Over the past few decades, a large number of relatives have begun to seek the help of psychotherapists and priests about the involvement of their families in various religious groups, which many call cults. Usually these people dropped out of school, their friends and relatives avoided work, and completely devoted their time to working in these groups, to which they swore absolute devotion. There are several possible ways to resolve this difficult situation.
Deprogramming Method
In the 70s and 80s of the last century, the method of "deprogramming" was the only systemic method that allows you to "pull out" a person who fell into a particular destructive religious organization or sect.
Its essence consisted in a rigid presentation of true information about a particular cult (mainly the one in which the person found himself).
Sometimes a cult member was forcibly taken away from the street during a specially developed interaction between relatives and “rescue” specialists. After this, a rather tough conversation was held for several hours, indicating the facts of the manipulative influence of the sect, and to some extent even pressure was exerted.
Although this procedure most often succeeded in removing a family member from a cult, sometimes former members of religious organizations filed lawsuits. And in addition, cases of nervous shocks after "deprogramming" were known, since the procedure itself was often characterized by rigidity, violence and almost informal methods.
Exit counseling
The rigidity of the “deprogramming” method led to the fact that in the mid-80s the softer and, as it turned out later, professional methods of assistance became most attractive.
A direction appeared, which became known as exit counseling. Psychotherapists have already taken part here, and in most cases people who have visited cults themselves and were able to free themselves from them.
The goal of exit counseling is to help develop critical thinking abilities, especially regarding the use of mind control. Exit consultants do not violate the client’s rights and do not exert a violent influence on their ideological and spiritual orientation.
Family initial contact with exit counselors includes a series of conversations. Their goal is to relieve tension and panic from family members of the cult, providing information about the cult (including ways to control consciousness and manipulation), consultants studying the biographical data about the cult member and developing a specific strategy for working with a client (a person who has become a cult).