There's a long list of things that get someone into a cult mindset and often what needs to be addressed is dependent to a large degree on two classes of things at least. You have what has persuaded them and how it persuaded them as one and the other is their individual psychology.
For me as an easy example I made certain assumptions and decisions going into the cult that made me a true believer and a series of actions and decisions that countered or neutralized much of that in coming out. I also discovered the Scientology indoctrination methods weren't at all what I thought they were and could examine the general categories of thought reform used and the specific techniques on Scientology that fit those categories.
Scientology persuaded me of its effectiveness with the observable phenomena of using study technology to create a series of physiological and mental and emotional reactions which it described and the methods to change or reduce those reactions which it also described, thus framing them as proof the barriers to study existed and the procedures presented alleviated the barriers.
I spent hundreds and hundreds of hours on course so that was the bulk of my conversion process.
The extensive loaded language in Scientology acted as a way to continually give new and more strength to the persuasion of the indoctrination. By thinking in terms that I thought defined reality accurately I in effect validated those terms and strengthened anew the neural networks that held those terms and because Hubbard used Orwellian reversals for Double Think it also involved denial of the truth about the terms and reality of Scientology each time they were thought of thus acting to strengthen habitual unconscious rejection of the truth and acceptance of the lie.
Additionally Hubbard interwove definitions of his terms to overlap endlessly creating the effect that thinking of the tone scale triggers thinking the tone levels are real and that auditing is genuine and present time and the reactive mind and thousands of other things because they all are defined by one another in endless loops.
I at one point got a job requiring rapid communication. I realized thinking in Scientology terms slowed down my communication as I translated everything into Scientology terms before accepting it or if my thoughts into English before saying it. I thought it would not matter if I thought and spoke in English.
By thinking in English and leaving Scientology out of it the persuasion weakened. Over months and years independent and critical thinking began to creep back into existence.
I had in going into Scientology decided that Hubbard could not be influencing people via his words. I twenty five years later saw a show about two people trapped in the mind of a person. Obviously an impossible situation, but it made me realize if a person has enough opportunity for repetition they could possibly by persistence and possibly variation eventually persuade someone. That countered a lowering of my guard from years before.
I also in examining the behavior of others saw the need for individuals to see themselves as responsible for the decisions and actions they make no matter what leaders or beliefs they have as the leader could be wrong or beliefs mistaken. That decision that authority isn't ever to be treated as the ultimate lone decider shook me in a way I didn't understand.
I got a series of nagging doubts that something wasn't right in mu life but I couldn't figure out how. I didn't understand that I was gradually throwing off my habits and thoughts that held the Scientology persuasion in force, so it diminished.
I thought I should examine everything in my life carefully and see if I was doing something wrong or missing something. I knew I had a good job, was married to the woman I wanted to be married to and loved, loved my kids and everything was good with them and I was in good health with conditions generally improving.
But something didn't feel right. I set out to check everything in my life and automatically thought of Scientology and at first thought that could only make things better and then stopped myself. I realized I was not really carefully examining it at all and out of habit assumed it was fine.
I got extremely anxious and didn't like the feeling. I decided to examine it. In the past I had always looked for all the answers regarding Scientology in Scientology. I knew that would not give me anything different. I thought of reading Hubbard's books again but knew that would take me to where I had already been.
I stopped myself and thought of looking outside Scientology and that if it was genuine I could always go back. It wasn't going anywhere.
I looked at several sites and couldn't understand the jokes or even language at ESMB. I ended up reading the posse of lunatics story at Freedom magazine. I realized something had to be terribly wrong in the Sea Org. That led to seeing the Sea Org as a fraud.
I didn't understand how I had the mental, physical and emotional reactions in Scientology. I ended up at the Underground Bunker reading the Scientology Mythbusting series of articles and Never Believe A Hypnotist.
I also read a little about psychology influence and cognitive dissonance theory and hypnosis.
I figured out that Hubbard's study technology is a fraud and the phenomena described do occur but the barriers don't exist and the phenomena have been reported to be due to study factors when they really correspond to trance phenomena and cognitive dissonance manifestations.
Hubbard used ideas he long knew from hypnosis like the induction methods of contradiction (aka confusion aka paradox), mimicry, repetition-with-variation, vivid imagery, guided imagery, attention fixation and division and age regression. Anything to get the transference aka altitude aka prestige or authority he desired.
I absolutely needed to understand the dope off he described was a hypnotic phenomena as was the feeling of overwhelm and the blank feeling, the washed out feeling, the not there feeling and much more. I had to understand the confusion, reelingness and exasperation he described as well as nervous hysteria are results of cognitive dissonance and the blank is actually the moment of indecision cognitive dissonance inspires- into which Hubbard inserts an idea as a command to be grasped in desperation to resolve the confusion and make a decision.
That's a key element in certain forms of persuasion and hypnosis. The hypnotist decides for the person. A decision, any decision that gets attention off the confusion removes the unpleasant emotions like anxiety aka nervous hysteria that the confusion created.
In Scientology indoctrination lots of confusion occurs as Hubbard contradicts himself and reality and accepted facts very often. So a Scientologist gets confused and believes he has an MU and tries to accept Hubbard's direction to look elsewhere for a word to clear then accepts Hubbard's ideas that the doctrine is correct and the definitions he provides are true.
So by learning that Hubbard framed the indoctrination as study technology when in fact it is cognitive restructuring I undid the mystical manipulation he used. Lifton described mystical manipulation as using predictable and explainable normal phenomena that are falsely presented as miraculous or magical and using the definitions of them to reframe reality and the existence of them and manipulation of them as proof the definitions are genuine. So a cult member thinks that the barriers to study for example exist when they actually don't.
Hubbard's loaded language and mystical manipulation each feed each other. His persuasion triggered what is called trance logic. That's a highly suggestible state in which contradictions are ignored by the conscious mind and denied. It's an age regressed state that is open to magical thinking. It's similar to being a young child and knowing your parents are to be obeyed without question because if you don't understand why they want something you know they are capable of making the best decisions and so obey their authority automatically.
I realized the study technology had created a specific effect: while trying to memorize twenty plus departments in order with their corresponding awareness characteristics on the staff status II course I had stopped doing something. Previously I had some reservations about Scientology.
I had joined staff naively thinking I would find out if Scientology really was what it claimed and if not I would tell the world. I had kept three categories of information. I had my beliefs from before Scientology, I had the thousands of English word definitions I had to clear in Scientology study technology and be prepared to instantly rattle off without hesitation or comm lag to pass a spot check and the hundreds of Scientology terms I had to likewise clear and hundreds of Scientology phrases and mottos as well. It was a lot of work to keep all three categories separate and constantly growing.
It was too much work. So I stopped and let the three groups all merge. I didn't worry about what ideas were mine or English or Hubbard's. I just accepted everything he said and my anxiety and confusion disappeared as I used trance logic and took it all in on his authority.
I had no conscious awareness of contradiction but it was of course present as subconscious content denied by me.
I had to understand all these things and more to throw off the influence of Scientology.
