Hi, Well, I've been having counselling sessions with an exit counsellor, which has been incredibly helpful. One thing he said is that most of the cults don't actually kill people; they just try to push you over the edge. I decided to contact my ex after six months, through Facebook, as I was sure that he wouldn't have blocked my e-mails there. I wrote him once about a m
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Thanks, Sol. Wow what a trip this is. I find it so difficult to not have any closure with my ex, and I think that reading the leader's blog posts at least gave me some idea of what was going on in his life. That said, that evil sh*t is really none of my business. Now that I'm speaking with an exit counselor, I hope to be able to get some relief with respect to what I can do / w
Forum: Coercive Persuasion and Undue Influence

Hi,  Because I'm concerned about him, I've been keeping up with my ex by reading one of the group leaders' blogs (for safety reasons I'm not going to provide a link). I'm concerned that I'm being effected by the suggestions, even though I'm aware that this person is a hypnotherapist, and using Ericksonian-type techniques.   Is it not enough to be aware
Forum: Coercive Persuasion and Undue Influence

Thanks, rrmoderator.
Forum: Recovery from Destructive Cults and Groups

Hi, I was romantically involved with someone whose group uses Ericksonian hypnosis-type techniques. I'm feeling like something quite personal - my head - has been violated. My good intentions were being manipulated by the group leader, I believe, to attempt to bring harm to the person I was involved with. The person I was involved with was unknowingly using these techniques on me -
Forum: Recovery from Destructive Cults and Groups

I will add that I've tried to make phone appointments with two prominent exit counselors (one more so than the other). After agreeing to speak with me, both suddenly decided they were too busy (this one after the other). I wrote a third for a consult; perhaps he never received my e-mail (that went into greater detail than the others had), but I never heard back from him. Are some group
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

I'm going to keep it vague. It's a large fairly mainstream religious organization - I always thought that members of this religion / group were somewhat "flaky" (speaking in abstractions), but didn't know anything about cults, and didn't think too much of it when I met my ex.  I didn't realize how involved he was in the organization, because his involvement i
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Hi, I would like to make my ex-boyfriend / cult recruiter (fell in love with / recruited me) aware that he is involved in a group that uses coercive persuasion.  When I was becoming aware of the nefarious nature of my ex's relationships, I was threatened in my hometown, which is many miles away). I'd like to believe that it was conincidence - that the veiled threat was a misunders
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families