Uploaded October 2025 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
ICSA Conference 2025 - Montreal, QC
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Intergenerational Transmission of Cult Trauma: The Impact of Cult-Created Dissociation and a Cult-Created Harsh Conscience on Child-Rearing
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Lorna Goldberg, Doni Whitsett, William Goldberg; Co-authors : Dan Spence
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Abstract: As a result of cult trauma and ongoing cult practices, typically, cult parents are living in a cult-induced dissociative state, which interferes with their ability to self-reflect and provide an empathic connection with their children. Instead, cult parents become malleable in following the self-serving demands of their leader rather than following their own inclinations. Typically, cult practices leave their children vulnerable to emotional and physical neglect and abuse. To illustrate this process, the speaker will describe a relationship between a second-generation mother and her third-generation son. This relationship will be presented as an example of intergenerational transmission of cult trauma. To clarify this process, the speaker will define “dissociation” and examine theories of early development, including how the mother-child early relationship impacts the brain and nervous system. This will provide insight into the thirdgeneration son’s early life experience and the consequences for adulthood. The speaker also will discuss the post-cult recovery process for a mother and her son, including the impact of collaborating on this paper. She will offer therapeutic recommendations for working with former cult members, highlighting the need to address transference and countertransference reactions, cult-induced dissociation and dysregulation, as well as the harsh conscience created by the cult.
ICSA Conference 2025 - Montreal, QC
-
Intergenerational Transmission of Cult Trauma: The Impact of Cult-Created Dissociation and a Cult-Created Harsh Conscience on Child-Rearing
-
Lorna Goldberg, Doni Whitsett, William Goldberg; Co-authors : Dan Spence
-
Abstract: As a result of cult trauma and ongoing cult practices, typically, cult parents are living in a cult-induced dissociative state, which interferes with their ability to self-reflect and provide an empathic connection with their children. Instead, cult parents become malleable in following the self-serving demands of their leader rather than following their own inclinations. Typically, cult practices leave their children vulnerable to emotional and physical neglect and abuse. To illustrate this process, the speaker will describe a relationship between a second-generation mother and her third-generation son. This relationship will be presented as an example of intergenerational transmission of cult trauma. To clarify this process, the speaker will define “dissociation” and examine theories of early development, including how the mother-child early relationship impacts the brain and nervous system. This will provide insight into the thirdgeneration son’s early life experience and the consequences for adulthood. The speaker also will discuss the post-cult recovery process for a mother and her son, including the impact of collaborating on this paper. She will offer therapeutic recommendations for working with former cult members, highlighting the need to address transference and countertransference reactions, cult-induced dissociation and dysregulation, as well as the harsh conscience created by the cult.
