Ohio. He also worked in private practice in Athens, Ohio. Martin taught psychology, psychopharmacology, and the Biblical basis of behavior for five years at Geneva College, where he was a member of the department of psychology.
Susan J. Kelley is the former Dean of the College of Health and Human Sciences at Georgia State University. She is also currently a Professor of Nursing and the Director of the National Center on Grandparents Raising Grandchildren, and founder and director of Project Healthy Grandparents, at Georgia State University.
Dick Anthony is a forensic psychologist noted for his writings on the validity of brainwashing as a determiner of behavior, a prolific researcher of the social and psychological aspects of involvement in new religious movements.
References
- 1 2 Peter Clarke, ed. (2004). Encyclopedia of New Religious Movements. Routledge. p. 29. ISBN 978-1134499700 . Retrieved September 18, 2014.
- ↑ "Board of Directors". International Cultic Studies Association. ICSA. Retrieved September 19, 2014.
- ↑ Jamie Cresswell; Bryan Wilson (2012). New Religious Movements: Challenge and Response. Routledge. ISBN 978-1134636969.
- 1 2 Langone, Michael D., ed. (1994). Recovery from cults : help for victims of psychological and spiritual abuse. New York: W.W. Norton. p. introduction. ISBN 978-0393701647.
- ↑ Cults Questions and Answers Langone, Michael, 1988 [ dead link ]
- ↑ Langone, Michael (May 1984). "To the reader". Cultic Studies Journal. 1 (1): 3.
- ↑ Langone, Michael (2002). "Introduction to Inaugural Issue". Cultic Studies Review. 1 (1): 5.
- ↑ Robbins, Thomas; Zablocki, Benjamin D. (2001). Misunderstanding Cults: Searching for Objectivity in a Controversial Field. University of Toronto Press. p. 303. ISBN 978-0802081889.
- ↑ Anson D. Shupe; William A. Stacey; Susan E. Darnell (2000). Bad Pastors: Clergy Misconduct in Modern America . NYU Press. p. 173. ISBN 978-0814781470.
- ↑ Anthony, Dick (1999). "Pseudoscience and Minority Religions: An Evaluation of the Brainwashing Theories of Jean-Marie Abgrall". Social Justice Research. 12 (4): 421–456. doi:10.1023/A:1022081411463. ISSN 0885-7466. S2CID 140454555.
