How to Avoid Being Mind Controlled at a Conference and Freedom from Mind Control
(copied with permission)
These articles present scientific research verifying previously made claims about mind control, propaganda and hypnosis.
This is a written copy of two presentations made at the Survivorship Ritual Abuse and Mind Control 2017 Conference.
Neil Brick is a survivor of ritual abuse and mind control. His work continues to educate the public about child abuse, trauma and ritual abuse crimes. His child abuse and ritual abuse newsletter S.M.A.R.T. has been published for over 20 years. http://neilbrick.com
Conference page: https://survivorship.org/the-survivorship-ritual-abuse-and-child-abuse-2017-conference/
Disclaimer: This presentation is solely my own thoughts and research and not necessarily the thoughts or any other persons or groups I work with, including Survivorship. It includes information from an adapted version of a paper with the same name at the Survivorship website. This information is not intended as treatment or therapy. Survivors may want to use caution while reading this page. All accusations are alleged.
Parts of the first presentation were adapted from a paper at ritualabuse.us which was later re-edited by Survivorship.
How to Avoid Being Mind Controlled at a Conference
While the Conference organizers are doing everything possible to make this conference safe, we are not able to make guarantees, and attendees should also take their own precautions.
You might want to use an alias at the conference, and put that alias on your conference name tag. Do not give your real name or information about where you live or your contact information to other conference attendees.
We encourage conference attendees to travel in pairs with a safe support person as much as possible at the conference If anyone has any trouble with anyone at the conference, please let us know either verbally or on paper during or after the conference. We have tried to make the conference as safe as possible, but it is impossible to make anything totally safe. A safe support person can be an excellent help at a conference. Such a person can help a survivor avoid and process post-traumatic and programming triggers.
However, sometimes persons that survivors think are their supports are actually their handlers, persons who report their behavior to the abuser group and make sure they are obedient. Such a person can be a therapist, a spouse, a friend or another survivor. If you knew the support person before you knew you were a survivor, this person could be a handler. It is difficult in early recovery to know if a support person is a handler. Someone in your life may be a handler if seeing that person makes you feel overly dependent, in a trance state or addicted to being with that person.
Before you bring a support person to a conference, you need to check with your inside parts to make sure that all parts trust this person and do not believe them to be a handler.
Due to the purposeful misinterpretation of this presentation last year here online, which resulted in creating basically a propaganda film used to falsely discredit our work and harass me in my personal life, I am presenting scientific research showing the rational for avoiding triggering others at the conference.
Hand signals
Scientific information proving that subjects may be unaware of suggestions given to them and may act on them post hypnosis.
Post hypnotic suggestions
Posthypnotic Suggestion: Attention, Awareness, and Automaticity
Amanda J. Barnier, Ph.D. (Sleep and Hypnosis 1999;1:57-63)
Posthypnotic Suggestion as Responding without Awareness
Posthypnotic suggestion is an excellent example of the processing of stimuli in the absence of subjective awareness. Indeed, Kihlstrom (28) suggested that posthypnotic behaviour is “a prime example of nonconscious mental processes at work” (see also 29). Typically, a posthypnotic suggestion is given during hypnosis and asks the individual to show a particular behaviour or to have a particular experience in response to a specific cue following hypnosis. In the empirical and clinical literature, posthypnotic suggestions range from very simple, behavioural suggestions (e.g., touching the forehead, or scratching the nose) to very complex cognitive, perceptual, or experiential responses (e.g., visual hallucinations, mood alterations). As an example of “unconscious” responding, posthypnotic suggestion is of special interest because the individual is no longer hypnotised. For all intents and purposes, everything is back to normal; yet, subjects still demonstrate a lack of awareness for their behaviour. This aspect of posthypnotic responding has long been recognised as one of its defining features (28,29).
http://www.sleepandhypnosis.org/ing/Pdf/63790b4456c24c56848e1d924d7b0847.pdf
This is the reason we asked people to be aware of doing hand signals (or going to one’s face) without conscious knowledge.
Hypnosis and MPD
Thought derided by “skeptics” the research around hypnosis and MPD (now called DID) was extensive in the early 1990’s. D. C. Hammond was and is highly credentialed and respected in his field. He corroborates his work in this article with the accounts of others. He shows how he did not lead his clients but carefully questioned them.
Unfortunately, soon after his speech occurred, the false memory groups started taking over the media coverage and severe harassment of clinicians and researchers occurred, stopping and silencing much of this type of research.
Hypnosis in MPD: Ritual Abuse (excerpts are posted below)
D. Corydon Hammond, Ph.D. (“Greenbaum Speech,”)
Herein is the lecture by D.C. Hammond, originally entitled “Hypnosis in MPD: Ritual Abuse,” but now usually known as the “Greenbaum Speech,” delivered at the Fourth Annual Eastern Regional Conference on Abuse and Multiple Personality Disorder (MPD), Thursday June 25, 1992, at the Radisson Plaza Hotel, Mark Center, Alexandria, Virginia. Sponsored by the Center for Abuse Recovery & Empowerment, The Psychiatric Institute of Washington, D.C.
In the introduction the following background information is given for D. Corydon Hammond:
B.S., M.S., Ph.D. (Counseling Psychology) from the University of Utah.
Diplomate in Clinical Hypnosis, the American Board of Psychological Hypnosis.
Diplomate in Sex Therapy, the American Board of Sexology.
Clinical Supervisor and Board Examiner, American Board of Sexology.
Diplomate in Marital and Sex Therapy, American Board of Family Psychology.
Licensed Psychologist, Licensed Marital Therapist, Licensed Family Therapist, State of Utah.
Research Associate Professor of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Utah School of Medicine.
Director and Founder of the Sex and Marital Therapy Clinic, University of Utah.
Adjunct Associate Professor of Educational Psychology, University of Utah Abstract.
Editor, The American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis.
Advising Editor and Founding Member, Editorial Board, The Ericksonian Monograph.
Referee, The Journal of Abnormal Psychology.
1989 Presidential Award of Merit, American Society of Clinical Hypnosis.
1990 Urban Sector Award, American Society of Clinical Hypnosis.
Current President, American Society of Clinical Hypnosis.
Okay. I want to start off by talking a little about trance-training and the use of hypnotic phenomena with an MPD dissociative-disorder population, to talk some about unconscious exploration, methods of doing that, the use of imagery and symbolic imagery techniques for managing physical symptoms, input overload, things like that. Before the day’s out, I want to spend some time talking about something I think has been completely neglected in the field of dissociative disorders, and that’s talking about methods of profound calming for automatic hyper-arousal that’s been conditioned in these patients…..
What I came out of that with was a grasp of a variety of brainwashing methods being used all over the country. I started to hear some similarities. Whereas I hadn’t known, to begin with, how widespread these things were, I was now getting a feeling that there were a lot of people reporting some similar things and that there must be some degree of communication here.
Then approximately two and a half years ago I had some material drop in my lap. My source was saying a lot of things that I knew were accurate about some of the brainwashing, but it was telling me new material I had no idea about. At this point I took note and decided to check it out in three ritual-abuse patients I was seeing at the time. Two of the three had what they were describing, in careful inquiry without leading or contaminating…..
Here’s where it appears to have come from. At the end of World War II, before it even ended, Allen Dulles and people from our Intelligence Community were already in Switzerland making contact to get out Nazi scientists. As World War II ends, they not only get out rocket scientists, but they also get out some Nazi doctors who have been doing mind-control research in the camps…..
What they basically do is they will get a child and they will start this in basic forms, it appears, by about two and a half after the child’s already been made dissociative. They’ll make him dissociative not only through abuse, like sexual abuse, but also things like putting a mousetrap on their fingers and teaching the parents, “You do not go in until the child stops crying. Only then do you go in and remove it.” They start in rudimentary forms at about two and a half and kick into high gear, it appears, around six or six and a half, continue through adolescence with periodic reinforcements in adulthood….
http://www.whale.to/b/greenbaum.html
Behavioral Techniques used to manipulate people.
THE BATTLE FOR YOUR MIND, by Dick Sutphen
Persuasion & Brainwashing Techniques Being Used On The Public Today
The Three Brain Phases
The Christians may have been the first to successfully formulate brainwashing, but we have to look to Pavlov, the Russian scientist, for a technical explanation. In the early 1900s, his work with animals opened the door to further investigations with humans. After the revolution in Russia, Lenin was quick to see the potential of applying Pavlov’s research to his own ends.
Three distinct and progressive states of transmarginal inhibition were identified by Pavlov. The first is the EQUIVALENT phase, in which the brain gives the same response to both strong and weak stimuli. The second is the PARADOXICAL phase, in which the brain responds more actively to weak stimuli than to strong. And the third is the ULTRA-PARADOXICAL phase, in which conditioned responses and behavior patterns turn from positive to negative or from negative to positive.
With the progression through each phase, the degree of conversion becomes more effective and complete. The way to achieve conversion are many and varied, but the usual first step in religious or political brainwashing is to work on the emotions of an individual or group until they reach an abnormal level of anger, fear, excitement, or nervous tension.
(Note: This is comparable at times to shock techniques in the media and sometimes the loaded language of propagandists.)
The progressive result of this mental condition is to impair judgment and increase suggestibility. The more this condition can be maintained or intensified, the more it compounds. Once catharsis, or the first brain phase, is reached, the complete mental takeover becomes easier. Existing mental programming can be replaced with new patterns of thinking and behavior.
Other often-used physiological weapons to modify normal brain functions are fasting, radical or high sugar diets, physical discomforts, regulation of breathing, mantra chanting in meditation, the disclosure of awesome mysteries, special lighting and sound effects, programmed response to incense, or intoxicating drugs.
The same results can be obtained in contemporary psychiatric treatment by electric shock treatments and even by purposely lowering a person’s blood sugar level with insulin injections.
….hypnosis and conversion tactics are two distinctly different things–and that conversion techniques are far more powerful. However, the two are often mixed . . . with powerful results.
https://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Secrets/TR/sutphen.html
Research on mind control cults
The Manipulation of Spiritual Experience: Unethical Hypnosis in Destructive Cults
Linda Dubrow-Marshall, Ph.D. and Steve K. Eichel, Ph.D., ABPP
The following paper was initially presented to the Association of Advance Ethical Hypnosis Twenty-Ninth Annual Convention Boston, MA October 26, 1984. It appeared in Hypnosis
Reports
The process of cult and mass therapy indoctrination may involve repeated inductions of trance-like states of consciousness similar to hypnosis. Environmental (milieu) control, social manipulation, isolation and the use of prescribed consciousness-altering techniques (e.g. repetitive and/or continuous chanting, meditating, or praying) are some of the methods employed by cults to produce these altered states of awareness. Recent studies suggest that memories, emotions and even spiritual experiences can be manipulated while in hypnosis. Lack of informed consent and questionable concern for individual needs and wishes makes the use of these hypnotic techniques unethical. Being subjected to repeated and prolonged hypnotic inductions can impair the convert’s ability to make decisions and evaluate new information; moreover, the convert’s altered awareness can “lock in,” and become a conditioned personality response pattern. One result can be periodic episodes of unwanted trance experiences (“floating”) that occur for months or even years after a cultist exits his/her group….
A large part of the cult debate is concerned with whether or not these techniques constitute an objectively verifiable process of mind control. Behavioral scientists Clark and Langone (1983) claim they do; they have stated that “social psychology research … demonstrates rather conclusively … that environmental variables can influence behavior in remarkable ways … that mind control sometimes occurs in cults (p 28)….
Trance is characterized first and foremost by heightened suggestibility followed closely by diminished critical thinking or reality testing–what Shor (l969) refers to as receding of the “generalized reality orientation.” Repeated induction often result in still greater degrees of suggestibility and deeper hypnotic states (Arons, 1981). By prolonging trance states, and with the use of repeated inductions, the cultist may become more and more pliable, less critical, more dissociated from him/herself and more apt to accept spurious and even preposterous notions as “facts.”….
thought reform techniques seem to work best when the subject are either motivated to cooperate or manipulated into believing they have some degree of free choice. (Cunningham, l984) Hypnosis is a powerful tool…..
http://www.carolgiambalvo.com/unethical-hypnosis-in-destructive-cults.html
These four research articles (and many others) clearly show that our work is neither “pseudoscience” nor “paranoid” but these phenomena clearly exist, suggestible mind states can be produced and post hypnotic suggestions can be acted on without conscious awareness.
So, survivors may sometimes be triggered without knowing it. Whole groups of people can be put in a trance and given instructions through cues. This has proven in cult research. This is why we ask people to avoid putting their hands near the face repeatedly during the conference, to avoid acting on post hypnotic suggestions and to avoid triggering others subliminal mind states.
If you feel you are getting hypnotized or spacey on the phone or in other situations, shake your head hard and excuse yourself from the conversation. Texts and e-mails received during the conference might be designed to make you susceptible to your programming.
Attending Presentations
Some of the presentations might be triggering due to their content.
If you feel triggered, please step back and do some self care. To stay present, take deep breaths, touch your clothing, and try to feel the chair you are sitting on and the floor under your feet. Use the small object you brought to let you know where you are.
If this is insufficient, take a break but do not go for a walk alone. Tell your safe support person, if you have one, that you are feeling triggered and need to leave with them and go outside.
Check inside to see which parts of you are upset and why. Inquire internally whether you are having a post-traumatic reaction, in which something reminded you of some past event or person in your own life, or whether programming has been triggered.
Try and figure out what the presenter did or said which caused these feelings.
Most people are going to act fairly normally, and because programmers/handlers or scouts for secretive organizations or cults are not likely to look any different from most people, it is helpful to be alert to possible signs of attempted accessing.
Do not give any personal details about your life to conference attendees, even if you believe you have met them online. Almost every ritual abuse survivor has parts inside who are trained to report on other survivors to the perpetrators. You do not want anyone reporting about you.
Don’t shake hands or exchange hugs with anyone you don’t know. Certain cults use handshakes to remind people of their programming and/or access certain alter states.
Survivors are in different places in their healing, and their knowledge about programming methods and their ability to recognize such things. There are two ways to catch triggers: one is by your own reactions. If you notice you are suddenly dizzy or foggy, or spaced out, you may be triggered. It is good to know some grounding techniques to use when this begins to happen. Try to remember what just happened around you. The second is by looking for some specific behaviors, odd out of place phrases, or discrepancies between behaviors and words. Pay close attention to hand gestures, winks, taps, etc.
Most people are probably safe, but it is a good idea to be aware of your surroundings as much as possible.
One important thing is if you are feeling triggered or dissociated or tired or weak, don’t let people that you don’t know or trust and/or people that aren’t safe ask you to leave the conference room to talk with you. If you see someone you don’t know walking up to you when you are feeling triggered or dissociated you might want to say “excuse me” and quickly walk away from them and find a support person or a conference organizer.
Trigger Management
Triggers are more than phrases. They can be pictures, sounds, smells, tastes, gestures or touches on the body. The added dangers for triggers for ritual abuse survivors are that triggers can be used to open alter states, or very complex programs. These programs could be used to cause a return to the cult or cause someone to hurt themselves or someone else.
Triggering can occur in so many forms that it is impossible to delineate them all here.
Trigger management is one of the keys to recovery. By being able to manage your triggers, you can hopefully keep from being triggered into alter states that could possibly be used to get you to return to the cult. This entails knowing the trigger and the feeling accompanying the trigger, the memory connected to the trigger and the action required of the trigger.
Working through programming is having the memory in a safe setting with a safe support person and learning the accompanying trigger and subliminal instruction.
Trigger management involves learning to recognize the feeling of falling into a deep hypnotic state, snapping out of it, and then trying to figure out why it happened. It also involves learning how not to fall into these states while feeling the “pull” of them. One technique that can be used is: Shake your head side to side (fairly hard) or walk around.
Susceptibility to triggers can come from being tired or confused. This is why it is important to try not to be tired or confused in possibly triggering situations. Try to stay awake and alert and get enough sleep.
Safety at Home
Please remember that your recovery is your own. It is important for survivors to choose their own spiritual systems. Unfortunately, certain religious and healing techniques are used for programming people (to put people into hypnotic states) sometimes and are also used on RA/MC survivors. Be wary of those that emphasis that there is only one way to heal. Educate yourself about cults and their techniques also. There are several very good books that can help with this.
Look very closely at the relationships in your life. Does a certain person in your life fit the profile of a handler or an abuser? Can you say something about the profile of a handler or an abuser? Ask inside whether anyone recognizes things the person is doing or saying which indicates they may be one?
The important thing is not to have any gurus. To critically analyze everything someone says. This is a learning process.
Discernment is crucial here. It is also important not to be constantly paranoid, though caution can help at times to avoid programming. There are safe people in the world that want to help us. The important thing is figuring out who is safe and who isn’t. Staying present rather than dissociating can really be helpful in this area.
Make your own decisions. There are good support systems and advice out there, but make sure you make your own decisions. Healthy intelligent change is good. Follow you own path or way and be strong enough to do this. If you do this, you will begin to take control of your own triggers and develop a healthy, trigger management system. Please feel free to let us know how you feel about this topic.
This was the second presentation at the Survivorship Conference 2017.
Neil Brick
Freedom from Mind Control
Subliminal methods and mind control influence all areas of our lives. Social and cultural forms of mind control keep us from growing as human beings. These forms of control make it difficult for us to grow and learn as survivors. They make it more difficult to work through our cult control programming to free our minds and our lives. Techniques will be discussed that can help survivors and others break through their mind control programs and influences.
Neil Brick is a survivor of ritual abuse and mind control. His work continues to educate the public about child abuse, trauma and ritual abuse crimes. His child abuse and ritual abuse newsletter S.M.A.R.T. has been published for over 20 years. http://neilbrick.com
Conference page: https://survivorship.org/the-survivorship-ritual-abuse-and-child-abuse-2017-conference/
Disclaimer: This presentation is solely my own thoughts and research and not necessarily the thoughts or any other persons or groups I work with, including Survivorship. This information is not intended as treatment or therapy. Survivors may want to use caution while reading this page. All accusations are alleged.
Cultural Influences and Specific Groups
It is impossible to fully grow and heal from mind control unless one is aware of the specific techniques groups use. There are direct brainwashing and torture techniques that many of us here experienced. There have been many excellent books written about ways to start working through and healing from these techniques. This is an important part of healing.
This presentation looks at a different aspect of healing from mind control. We will be discussing cultural influences and specific groups that use propaganda and mind control techniques. Awareness of these influences, groups and techniques can speed up one’s recovery from ritual abuse and mind control and can also help one avoid getting re-accessed or revictimized by another group later in one’s recovery.
An example of this is survivors that get free of their ritual abuse programming, but end up in a Christian or other religious cult like situation. This often happens due to the lack of survivor supports. These groups are often the only ones willing to help ritual abuse survivors.
Survivors are also susceptible to right wing political groups. All mainstream US political groups use propaganda techniques, but right wing groups are more likely to use different techniques like loaded words (words that carry a lot of emotion), name calling (mudslinging or pointing out negative elements) or an emotional appeal.
The present US regime uses several of these techniques. Our president is a good example of this. I believe that another group that has viciously attacked the resources and research of ritual abuse survivors and our organization called The Grey Faction of the Satanic Temple also does this.
Discussion of Propaganda Techniques
Here is some of the terminology used by The Grey Faction from their website:
“Irrational Mob Panics”
“absurd and irrational conspiracy theories”
“conspiracists, hack reporters, and opportunistic cons”
“psychology’s pseudoscientific fringe; feeding delusion to the mentally vulnerable”
“Mental Health Counselor Paranoid Presentation”
One not aware of the use of name calling and loaded language being used here may be taken in by this language and will apply these labels to ritual abuse survivors and their support systems without critical analysis. I believe that this is one reason propaganda is used by these types of groups.
These name calling insults are from supporters or members of the Satanic Temple:
“Mr. Face-touching-is-mind-control-signaling”
“face-touch triggers for mind dominance”
“can feel me touching my face?”
From the Satanic Temple twitter account:
“The deranged tinfoil hat quacks”
These are only a few of the many insults on the Internet after the last conference in various comment sections. The repeated name calling by this group and its supporters shows the emphasis they use on these types of propaganda techniques.
Lucien Greaves also known as Doug Mesner (both aliases) is known for using some of these techniques. Many of these techniques have been used against myself and others I have worked with.
Here are a few examples from his 2009 article:
“this is to be a congregation of raving delusional paranoiacs”
“The organizer of the conference, Neil Brick, stands about 5’6? with a greasy dark curly comb-over, large-thick glasses, and a voice that sounds exactly like Elmer Fudd”
“why they came to manufacture their paranoid fictions”
There are many examples of name calling and insults far more severe than these being used against myself and others working to stop ritual abuse.
I believe these insults are used not only for propaganda value, but also to intimidate and silence child abuse and ritual abuse survivors and their advocates.
Propaganda (1928) – Edward Bernay
“ THE conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society. Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country.
We are governed, our minds are molded, our tastes formed, our ideas suggested, largely by men we have never heard of. This is a logical result of the way in which our democratic society is organized. Vast numbers of human beings must cooperate in this manner if they are to live together as a smoothly functioning society.“ http://www.historyisaweapon.org/defcon1/bernprop.html
Though I totally disagree with using this to manipulate others, this is what has happened to much of our world today. Previously TV and now the Internet are being used to mold and form opinion for the benefit of the wealthy and those in power.
Religion as mind control
I believe that religions use forms of mind control and the manipulation of others by their leaders.
Disorientation and repetition are two of the major forms of indoctrination used by different religions. Disorientation causes dissociation and allows suggestions to be planted into one’s mind. This was discussed in my first presentation today.
Those that use these mind control and propaganda techniques may attack those exposing these techniques.
Any spiritual technique or moral guideline can be learned without being in a religion. When one joins a religion, they give up their freedom of thought and ability to create their own unique spirituality.
The Satanic Temple is a religion that has tenets like other religions.
Quotes from their website:
“One should strive to act with compassion and empathy towards all creatures in accordance with reason.”
“People are fallible. If we make a mistake, we should do our best to rectify it and resolve any harm that may have been caused.”
I personally have not experienced either of these tenets from the membership of the Satanic Temple or its co-founder. I have rarely seen “compassion” or “empathy” used by this group. The examples given above show a different orientation, in my opinion, one leaning toward cruelty and viciousness.
Ridicule
From the Twitter web page of Lucien Greaves
The claims shouldn’t only provoke skepticism but ridicule & a resolve to end debunked recovered memory therapies (bold added)
Internet definition of ridicule:
“the subjection of someone or something to contemptuous and dismissive language or behavior”
In my opinion, ridicule is meant to insult others and at times to silence or bully others. It is not a rational technique, nor is it meant to be used to fairly debate others.
The Satanic Temple recently released:
“The Satanic Temple’s Guidelines for Effective Protest”
This list includes the phrases:
“protesters must respect free speech”
“If your protest calls for the deprivation of rights and liberties of others, intimidates others,
harasses or threatens others, silences others, then you are an enemy of freedom no matter what the justification”
I believe that the Satanic Temple through some of their statements against child abuse and ritual abuse survivors as well as their co-founder Lucien Greaves or Doug Mesner (both aliases) violates the above guidelines.
I believe I have been severely harassed by this person and group in attempts to silence me and my work. They have filed complaints against my license, called my work place, called my employers, made harassing phone calls to my house and followed me in comment sections on the Internet to harass me further. These attacks are well documented on the websites https://ritualabuse.us and http://neilbrick.com
Lack of morals
We live in a world where people can say almost anything about anyone on the Internet using an alias. People have little to no protection from this. This has been created by the Communication Decency Act where Internet providers are not legally liable for the words of third parties who use their services. Other laws have been passed in the last 30 – 40 years that have caused a further deterioration of social morality. Everything needs to have limits, including speech. Developing limits needs to be done carefully, not to squelch legitimate ideas, but to eliminate the vicious harassment and Internet stalking I and others have been subjected to. This harassing phenomena has unfortunately become a major Internet phenomena. It has often been used to silence and limit the freedom of speech of many.
Infiltrating or “invading” conferences shows a lack of morality. Our conferences are for survivors of torture and rape. The refusal of groups to respect the privacy of the severely traumatized attendees and those that are trying to help them shows a basic lack of respect and decency for those severely injured by others.
Groups that violates trauma survivors’ rights may claim to do so because they want to get information they believe is closed to the public. However this information is available on the Internet in presentations. They may state they are stopping a social injustice, like unjust legal proceedings. However these legal proceedings’ decisions had far more backing than just the ideology of trauma and ritual abuse and were well adjudicated with legal teams on both sides. I believe the real reason for “invading” these conferences is to try and stop them and to intimidate those that run and attend them.
Discussion of Harassment Creating Milieu Control
This concept is about controlling people via the control of their environment, including what is communicated and how. This terminology is applied to cult dynamics, but it also can be applied to social dynamics in general. I believe that the harassment of The Satanic Temple’s Grey Faction and other false memory type groups have at times silenced child abuse and ritual abuse survivors and their supporters. The cultural environment of lack of morality and open Internet without rules has given these groups the opportunity to do this.
Hate Groups
Hate groups are defined as social groups that advocate and practices hatred or hostility towards members of a designated sector of society.
I believe the Satanic Temple through the Grey Faction is being used as a hate group (as per the definition above) to verbally attack survivors of ritual abuse and their supporters. The viciousness of these attacks, as shown above, is used to promote animosity and hostility toward survivors.
Narrative as Eye Witness Testimony
False memory type groups criticize narrative. It is important to remember that trauma research including research around cults and ritual abuse has more than narrative to back up its conclusions. But narrative itself, including self reporting is used without critique in a wide variety of studies. Narrative is a form of eye witness testimony that is used with other evidence to verify or adjudicate claims.
The attacks by false memory type groups on narrative as evidence is disingenuous. We define reality certain ways based on our senses. Our senses have not been verified scientifically, but are used as unproven hypotheses from which we build further theorems. Claiming that one form of evidence is stronger than another is using science as weapon, especially when a debate is being used to silence others.
Using “Science” and “Rationalism” as a Weapon
False Memory groups will use these concepts without backing to convince the reader or listener that they have the correct answer. I believe this is a propaganda technique. They have no more and often less science and research than those they are attacking. To the best of my knowledge, the Grey Faction has never published the full credentials of their members, showing that they have any specific training or evidence in the field of trauma, dissociation or the study of cults. Many of those they attack have published articles in scientific journals and have several high educational degrees.
False Skepticism
“Skeptics” in the false memory field for years have claimed that because they are skeptical, they have an advantage over others. Yet it appears these “skeptics” start from the perspective of not believing in ritual abuse crimes and then proving their own point. I believe that true skepticism questions both sides of an issue to derive a conclusion. An example is calling survivors of ritual abuse delusional or paranoid. There is no legitimate evidence survivors are either. False memory supporters have no evidence a survivor’s story is not true. Therefore they have no evidence any survivor suffers from paranoia or delusion. I believe this is just name calling, a propaganda technique.
Media
The media has done little to help the debate and has often hurt the debate, by refusing to print our research and facts. They often simply repeat the ideas of the Satanic Temple or Grey Faction and do not even ask us for our perspective and research. One example is when the Satanic Temple started three years ago, they claimed their founder was “Neil Bricke.” The Satanic Temple’s website stated: In 2012, Neil Bricke, raised in a multigenerational Satanic Temple tradition of worship, decided, with the blessings of his fellow Satanic devotees, to officially found the Satanic Temple. I believe this was just more harassment and another personal attack against me. The media printed this idea widely, did not fact check it and did little to correct it even if I contacted them.
Damage Caused to Research and Trauma Survivors by Propaganda and Harassment
The more recent attacks have been toward conference supporting trauma survivors and survivors of cult and ritual abuse crimes. These attacks hurt the work of researchers helping trauma survivors and those reaching out for support from trauma crimes. The number of groups still existing since the mid 1990s when the False Memory groups began these attacks began had dwindled down to only a handful. I believe this causes inappropriate treatment protocols to be applied to trauma survivors at times, or for trauma to not be recognized by professionals. Instead of treating trauma, professionals may medicate trauma or only work on behavioral treatment protocols. This causes symptom issues and other addiction problems to continue. In my opinion, the work of false memory type groups has caused a great deal of suffering for those survivors effected by either a lack of resources or inappropriate treatment protocols. I believe these social costs may also be increased, due to continued addictions, hospitalizations and legal issues.
This is the damage that can be done by not recognizing how mind control and propaganda techniques work. On a personal level, one may follow damaging belief systems that impede their recovery from ritual abuse and other traumas. On a social level, we end up with presidents, from either party, that work for the rich and cause massive social suffering. Or we may see the repeated damage of support systems for trauma survivors.
The concept “think for yourself” entails learning about the techniques that can be used to manipulate and control your mind and not letting them control you.
