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Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 7, No. 3, 2008, Page 199
An Investigation into Cult Pseudo-
Personality: What Is It and How Does
It Form?
Gillie Jenkinson, M.A.
Hope Valley Counselling
Hope Valley, United Kingdom1
Abstract
In this paper, I investigate some possible
explanations for the development of the cult
pseudo-personality and how it forms. I
investigate whether the cult pseudo-
personality is doubling (Lifton, 2000), false
self (Winnicott, 1965), simply adaptation, or
dissociation. I argue that it is none of these
and propose that the concept of introjection is
the most satisfying explanation. The paper
also briefly addresses some recovery issues in
light of the proposed view of pseudo-
personality.
Definition of a Cult
As has been discussed within ICSA for many years, giving a
helpful definition for groups that cause harm is difficult. For
the sake of simplicity, I shall use the term cult to describe
these groups, following Langone‘s (1993, p. 5) succinct
definition:
A cult is a group or movement that, to a
significant degree,
(a) Exhibits great or excessive devotion or
dedication to some person, idea, or thing,
(b) Uses a thought-reform program to
persuade, control, and socialize members (i.e.,
to integrate them into the group‘s unique
1 Because of the international natu re of this journal, we accommodate the
spelling conventions of the author‘s country.
Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 7, No. 3, 2008, Page 200
pattern of relationships, beliefs, values, and
practices),
(c) Systematically induces states of
psychological dependency in members,
(d) Exploits members to advance the
leadership‘s goals, and
(e) Causes psychological harm to members,
their families, and the community.
Introduction to My Case Study—Jenny
To illustrate what I am saying, I shall introduce you to
Jenny, a composite case study of an ex-member. Whilst I
have set her story in a Bible-based cult, these issues are
applicable to most other ―types‖ of cults.
Jenny is in her 40s. She came from a
relatively prosperous family, was intelligent,
did well at school and as a young woman
enjoyed both studying and having fun. She
had had a few boyfriends and had slept with
one, but since then felt she wanted to wait
until she was in a long-term, stable
relationship before she slept with anyone
again. In her 20s she became a teacher, and
by the age of 25 she became disillusioned with
the system and started to look for more
meaning in her life.
She had attended her local church as a child
but was disenchanted by the sameness of it
all. She heard about a new Christian
community that had started up a few miles
away; and although she heard it was a bit
wacky and knew little about it, she was
interested in the group‘s take on
environmental issues and felt there would be
no harm in going along and seeing what
happened in the community. She was struck
by members‘ passion, their genuineness, their
caring, and their apparent desire to see her
join. This touched her deeply because she had
never come across such people before, and
Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 7, No. 3, 2008, Page 201
they were certainly different from those in her
local church.
She very quickly became involved with the
community and found that they had a leader
who was attractive, charismatic, and seemed
to think she was rather special. Because Jenny
had been struggling with her self-image and
with believing she could be attractive to
anyone (she had not found a stable, ongoing
relationship, and she put this down to some
lack in herself), she was excited and
enthralled by him.
Jenny visited increasingly often, not seeing
anything to put her off. She decided to leave
her flat and her job, and to give her life full
time to the community. Her friends and family
questioned her sense in becoming more
involved. However, the community members
were teaching her the Bible verses: ―Greater
love has no-one than this, that he lay down
his life for his friends. You are my friends if
you do what I command‖ (John 15:13), and
―The man replied, ‗Lord, first let me go and
bury my father.‘ Jesus said to him, ‗Let the
dead bury their own dead, but you go and
proclaim the kingdom of God‘‖ (Luke 9: 60).
She was told that this meant she should leave
her family and old friends and make new
friends. She was less and less interested in
hearing what her family had to say. Her new
friends were pushing her to ―lay down her
life,‖ to surrender herself for the work of the
community (they said she was laying down
her life for Christ).
Jenny was thrilled, and excited, at being
accepted into this special group of people—it
felt like a new beginning. They suggested she
change her name to Magdalene to show her
commitment to God and the community. She
felt honoured to do this and felt more
connected to them than ever.
Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 7, No. 3, 2008, Page 202
One day she was asked by a fellow member to
do the evening meal. She said she could not
because she was busy doing something else.
Her fellow‘s whole demeanour changed,
becoming cold and hard; and she said in a
chilling voice that Magdalene had no right to
question such a request, that she should stop
what she was doing and go this minute to the
kitchen and do as she was told.
Jenny/Magdalene was shocked by this sudden
change. She put it down to this woman being
moody and went to the kitchen. She argued to
herself that she had committed her life to the
community, so she should be helping out. She
felt angry with herself and ashamed for
questioning in the first place. She soon
learned that, if she complied, she would feel
accepted and a part of things, and, if she did
not, she would receive similar rebukes and,
often, silences.
Sometime later the leader told her to make his
breakfast. She let him know by a small huff
that she did not want to. He insisted, and so
she complied. The community met for their
worship meeting later, and Jenny/Magdalene
started to share how she felt so full of life and
joy at the beautiful day. She was received with
a chillingly cold atmosphere, was told God was
angry with her for her ―bad attitude,‖ and that
they wanted to talk to her afterward. She
sensed their rage and was filled with dread.
Later, they told her God would reject her (she
would go to Hell) if she did not change her
attitude and become more surrendered to God
and the community. They explained that, in
order for her to ―stay right with God,‖ they
would need to punish her by beating her 40
times with a cane. Jenny/Magdalene was
deeply shocked by this and was left shaking
and frightened. Following the rebukes and
beating, Jenny became Magdalene in
actuality—she became quiet, serious, and
religious, complying fully with the beliefs and
Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 7, No. 3, 2008, Page 203
practices of her new group of people, her new
―family.‖ She dressed differently, wore her
hair differently: She looked and behaved like a
different person.
Not long after, she was told that God wanted
new members to join the community. And
although at one time Jenny would have
questioned this whole ―going out and dragging
people in‖ thing, and would have absolutely
refused, on some level, Magdalene
remembered their anger and her shock at
being rebuked and beaten, which had
happened unpredictably many more times,
and so did as she was told. She was
unresponsive when she was told that any
tactics at all would be okay to bring people
in—she was assigned to bring men into the
group. She understood the implications, and
Jenny was buried deep within. Magdalene
identified with her new community of people,
truly believing that sleeping with men in order
to bring them in and obeying without question
were the work of God.
Following investigation by local church leaders,
the community was disbanded. Unfortunately,
the leaders did not know the full extent of the
abuse in the community or understand the
impact the experience had had on
Jenny/Magdalene. She therefore continued her
church involvement, not realising how
traumatised and abused she had been, or how
compliant she still was. Over time, she learned
to question more, although doing this was
challenging for her because she was still
fearful of punishment. Nevertheless, Jenny
began to re-emerge; and at that point, she
began to experience real depression and post-
traumatic stress. She felt trapped: She HAD to
be part of a church; otherwise, God would kill
her (so she had been told). But she could not
stay part of a church and survive
psychologically. Looking back at this time in
her life, she saw that Jenny, her ―old self‖ or
Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 7, No. 3, 2008, Page 204
pre-cult personality, was re-emerging over a
long period of time; and as this happened, life
was much more painful than when she was
complying with her cult pseudo-personality,
Magdalene. As she became more aware, she
did not know which side she should be on.
Others had noticed this split, and she confused
those who thought she was one sort of person
and then discovered she actually thought quite
differently. For example, other ex-members of
the community thought she was serious and
judgmental, whereas she was actually quite
playful and compassionate.
After she left the group, Jenny said,
Magdalene, was ―born‖ so I could
become the person they
expected me to be, hating my
parents, rejecting all outside the
community, and doing things I
would never have done before—I
was a stranger to myself.
Magdalene is still present in me,
and her voice is different from
mine. I fight her a lot of the time
because they told us our parents
deserved to die. I am exhausted
and mixed up.
Jenny‘s very self, and her personality, were
sharply changed and deeply and utterly
affected by the experience of being with this
group of people.
To discuss what happened to Jenny/Magdalene, I will briefly
explore what is self and what is personality. I will then look
at some attempts to define the cult pseudo-personality.
Self, Personality, and Pseudo-Personality
I conceptualise the self as changing moment by moment in
response to contact with self, others, and the environment.
In thinking about what happened to Jenny/Magdalene, I
have found Gestalt psychotherapy theory helpful in its
conceptualisation of the self as the being and doing aspects
Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 7, No. 3, 2008, Page 205
of an individual. Perls, Hefferline, and Goodman (1951)
state:
Let us call ―self‖ the system of contacts at any
moment. As such, the self is flexibly various,
for it varies with the dominant organic needs
and the pressing environmental stimuli; it is
the system of responses; it diminishes in sleep
when there is less need to respond. The self is
the contact-boundary at work… (p. 235)
The self is, therefore, an ever-changing process (Taylor,
2004) in contact with our selves, others, and the
environment. This moment-by-moment response to the
environment means we are all vulnerable to the impact of
environmental stimuli and influence (Cialdini, 2001;
Zimbardo, 2007), particularly when the environment is
radicalised (as Jenny was responding, the pseudo-
personality, Magdalene, was developing). Change and
development occur within the organism or individual
throughout the life cycle in many circumstances (Wilkinson,
2006; Gerhardt, 2004). Personality can be conceptualised as
the more enduring aspects of the organism or individual.
Philippson (2001), a Gestalt writer, states that the
personality function of self is ―the knowable, relatively
predictable, verbalizable aspect of the self that can be called
up in answer to the questions ‗who are you?‘ or ‗what are
you like?‘ or ‗how do you do things?‘…‖ (p. 38).
Whilst Jenny‘s self was responding moment by moment,
becoming a fully fledged member of the community, her
personality (her preferences, her answer to the question
―What are you like?‖) was also changing; and Magdalene,
the cult pseudo-personality, formed. New preferences, a new
sense of self and how she did things, was created by
involvement in and interaction with the community.
There is much evidence that many individuals who have
been in a cult exhibit a change in their personality (Langone,
1993; Singer 2003; Hassan, 2000; Lalich & Tobias, 2006).
The change in Jenny/Magdalene illustrates Singer‘s view:
As part of the intense influence and change
process in many cults, people take on a new
social identity, which may or may not be
obvious to an outsider. When groups refer to
Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 7, No. 3, 2008, Page 206
this new identity, they speak of members who
are transformed, reborn, enlightened,
empowered, re-birthed, or cleared [my
addition: saved, surrendered]. The group-
approved behavior is reinforced and
reinterpreted as demonstrating the emergence
of ―the new person.‖ Members are expected to
display this new social identity. (2003, p.77–
78)
I suggest that this new social identity is the cult pseudo-
personality or pseudo-identity.
West & Martin (1993) note: ―Cases of pseudo-identity
observed among cult victims are often very clear-cut, classic
examples of transformation through deliberately contrived
situational forces of a normal individual‘s personality into
that of a ‗different person‘‖ (p.274).
This change in Jenny/Magdalene was a gradual process over
time, and eventually she barely knew herself. Hassan (2000)
states: ―Creation and imposition of a new ‗identity‘ is done
step by step‖ (p.58).
You might ask how this change takes place. Martin (1993)
suggests that the common goal enables the cult to overrule
difference: ―Cults typically attack an individual‘s personality.
People differ in their temperaments, interests, talents, and
abilities. However, cult groups ignore these differences.
Instead, they are focused on a goal or vision to which
members must conform…‖ (p. 122).
Once Jenny had contact with the community, she was
groomed and seduced [sometimes called love bombed
(Langone, 1993)] into what appeared to be a truly spiritual,
loving, exciting, forward-thinking, caring, and trustworthy
group of people. But later she came to realise that the
community was hiding its true nature. Initially, because she
did not have all the information, she idealised them. As
Langone (1993, p. 7) states:
Contemporary cults, which operate in open
society ... cannot forcibly restrain prospects
and run them through a debilitating regimen.
Instead they must fool them. They must
persuade prospects that the group is beneficial
Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 7, No. 3, 2008, Page 207
in some way that appeals to the targeted
individual.
Jenny brought her natural vulnerabilities—for example, her
sense of not being attractive enough, and her spiritual
hunger—but her personality was destabilised by the shock of
the sudden and prolonged change in behaviour when the
members of the community ended up shouting at, beating,
and punishing her. She had to adjust to this in order to
remain a part of the community, and over time her
personality changed almost beyond recognition, developing
as a cult pseudo-personality, created in the interaction
between Jenny, the new recruit, and the cult environment.
Lifton‘s eight components of thought reform (Lifton, 1989)
are helpful in explaining why the processes that occur in cult
members ensure this change in behaviour. For example, the
―demand for purity‖ mixed with the ―cult of confession‖
ensures that cult members believe their former self, which
may be understood as their pre-cult personality, is not good
enough, whilst the cult of confession maintains the cult
personality as the members confess their ―sins‖ or
independent thought, ensuring that they continue to be
compliant and submissive.
The experience of ex-cult members endorses this view
(quotations with permission):
The cult personality is superficial. What I
mean is that it does go deep because it has
been there a long time (23 years) and it has
affected my core, my deep personality. But it
is not me; it overlays me. I was forced to be
who they wanted me to be.
And ―The cult self overlays me; I need to break out.‖
The cult
Jenny
Diagram 1: The cult encroaching on
Jenny/Jenny introjecting the cult
Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 7, No. 3, 2008, Page 208
This leads me to ask the question: What, in psychological
terms, is the cult pseudo-personality, and how does it form?
To explore this question further, I will look briefly at Lalich‘s
(2004) proposal of ―bounded choice.‖
Bounded Choice
Lalich (2004) suggests that the choices made by cult
members make perfect sense within the cult setting and
belief system (p. 2). She explains how cult members reach
this state of mind, and the process of conversion or
worldview shift (p. 15), which she suggests might be
responsible for the change of personality. She notes that:
Belief and coercion are at the heart of the change.
Conversion requires ―charismatic commitment.‖
This shift takes root quickly ―so that people become
easily enmeshed and in some cases trapped, at
least psychologically.‖
The transformation is deeply felt.
The transformation is intensely troubling because of
the resultant changes in personality, attitudes, and
behaviors.
There is a loss of sense of self.
The outcome of conversion is a firm believer, a new
person.
Identification and internalization complete the loss
of pre-group identity (p. 270) because they have in
a sense become the organization (pp. 15–17).
Lalich states:
This process … of transformation involves a
reorganization of the person‘s inner identity or
sense of self. Typically it occurs through a
mixture of emotional appeals, rituals,
instruction, self-examination, confession, and
rejection, all in a context that deftly combines
stress and harmony. Most often guilt, shame,
and anxiety are integral to this process.
Responding to the demands can be exhausting
and stressful, for it requires repeated acts of
Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 7, No. 3, 2008, Page 209
self-renunciation; at the same time, the
person experiences relief at having ―found the
answer,‖ which is associated with a kind of
personal freedom. (p. 16)
This change in personality, attitude, and behaviour is
illustrated by Jenny/Magdalene‘s experience; Magdalene had
been willing to do anything they asked her, and she had lost
Jenny‘s pre-cult individuality. At least four possible
explanations of the cult pseudo-personality have been put
forward: doubling, false self, adaptation, or dissociation.
Doubling
Lifton (2000), in his research into the mentality of the Nazi
doctors working in concentration camps, interviewed some
of the surviving Nazi doctors who had had the power of life
and death over prisoners and also continued to live a
―normal‖ life outside of the camps. He suggests that
doubling is the psychological vehicle used to describe this
phenomenon, which explains how they could live with
themselves and commit such atrocities.
Lifton notes that, unlike in dissociation and Dissociative
Identity Disorder (DID) (in which parts split off from each
other— see below), in doubling there is both autonomy and
connection between the Auschwitz (concentration camp) self
and the prior self. He states that there is a dialogue between
the two selves. The Nazi doctor needed his Auschwitz self to
function psychologically in an environment so antithetical to
his previous ethical standards, and he needed his prior self
in order to continue to see himself as a humane physician,
husband, and father. The Auschwitz self, therefore, had to
be both autonomous and connected to the Prior self that
gave rise to it. I visualise the split in doubling as a vertical
split with a connection:
Auschwitz self
Prior self
Diagram 2: Illustration of Nazi doctor’s
Auschwitz self and prior self
Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 7, No. 3, 2008, Page 210
I do not think the cult-pseudo personality is doubling, nor is
it what we are seeing with Jenny/Magdalene. Although it is
commonly held that the Nazis were a cult, I believe this
dialogue between the Auschwitz self and the prior self
allowed the prior self to be more or less untouched and
allowed the Nazi doctor to continue normally. The cult-
pseudo personality is different because if the cult member
internally challenges the pseudo-personality, or leaves the
cult, the control begins to break down, and the pre-cult
personality may begin to break through the layer of cult
pseudo-personality (see my thoughts later in ―The Machine‖
subsection about the tarmac or asphalt). The cult member
will feel okay so long as he or she is compliant and there is
no dialogue between, for example, Jenny and Magdalene.
But, to reiterate, once a dialogue is set up between the two
parts (Jenny and Magdalene), then guilt and confusion might
well ensue, even to the point of mental illness because the
cult control will be challenged internally. Singer (2003) notes
that it is the cult environment itself that produces and keeps
the cult-pseudo personality in place.
False Self
The ―false self‖ is a term coined by Donald Winnicott (1965)
and refers to that structure formed in response to frustration
of the ―real self.‖ The false self presents itself to the world in
order to get needs met but withholds its natural spontaneous
self (Johnson, 1985).
I believe Magdalene is more than a false self. I suggest that
Jenny adapted to the onslaught of the cult machine that
enforced Magdalene, the pseudo-personality, from the
outside, and that she took it in. Magdalene is not a structure
formed within her to present to a world that was not meeting
her natural spontaneous self, so it is more than a false self in
this sense.
I visualise the false self as a vertical split.
Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 7, No. 3, 2008, Page 211
Adaptation
Adaptation is, in social psychology and sociology, ―a shift in
sociological or cultural disposition. Thus, one is said to
‗adapt‘ to a new environment‖ (Reber & Reber, 2001, p. 11).
It could be said that joining a cult is simply an adaptation:
Individuals are choosing to be the way the cult wants them
to be, and they want to change. This suggests that the
individual has a choice, and free will. Even though there
probably is an adaptation occurring in the individual when he
or she first joins the group, there is, in many cases, a more
fundamental, enforced change (my conceptualisation of the
machine in the next section), which I suggest is therefore
not just adaptation. The pseudo-personality is much more
than adaptation. An adapting personality is not split into a
Jenny and a Magdalene, for example; it maintains inner
coherence while exhibiting external change. The
pseudopersonality of cult joiners, on the other hand, is
changed centrally, rather than peripherally (Ofshe & Singer,
1986), as in adaptation.
Dissociation
The idea that parts of a single personality can be divided, or
dissociated, is not a new one. Van der Hart, Nijenhuis, and
Steele (2006) state, in relation to patients with PTSD and
other trauma-related disorders (p.28-29), that
―...dissociation is a division among ‗systems of ideas and
functions that constitute the personality,‘‖ that these parts
Diagram 3: Illustration of false self and
real self
Real self hidden behind it
False self
Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 7, No. 3, 2008, Page 212
are self-conscious, and that each part involves its own
separate sense of self.
The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
(DSM IV) states that ―The essential feature of the
Dissociative Disorders is a disruption in the usually
integrated functions of consciousness, memory, identity, or
perception. The disturbance may be sudden or gradual,
transient or chronic.‖
The Dictionary of Psychology states that the term
dissociation is
Used generally to characterize the process (or
its result) whereby a coordinated set of
activities, thoughts, attitudes, or emotions
becomes separated from the rest of the
person‘s personality and functions
independently. Mild forms are seen in
compartmentalization ... more extreme forms
are observed in the dissociative disorders.
(Reber & Reber, 2001)
Dissociation therefore occurs on a continuum, and we all
dissociate to some degree (West & Martin, 1994). At one end
of the continuum, we may experience the sensation, for
example, of driving a familiar route and not recalling the
journey. At the other end is complete memory loss, and
there is much in between. At the more serious end of the
continuum, Van der Hart et al. (2006) propose the following
conceptualisation of dissociative disorders. The simplest
division of the personality in traumatised individuals is
primary structural dissociation, wherein there is a single
split—one apparently normal part (ANP) and one emotional
part (EP) of the personality [see diagram 4 following], also
sometimes referred to as alter personalities (Putnam, 1989).
Secondary structural dissociation, as a result of prolonged
and repeated traumatisation, has a wide range of complexity
and involves one ANP and a number of EPs. Tertiary
structural dissociation is characteristic of Dissociative
Identity Disorder (DID), previously known as Multiple-
Personality Disorder (MPD), in which there are multiple ANP
and EP parts of the personality.
Jenny/Magdalene‘s experience supports Langone‘s assertion
that many members end up ―proclaim[ing] great happiness
Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 7, No. 3, 2008, Page 213
yet hide great suffering.‖ He states that this is a ―state of
dissociation in which members are ‗split‘ but not ‗multiple.‘‖
(1993, p. 9). They do not exhibit an alter, as in structural
dissociation.
Hassan (2000) says, ―Cult mind control dissociates a person
from his authentic identity, and makes his new cult identity
dependent on the group. From a mental-health perspective,
cult mind control splits elements of an individual‘s psyche
into another distinct personality‖ (p. 55).
This raises the question: Is the cult-pseudo personality a
dissociative phenomenon or even DID? I agree with Langone
that it is not DID (―multiple personality‖), and this view is
backed by West & Martin (1993, pp. 273-4). They note the
following differences between DID and the pseudo-
personality: DID is more likely to be related to early
childhood trauma (also Van der Hart et al., 2006); DID
patients may have more than one ―alter‖ or part; and DID is
notoriously hard to treat.
West and Martin (1994, p. 274) also assert that the aims of
therapy differ between DID and pseudo-personality, further
highlighting the differences. With DID, ―reconciliation and
integration of alters‖ is the aim, while with pseudo-
personality, the aim is ―restoration of the original identity.‖
They note that residual PTSD will usually need to be treated.
It is generally held that the split in primary, secondary, and
tertiary structural dissociation is a vertical split:
Apparently normal part
(ANP)
Emotional part (EP)
Diagram 4: Illustration of primary structural
dissociation
Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 7, No. 3, 2008, Page 214
Given the terrible childhood abuse and trauma suffered by
those born and raised in a cult (Jones, Jones and Buhring,
2007), it is possible that DID and dissociative disorders
resulting from their cult upbringing may be present in this
population. Because many members recruited as adults
suffer deep trauma within cults, there might also be
dissociation that forms as a result of the cult trauma. This
trauma can include beatings; sexual abuse; abusive and
harsh encounter groups, and shouting and loud commands
to change, to hate one‘s parents, and to hate one‘s ―old self‖
or ―worldly self.‖ There might also be structural dissociation
present in individuals before they joined the cult. The cult
will nevertheless cause wounds in their life.
I envisage this split both horizontally and vertically:
I suggest that the individual cult member might dissociate to
cope with the trauma, but I believe the formation of the cult
pseudo-personality is a different process and is not a
dissociated part, alter, or ANP/EP.
What Is the Pseudo-Personality?
I will now discuss how I believe the pseudo-personality
forms. I will do this by looking at ―the machine‖ and
discussing the concept of introjection.
Cult pseudo-personality
Diagram 5: Pseudo-personality
overlaying dissociated pre-cult
personality
Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 7, No. 3, 2008, Page 215
The Machine
―I feel as if my real self was like a little dot, like a seed that
was buried in deep soil, and then a layer of tarmac (asphalt)
laid over me‖ (ex-cult member quotation).
I suggest that the cult was, for Jenny/Magdalene, like a
relentless machine, like a steam roller on hot tarmac with
hooked spikes in it, pressing and pushing its ideology,
beliefs, and culture on to her, the unsuspecting individual,
hooking into Jenny using her vulnerability and parts of the
pre-cult identity to establish itself (Hassan, 2000). She
eventually became buried under the tarmac.
Jenny/Magdalene was recruited and ―love bombed‖ through
deceitful recruitment techniques (Martin, 1993), and what
she got was not what she expected.
This process reflects an exchange: The machine relentlessly
overlays the individual as the individual welcomes the
machine, not realising what she is getting into or what is
behind what seems like love. Jenny/Magdalene thought she
was ―laying down her life‖ for God; others believe they will
become enlightened, see the world become a better place
through a worthy political cause, and so on. And they
become buried under the tarmac. As Hassan (2000) notes,
the cult anchors itself to parts of the cult members‘ past
experiences. For Jenny/Magdalene, the cult of confession
ensures that the community knows more about Jenny than
she realises and gives them ammunition to control and
manipulate her by playing on her ―confessed‖ personal
vulnerabilities.
I envision the pseudo-personality overlaying the pre-cult
personality like tarmac on a road, a horizontal split:
Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 7, No. 3, 2008, Page 216
The tarmac ―takes‖ to one degree or another. For some it
sits comfortably, but for others it is uncomfortable from the
start; and when the individual leaves the cult, it will begin to
break up (Singer, 2003).
I suggest the pseudo-personality mimics dissociation—the
machine relentlessly moves forward, overlaying the
personality of the new cult members, causing them to adjust
to this new world view—it is not them and it is them. I
suggest the greater part of the process of forming the
pseudo-personality is not doubling, false self, or simply
adaptation, not dissociation nor DID, but introjection.
In Gestalt theory, introjection may be thought of as
...material—a way of acting, feeling,
evaluating—which you have taken into your
system of behavior but which you have not
assimilated in such fashion as to make it a
genuine part of your organism—your self.
(Perls et al., 1951, p. 189)
When the individual takes in from the environment without
chewing over what is taken in (as happens in a cult), it is
difficult to digest and gain nourishment from it. Perls et al.
(1951) state that in introjection the organism ―takes in the
‗material‘ on the basis of forced acceptance, a forced (and
Diagram 6: The cult pseudo-personality
overlaying the pre-cult personality
Pre-cult personality
Cult pseudo-personality
Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 7, No. 3, 2008, Page 217
therefore pseudo) identification,‖ and that it is a foreign
body, but the organism resists it being dislodged. In the
case of a cult, there is often little opportunity for the
individual to dislodge or digest it without leaving, getting
into a great deal of trouble, or becoming psychologically de-
stabilised.
I suggest that Jenny, the unsuspecting new recruit, idealised
her new ―friends‖ (and they let her) and their attractive
beliefs, and she took them and their cult culture and
ideology in—she introjected them—whole. She had little
opportunity for critical thinking, or chewing over: Magdalene
therefore developed and overlaid Jenny, who became buried.
A number of authors acknowledge the need for ex-cult
members to reconnect with their pre-cult personality, and
that doing this is a crucial part of the recovery process (West
& Martin, 1994; Martin, 1993; Langone, 1993; Singer, 2000;
Hassan, 2000). Hassan (2000) states the split-off pseudo-
personality needs to be integrated.
I shall discuss how this reconnection with the pre-cult
personality occurs, and also look at whether integration, or
chewing over and digestion, are required for one to recover.
Recovery: Integration or Chewing Over and
Digestion
Reber & Reber (2001) say that integration brings the person
―into a harmonious or coordinated whole by rearranging,
organizing, and occasionally adding or deleting elements or
parts‖ (p. 360). Van der Hart et al. (2006) note that
integration is a bringing together of a split whole.
One of the themes that came out of my unpublished M.A.
research, What Helps Ex-cult Members Recover from an
Abusive Cult Experience?, was ―getting rid of the cult
pseudo-personality.‖ When I went back to my research, I
was taken aback at how I had worded this. I questioned the
‗‖getting rid of‖ bit; I asked myself whether integration of
that part, as one would integrate a dissociated part, was, in
fact, more appropriate. However, on reflection, I do not
think so. I think ―getting rid of‖ in a nonviolent way is
actually what is needed—chewing and digesting the
introjected cult pseudo-personality rather than integrating it.
So, whilst the above definition would seem to fit the process
Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 7, No. 3, 2008, Page 218
of reconnecting to the pre-cult personality, I suggest that it
is not enough because the cult pseudo-personality is not a
dissociated part, and integrating it would entail keeping
parts of the cult experience that need to be eliminated. I will
now discuss how to ―get rid of‖ the pseudo-personality.
Gestalt writers Perls et al. (1951) use the analogy between
the teeth and developmental stages. The toothless baby
takes in predigested food; the toddler‘s milk teeth develop,
and he or she eats soft food; the adult teeth develop, and
the young child starts asking why, what is that for, and so
on. Children want to chew over what is coming in and decide
for themselves (they do not want to simply introject what is
given to them). In a healthy environment, this behaviour
occurs increasingly with age.
Perls et al. (1951, p. 189) state:
Physical food properly digested and
assimilated, becomes part of the organism;
but food which ―rests heavy on the stomach‖
is an introject [emphasis added]. You are
aware of it and want to throw it up. If you do
so you get it ―out of the system.‖ Suppose,
instead, you suppress your discomfort,
nausea, and tendency to spew it forth. Then
you ―keep it down‖ and either succeed, finally,
in painfully digesting it or else it poisons you.
I suggest that, with the cult-pseudo personality
(Magdalene), the individual is unaware of the poison and
discomfort. The discomfort is suppressed within the pre-cult
personality (Jenny).
Perls et al. (1951, p. 189) go on to suggest that to
eliminate introjects from your personality the
problem is not to accept and integrate
dissociated parts of yourself. Rather, it is
to become aware of what is not truly yours, to
acquire a selective and critical attitude toward
what is offered you, and, above all, to develop
the ability to ―bite off‖ and ―chew‖ experience
so as to extract its healthy nourishment. [bold
added]
Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 7, No. 3, 2008, Page 219
And, I would add, to eliminate from the system that which is
not nourishing.
To return to the analogy of the tarmac or asphalt, when the
road is finally disintegrated, it is possible to dig the tarmac
back into the soil and perhaps obtain some benefit from it.
Hassan (2000) states that it is important not to discard the
entire cult identity, but to create a new post-cult identity
that incorporates the most valuable and healthy parts of the
pre-cult, cult, and ―authentic‖ identities (p. 184). My
proposal of chewing over and digesting or eliminating
introjects supports this view.
To summarise this section, I suggest that the pseudo-
personality is not a dissociated part that needs integrating;
nor is it doubling, false self, or simply adaptation. Instead, it
is an introjected part that needs chewing over and digesting,
allowing what is nourishing to remain and eliminating the
rest.
Treatment Implications
How both ex-cult members and their helpers or therapists
conceptualise the problem of recovery is vitally important. I
suggest that the concepts of introjection, chewing over, and
digestion might be more helpful than dissociation and
integration.
I now will give four case examples of what I mean by
chewing over, digesting, and eliminating the cult pseudo-
personality, and one example of integrating dissociation and
then chewing over, digesting, and eliminating the cult-
pseudo personality:
1. Jenny became judgmental, religious, serious, and
compliant as she introjected the cult personality,
Magdalene. As Jenny/Magdalene moved away from
the cult, and chewed over the beliefs of the cult and
what she had become, she returned to her pre-cult
personality, exhibiting humour, playfulness,
assertiveness, and compassion. She decided that
this way of being was more consistent with her own
view of Christianity as opposed to the cult‘s view.
And so she chose to take a nonjudgmental stance
rather than the judgmental stance she had learned
in the cult.
Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 7, No. 3, 2008, Page 220
2. Magdalene had to sleep with men—i.e., prostitute
herself—for the sake of fulfilling the aims of the cult.
Jenny did not need to integrate the part of
Magdalene that did these things, but she needed to
be compassionate with herself, to see these actions
as part of the ―bounded choice‖ (Lalich, 2004) that
made sense within the cult, and to make her own
decision about her actions in the future regarding
sleeping with men (chewing over and digestion).
She also needed a good deal of support in order to
recover from the trauma of it all, including the
resulting post-traumatic stress and her negative
self-image.
3. A male heterosexual client in his 30s joined a
Buddhist cult and discovered the leader was
homosexual and expected all the men to be the
same. The client complied with this because, as it
was explained to him, doing so was more spiritual—
his ―bounded choice‖ (Lalich 2004). When he left the
cult, he thought through carefully (chewed over),
with my support, whether he was actually
homosexual, and he realised that he had known
since he was a teenager that he was not. Hence, he
reverted to being heterosexual. He did not integrate
this homosexual part but rather chewed over and
challenged the cult‘s view. In digesting his
experience and deciding what he wanted to be in
the future, he ―eliminated‖ the cult‘s view and
reverted to his pre-cult stance on his sexuality.
4. A woman in her 40s had been told by the cult that
her father had sexually abused her, and this
affected her deeply, causing her terrible trauma and
resulting in a severe split within the family. When
she came to me for therapy, we explored this
possibility. As she chewed the issue over, she
realised she had no memories at all of being abused
by her father. She checked the claim out with him
and her mother, and they confirmed that he had not
abused her. She did not need to integrate this
belief; she needed to chew it over, digest it,
eliminate it, and return to her pre-cult view of her
parents and reconnect with them.
Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 7, No. 3, 2008, Page 221
5. When Jenny/Magdalene was beaten for ―sin,‖ she
believed she deserved it because the cult leader told
her she was ―sinful‖ and bad. As she was beaten,
she dissociated and felt as if she was sitting outside
the room looking in at them beating her. As a result
of doing this, Jenny could feel nothing in respect to
the beatings. As she allowed herself to integrate this
dissociated part, and her feelings began to be ―in
her body‖ instead of outside of the room, she
became deeply upset. But she had more of herself
available to continue the healing journey as she
chewed over and digested the introjected belief that
―God‖ required her to be beaten because she had
been so ―sinful.‖ She came to see that the beating
was another way of the cult exerting control over
her and had nothing to do with sin or her actually
being bad.
Conclusion
I have investigated the question: ―What is the cult pseudo-
personality, and how does it form?‖ I have concluded that
the cult pseudo-personality is not doubling, a false self,
simply adaptation, or dissociation. While mimicking a
dissociated part, it is actually an introjected foreign part that
needs chewing over in order to discern which bits are
nourishing and should be kept and which bits need digesting
and eliminating.
The cult pseudo-personality develops as the whole person
introjects the cult‘s culture, beliefs, and behaviours.
I acknowledge that dissociation may also occur in the cult,
but I believe that the dissociated part is not the cult pseudo-
personality; it is a response to trauma.
I propose that it is important to be clear about how the cult
pseudo-personality is conceptualised because this
conceptualisation will affect how ex-cult members are
approached in terms of their recovery process. If the cult
pseudo-personality is seen as dissociation, individuals will be
encouraged to integrate their cult pseudo-personality. I
propose, instead, that their cult pseudo-personality needs
chewing over. Then a decision regarding what needs
Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 7, No. 3, 2008, Page 222
digesting and eliminating and what needs to be kept can be
made. Through this process, the ex-members can then ―get
rid of‖ the cult pseudo-personality, and return to their pre-
cult personality, while taking what is positive with them as
they move on in life.
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About the Author
Gillie Jenkinson is a Director of Hope Valley Counselling
Limited and specializes in offering counselling and
psychotherapy to those who have left cults or coercive
relationships/groups and those who have been abused. Ms.
Jenkinson is a trained Counsellor with an Advanced Diploma
in Pastoral Counselling and an MA in Gestalt Psychotherapy.
She is accredited and registered with United Kingdom
Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP) and a member of British
Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (MBACP). In
1999 she did a month long internship at Wellspring, Ohio
Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 7, No. 3, 2008, Page 224
and returned there in 2008. Ms. Jenkinson was a member of
The Love of God Community, a Bible-based cult, in the
1970s. She has 16 years experience working with survivors
of rape, sexual abuse, and cults, as well as with clients with
other issues. She is currently training as a Supervisor and
supervises a number of individuals who work in these areas.
She is listed as a supervisor with Safe Passage Foundation.
Ms. Jenkinson facilitates an ex-member support and
education group in London. She has presented her research,
―What helps Ex-cult members recover from an abusive cult
experience," at ICSA Conferences in Madrid (2005) and
Denver (2006) and papers on cult pseudo-personality and
neuroscience in Brussels (2007) and Philadelphia (2008).
Ms. Jenkinson has co-authored a chapter entitled
‗Pathological Spirituality‘ with Dr. Nicola Crowley for a
medical text book entitled, Spirituality and Psychiatry, to be
published by Gaskell in the United Kingdom in 2009. Her
website is www.hopevalleycounselling.com. She can be
contacted at info@hopevalleycounselling.com or + (44) 1433
639032.
