Re: "the ARC Break Mechanism". There is a "cycle of recovery" that is talked about in recovery circles.....Denial, Shock & Disbelief, Anger and Personal Responsibility. Below "Personal Responsibility" we see LOW or NO ARC for the subject or area. (
http://www.drirene.com/victim_recovery.htm is just one of MANY pages about this.)
Thanks for clarifying for me your reference to the "ARC Break Mechanism" from your previous post. I find it most interesting that you would pick that particular reference (see link above) as an illustration of your statement ...
Where I was going with that is that often you have to allow the person to come up through their anger, etc before you can even begin to address the "personal responsibility" issues.
I would agree that there are parallels between Dr. Irene's "Victim's Stages of Recovery" [from abusive relationships] and the process of recovering from involvement in a destructive cult. The following (in red) is quoted directly from that site:
Recovery from codependent victimhood usually occurs in a series of often overlapping stages. Here is a rough outline of what you may expect, though each individual is different:
Duh... Denial Stage. The victim is relatively brain dead here. Your energy is spent on justifying your abuser, working overtime to "make him or her happy," and hiding the truth from yourself. You often pay with physical and / or emotional symptoms. Your self-esteem is non-existent.
The wording belongs to "Dr. Irene," the bold emphasis is mine. Applying this to the stages of "recovery" from scientology (or other similar cults) I would place most "practicing scientologists," who continue to follow LRH ideas and/or agenda, in or out of the CoS, at this stage.
Regarding the accuracy of the last sentence,
your self-esteem is non-existent: Scientologists often
appear to be quite confident and to have a high level of self esteem; but I venture the opinion that for most who are in the "denial" stage regarding the cult, their "self-esteem" rests on their being defined and defining themselves as a
scientologist -- an identity created by Hubbard to capitalize on a person's need to "be someone," and to "feel important and worthy." Take away the identity of
scientologist and the person is left lost and floundering, with no self-defined identity, and a complete loss of self-esteem.
This is of course my own observation, but it is supported by the many, many stories told on this and other discussion forums of how people -- particularly those who had been in the cult for a long time and had gained much "status" within it -- felt when they were either expelled or, finding their situation intolerable, finally chose to leave.
Ugh! Shock & Disbelief Stage. The victim doesn't know which end is up! You have just learned about abuse and are shocked to realize that your relationship may be abusive! You need validation and support. You are just learning to trust your senses.
It is in this stage that many people leaving scientology find their way to the internet, and here to this forum or other such discussion groups. Here the hidden facts about the cult of scientology are brought to light, and the person's former world is turned upside down!
I observe that many of the "newbies" on this and other forums are in this stage, and they are indeed in need of validation and support, and a hand in learning to trust their own senses.
It is not uncommon, nor unexpected, for those in this stage to cling to a belief in Hubbard's good intentions, the validity of "the tech," and whatever straws of "goodness" they can find in scientology -- at least for a little while.
IMO the recovery process for non-CoS scientologists -- the Freezone practitioners, the "indy" practitioners, and so forth -- is arrested at this stage. Rather than progressing forward, these individuals often sink back to the "Denial" stage with a whole new set of "reasons why" they continue to align with Hubbard's agenda.
Ooops! Anger Stage. There is a sharp sense of outrage over what has been happening! Your victim's buttons are all showing! You are angry, defensive, blaming, and full of guilt now - and you are internally fighting all of it!
<snip>
In regard to cult recovery, this stage is self-explanatory, and also imo quite understandable, particularly if one has lost resources, family, and years of self-development opportunities to the deceptive practices of the cult. Emotional outbursts, the "highs and lows" of emotional roller-coaster, and "venting" and "rants" would be common and expected in this stage.
While that's not it's only purpose, a forum such as this can provide a safe space in which a person can work through this stage with the encouragement and validation of others who've "been there, done that" and thus have some understanding and sympathy.
Yippee! Personal Responsibility Stage. Finally. You are very clear on what's going on, you are able to stand up to your abuser. <snip>.
I believe that this is the stage in which EX-scientologists gradually extricate themselves from the "mindfuck" by deconstructing and debunking "scientology," and by recognizing its effects on them and on others.
Pointing out these effects in order to help others through the process, or to warn casual readers away from the cult and its offshoots, is part of this stage. Protesting, demanding one's money be returned, etc. are part of this stage, part of
standing up to your abuser.
It is an ongoing process that is done "when it's done." Some get through this stage quickly, leave the cult and all things scientological behind and go off to build a new life for themselves with a new self-defined identity.
Some join what could be termed a crusade and devote most of their energy to exposing the cult's abuses and ensuring that others are not deceived, as they were.
In between those extremes are many gradations of personal responsibility as regards recovery from the scientology experience, as each individual works out their own new life at their own pace.
As for injustice...it goes back to my "observation" that the statement made was made more out of emotion than reason. I would love to see the discourse that supports that assertion. But to me, it seems more an opinion arising out of the Anger band of recovery from a "destructive cult". So the cycle has a way to go yet (imho). Your mileage may vary.
With that I disagree -- I think the statement [made by another author, earlier on this thread] was made as part of the "personal responsibility" stage, that as an opinion it was well supported by the author's observations and detailed description of those observations, and that it contained little if any anger or other emotion -- that is, it was made more out of reason than emotion.
But as you point out, YMMV.