This cross disciplinary research study explores former cult members’ perspectives on what helped them to recover from an abusive-cult experience. Here the term ‘abusive-cult’ pre-supposes a psychologically restrictive, traumatic or abusive experience, which may be challenging to ‘recover’ from. As a psychotherapist and former cult member, the subject is of both professional and personal interest. Former cult members (former-members) are an under researched population, and therapeutic strategies for recovering from harm caused in an abusive-cult are underrepresented in the clinical literature. Little empirical research has been undertaken in the counselling profession in UK and worldwide, and evidence indicates that counsellors feel ill-prepared to work with former-members, and that accessing appropriate help is a challenge. This study examines the impact that abusive cults can have on their followers, in order to ascertain how survivors can be helped, through counselling and more generally, when recovering from cult abuse. The study is limited to individuals from UK and USA who self-identified as former-members of an abusive-cult, and who related to the notion of post-cult recovery. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 29 participants, 15 in one-to-one interviews and three focus groups. A qualitative, constructivist grounded theory methodology was used to facilitate inductive emergence. No pre-conceived theoretical framework or literatures were used before the analysis commenced. Nevertheless, the format of the thesis follows PhD conventions, and literatures are discussed in Chapters 3 and 4. Some findings are reflected in the literature chapters, and some literatures within the findings chapters, where they illuminate one another. A theoretical framework was developed based on 3 key sources: evidence from previous studies, that both ‘normal’ and ‘brainwashing’ psychological processes occur in an abusive-cult; Gestalt psychotherapy theory of self and personality (normal); and Lifton’s (1989) thought-reform theory (brainwashing). The findings indicate that the thought-reform environment-field restricts the individual and inhibits the authentic-self, which transmutes from being in the service of the health of the individual, to being in the service of the cult and the cult leader. ‘Freeing the authentic-self’ emerged as the ‘basic social process’ and objective, in answer to the question, ‘what helps?’ and is achieved through a complex process over time, evidenced to occur over four Phases of Recovery and Growth, identified as: Freeing the authentic self: • Phase One: The need to leave Physically & Psychologically • Phase Two: Cognitive Understanding Aspects of Building a Sense of Self • Phase Three: Emotional Healing Aspects of Building a Sense of Self • Phase Four: The Freed Self & Posttraumatic Growth As all research participants are survivors of an abusive-cult, ethical concerns are particularly significant and addressed throughout the thesis. A word of warning: this thesis contains traumatic, and in some places, graphic description of physical, psychological, emotional and mental abuse.

The incorporation of religion and spirituality in psychotherapy has been a long-standing debate. Using in-depth qualitative interviews, this study aimed to explore psychological counsellors’ experiences of how they respond to clients’ religious and spiritual issues and the process by which they manage these responses. Researchers have mostly focussed on what psychological practitioners do to work with their client’s religious beliefs, but not on how psychological practitioners interpret their own therapeutic responses and how the meaning they attribute to these interpretations affects the process of managing their own responses. Grounded theory was used to analyse data from thirteen practicing psychological counsellors, in the UK, with varying religious and spiritual affiliations and an average of 15 practice years. Four main categories emerged from the data: Attunement, Seeing What Is Heard; Boundaried Distancing, Seeing But Not Perceiving; Impasse Distancing, Hearing But Not Seeing; Closing the Gap in Understanding and Working Through Dilemmas To Attunement. One core category surrounded all of the categories: Spanning the Gulf Between ‘Doing’ and ‘Being’, Self-reflection as Integral to Therapists’ Responses. The complex categories related to one another in a way that demonstrated how working with clients who have a similar outlook on religion to themselves, or not, existential questions can emerge which can disrupt beliefs previously accepted by the practitioner. When reflective and attuned, practitioners are motivated to ‘be’ with their clients and sometimes have to acknowledge their own inabilities and limitations. Some practitioners working with clients religious beliefs readily grappled with their own existential uncertainty, using their own experiences as a means to deepen their therapeutic contact with their client and cultivating an openness to the ineffable. Distancing strategies, such as “bracketing” were also, implicitly used, often unrecognized because practitioners had explicit preferred professional identities they wanted to maintain, with an emphasis on doing evidence-based therapy regardless of how well this fitted the client’s presenting issue. A theoretical account was developed to explain this process. Findings are discussed further in relation to the importance of practitioner competence, self-awareness, training, supervision as it relates to religion and spirituality. Recommendations for the practice of counselling psychology focus on how practitioners can manage religious therapeutic misattunement, by acknowledging their own doubts and fears and opening themselves to the quest for deep attunement between therapist and client.

From the 1970s the emergence of religion and spirituality in psychoanalysis is a unique development, given its traditional pathologizing stance. This research examines how and why ‘sacred psychoanalysis’ came about and whether this represents a new analytic movement with definable features or a diffuse phenomena within psychoanalysis that parallels developments elsewhere. After identifying the research context, a discussion of definitions and qualitative reflexive methodology follows. An account of religious and spiritual engagement in psychoanalysis in the UK and the USA provides a narrative of key people and texts, with a focus on the theoretical foundations established by Winnicott and Bion. This leads to a detailed examination of the literary narratives of religious and spiritual engagement understood from: Christian; Natural; Maternal; Jewish; Buddhist; Hindu; Muslim; Mystical; and Intersubjective perspectives, synthesized into an interpretative framework of sacred psychoanalysis. Qualitative interviews were then undertaken with leading experts focusing on the lived experience of contemporary psychoanalysts. From a larger sample, eleven interviews were selected for a thematic narrative analysis and from within this sample, six interviews were then the focus of a reflexive intersubjective analysis, utilizing psychoanalytic techniques. This research concludes that three forms of sacred psychoanalysis can be identified embracing a generic framework for theoretical and clinical understanding; a framework for intersubjective presence; and a framework for spiritual/sacred encounter.

Religious leaders are at the forefront of religious faith and considered to be the gateway between humankind and God in all things, from matters of a spiritual kind, to the psychological. Whilst religious leaders may be acquainted with the spiritual realm, how do they perceive their engagement with the psychological? Furthermore, how do they manage the psychological distresses that they encounter given their pivotal position within the community? This empirical study explores how religious leaders experience the psychological distress of their congregation using the methodological approach of Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). Eight religious leaders gave an account of their experiences through semi-structured interviews, the transcripts of which were then analysed implementing IPA protocol (Smith, Flowers, & Larkin, 2009). Four superordinate themes emerged from the data: ‘expectations of religious leadership’, which explored the participants’ experiences of the expectations placed upon them and their role; ‘proficiencies and limitations within the role’, which explored how the participants understood their professional remit in regard to providing psychological support; ‘the interconnectedness of religion and psychology’, which provided an insight into the participants’ experiences of the overlap between the fields of psychology and religion, and their contribution to each other; and ‘personal implications of religious leadership’, which explored the psychological impact of the religious leadership role on the participants. The four themes were discussed in relation to the religious leaders’ encounters with psychological distress. For most participants this was an external encounter, but reports of personal psychological distress were also presented. The findings have implications for Counselling Psychologists who work with religious individuals entering into therapy, and in particular those with religious leadership status. This study explores the link between religion and psychology from the perspective of those integral to this phenomenon, yet who appear to have received little empirical consideration. The findings are discussed in the light of previous research. The quality and limitations of this study are also considered, alongside proposals for future research.

The psychological impact of Jewish family purity laws is under-researched, particularly within the United Kingdom. This study gives women who observe these rules an opportunity to be heard, and contributes to the multicultural literature enhancing counselling psychologists’ understanding of ethnic minorities. The study explores in depth the experiences of women who observe Jewish family purity laws. Through a qualitative research design, the study aims to elucidate the deep meaning of the women’s experiences and the implications for their current lives, so that they can be supported efficiently through counselling psychology. The data was collected from eight observant orthodox Jewish participants who had been married for between one and five years. Semi-structured interviews were used to gather information from the participants. This was followed by an analysis of the data using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). The four superordinate themes that emerged from the data were: The Power of Dissonance, conveying feelings of anxiety, pressure and guilt while bound be these rules; The Emotional Juxtaposition, describing paradoxical feelings of monotony and excitement within their martial relationship; The Phenomenon of Relational Space, exploring paradoxical findings covering closeness, distance, invasion and space; and last, Desire for Attachment, referring to the desire for meaningful relationships with G-d1 and their spouses. Existing literature is drawn on to evaluate the findings, and the limitations of the study are outlined, together with the implications for research into, and clinical practice of counselling psychology. Emphasis is placed on the need to offer therapy that empowers clients to take control of their lives and make informed choices on the basis of their own decisions and desires, rather than those imposed on them by anything else. The study concludes with recommendations for future research.

Chapter one reviews the published literature and studies that reported a link between religion, spirituality, and posttraumatic growth (PTG). A review of eleven key studies, in context, produced three main findings. First that religion and spirituality are usually beneficial to people dealing with the aftermath of trauma. Second, that traumatic experiences often lead to a deepening of religion and spirituality. Third, that positive religious coping, religious openness, readiness to face existential questions, religious participation, and intrinsic religousness are typically associated with posttraumatic growth. Important directions for future research are suggested that centre on the need for more fine-grained analysis of religion and spirituality variables, together with longitudinal designs,t hat allow more detailed exploration of the links between religion, spirituality, and posttraurnaticg rowth. Chapter two explored the component structure of the Maltby & Day (1998) amended version of the quest orientation scale. The scale was administered to 286 Christians and churchgoers in the UK. It was then subjected to a principal components analysis followed by oblimin rotation, Analysis revealed a three factor model consistent with that proposed by Maltby& Day (1998 )of complexity, doubt and tentativeness. Chapter three examines relationships between three religious orientations and two posttraumatic growth variables: positive changes in outlook and posttraumatic growth. Other psychosocial variables were included in the analyses. Two hundred and ninety one UK adults returned a questionnaire battery of standardised self-report measures. Firstly, correlational statistics identified all significant relationships between variables. Secondly, multiple regression analyses of just the highly significant correlated variables found that two aspects of religious orientation were important in achieving PTG. Firstly, Intrinsic religion (having a personal faith) was highly associated with the ability to create positive changes in outlook following trauma and to enjoy new possibilitiesin life. Secondly, the 'extrinsic personal' religion (using religion as a source of comfort) was highly associated with the overall capacity to develop PTG to two of the PTG subscales: personal strength and spiritual change. Extrinsic personal religion is a variable that has not received any attention in the PTG literature to date. A number of methodological weaknesses are discussed. Results are discussed within the context of the current climate of religious coping research and recommendations for future research are made. Finally, chapter four provides a review of the research process including insights into my own personal faith along with methodological considerations for similar future research

Religion was proposed to account for the relatively low personal death anxiety found among older adults. This dissertation sought to examine the influence of religious afterlife beliefs, religiously enhanced psychosocial maturity and religious management of a past major regret on personal death anxiety in later life. Terror Management Theory and Erikson’s Psychosocial Theory were used to describe these three religious pathways to coping with personal death anxiety in later life. The cross-sectional postal survey samples consisted of 143 older adult British Christians and 141 older adult Chinese Buddhists. Structural Equation Modelling results from the British Christian survey study showed that intrinsic religiosity predicted lower personal death anxiety through: (a) fostering more benign afterlife beliefs; (b) enhancing psychosocial maturity; and (c) promoting emotional stability. No significant relationship between belief in reincarnation and personal death anxiety was found in the Chinese Buddhist survey study. Both survey studies failed to support the personal death anxiety buffering power of religious management of a past major life regret, although some religious coping strategies were associated with lower negative emotional appraisal towards the major life regret among older adults. The British survey study has been the first to demonstrate both the personal death anxiety buffering and psychosocial maturity enhancing power of religion in an increasingly secular society. The lack of relationship between Buddhist reincarnation beliefs and personal death anxiety suggests that not all religious afterlife beliefs have death anxiety buffering power as proposed by Terror Management Theory. The development of Buddhist reincarnation belief and Buddhist coping scales is a pioneering step towards developing research on under-explored Eastern non-theistic afterlife beliefs and coping measures. Implications for ways that help religious older adults cope with their personal death anxiety were discussed. Prospective cross cultural and cross-religion studies were recommended to replicate the present survey findings. Finally, self detachment (self negation) was proposed as the basis of an alternative death transcendence theory to be researched in future studies on personal death anxiety.

This thesis explores collective phenomena, specifically mass visions of the Virgin Mary and examines the case of Marian apparitions in Zeitoun, Egypt. A review of the literature points to a prevailing socio-political approach to examining visions of the Virgin Mary while a psychoanalytical approach is generally lacking. The former approach suggests that Marian apparitions can be interpreted as a backlash against modernity, secularization, and political ideology. I argue that an important gap remains in this interpretation, as the socio-political approach does not address the psychological aspect of the apparitions, but rather research is stressed on social and political implications surrounding them. In particular, a Jungian perspective seems to be particularly suited for the objective of filling in this gap, thanks to Jung’s interest in investigating collective visions. This thesis draws from Jung’s compensation theoretical model in Flying Saucers with the aim of merging depth-psychology and historical material from the Zeitoun case. Weaknesses to Jung’s theoretical approach are discussed, and this is addressed through the employment of qualitative and quantitative empirical work in the form of survey, eyewitness testimonial case studies, and photographic material. Common themes and symbols are extracted and interpreted from the empirical material and analyzed along with Egyptian social and political data. This study concludes with a discussion on how depth psychological principles grounded in empirical and historical material could be applied in order to explicate cases of mass visions.

This thesis studied transfonnational experiences of 'spiritual awakening' from a psychological perspective, using a phenomenological qualitative approach (specifically, Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis). The aim was to study the phenomenology of individuals who claim to have had this experience. Purposive sampling was used to find a group of individuals who felt that they had undergone the experience of 'spiritual awakening.' Twenty-five participants made contact, primarily through the author's website, which focuses on issues relating to psychology and spirituality. Given this approach, the sample represented a subset of those who may have experienced spiritual awakening in broader contexts. The participants were interviewed using a semi-structured format. The transcripts were coded, then the main themes of the twenty-five interviews were elicited. Twenty-five major codes were identified. These were ranked in tenns of the number of participants who shared them. All twenty-five participants reported a shift into a new psychological state, with a new sense of identity, new modes of cognition and perception, a new relationship to their surroundings and to other human beings (including increased authenticity and compassion) and new values (including a less materialistic attitude and increased altruism, in some cases leading to a change in career). In this respect, the study found that much of the phenomenology of their experiences was similar to the characteristics of 'spiritual awakening' as expressed by spiritual traditions and also by transpersonal psychologists. However, a significant number of participants also reported initial and ongoing difficulties and fluctuations in their state, including psychological disturbances, cognitive problems, difficulty dealing with practical and organisational tasks, confusion, and physical problems such as sleeplessness and ongoing pain. In this sense, the study confirmed the close relationship between spiritual experience and psychopathology, as noted by Grof (2000), Clark (2010), Lucas (2011) and others. The study discussed possible causes of the different aspects of the participants' experiences, and also the possibility that the phenomenology of their experiences may have been at least in part the result of narrative construction (especially in the aftermath of intensely traumatic experiences), in relation to the need to reconstruct their identity and establish a conceptual framework to make sense of their experiences. Although it was beyond the scope of this thesis to offer firm conclusions on this matter, further research which may be productive in this area was suggested. This study found that it may be misleading to conceive of the psychological shift interpreted by the participants as 'spiritual awakening' as a purely positive state, without attendant difficulties. It is perhaps more accurate to think in terms of a 'spiritual opening' - a psychological shift which can bring a more intense and expanded awareness, but which can create instability and disturbance.

The distinction between explicit and implicit psychological performance is held to arise as a consequence of differences in self-related processing. In the former, outputs from sensory and memory activity gain ready access to a model of self, referred to here as 'I'. Implicit performance comes about when activity is isolated from 'I' for pathological, or other, reasons. Under normal, explicit circumstances the model of 'I' constructed at a given time is stored in association with representations of concurrent thoughts or percepts. This memory model of' I' is referred to as an 'T'-tag, and is hypothesised to function in subsequent recall. Evidence for the above is drawn from neuropsychological data relating to the implicit/explicit distinction in terms of differential brain systems, and from introspective data concerning the characteristics of conscious processes. Studies of a variety of brain-damaged patients suggest a distinction between decrements in direct stimulus- or motor-related processing and compromised availability of material to consciousness. It is argued here that the latter are consequent on problems in the interpretations of direct processing, specifically those normally involving 'I' as the putative receiver of impressions, controller of memory recollection, and instigator of actions. The Buddhist philosophy of mind analyses the nature of self and details the stages operating in processes of thought and perception. In particular, the notion of'l' implied in the foregoing description is stated to be illusory. The alternative view, that'!' arises as a conditioned association and is without substantive continuity, is supportive of the 'I'-tag concept. The 'I'-tag theory is further developed through an analysis of the stages of perception as detailed in Buddhist thought. Finally, the theory is employed to advance a possible psychological interpretation of a strand of Jewish mysticism in which an artificial anthropoid the golem-was said to be created through linguistic techniques.