Counselling Psychology Quarterly, Vol. 14, No. 2, 2001, pp.

119– 128

COUNSELLING IN ACTION

Deconstructing ‘brainwashing’
within cults as an aid to counselling
psychologists
YVONNE WALSH
Psychology Department, City University, UK

abstract With the approach of the new millennium there was increased activity within
many of the new cultic movements. Many of these organizations promise a future paradise on
earth, and can be identiŽ ed as millenarian cults. Others predicted the end of the world with the
focus for this event being the new millennium, the beginning of which is mutable, some claiming it
for the year 2000 others the year 2001. The date for the end of the world can by quite
idiosyncratic. It was, for instance, believed by the Movement for the Restoration of the Twelve
Commandments to be due in March 2000, when over 1000 members of this particular Ugandan
cult lost their lives, many through strangulation. The death toll was a stark demonstration of
what appears to be some form of extreme control exercised within such groups. It has been
estimated that there are between 500 and 800 different cults active in the United Kingdom with
membership ranging from under ten people to thousands. This activity indicates that counselling
psychologists need to be aware of the problem of the psychological damage with which some
members or ex-members of cults continue to present and of the techniques of control practised
within the cult and the effect that these techniques have on members. These types of techniques and
the resultant negative psychological consequences are the focus of this paper. This paper aims to
begin to educate counselling psychologists in the techniques used within cults which effect social
control. It intends to equip counselling psychologists to work with a group of clients, that they will
meet on an increasing basis as the new millennium, whatever date is allocated to it, approaches
and passes. That is if heaven on earth or the earth’s destruction does not materialize.

Introduction
As the new millennium approached, passed and depending on the interpretation given to
the date, approached again, there appears to be increased activity within many of the new
cultic movements. Many of these organizations promise a future paradise on earth, with a

Correspondence to: Yvonne Walsh, Chartered Counselling Psychologist, Visiting Lecturer,

Psychology Department, City University, Northampton Square, London EC1V 0HB, UK.

Counselling Psychology Quarterly ISSN 0951–5070 print/ISSN 1469–3674 online # 2001 Taylor & Francis Ltd
http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
DOI: 10.1080/09515070110058558
120 Yvonne Walsh

prescribed stratagem for the membership to bring this about and as such they could be
identiŽ ed as millenarian cults (Keesing, 1935). Others predict the end of the world with
the focus for this event on or around the years 2000 and 2001.
Common predictions within the cults relate to the return of Jesus Christ, the
appearance of the Anti-Christ and the battle of Armageddon. For example, one cult;
The Family (previously known as The Children of God) had suggested that a move to the
more mountainous regions of India would be a good idea for their members. This is
because they predicted that the One World Government of the Anti-Christ will be
brought about through the use of computers. They believe that the prophesied number
666 written on the foreheads of all people allowing them to buy and sell (in the Book of
Revelations in the Bible) will actually be a computer microchip inserted under the skin.
The Family hoped that by relocating to a less industrialized area that they would be able
to avoid the insertion of microchips at this time. As a consequence of remaining
microchip free they anticipate eventually going ‘to live with Jesus in New Jerusalem,
the Heavenly City’. Thus avoiding the insertion of microchips altogether. Another cult,
The Students of the Seven Seals (Branch Davidians) taught that there would be world-
wide disaster in March 1999 and that David Koresh will return in August 1999 to raise
the dead and judge humankind.
Some of these cult’s mode of operation has not always been in harmony with the
external society in which they operate and with this pivotal point, the new millennium,
their members conviction and feelings of commitment to their cause can in some cases
take on a more ominous hue. An example of this is The Aum, a cult which operates in
Japan and the Far East, who have tried to bring about world change using the techniques
of guerrilla warfare, causing death and injury to innocent bystanders.
In addition to the possibility of harm to the greater community that these more
extremist groups could cause, counselling psychologists also need to be aware of the
problem of the psychological damage with which some members or ex-members of cults
continue to present. Tylden (1995) for example discusses the treatment of 152 patients
with a history of involvement in cults that were referred to her by psychiatrists from
throughout the United Kingdom. Of these, 104 cases came from cults that were religious,
and 48 had been involved in cults that specialized in self-improvement techniques. They
had all involved admission to a psychiatric hospital, whilst 13% needed no further
psychiatric treatment, 33% were treated for psychotic states as inpatients and 54%
were treated as outpatients for dissociated states. (See also Walsh et al., 1995 and
Walsh and Bor, 1996, for discussions on the psychological consequences of cult
involvement.)
Any discussion about the harmful effects of cult membership tends to focus on the
issue of the techniques of control practised within the cult and the effect that these
techniques have on members. Some academics dispute the concept of any form of hard-
line control within cults per se, challenging the idea that there are any techniques that are
systematically applied to control behaviour. See for example Melton and Moore 1982 and
Colman 1984.
Nevertheless, many individuals who present with psychological problems associated
with cult membership do describe having experienced the use of techniques akin to those
described in Robert Jay Lifton’s classic work: Thought Reform and the Psychology of
 Cults and brainwashing 121

Totalism (1961). This examines ‘brainwashing’ in Communist China during the 50s (see
for example Davis and Davis, 1984; Hassan, 1988). In addition, many academic papers
have reported the use of these techniques in their literature. Cushman (1984) for example
says quite baldly that this type of group ‘uses method of mind control’. (See also scholarly
texts such as Keiser and Keiser, 1987; Van Zandt, 1991.)
It is the use of these types of techniques and the resultant negative psychological
consequences for some people, which are the focus of this paper. It has been estimated
that there are between 500 and 800 different cults active in the United Kingdom with
membership ranging from under ten people to thousands. However, this paper does not
claim that these cults use all the techniques described in Lifton’s book at all times or that
they use them at all times throughout their history.
In view of the secrecy surrounding the cult milieu, it is likely that very few
counselling psychologists have had direct or even indirect knowledge of the practices,
beliefs and issues associated with the psychological problems analogous with membership
of such groups. This paper therefore endeavours to begin to address this scarcity of
information by deconstructing the techniques (which have been called ‘brainwashing’)
used to socialize individuals into the cultural milieu of the cults. It does this with the
intention of enabling the counselling psychologist to feel more comfortable when working
with this client group. It also aims to empower counselling psychologists to feel conŽ dent
in applying their own considerable skills and knowledge drawn from within their generic
counselling psychology training and education to work within what would be considered
by many as a specialist area.
This deconstruction will enable the development of a conceptualization not only of
what the techniques are, but also how they are applied and what their consequences might
be. With a greater understanding of the psychological processes involved it would also be
possible to acquire some understanding of the world-view adopted by members of cults.
Thus explaining in some part the origins of these world-views and their differences from
the societal prescribed commonalties that it is all too easy to assume one would share with
clients who appear on a superŽ cial level to come from the same culture as the therapist.
To do this it is necessary to examine in some detail and also elaborate on Lifton’s analysis
of these techniques or methods and how they are applied within the groups. Thus
engendering a greater understanding of the processes involved, which will in turn help to
identify the type of group this paper is concerned with.

Lifton’s techniques of thought reform

Milieu control
The Ž rst technique that Lifton (1961, p. 420) describes is ‘milieu control’. This is
achieved by the control of human communication. Not only the control of how and what
an individual can communicate to the outside world, but also the control of what the
outside world can communicate to the individual. Thus, for example, censoring of the
television programmes a person is allowed to see, the books they are allowed to read, the
people they are allowed to spend time talking to or being with. Van Zandt (1991) in his
work Living in the Children of God illustrates the reasoning behind this. The formal
122 Yvonne Walsh

ideology of this cult does not allow members to hold system (lay) jobs if any other form of
Ž nancial support is available. Indeed within this world-view most entertainment is seen as
corrupt and corrupting, thus to be avoided. Members live together communally in small
groups, which it is claimed are modelled on the social organization depicted within the
Acts of the Apostles in the Bible.
This type of social organization and control of information means that the member-
ship is extremely isolated and all points of reference come from within the group. They
are only allowed access to information which is group originated or approved and have
very limited, or no contact with previous friends or family (Conway and Siegelman,
1979).
This separation from friends and family (Appel, 1983) serves to intensify their
opposition to and alienation from society at large (Singer et al., 1990). It also often serves
to estrange cult member’s families, who have difŽ culty in understanding the need for this
isolation. This may not be the intention of the group’s leadership, but it is often the
outcome in many groups. It could be suggested that this approach to outside in uences is
adopted by many groups to maximize the time that can be devoted to the groups ideology
and mission and minimize the negative effects of corrupting in uences or of simple
distractions. However, the effect of this approach is often ‘milieu control’ and with this
renunciation of the world ‘milieu control’ is complete (Appel, 1983).

Mystical manipulation
Mystical manipulation Lifton (1961, p. 422) suggests is the use of an extensive personal
manipulation to provoke speciŽ c patterns of behaviour in a seemingly spontaneous way.
Singer et al. (1990) would agree with this, they suggest that there is an induction of
dependency by manipulative and exploitative techniques of persuasion and control. They
describe how groups, using some or all of the techniques, dictate — sometimes in detail
— how members should think, act and feel. Appel (1983) reports an attitude of moral
superiority, which encourages acceptance of these manipulations on a basis of ultimate
trust. Sirkin (1990) speaks of the practice of techniques, which facilitate and maintain
altered states of consciousness allowing manipulation of behaviour. Whether this is
described as late night meetings, which go on all-night or extended hours of work to
reach an important group target. Or whether it is described as ‘sleep deprivation’ and
‘behaviour manipulation’ the end results are individuals who have a reduced capacity for
rational thought, through over extension and exhaustion.

Demand for purity

Lifton (1961, p. 423) next discusses the demand for purity — but this is purity as deŽ ned
by the group, not society. He describes how within a totalitarian system the world is
divided into good and evil. There is a doctrinaire belief that the group has superior access
to ultimate truth. This fosters the idea that there is only one correct belief and one correct
practice; the cult’s and the furtherance of this one true belief and practice allows a
systematic exploitation of member’s labour and Ž nances (Appel, 1983; Cushman, 1986).
This would lead as Galanter (1982) has suggested to the development of group
 Cults and brainwashing 123

behavioural norms. The members are strongly in uenced by these group behavioural
norms, a process present in any group. They sustain a high level of social cohesiveness.
Those members who disagree with the doctrinaire beliefs or leave the group are either
attacked or abandoned (Cushman, 1986).

Cult of confession
The fourth technique Lifton describes is that of the ‘cult of confession’ (1961, p. 256). In
this, the act of confession takes on an emblematic signiŽ cance. It acts as a metaphor for
personal puriŽ cation — a psychological purge of transgression or weakness enabling
others to have a hold over existential guilt. It is generally not a private act. Alternatively, if
the confession is commissioned in private, the knowledge it bestows about the individual
is available for the leadership to use in a way that will make the member a better member.
Manipulation of guilt or reshaping of the expression of the individual temperament
achieves this change. Secondly it is an act of symbolic self-surrender, the merging of the
individual and the environment. Thirdly, it is a means of maintaining total exposure to
group scrutiny everything about an individual. Their thoughts, life experiences etc.
Participation in this form of confession can offer the individual a sense of profound
psychological relief. The continuous opportunities for relief of suppressed guilt feelings
produce repeated emotional catharsis. In addition, the sharing of confession can create a
sense of ‘oneness’ with fellow confessors and the assimilation of self into the body of the
movement. Within this atmosphere of exposure members have constant companionship,
with no time or ‘space’ to think or question rationally (Singer et al., 1990).

Sacred science
Within a group’s ‘sacred science’ (Lifton, 1961, p. 247) members are taught that there is a
deeper level of understanding which requires extensive training, in depth study or greater
adeptness at group rituals or practices to understand. Thus they are advised to cultivate
an unquestioning acceptance of group stance/doctrine because — ‘when you are more
spiritual, enlightened (or whatever term used) you will understand’ (Keiser and Keiser,
1987). Thus the individual’s lack of understanding is attributed to a deŽ ciency within
themselves rather than a problem within the group’s stance or doctrine. These groups
often claim a special, exalted status (for example occult powers, a mission to save
humanity or they are the only ‘true’ believers) for themselves and/or their leader(s)
(Singer et al., 1990). This endows the group leadership with power derived from their
greater knowledge of the ‘sacred science’. It enables the group to be authoritarian,
demanding unquestioning obedience and loyalty to its totalitarian methods — one which
the leader or leaders have ultimate power. Consequently, the members are often
excessively zealous, with an unquestioning commitment to the identity and leadership
of the group (Appel, 1983; Cushman, 1984; Singer et al., 1990; Sirkin, 1990). This sacred
science is controlled by a charismatic leader who is thought to be God or carries an
exclusive message from God. The sacred science allows the intimation of a charismatic or
divine power to the group or its leadership ensuring members adherence to a consensual
belief system (Galanter, 1982; Cushman, 1984). It also can encourage dissimulation
124 Yvonne Walsh

about the true nature and beliefs of the group — as the sacred science is not for the
uninitiated (Sirkin 1990).

Loading the language

The sixth technique Lifton (1961) discusses is that of ‘loading of the language’. Whole
new meanings are attributed to words. These meaning are derived from the doctrine of
the group and are used by the membership to handle contradictions and paradoxes. They
form a barrier to the world. If a word sounds the same to two individuals, but means
something different, dialogue is extremely difŽ cult. Consequently, assumptions are
frequently made when talking to members of the groups that there are shared meanings
attributable to words that appear to mean the same to both the speaker and the hearer.
However, this is not always so.
Van Zandt (1991) illuminates this well in his description of the typiŽ cation, which
happens during a ‘litnessing’ encounter. (Litnessing is the selling of group literature in the
street for proselytation — an example of this language loading in itself.) He describes four
types of prospects, which a member is likely to encounter when on the street proselytizing.
The ‘goats’ — those who reject the message outright, the ‘sheep’ who are the opposite.
Next are ‘devoids’ whom Van Zandt (1991) describes as those who ‘simply want to
talk with someone or they have their own ideology to present’. This description in itself
illustrates the ease of misunderstanding when language is ‘loaded’. Van Zandt’s (1991)
exposition of the meaning of this word is actually incorrect. A ‘devoid’ is in fact someone
who is perceived to be devoid of any link with a positive spirituality and is often seen as
being possessed by an ‘evil’ spirit. They are seen has having an agenda to stop ‘God’s’
work being done and to actively hinder any attempt to reach the ‘unsaved’.
The last type Van Zandt (1991) describes is that of ‘roman’. Again this term is
somewhat misunderstood by him. Romans are described as including police and other
ofŽ cials who control public areas. However, long-term socialization into the group deŽ nes
the word to the member as solely meaning the police.
Not only do single words gain a new meaning; phrases are taken into a group’s reality
and used to deŽ ne it. Again using The Family as an example we can look at the phrase
‘10:36ers’. This is derived from Matthew Chapter 10 verses 36–37. (This is from the King
James Version of the Bible, which is the only Biblical translation acceptable to The
Family.) This short phrase means to the membership ‘a parent of a member who is actively
seeking to remove their child from the group and is perceived as an enemy of the group’.
This passage says: ‘And a mans foes shall be they of his own household. He that loveth
father or mother more then Me is not worthy of Me and he that loveth son or daughter
more than Me is not worthy of Me’. These verses were required learning along with a host
of other verses from the Bible and paragraphs from the texts of the founder of the group
David Berg. The source of these deŽ nitions comes from an ex-member of The Children of
God. This person recalled the verse from memory after being away from the group and
organized religion for approximately 20 years — a strong testimony to the power of
memorization and socialization. Thus, loading of the language can lead to rigid thought
patterns and a low regard for individuals (Appel, 1983).
 Cults and brainwashing 125

Doctrine over person

Lifton’s (1961) ‘doctrine over person’ describes a situation in which the doctrine of the
group shapes the reality in which the member must exist. Thus, for example the history of
the convert is rewritten to make the past serve as a tool to mould the future (Keiser and
Keiser, 1987). There can be nothing attractive or enticing about their previous life. The
individual often experiences a conversion experience in which the past life is surrendered
or re-interpreted. The member develops a new identity based on the new ideology Appel
(1983). At this point in many groups, the member takes on a new name as being symbolic
of a new life. As Van Zandt (1991) explains:

Members tend to view socialization into the group as precisely such a replace-
ment of one persona with another through the incorporation of ‘correct’ beliefs
and norms. They refer to the need to ‘wash away one’s old self’ and ‘to replace it
with a new one’. COG (Children of God) members use this theory of
socialization to justify and to explain formal socialization practices that the
group applies to new members. A ‘real’ COG member is completely ‘sold-out’
to The Family (the modern day name of the Children of God) rather than to the
system (society); that is, the most important thing in a member’s life is serving
God through the COG.

Dispensing of existence
Lifton’s (1961, p. 433) last technique is that of the ‘dispensing of existence’. He says that
there is a sharp line drawn between those who have a right to exist and those who do not.
In Communist China’s thought reform programme the world was divided into the
‘people’, i.e., the working class, the peasant class and so forth and the ‘reactionaries’
the landlord class, the bureaucratic capitalist classes etc. An example of this dispensing of
existence can be seen from within the Divine Light Mission. this group had its highest
point in the seventies. The members were known as premies and they joined an ashram
(group commune) to keep themselves separate from those who had not yet received
‘the knowledge’. Another example is that of the International Society for Krsna
Consciousness. Members who failed to adapt to the communal life style and continuous
devotion ethic become ‘bloopers’ and leave the movement. Those who are outside of the
movement are known as ‘Karmi’. The cult believes that ‘Karmi’ are not eligible for
rebirth. They are therefore unable to ‘Ž nd Krsna consciousness’ and be released from the
cycle of death and rebirth with the soul resuming its spiritual existence with Krsna
(Collins, 1991).

Discussion
In discussing religious totalism Lifton (1961) sums up these techniques as they are
applied by saying that religious totalism is recognized by exaggerated control, manipula-
tion and a blanketing of the milieu with guilt and shame. Indeed mankind’s irrevocable
corruption and insigniŽ cance is stressed, alongside the need for abject submission to a
vengeful deity, within an inescapable system of ultimate truth (p. 456).
126 Yvonne Walsh

What Lifton describes is the extreme end of a continuum and many of the adherents
to the groups that this paper is studying would not recognize their groups in this
description. Many academics would also take issue with the application of this to the
groups they have studied (see for example Moore, 1982; Coleman, 1984; Barker, 1989).
However, returning to the statement made at the beginning of this paper. It is not claimed
that the groups this paper is interested in use all the techniques described in Lifton’s book
at all times or that they use them at all times throughout their history. Nevertheless, there
are documented examples of the use of these techniques and anxieties raised over the
consequences of using them with vulnerable individuals.
DeŽ ning the techniques, which cause concern rather than a blanket condemnation of
such groups practices as ‘brainwashing’ seems a more equitable and practical approach to
assisting those who come to counselling psychologists for help. Counselling psychologists
need to be aware that:

. . . Any ideology — that is, any set of emotionally-charged convictions about

man and his relationship to the natural or supernatural world — may be carried
by its adherents in a totalistic direction. However, this is most likely to occur
with those ideologies, which are most sweeping in their content and most
ambitious — or messianic — in their claims, whether religious, political, or
scientiŽ c. And where totalism exists, a religion, a political movement, or even a
scientiŽ c organisation becomes little more than an exclusive cult.
(Lifton, 1961, p. 419)

Does this constitute ‘brainwashing’?

None the less, just because a group uses some or all of Lifton’s criteria, it does not mean
that it practices a form of total mind control, known by those who maintain a belief in it’s
mysticism as ‘brainwashing’. This is a term originally used to describe the ofŽ cial Chinese
Communist programme of szu-hsiang kai-tsao which has been translated as ‘ideological
remoulding’, ‘ideological reform’ or ‘thought reform’. Many opponents of cults describe
the process used in recruitment and retention to cults as brainwashing. However, as a
concept, it is not applicable to the processes that members of new religions or modern
cults experience. To say that members are ‘brainwashed’ is too simplistic and is
technically inaccurate. One signiŽ cant difference is that although members of cults
using these techniques may perceive a psychological or spiritual threat to their existence,
unlike those involved in the ofŽ cial Chinese Communist programme of szu-hsiang kai-
tsao there is often no apparent physical threat to them. They generally do not witness
beatings or torture and their lives tend not to be under physical threat on a continuous
basis.
There is within many cults an extreme element of social control. However, this is not
magical; it is an extension of processes well known within social psychology and the
psychology used in advertising, utilizing the need to ‘belong’ to the ‘in’ group. It is most
effective in those individuals who have, because of their previous histories, a vulnerability
which is expressed as a need for social cohesiveness over and above that of the norm
 Cults and brainwashing 127

(Walsh and Bor, 1996; Beck, 1997). Given that this is the case, we must reject the idea
that cults practice ‘brainwashing’.
Thus, for counselling psychologists working with individuals suffering psychological
problems following their involvement in a cult it is more helpful to understand the
techniques that cause concern, rather than make blanket accusations against such groups
with a technical term used inaccurately. There are similarities, as can be seen from the
previous section; nevertheless as has been discussed, important differences are present.
Given that there can be an extreme level of social control within the cults, and that it
is not a bizarre power at work, it could actually be harmful to the individual to
mythologize these processes by calling them ‘brainwashing’. By doing this one removes
the client from the orthodoxy of psychology and places them within a sphere which
renders the ‘uninitiated’ counselling psychologist impotent to help. This is because a
belief exists that this is a specialist area, where specialist skills and knowledge are needed.

Conclusion
Given the psychosocial context of the new millennium the aim of this paper is to begin to
educate counselling psychologists in the techniques used within cults which have the
effect of social control (whether this is the aim of the cult or not). By doing this it is
intended to begin to equip counselling psychologists to work with a group of clients,
which it is likely that they will meet on an increasing basis as the new millennium
approaches and passes — if heaven on earth or the earth’s destruction does not
materialize!
The utilization of these techniques, used predominately to socialize individuals into
the cultural milieu of the cults can engender feelings of guilt, dependency, low self-
esteem, worthlessness, anxiety and hopelessness in vulnerable individuals. These indi-
viduals often feel displaced from society and unsure of their frame of reference with
consequential effects on their psychological well being (Walsh and Bor, 1996). The
suggestion contained within the paper by Walsh and Bor (1996) that a psychological
model is needed of the processes people experience as they meet, enter and leave such
groups continues to be important. The point they raise, that ex-members general schema
for living (Beck, 1976) which constructs their world view, is radically altered by their
experiences within such groups, leaving them disadvantaged in their relationships with
‘the world’ is one which counselling psychologists must consider when working with this
client group.
However, these problems are ones that counselling psychologists encounter with
many of their clients. The root of the problems may be different but it is anticipated that
by understanding something of the source of these problems, the counselling psychologist
can add to their already sound theoretical framework for working with clients with similar
problems caused by other life events.

References
Appel , W. (1983) Cults In America. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
128 Yvonne Walsh

Barker, E. (1989) New Religious Movements: A Practical Introduction. London: Her Majesty’s Stationary
OfŽ ce.
Beck , A.T. (1976) Cognitive Therapy and Emotional Disorders. New York: Penguin.
Coleman , L. (1984) New religions and the myth of mind control. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 54,
322–325.
Collins, J.J. (1991) The Cult Experience: An Overview Of Cults, Their Traditions and Why People Join Them.
Illinois: Charles C. Thomas.
Conway, F. & Siegleman , J. (1979) Snapping: America’s Epidemic Of Sudden Personality Change. New
York: Delta.
Cushm an , P. (1986) The self besieged: recruitment-indoctrination processes in restrictive groups.
Journals for the Theory of Social Behaviour, 16, 1–32.
Davis, D. (1984) The Children Of God: The Inside Story. Michigan: Zondervan.
Galanter, M. (1982) Charismatic religious sects and psychiatry: an overview. American Journal Of
Psychiatry, 139, 1539–1548.
Galanter, M. (1990) Cults and zealous self-help movements: a psychiatric perspective. The American
Journal Of Psychiatry, 145, 543–551.
Hassan , S. (1988) Combating Cult Mind Control. Wellingborough: The Aquarian Press.
Keesing, R.M. (1935) Cultural Anthropology, second edition. New York: Holt, Rinehart, Winston.
Keiser, T.W. & Keiser, J.L. (1987) The Anatomy Of Illusion. Illinois: Thomas.
Litton, R.J. (1961) Thought Reform And The Study Of Totalism—A Study of ‘Brainwashing’ in China.
New York: Norton and Co.
Melton , J.G. & Moore, R.L. (1982) The Cult Experience: Responding To The New Religious Pluralism.
New York: The Pilgrim Press.
Singer, M.T., Temerlin , M.K. & Langone, M.D. (1990) Psychotherapy cults. The Cultic Studies
Journal, 7, 101–125.
Sirkin, M.I. (1990) Cult involvement: a systems approach to assessment and treatment. Psychotherapy,
27, 116–123.
Tylden , E. (1995) Psychological casualties. In J. Watt (ed.) The Church, Medicine And The New Age.
London: Churches Council for Health and Healing.
Van Zandt, D.E. (1991) Living In The Children Of God. New Jersey: Princeton University Press.
Walsh , Y.S. & Bor, R. (1996) Psychological consequences of involvement in a new religious movement
or cult. Counselling Psychology Quarterly, 9, 47–60.
Walsh , Y.S., Russell , R.J.H. & Wells, P.A. The personality of ex-cult members. Personality and
Individual Differences, 19, 339–344.