Common Programs Observed in Survivors of Satanic Ritualistic Abuse
childadvocate
describes crimes of abuse and programming techniques
(copied with permission)
David W. Neswald, M.A. M.F.C.C. in collaboration with Catherine Gould,
Ph.D. and Vicki Graham-Costain, Ph.D. The California Therapist, Sept./
Oct. 1991, 47-50
Introduction
Increasingly, cases of Multiple Personality Disorder (MPD) and Satanic
Ritualistic Abuse (SRA) are being reported in the psychotherapeutic
community. Though controversy concerning authenticity remains, such
cases are slowly gaining in acceptability as a genuine social and
psychopathological phenomenon. Concurrently, the etiological
underpinnings and treatment demands of these special patients are
being unraveled and understood as never before. As a result, it is
becoming increasingly clear that perhaps the most demanding treatment
aspects of such cases concern the problems posed by what is known as
“cult programming.”
So called cult “programs” are really no more than conditioned stimulus-
response sequences consistent with basic learning theory. Such
conditioning is achieved through a large variety of sophisticated and
sadistic mind control strategies involving the combined application of
physical pain, double-bind coercion, psychological terror, and split
brain stimulation. All programs are stimulus-sensate triggered. Thus,
programs may be enacted (triggered) via auditory, visual, tactile,
olfactory and/or gustatory modalities. Classical, operant, and
observational/modeling paradigms all are utilized by the cults and
their “programmers.” Finally, it is important to note that virtually
all cult programs will possess a variety of secondary and tertiary
back-ups — perhaps several layers of each.
The following is a preliminary and evolving listing of the different
types of cult programming observed in my own brave patients, as well
as in those of my colleagues and consultees. All such patients are
survivors of Satanic Ritualistic Abuse with a diagnosis of Multiple
Personality Disorder.
The purpose of this compilation is to educate the therapist treating
MPD and SRA about commonly observed programs in similar survivors. It
is hoped that the following will aid in the identification of cult
mind control programming in therapists’ patients, as well as to
generically disseminate important information hitherto known to but a
relatively few SRA specialists. The more we know about cult techniques
and methodologies, the easier it becomes to effectively treat these
courageous patients.
Self-Injury Programming
1). Cutting Programs
As children, patients have been “taught” by the cult when and how to
cut. These programs tend to be triggered as a means of punishment, as
well as to reinforce earlier “compliance” or “shutdown” injunctions
(e.g., “Don’t betray the coven.”)
I recommend that the therapist pay specific attention to the pattern,
location and implement of the cutting — each may serve as a signature
of the original program, involved alter (alternate personality), and/
or cult programmer. I further recommend photographing and or
diagramming the wounds from each of the cutting episodes for later
comparisons.
The cutting implements themselves may be special “gifts” of the
programmer (used during the original programming session), which the
patient may keep secretly hidden for years and use only when the urge
to cut is specifically triggered. Finally, many cutting programs have
been conditioned in such a way as to “progress” to suicide programs as
“needed.”
2). Burning Programs
As is the case with cutting programs, the location and modality of the
burn injuries are significant. The therapist may also wish to map the
burn wounds. Common modes of burning include: cigarettes, lighters,
hot metal implements (i.e., knives, rods, wands), and/or a variety of
scalding (or flammable) liquids and caustic chemicals.
3). Miscellaneous Self-Injury Programs
Types of specific self-injury programs are as numerous as there are
ways to injure oneself. Besides being conditioned to cut and burn, we
have also routinely seen programs designed to create within the
survivor: (1) “accident” proneness, (2) failure to eat, (3) ingestion
of injurious materials and poisons, (4) failure to sleep, (5) failure
to take needed medication, and (6) the intentional breaking of one’s
own bones — particularly hands, fingers, arms andd legs.
Lethal Programming
1). Suicide Programs
SRA survivors are routinely conditioned to attempt to kill themselves
when they and/or the therapist, are deemed to be getting too close to
material damaging to the cult, or when the cult feels it has lost all
other forms of control over the patient.
Expect these to be present in virtually all SRA survivors. Recent
clinical experience has raised serious questions concerning the once
widely held “one true suicide program” concept. Indeed, while many
patients do have but one or two such programs, many more often exist.
Additionally, there may be more than one suicide program per alter,
and more than one trigger per program.
Identified suicide methodologies have included: shooting, hanging,
cutting, stabbing, poisoning, overdosing, auto “accidents,” leaping
from buildings, starvation, etc.
It has been my experience that the original cult suicide programming
sessions will often NOT involve the use of dissociation enhancing
medication, apparently so as to keep the memory as clear and distinct
as possible.
2). Assassination Programs
When someone in the survivor’s environment is deemed by the cult to
have become too much of a liability, the patient may in some cases by
triggered to attempt to kill that person. Most likely such programming
will be set in against a supportive significant-other (e.g., husband,
boyfriend), or against the therapist.
As is the case in self-injury programs, the special means/implements
(e.g., guns, knives, poison, etc.) of the assassination program are
often “given” to the patient by the cult.
The primary intent of the cult may not be the actual death of the
assassination target, so much as the discrediting of the patient as a
“murderer” or “attempted murderer.”
Cult Control Programming
1). Reporting Programs
Patients are conditioned to routinely contact and report back to the
cult. These programs may be time-triggered (every month, full moon,
etc.), date-triggered (i.e., corresponding to cult “holidays”, etc.),
or situationally triggered (i.e., host personality enters therapy,
reveals cult “secrets,” etc.). Such programs keep the cult updated on
the patient’s daily life, as well as with the ongoing work in therapy.
Further, specific intelligence information may be gathered about the
therapist and treatment facility, and reported back to the cult.
Particularly prevalent with such conditioning are several layers of
back-up reporting programs. Of course, along with back-up programs
will come a large contingent of back-up reporting alters. Never assume
you’ve found all the reporting alters in the patient’s system. Always
assume that reporting exists.
2). Access Programs
This refers to cult access into the survivors’ personality system.
These programs allow the cults to access the patient’s personality
system through specific (usually cult-created) alters. This access is
achieved through a large variety of triggers, including whistles,
electronic tones, spoken phrases, touch, etc. Once accessed, a myriad
of other programs may be triggered and/or reinforced by the cult.
3). Return Programs (Call Backs)
Such programs are designed to manipulate patients to return to the
cult for rituals and/or further programming or to “escape” from
therapy. The patient may be conditioned to respond to phone cues, to
follow a specific contact cult member upon sight, and/or to meet a
cult “contact” at a predetermined location (i.e., “safe house”).
4). Reminder-Reinforcement Programs
May be used as a “reminder” of the patient’s “vows” to the larger cult
or subordinate coven. These are programs often enacted via phone or
touch triggers (e.g., three series of three taps on shoulder or knee,
a rapid series of six electronic tones, spoken phrases, etc.). Program
triggers frequently include “gifts” from the cult given during
childhood (e.g., stuffed animals, music boxes, etc.). Visually,
certain colors may also serve the same purpose. Cult-related colors
(particularly red, purple and black) are commonly presented to the
survivor in the form(s) of a cult-contact’s apparel, a letter or
envelope, etc. These programs appear to be primarily designed to re-
install fear and cult compliance.
Not uncommonly, a survivor may be triggered to compulsively engage in
degrading or self-injurious activities so as to reinforce a variety of
other “in place” cult conditioned responses.
Therapy Interference Programming
1). Scrambling Programs
These are programs intended to confuse, disorganize and/or block the
patient’s alter system, emerging memories, thought processes, and/or
incoming information. Often, there are specific alters designated by
the cult programmer to perform this function (e.g., “The Scrambler”).
Reduced ability to “switch,” speak, write, draw, read, and/or remember
previous sessions/work are potential tip-offs to the enactment of a
scrambling program.
Such programs may specifically target the therapist. For example, the
incoming words and/or visual images of the therapist may be scrambled
or garbled. The effect will often be that the survivor experiences the
therapist as looking and/or sounding threatening, abandoning, or
incompetent.
2). Flooding Programs
Such programs are enacted by the cult in order to interfere with
therapeutic progress/process by overwhelming the patient. This is
achieved by triggering the patient to have a flood of painful and
frightening cognitive and/or somatic memories enter consciousness
simultaneously, thereby significantly increasing post-traumatic stress
disorder (PTSD) symptomotology and suppressing the functionality of
the patient. A wide variety of triggers may be utilized.
3). Recycle Programs — (Ray & Reagor, 1991)
These are programs which act to quickly re-dissociate memories which
the therapist has worked to abreact and re-associate. The therapist
may return the next day to find he/she must redo the work from the
previous therapy session. Such programs must be neutralized before the
re-dissociated material may be effectively re-associated.
4). Cover Programs — (Ray & Reagor, 1991)
Similar to “screen memories;” these are programmed memories laid in by
the cult to distract from, or distort, the true ritual abuse memory. A
secondary purpose of these programs is to discredit the survivor’s
memories with “unbelievable” content. For example, a ritual involving
pain and “medical” paraphernalia might be “covered” with a memory of
UFO abduction and experimentation.
5). Verbal Response Programs
These are programs designed to provide “acceptable” answers to cult-
related, system-related or alter-related inquiries which may be posed
by the therapist or other non-cult supportive persons. Such responses
will have been extensively (and painfully) “rehearsed” by the patient
and cult programmer.
6). Silence-Shutdown Programs
When enacted, such programs will cause the patient to “stop talking” —
to cease revealing information to the therapist or non-cult supportive
other. Though such programs may be triggered through a wide variety of
modalities, enactment via self-touch triggers are particularly common.
Some shutdown programs will be directed toward specific alters, while
others are meant for the system in general.
7). Nightmare-Night Terror Programs
Similar to flooding programs, patients are conditioned to become
overwhelmed with terrifying images/memories while asleep. Such
programs are deeply ingrained and appear to be primarily used for
punishment. They serve to keep the patient run-down and fatigued.
Often, nightmare programs are triggered or tripped automatically when
processing “forbidden” material in therapy.
8). Isolation Programs
Isolation programs may have intra-system or extra-system applications.
Within the system, alters may be walled-off (via amnestic barriers)
from cooperative alters by cult-loyal alters. Beyond the system,
patients may be conditioned to withdraw socially, isolating themselves
from helpful resources, etc.
9). Pain Programs
As the name implies, patients may be conditioned to reexperience the
physical pain portion of their abuse memories. Generally used as
punishment, pain programs may also be enacted to “motivate” the
survivor to carry out other programmed injunctions. Such conditioning
may be specifically/intentionally triggered by cult, or automatically
tripped when processing “forbidden” material in therapy. Electroshock
pain appears to be a favorite of the cult-programmers for this
particular conditioning paradigm.
10). Rapid Switching Programs
Once enacted, a patient may not be able to finish a sentence without
switching three to four times between alters. The problems this
creates for the patient’s optimal functionality are obvious. This type
of conditioning appears to have been programmed via the rapid
presentation of preconditioned alter-triggers during the original
programming session. The entire original programming experience is
then paired with a neutral trigger.
11). Miscellaneous Therapy Interference Programs
Other types of programs observed in SRA survivors designed to
interfere with the therapeutic process include those which condition
the patient to: (1) not see, (2) not think for self, (3) stay
distracted, and (4) become resistant, mistrustful, and/or obnoxious
toward the therapist.