S1: Everyday Cults. Everyday People. Episode Three: Drifting

In this, our first season of Everyday Cults. Everyday People we explore the five stages of cultic involvement Gerette identifies in her new memoir An Everyday Cult. Last week, our subject was Falling—as in falling for the trickery of a cult. Today, we discuss drifting, the second stage.

Drifting is a period of psychological meandering where part of one’s psyche is lulled into unconscious complicity with a doctrine. During this stage one can be easily influenced but can also hold down a job and raise a family without great negative impact, despite the fact that they are living a split reality. 

We also discuss the cult leader’s lack of accountability, training, or ethical standards for the ‘therapy’ sessions he conducted, and the predatory, non-consensual relationships ‘Doug’ had with members of the ‘Center for Transformational Learning’ cult he founded. (For the protection of those who have been and are subject to cultic abuse, 'Doug' and 'Center for Transformational Learning' are pseudonyms.)

Tune in for frank talk about everyday cults and how they can endanger everyday people like you and me. 

 Views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of Gerette Buglion arising from her personal 18-year cultic involvement and from her work in cult recovery and education.