IndoctriNation

Katharina Meredith grew up quickly from the age of 10-20 in a New Age cult. After leaving, marrying and becoming pregnant, she experienced debilitating post-partum depression. Katharina knew she needed to address her very understandable Post Traumatic Stress, and was able to lessen her intrusive thoughts by validating her own emotions and allowing herself to feel. The intense pressure she had lear...

CW: Abuse against minors Katharina Meredith grew up in a New Age cult from age 10 years old until 20. This week in the second part of her episode, she moves forward into what she experienced as a teen. Girls in the group were partnered with adults and taught to hide any disgust or dislike that they felt. Every day was a battle with normal emotional responses because, with the school of thought, it...

CW: Abuse against children Katharina Meredith is a PhD student studying subjects like Community Psychology and Extremism after spending her childhood in a cult called Lichtoase. The New Age beliefs of Lichotase (translated to Light Oasis) were modeled off of Ramtha's school and adapted into workshops across Germany and Austria. Eventually, the group formed communes where children were raised s...

Today’s guest is Cyndy Rudd. She works as a receptionist and says she is best described as an “ordinary person with an extraordinary story”. Eleven years ago she found herself in a crisis...needing to get herself and her family away from a severely abusive, controlling church. Cyndy's children were convinced to stay with the pastor to avoid college and eventually straying away from the church....

Continuing her conversation, Sands Hall gives her perspective on Scientology's defense mechanism: "never defend, always attack". Hall is a playwright and the author of "Reclaiming my Decade Lost in Scientology". Hear what brought Sands into Scientology in the first part: https://soundcloud.com/indoctrinationshow/sands-hall Creating a hive-mind supremacy is how authoritarian gro...

Hannah Watkins continues her story of how she gradually created distance from a life written for her by a rigid interpretation of scripture. She spent her first 18 years in a popular Baptist sect known as 'the Move' of God. The group, led by Sam Fife, became popular in the late ’60s when Sam evangelized himself as a prophet. Luckily, Hannah’s experience was not physically invasive, but all...

Hannah Watkins was born into ‘the Move’ of God and spent her first 18 years in the organization. Led by Sam Fife, the group separated itself as a branch of the Baptist Church in the late 60’s. Luckily, Hannah’s experience was not physically invasive, but all the same, damaging to her emotionally with extreme doses of spiritual guilt. Most members were drawn in by the group’s return to a simple hom...

Senior Rabbi Ed Feinstein of Valley Beth Shalom in Encino, California serves on the faculty of the Ziegler Rabbinical School of the American Jewish University. This week he sits down to talk with Rachel about what it means to be a modern spiritual leader. There are many positive sides to religion and spiritual organizations. Ethics and the need for a place to belong are a part of every human exper...

Today we begin a new year! For many, this is a much needed fresh start. Sands Hall, playwright and author of "Reclaiming my Decade Lost in Scientology" talks about how to take back what can seem like lost years. A common phrase among many survivors of abusive organizations is "I can't believe how many years I did that". Most people don't believe that they could slowly be in...

How do you give the gift of peace? Aziza Hasan is the Executive Director of a program called NewGround, a Muslim-Jewish partnership for change. Rachel and Aziza converse about reaching beyond tolerance to find mutual empathy and understanding. Aziza has served on President Obama's Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships and was recognized as a leader by the Executive Serv...

Sarah Landry recently appeared on the show to share her story from Nithyananda's ashram. The self-styled guru has now fled the country after police followed his allegations of assault and kidnapping. Rachel and Sarah go into detail about "character assassination", or fake allegations that are created to delegitimize people who speak out about abuse. When former members like Sarah began...

How do you get strong enough to leave someone when you've felt shaky for so long? Narcissists have a way of pushing your needs aside and making you believe that decisions you make for yourself are the wrong ones. Rachel encourages listeners to find the strength to set boundaries and stick to them. Listen to Part 1 here: https://soundcloud.com/indoctrinationshow/rachel-on-narcissism Before You...

Have you ever wanted to know what it's like to be with a narcissist? Rachel walks us through a deep psychoanalysis of narcissistic types; tying in real stories from her experience as a therapist. Learn tips to distinguish bad social behavior from manipulation. Unfortunately, this type of abuse can be present in relationships with parents, partners, employers-- people you should be able to trus...

While working the night staff at Narconon in downtown LA during the riots, Samantha Eidson realized that Scientology's rehab program didn't care about the safety of its staff nor its participants. Samantha provides more details of the Narconon facility inheriting the Chilocco Indian Agricultural School on Ponca lands in Oklahoma. The rehabilitation offered at this facility lacks medical pr...

Narconon is a Scientology organization that is disguised as rehabilitative care-- with treatments like having to spend many hours in a sauna and being given excessive amounts of niacin. Lacking professional medical direction the program is operated by alumni who graduated from the process like Samantha Eidson, who was a Course Supervisor for Narconon in the late '80s. Here is Samantha's we...

CW: physical & sexual assault against youth Sarah Landry continues the story of her troubling times in and outside of Nithyananda's cult. Wearing a picture of the Swami G around her neck was one of many rituals the 'guru' put in place to elevate his image. Sarah was under Nithyananda's control for 9 years before removing herself, and the necklace. She became one of his most pub...

CW: physical & sexual assault against youth Sarah Landry first discovered Nithyananda at his Vancouver branch, though much of her story takes place within the master guru's pricey "Life Bliss Engineering" program in India. Seeking enlightenment, his disciples endured traumatic punishments to secure his favor and bring them closer to "completion". Sarah spent 9 years in the...

Vanessa LaRose's father worked extremely hard to hire a Scientology counselor because it was the only other option within the rules of the group that could potentially help her with anxiety and depression. She continues explaining how her experience with auditing-- and training to become an auditor-- has impacted her goals. A third video interview with Vanessa is available this weekend on Patr...

After being disconnected from her Scientologist parents for some time, Vanessa LaRose has decided it's finally time to break ties with the "church". She shares how she found Rachel through an underground network and ironically began to study psychology and therapy after fearing it for so long. Vanessa grew up with some of the top Scientology schooling and businesses. She has agreed to...

Stacey Aviva Flint continues sharing her story about her mission to Kenya with the International Churches of Christ. Her one year trip became two years, as she was forced, unexpectedly, to pay her own way after dropping out of college and living homeless in New York for months. Stacey also shares her experiences with therapy while in the group and after choosing to leave. At one point she encounte...

Kernan Coleman became an activist and critical thinking advocate after losing loved ones who denied the existence of HIV though they were effected. He shares his encounters with celebrities and their belief systems, and how growing up agnostic affected his skepticism as he navigated the world of entertainment. Kernan brings a vivid language to his perspective on anti-vax culture, and discusses oth...

Stephen Kent is currently a professor of religious studies and sociology of religion at the University of Alberta in Canada. He continues with Rachel, voicing his perspective on several current political topics. The conversation picks up in discussing the current protests in Hong Kong, and how religious alignment can play a role in developing a biased infrastructure. They were able to converse on...

Stephen Kent is currently a professor of religious studies and sociology of religion at the University of Alberta in Canada. He shares the knowledge he's acquired over more than thirty years as an academic. Stephen attended University of Maryland in the early seventies and witnessed his campus respond to the Cambodian invasion in protest. Oddly, by the time he came to graduate, he began to not...

Stacey Aviva Flint was born and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio, and was a spiritual seeker from a young age though her family wasn't tied to a religion. She was approached by a pseudo-Christian cult known as the International Churches of Christ at age 16. The ICOC was run by a man named Kip McKean, and is not affiliated with the mainline Church of Christ. Rachel has memories of the Boston Movement...

When Claudine began to feel that she no longer believed the teachings, she realized that part of Mormon testimony was to avoid "anti-Mormon" literature. Passing up their guilt, Claudine and her husband uncovered original documents and their church's history. Rachel helps Claudine unpack this and other techniques including attributing critical thinking to sin or negative energy. The chu...