Recognition of ritual abuse and mind control in survivors is complex, as they often present with clues that are not obvious to a clinician unfamiliar with this more complex and severe type of trauma. This presentation will provide an overview of the clinical features and clues that ritual abuse and mind control may be present in the background of a client, despite apparently unrelated presenting problems. Participants will be introduced to both government (Monarch/MkUltra) and cult mind control programming. A brief understanding of how it can be misdiagnosed as schizophrenia or bipolar disorder will also be included.

Childhood trauma has the potential to overwhelm the coping ability of children and can create developmental changes in brain structure and function. These changes to the developing mind allow for short term survival and sacrifice long term effective functioning. Adolescence is a time when these changes have the potential for both becoming more deeply embedded or largely rectified as the person moves toward adulthood.

​​​​​​​To recognize dissociative process in your patients requires a shift in the clinician’s attention to take in not only the foreground specificity of what the patient says and does but to add the much more diffuse and somewhat vague background presentation of “how the patient is and how they communicate” what they are trying to convey and not convey.