Wellspring Retreat and Resource Center is a non-profit (501 (c) (3)) corporation offering a program of
counseling and instruction to individuals and/or families who need restoration following emotional and spiritual crises caused by involvement in destructive cults and abusive groups, including aberrational religious or self-improvement groups. Individuals who have suffered childhood sexual abuse or been victimized by abusive partners are also treated in Wellspring’s program. The
priority of the center is to serve people in need.
At present a licensed psychologist, a Masters level psychological assistant, cult specialists, workshop leaders, biblical and theological instructors, and other support staff
constitute the team of professionals at the center. Wellspring is located some 80 miles southeast of Columbus, Ohio, near the rural Appalachian village of Albany. Twelve miles away is the city of Athens, home of Ohio University.
Originally established by psychologist Dr. Paul R. Martin as an informal adjunct to his private general counseling practice at his office in Athens, the initial focus was on
family issues, burnout, and issues relating to spiritual disillusionment. Due to the growing numbers of such victims (partly because of Dr. Martin’s previous experience in a cultic Christian movement), the emphasis soon changed to concentrate on survivors of destructive cults and cult-like organizations, whether religious or not.
Wellspring seeks to help meet the clear and increasing need for a residential facility for persons requiring professional help in dealing with psychological and spiritual
trauma resulting from emotional stress, moral relativism, theological uncertainty, and spiritual confusion.
The major objectives of the Wellspring program are:
1. first and foremost, to help people
overcome the deleterious effects of cultic involvement, such as, false guilt, depression, anxiety, fear, confusion, and anger – i.e., a return to emotional stability;
2. to help people reintegrate themselves with family, friends, community, and
career – i.e., a return to social stability;
3. to help those who desire it to
establish or re-establish a wholesome and balanced relationship with God and religious institutions – i.e., a return to spiritual stability;
4. to cooperate with existing cult-related ministries and organizations for
potential client referral, and the sharing of data on cults and cultic groups;
5. to encourage other agencies, ministries, churches, Bible colleges, seminaries,
and other institutions of higher learning to develop effective educational curricula to foster understanding of the cult phenomenon, including psychological and spiritual abuse, with emphasis on prevention, intervention, and rehabilitation.
Wellspring's Approach to the Problem
It is important to note at the outset that individuals who choose to come to Wellspring have already decided to leave their
particular group before they come – no “deprograming” takes place at Wellspring. Many cult survivors who seek help from Wellspring have reached their decision to leave their groups with the aid of exit counselors or thought reform consultants.
Increasingly, however, those who come to Wellspring for counseling have left their former cult or abusive religious organization on their own, without such aid. It is doubtful that any cult is so hermetically sealed that no one can just walk away, although there are cults where this is extremely difficult. However, probably most of these walkaways require counseling, but either
don’t realize it or don’t know where to turn for help.
When cult members leave their cults voluntarily it is often because they have recognized a handful of serious problems in the group, but have failed to acknowledge or come
to grips with others of equal or greater import. More importantly, they usually do not recognize the fundamentally invalid and harmful philosophy, ideology, and methodology that typically underlie the cult’s teaching and practice and give it its reason for being. Thus such people may leave the cult feeling disgruntled or disillusioned about some aspects of the cult, and yet still
hold to other, and more basic, ideas and thought patterns of the cult that will continue to hamper them and prevent them from enjoying a truly satisfying life. In addition, those who have been in a “Bible-based” cult are often so burned by their unpleasant experience that they want nothing more to do with God, the church, Christians, or religion of any type. Some of these people
still sense a need for a spiritual dimension in their life, but don’t know how to overcome their lack of trust in God or ministers, and may actually feel that they have failed, that somehow their own inadequacy prevented them from being able to measure up to the high standards of the group. For such individuals rehabilitative counseling of
one form or another is imperative.
With over thirteen years of experience with nearly 500 ex-cultists (as of August 1999), we at Wellspring are convinced that a holistic approach works best in rehabilitating
the victims of destructive cults and spiritually abusive organizations. The contents of this counseling and education deal with the dynamics of abusive groups, how these dynamics affect one’s personality and emotions, and how these groups distort and abuse even the most basic and universally accepted religious principles and tenets of human rights.
Residential treatment is cost effective as well. A two-week stay is usually sufficient time to reach treatment goals, laying a solid groundwork for eventual complete recovery.
Such comprehensive programs can cover explanation of thought reform techniques, the issues of grieving and loss, establishing future career goals, and offer referrals for further therapy when necessary.
Program Description
The core of Wellspring’s program consists of psychological counseling and instructional sessions on cultic dynamics and religious and spiritual issues. Due to the nature of the
problem Wellspring addresses, each client is treated as an individual with a unique combination of needs and personality traits, including strengths and weaknesses. Therefore, the specific counseling and instruction offered is tailored to the individual as much as possible. In general terms, however, the counseling sessions are designed to enable the client to focus on his or her
cult-induced emotional problems and develop effective solutions to them. Biblical instruction (offered only to those who desire it) centers on specific theological and interpretive errors taught in the cult or aberrational church and demonstrates how such errors deviate from traditional Judeo-Christian thought. For those interested in personal Bible study we teach standard methods of
biblical exegesis and hermeneutics. Finally, clients receive instruction in the dynamics of psychological coercion and indoctrination to help them see that the process whereby they were drawn into their cults was a subtle but powerful force of which they were largely unaware and thus had little control over. Therefore, they need not feel major guilt or shame because of their
experience.
In the formal counseling and instructional sessions much use is made of Wellspring’s extensive library of books, articles, and audio and video tapes covering a wide variety of
topics, from specific cultic organizations and cult-related issues, to counseling issues such as depression and addiction, to more general psychological and theological subjects.
In addition to formal counseling and instructional sessions, provision is made for plenty of rest and recreation in order to afford the client a chance to recuperate from the
usual exhausting rigors of cult life and to provide a preliminary model for a workable lifestyle which contains a healthy balance of work, play, and recreation in meaningful and mutually beneficial relationships.
1. Intake
Before any formal counseling takes place, the client is interviewed by a staff member and a series of standard tests and questionnaires is administered to
determine areas of greatest need for psychological, social, and spiritual counseling. Additional input is obtained through consultation with the parent(s), other family members, and/or the exit counselor who may accompany the client to Wellspring. Usually extensive consultation has already taken place by telephone prior to the client’s arrival at the center. Using the information
thus obtained, a specific program of counseling and instruction is tailored to meet the client’s needs and desires.
Prior to accepting the prospective client into the Wellspring program, Dr. Martin will interview him or her by phone to ensure that our program is suitable
to his or her needs. However, if in the course of the intake interview (or at any time during the counseling program) it becomes apparent that the client has a severe psychiatric problem that makes it impossible for him or her to process information communicated in therapy, we will refer the client to professional psychiatric evaluation and treatment. (There have been only two
cases so far which required curtailing the Wellspring therapy and referring the individual to such care.)
2. Program Content
Although each client’s experience and needs are unique, there still exist many areas of commonality. Hence a wide variety of issues and topics have been developed for
presentation and discussion as required. These include the following:
- characteristics of cultic leadership, authority, and influence
- mind control and group manipulation
- addiction and dependency
- independent critical thinking
- assertiveness training
- dealing with negative emotions (e.g., anger, anxiety, depression, guilt, etc.) through cognitive therapy training
- family relationships
- sexuality
- resocialization
- decision-making
- spiritual and religious disillusionment
- comparative religions
- interpretation of the Bible and other literature
- various specific theological doctrines and issues as requested
- philosophical concepts and ideas (e.g., theories of knowledge, ultimate reality, the meaning of life, man’s place in the universe, etc.
- career goals
- selecting healthy religious affiliation
Since cults typically are characterized by a high degree of control over their members (usually in the form of psychological or spiritual, rather than physical control), one can
easily understand why dependency and addictive relationships are two of the major problem areas that must be dealt with most often. It is not infrequent that former cultists must be assisted back to their pre-cult sense of individuality and autonomy, that is, their view of themselves as unique (and uniquely valuable) persons able and
permitted to act on their own volition.
A closely related problem experienced by most former members of cults is low self-esteem. This is found also in those who are still members of cults, and is usually the result of the individual’s being treated as inferior, due to intellectual,
physical, or spiritual inadequacy (as defined by the cult leader) with its accompanying pervading sense of guilt. Ex-members often suffer from low self-esteem as a result of feeling they have failed in not being able to “cut it” as a group member – they feel they just didn’t have what it takes to be a good devotee, premie, sanyasin or disciple. Consequently, these ex-members need
help to see that the group’s standards and expectations are too high for anyone to really reach, and they weren’t ultimately to blame.
Depression is another commonly experienced negative emotion found in former cultists. Closely related to the sense of failure mentioned above, this depression is often due as well to a feeling of loss the ex-member may experience as he leaves behind
many people who had been his close friends, in fact his surrogate family, sometimes for ten or twenty years or more. Thus, the ex-cultist may experience a type of bereavement, and he needs help in coping with the consequent loneliness that may engulf him.
Another cause of depression is the loss of purpose or “mission” which the ex-member had while in his group. Even though he now sees that that mission was unworthy of his commitment, he typically has difficulty finding a worthwhile cause to replace
it.
Cult life often involves accepting beliefs and teachings that are fraught with illogicalities and inconsistencies (rationality is not usually a prime characteristic of cult leaders and teachers). For this reason, those who leave cults sometimes
require assistance in recovering the ability to think critically and logically, and in learning how to make intelligent choices for their futures. Critical thinking is also impaired by hours of Eastern-style meditation, chanting, speaking in tongues, and other similar activities that produce altered states of consciousness which neutralize the cognitive activity of the brain. Such
activities, if indulged in often enough, can become involuntary and automatic, and make it difficult for a person to function normally in day-to-day life. For these people it is necessary to teach them techniques for stopping such intrusive activity and returning to full awareness of their surroundings.
An important part of post-cult rehabilitation is for the former cultist to come to an understanding of the psychological and social dynamics common to the cultic environment. This includes the dynamics that operate to attract individuals to cults as
well as those which then hold them in the cult and finally make it difficult for them to leave, even once they recognize the emotional, spiritual, and sometimes physical harm they or others have suffered in the cult. In the Wellspring program, explaining these techniques and influences is, in some measure, the responsibility of every staff person who works with the ex-cult member in
formal counseling sessions or instructional workshops. Dr. Martin and Mr. Burks deal with these issues particularly from the standpoint of the psychological mechanisms that are commonly at work in cults and cult-like groups; Mr. Pile approaches the subject more generally from the social perspective, and (for those who request it) from the spiritual and biblical perspective.
In their workshops on cultic dynamics the instructors especially rely on the results of research conducted by psychologist Robert J. Lifton and described in his classic study
Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism, and specifically Chapter 22, “Ideological Totalism.” Although this research was conducted on the victims of Chinese Communist “brainwashing” during the Korean War, it has become a standard psychological text to explain much of what happens in
any totalist environment, including cults. Other research relied upon is that done by Dr. Margaret Thaler Singer of the University of California at Berkeley, Dr. Louis J. West of UCLA, and Dr. John G. Clark of Harvard University, among others.
Most Wellspring clients have been eager to discuss various spiritual and religious subjects relating to the teachings and practices of their former cult or cultic group. For this reason Wellspring offers sessions on theological issues. Clients coming
from Eastern/mystical cults (or any other type) may request workshops on comparative religion, the New Age Movement, reincarnation, epistemology (the science of knowledge), and worldview comparison, among others.
Finally, thanks to Wellspring’s extensive and expanding library, we are equipped to deal with most other subjects and questions raised by our clients. Thus the ex-cultist is provided the opportunity to discuss as thoroughly as he or she desires the
spiritual and other issues of greatest concern, and receives a solid grounding on which to build his or her life upon leaving Wellspring.
Clients are encouraged, as much as possible, to set the pace and intensity of their own schedules while at Wellspring. Again, it must be made clear that no client is
compelled or required to discuss religious or spiritual issues if he or she prefers not to – such discussion is entirely up to the client. Wellspring does not seek to proselytize clients to any particular church or denomination.
3. Client Follow-up
An attempt is made by the staff of Wellspring to maintain contact with former clients through periodic letters, telephone calls, and e-mail. Occasionally former clients who are doing especially well following their rehabilitation may be encouraged
to participate in conferences, seminars, or media forums on cults sponsored by other organizations. Sometimes former clients make themselves available as reference and resource persons to provide information on their former cult and/or to help in intervention and counseling with other members of their former group or of other groups.
Each client who so desires is given, before leaving Wellspring, guidelines on how to select a warm, caring church or synagogue that will continue to assist him or her in wholesome growth to spiritual maturity.
Approximately six months after leaving Wellspring the former client is asked to re-take one of the standard psychological tests given him or her upon entering the program. This re-test serves as an objective evaluation of the former client’s progress
during the intervening months, and is a good indicator of the effectiveness of Wellspring’s program, helping to show where adjustments may need to be made.
In some cases, past clients have returned to Wellspring for another week or two of counseling. Additional therapy can be indicated for cult survivors who, for financial or other reasons, have been unable to stay as long as needed initially, or whose
cult experience was so traumatic they suffer relapses after leaving Wellspring.
All of these things help to confirm and solidify the former client in his or her decision to leave the cult, and strengthen his or her resolve to press on in responsible and productive service in his or her community and in the nation.
Larry Pile of Wellspring supplied the preceding information.
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