Intimate Terrorists
The role of a "cult of one" son- or daughter-in-law
“A remarkable thing about cult mind control is that it’s so ordinary in the tactics and strategies of social influence employed. They are variants of well-known social psychological principles of compliance, conformity, persuasion, dissonance, emotional manipulation, and others that are used on all of us daily to entice us: to buy, to try, to donate, to vote, to join, to change, to believe, to love, to hate the enemy... Cult mind control is not different in kind from these everyday varieties, but in its greater intensity, persistence, duration, and scope.” Philip Zimbardo: The Lucifer Effect: Understanding How Good People Turn Evil
It’s not uncommon for a once-loving and dedicated son or daughter to be completely transformed into someone unrecognizable after marriage or romantic involvement with a troubled partner.
It’s interesting how similar these characteristics are to those commonly observed in members of a cult:
Sudden or dramatic change in personality or belief system
Rewriting childhood history as bad or abusive
Use of language that seems coached or out of character
Rejection of parents, siblings, and anyone close to them
Rejection of anything related to the past, such as cherished childhood objects
Black-and-white thinking
Radical change in life plan
Secrecy
Dogmatic belief systems
If this has happened to you, engaging with your child or their partner in the right way requires skill and restraint, qualities that often disappear when we feel like our child is slipping away from us.
I’ll discuss this in tonight’s webinar, free if you register before 10PM PT tonight:
The Cult of One or Dark Triad Son- or Daughter-in-law
THURSDAY, May 21 4:30 pm Pacific
FREE TILL 10PM PT MAY 21
REGISTER HERE
Order the Series HERE
This is part of an ongoing series
and you can learn more HERE
COMING UP
4 SESSION INTENSIVES FOR COUPLES AND
INTENSIVES FOR INDIVIDUALS
INDIVIDUALS (for singles or if partner isn’t participating)
STARTS MONDAY 10-11AM
June 1, 8, 15, 22
FULL PAYMENT Register
PARTIAL PAYMENT Register
COUPLES INTENSIVE 10-11AM PT
June 3, 10, 17, 24
FULL PAYMENT Register
JUNE COUPLES PAYMENT PLAN: Register
Learn more about the intensives here
But wait, there’s more!
Summit in Chicago with Karl Pillemer, Kristina Scharp, Michele Weiner-Davis, Matthias Barker, Rachel Haack, Tania Khazaal and me!
Register here!