Cults and Coercive Environments
You can reclaim your life.
At Freedom Counseling of Vero Beach, I specialize in supporting individuals in Vero Beach and across Florida who are healing from involvement in a cult or other coercive group or relationship, including healing from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or complex PTSD.
My practice offers a safe, nonjudgmental space to rebuild your sense of self, foster resilience, and find true freedom.
What are coercive or high-control groups?
Coercive or high-control groups are organizations or communities that exert excessive influence over members’ thoughts, behaviors, and personal choices through authoritarian leadership, rigid rules, and manipulative tactics. These groups can be religious or spiritual organizations, self-help or self-improvement groups, cults, multi-level marketing schemes, or even social or professional communities.
High-control dynamics can also manifest in individual relationships, such as those involving emotional manipulation, coercive control, or abuse.
Contrary to the common misconceptions fueled by sensationalized media stories, coercive control groups are not always overtly extreme, nor are they limited to "sex cults" or "satanic cults". After all, if they were always so obvious in their danger, not many people would be likely to join them! The truth is, many of these groups appear from the outside, or at the outset, to be legitimate, reasonable, or even benevolent, making it easy for anyone to become entangled.
High-control groups appeal to people's strengths.
They attract individuals who are seeking expression for their compassion or their ambition, those with a desire to improve the world around them or to improve themselves. When those positive qualities are exploited, it can leave you feeling burnt out, hopeless, afraid, and deeply ashamed.
Having a non-judgmental and experienced guide to help you process and heal from your experiences is a vital part of rebuilding and reclaiming your own life. If any of this resonates with you, call or email to start a conversation. It doesn't commit you to anything.
The Challenges of Leaving a High-Control Environment
Leaving a high-control group or relationship is a courageous step, but it’s not easy. It can stir up a lot of complicated feelings. These challenges can feel overwhelming, especially when others don’t understand what you’ve been through. You might find yourself swinging back and forth between opposite extremes, feeling on the one hand like you're caught in something really unhealthy, and on the other hand like you’re “making a big deal out of nothing”. You might feel like you're failing the group or like there's something wrong with you because of your questions and doubts. The uncertainty can feel like it's tearing you apart.
Emotional Turmoil
Feelings of shame, guilt, or self-doubt, both for having been involved and for questioning the group.
Identity Confusion
Immersion in group-think can leave you feeling uncertain of who you are apart from the group’s influence.
Fear and Isolation
Anxiety about backlash from the group or feeling alone without its structure.
Lingering Questions
Why did I get involved? Why didn’t I see the truth sooner? Why didn’t I leave earlier? What does this say about me?”
Trauma Symptoms
Symptoms of PTSD or complex PTSD, such as flashbacks, dissociation, or hypervigilance, from prolonged control or abuse.
The good news is that you don’t have to figure it all out alone.
How Therapy Can Help
My therapeutic approach provides a safe, supportive, nonjudgmental space to explore the complex emotions and questions surrounding your experience. Whether you’re preparing to leave a high-control environment, processing past involvement, or just beginning to question what is going on around you, I’m here to be your ally.
Using evidence-based approaches and theories like EMDR and the BITE model, we can safely explore the dynamics of your situation and how they contribute to feelings like shame, guilt, or confusion. We'll work on building a set of coping tools to manage anxiety, PTSD symptoms, or dissociation, so that you can create a healthier future.
We'll also talk about systems of control and how high-control groups use them. These groups often employ manipulative tactics like fear-based control, isolation, guilt-tripping, and gaslighting to keep their members engaged and afraid to break away. Such tactics can be difficult to spot at first, but they're like a magic trick: once you learn to recognize them, they lose their power. Being able to spot manipulative tactics is a crucial element to protecting yourself from similar dynamics in the future.
Ultimately, therapy will help you to rediscover and rebuild your identity on your own terms, reconnecting you with your values, strengths, and sense of self outside of the group’s influence. I can help you create a pathway out of the shadow of the high-control environment and toward resilience, confidence, independence, and meaningful connections.
What Sets Freedom Counseling of Vero Beach Apart
I bring over 10 years of professional expertise and insight to my work.
I also have a deeply personal connection to what I do. When I was younger, I was invested in a group that I came to realize was a high-control group. Through my own experience, I understand the courage it takes to question the people and the environment you once trusted, and the complexity of figuring out what to do next.
Having a trusted ally in the healing process is invaluable. You don’t have to face this journey alone. I’m here to help. Let's travel the path to reclaiming your life together.
Things can get better.
No matter what you're going through right now, your situation can improve - if you're willing to make the call and set change in motion.
The solution lies in taking action. Reach out. Get in contact. It's just an email or a phone call. It doesn't commit you to anything.
You can do this. I look forward to hearing from you.