澳大利亚临床心理学家Ahona Guha分享了自己在青少年时期被邪教招募的亲身经历[1]。她在16岁时开始参加占星术和自我认识课程，在随后的六个月内逐步陷入邪教组织，最终在一年内成为完全投入的教徒[1]。该邪教宣称情感是来自另一维度需要消除的实体，声称其领导人是唯一活着的神[1]。
Guha博士于去年10月向维多利亚州议会的邪教调查委员会作证[1]。调查委员会于周三发布建议，主张将基于群体的强制性控制定为犯罪行为，并为脱离邪教者提供额外保护[1]。研究表明，容易被邪教招募的人通常具有对不确定性缺乏容忍、心理健康困难、早期创伤经历、关系焦虑和被拒绝恐惧等特征[1]。邪教组织常见的招募策略包括采用无害的门面、进行爱情轰炸、实施信息隔离、进行行为与感官控制、使用思维终止陈词以及进行语言操纵[1]。
Clinical psychologist Ahona Guha has publicly detailed her recruitment into a cultic group at age 16, revealing how the organization employed systematic psychological manipulation to secure her commitment within a year.[1] The cult utilized progressive courses in astrology and self-awareness, combined with love bombing, information isolation, and behavioral control tactics to draw her deeper into its ideology.[1] Central to the group's teachings was the claim that emotions were entities from another dimension requiring elimination, with the leader positioned as the only living deity.[1]
Guha testified before a Victorian parliamentary inquiry into cults last October, contributing her firsthand experience to an official investigation.[1] The inquiry released its recommendations on Wednesday, proposing that coercive control operating within group settings be established as a criminal offense and that additional protections be extended to those exiting cultic organizations.[1] The investigation identified common vulnerability factors that make individuals susceptible to recruitment, including low tolerance for uncertainty, mental health challenges, early trauma, relationship anxiety, and fear of rejection.[1] Cultic organizations typically operate through an innocent-seeming facade before escalating to isolation tactics, information and behavioral restrictions, sensory manipulation, thought-terminating clichés, and linguistic manipulation to maintain member compliance.[1]