Treatment strategies for programming and ritual abuse.

Summary

Therapists working with dissociative identity disorder patients who report childhood ritual abuse can use a neutral stance to engage 'cult alters'—parts expressing allegiance to perpetrators—as allies in recovery. Rather than taking sides in a victim-rescuer-perpetrator triangle, the approach treats all parts as valid and works toward integration. Specific techniques are described for engaging these perpetrator introjects without assuming historical accuracy of the memories.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Individuals in treatment for dissociative identity disorder not uncommonly describe childhood involvement in organized, multi-perpetrator ritual abuse. They described being "programmed" by the perpetrators and feel that the programming is out of their control. The author has developed a set of treatment strategies and interventions for such cases. These are based on the principle of therapeutic neutrality and can be used no matter what assumptions the therapist makes about the historical accuracy of the memories and beliefs. In ritual abuse cases, there are commonly "cult alters" who express allegiance to and identification with the perpetrators, and who state the ideology of the cult as personal beliefs. Often, the host personality holds and expresses the opposite half of the ambivalent attachment to the perpetrators: the host takes the position of helpless, powerless victim of the cult alters and programming, and wants to be rescued and "deprogrammed" by the therapist. This is a victim-rescuer-perpetrator triangle re-enactment. The perpetrator introjects involved in the re-enactment can be engaged in the therapy, and can become allies in recovery and the process of integration. Techniques for accomplishing this are described.

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