Treatment strategies for programming and ritual abuse.
Journal of trauma & dissociation : the official journal of the International Society for the Study of Dissociation (ISSD) January 1, 2017 Colin Ross 3 citations
Individuals being treated for dissociative identity disorder sometimes report childhood involvement in organized, multi-perpetrator ritual abuse and describe being "programmed" by the perpetrators, feeling this programming is beyond their control. The author presents treatment strategies based on therapeutic neutrality, applicable regardless of assumptions about memory accuracy. In such cases, "cult alters" express allegiance to perpetrators and their ideology, while the host personality often feels a helpless victim, creating a victim-rescuer-perpetrator triangle. Perpetrator introjects can be engaged in therapy and become allies in recovery and integration.