Emotional Trauma - Can We Ever Recover?

An essential part of our work here at FACT is being a support system for those in need. Emotional and or Mental trauma is very difficult, there are any number of situations that can cause emotional trauma, here are a few that we hear about on a regular basis:

1. Loss of loved ones due to involvement in a cult - parental alienation and or shunning are common practice in these high control groups/cults.

2. Loss of an entire community, lifelong friendships and careers due to leaving a high control group/cult or being labeled an "apostate" by the group/cult.

3. Being harassed, intimidated, threatened (by the cult and or "friends" within the cult) and otherwise living in fear for speaking up about abuses that have occurred, disagreements and or about wanting to leave a group.

4. Loss of a loved one or friend due to suicide from involvement in a cult or abusive relationship. 

There are many factors for emotional trauma and loss, those are just a few that we hear about regularly in our work with victims and survivors. As a result of emotional trauma, one may begin to feel numb, disconnected and possibly lose trust in others and even ourselves, our own intuition. It can take a lot of time for this pain to go away, and for us to feel safe again and comfortable in our own skin. If the trauma we’ve experienced is psychological, we may suffer from troubling memories, anxiety and emotions. Trauma causes a shock to our minds, bodies and souls, which can lead to emotional problems in the future. There are cognitive, behavioral, physical, and psychological reactions to emotional trauma.

There is a natural process of grieving that occurs after any type of loss, whether we are aware of that process or not.

According to Elisabeth Kübler-Ross there are five stages of grieving:

1. Denial and Isolation: “This can't be happening, this isn't real, I don't believe it". Denial is a common defense mechanism and is a normal reaction to rationalize our overwhelming emotions. We can start to believe that life is meaningless, and nothing is of any use or value. For most people experiencing grief, denial and isolation is a temporary response that helps us through the initial wave of pain and shock.

2. Anger: As denial and isolation begin to wear off, reality and the pain will inevitably rise to the surface.

3. Bargaining: - The normal reaction to feelings of helplessness and vulnerability is often a need to regain control. I remember during my "bargaining" phase, one evening I was hiking through the mountains and I was still very angry of course but also feeling very helpless in re-constructing my life. I was overwhelmed with emotions and I dropped to my knees right there in the forest and screamed, yelled and cried, looking up to the sky asking anyone who was listening "why is this happening to me", "what did I do" etc.

4. Depression: Sadness is a perfectly normal reaction to life’s struggles, setbacks, and disappointments. Many people use the word “depression” to explain these kinds of feelings, but the symptoms of depression are much more than just sadness. Depression is the overwhelming feeling of sadness when everything in your life seems to be going right.  However, some depressed people don’t feel sad at all—they may feel lifeless, empty, and apathetic, or some may even feel angry, aggressive, and restless.

The final stage of grieving is:

5. Acceptance: Acceptance in human psychology is a person's assent to the reality of a situation, recognizing a process or condition without attempting to change it or protest it. This might be one of the hardest stages, but it can also be the most freeing. As one accepts their situation they are then free to move on from it, the burden of the grief and all the pain, anger, sadness etc is finally been processed. It's not to say that one will never revisit that grief or loss, as it will always be with us to some degree, but the bulk of it has been processed and there is a renewed sense of life after that, from my experience anyways.

When I was grieving and struggling I had no idea there were actually stages of grieving, I thought I'd be burdened with these overwhelming feelings and helplessness forever. Which is in part, why I wanted to write about it. If you're struggles and burden are to much, to overwhelming, please reach out for help to a trusted friend or loved one or a support group. There is light at the end of the tunnel!

Stay Strong!

Best,
A Member of the FACT Team

Abuse Report Against the "King" of "Sham"bhala

"Late last month, a former Shambhala teacher released a report alleging that the Sakyong had sexually abused and exploited some of his most devoted female followers for years. Women quoted in the report wrote of drunken groping and forcefully extracted sexual favors. The report said that senior leaders at Shambhala — an organization whose motto is “Making Enlightened Society Possible” — knew of the Sakyong’s misconduct and covered it up."

Read Full Article  Here

Stay tuned for our Grand Expose on Shambhala and Naropa University to be published very soon.  

The FACT Team

Scientology Cult use Nazi Tactics to Control Members

This goes to show how much control cults Try to have over their members, the way they think, the way they act, their thoughts, their emotions and with their family and social connections. Their tactics, one of which is having a "reporting system" in place, where members report on each other,  has zero boundaries, are invasive and Nazi like.

This is a Scientology Interrogatory - a series of questions sent by the Church of Scientology of Denver to a Denver area Scientologist or more likely ex-Scientologist who is trying to stay under the radar.

At the end of the Interrogatory it states "Bring in or mail to the HCO (Hubbard Communications Office) Cope Officer no later than 10 May 2018"

This person did not respond to the Interrogatory, likely out of fear of losing family, friends, business connections etc. They then were sent a "Summons" by the Church of Scientology Denver.

They state: "You are to arrive for an interview no later than 6p.m. on 8 July 2018". If this person does not respond or show up, the next level of handlings will ensue.

The Church of Scientology boasts about their never ending expansion, year after year and yet they have to interrogate their members as to why there is so much disassociation from members with Scientology. Scientologists are highly controlled - Behaviorally controlled , Information-ally controlled, Thought controlled and Emotionally controlled.

These are common Cult and mind control techniques that keep members under undue influence to stay in the cult instead of leave. When a group or person has control over another in these capacities they gain virtually all control over them.

Steve Hassan's BITE Model goes into great detail on these points.

Cult members have no idea, no education on these topics. If they are in tune with themselves, their true identity in the least, they will at least feel Cognitive Dissonance from time to time - which can be very conflicting for them.

Watch Out Cults and Predatory Personalities - you may have your current membership controlled, but society at large is being educated and more and more youth, who you primarily target, are being armed with the knowledge to walk away when you and your brainwashed members approach them.

Please share with everyone you know so more people can get the education and awareness needed about these topics. It Saves Lives!

Thank you!

The FACT Team  

How Institutions Contribute to Sexual Predation

With the endless media reports and the countless number of complaints and support emails we get from so many victims of abuse that are or were involved in one institution or another, whether it be a University or a religious organization this article is spot on!

Joe Navarro is a former FBI Counterintelligence Agent and is the author of What Every Body is Saying. Also Author of: Dangerous Personalities: An FBI Profiler Shows You How to Identify and Protect Yourself from Harmful People. He is an expert on nonverbal communications and body language.

Joe states in his article: 

"Predators, especially smart ones, go into professions where their victims will be easy to access. In other words, they count on institutions, to wit: the Catholic church or a university as in these cases, to attract and corral the victims for them—thus making predation easier and more plentiful. Yes, that is how predators think, I know, I have interviewed them. This is what institutions fail to get."

And not only will institutions protect the predator, they will do the dirty work by questioning the veracity of victims or their memory, or worse, they may decide to just silence the victims. As unctuous as that sounds, that is exactly what they do. Institutions and enablers culpably embolden predators and so predators continue to do more harm. Sexual predators are aware that people are forgiving and that there will be those that will side with them no matter what they do – no matter how ugly the facts.

So not only are they negligent, most institutions are reluctant to recognize that they may have hired or are associated with a predator. As if their institution were somehow immune from these individuals. No institution is immune. The question is, are institutions willing to acknowledge even the possibility? Most I assure you are not."

Read the full article Here

One of our downloadable FACT Sheets on our website highlights Joe's research and writings on Why Predators are Attracted to Careers in the Clergy.Download our Preventative Education Materials Here

We hope you found this information educational and please share it with others to help raise much needed awareness.

Thank you,
The FACT Team

2018 ICSA Conference - Live Video Streaming

For those unable to attend this yearly conference, there is Live Streaming of sessions at the 2018 ICSA (International Cultic Studies Association) Conference - Philadelphia July 5 - 7, 2018

The 2018 ICSA conference in Philadelphia, organized with Info-Cult/Info-Secte of Montreal will be offering live streaming of two sessions via the ICSA YouTube Channel:

Thursday July 5, 2018 at 9:00 (EST): Conference Opening with Steve Eichel, PhD, ICSA President, and Carolle Tremblay, Esq.

Info-Secte/Info-Cult President and Plenary Address: We Disagree-Let’s Talk! Why Diversity and Dialogue are Necessary and How We Overcome Undermining Factors with Lorna Goldberg, LCSW. YouTube Live Stream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ylowf54_mtE

Saturday July 7, 2018 at 4:30 (EST): Plenary Address: The Spectrum of Coercive Control with Rod Dubrow-Marshall, PhD. YouTube Live Stream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNEt6Z9MmKQ

Thank you to all those who provide valuable resources and information at this conference. It is very valuable and very appreciated and we are happy to support and help promote their events to assist survivors in their understanding and healing.

Sincerely,
The FACT Team