The word "sect" has long become a household word, acquiring a religious and negative connotation. At the same time, it is still not taken seriously enough and does not give an understanding of how to save a person who has been drawn into the sect.
Sect concept
Sects should be discussed from at least three positions: religious, commercial and social. The religious position boils down to the fact that a certain imperfect, frankly flawed religious idea is presented and perceived as truth. Since sects live by a set of fixed ideologemes, everything outside their sphere is perceived exclusively as a parallel world. Sects live with a self-contained creed, so that this works, the heads of the sects limit the communication of their "spiritual" disciples with the outside world as much as possible. Instead, they try with all their might to create in the neophytes the feeling that they have been admitted to something chosen, closed, opposed to the rest of the world, grow in them dependence, inertia, closedness. It should be noted that a sect is almost always a commercial or profitable enterprise at the top. Not always it all comes down to money, sexual violence or slavery, in some cases the benefits may be indirect - security, power, the creation of a bloc of like-minded people.
Three stages of rupture
The fight against sectarian influence comes down to three areas - prevention, deliverance (break) from addiction, rehabilitation.
For a very long time, the prevention of sectarianism has been a priority in modern society. It is very important to explain to people (especially young people who are influenced by strong personalities) that a sect can become a kind of compensation for social maladjustment or lack of deep relationships with loved ones, but at the same time it does not solve these problems. Prevention (if you do not want to talk directly with your loved ones about sects) can be reduced to banal propaganda of healthy interpersonal relations, building a warm climate in the family. Prevention, which can save a person from a sect, is most often the education of an independent, responsible and meaningful life.
Breaking with addiction is a difficult job that requires the intervention of a professional. Based on the results of such work, a person must independently make a decision about his exit from the sect. Violence and coercion rarely help in this case. Here you need a dialogue, knowledge of the specifics of the sect, the experience and skills of a psychotherapist who will be able to conduct discussions, gradually leading the patient to doubts about the truth of the dogmas professed by the sect. Most often, such a therapy takes many months, and it is better to entrust it to a professional; without the appropriate knowledge, you can only harm the person being saved.
Rehabilitation is the most difficult and final stage. Dependency, unfortunately, can only be fully replaced by dependency. In Russia, it is difficult to find self-help groups where you can share your experience, get sympathy and understanding from people who have experienced similar experiences. Such groups are a necessary condition for getting rid of the influence of the sect, at first they become an adequate replacement for the previous dependence. Over time, this effect diminishes, but the need for sympathy and understanding among people with similar experiences remains for life.
