Floating Down the River Named Denial

Elisabeth Kubler-Ross was a Swiss psychiatrist who conducted groundbreaking research into the process of accepting death and loss. Her research led to the creation of hospice care and a higher focus on the support of those who are at the end of their lives and the people near them. It also is applied to other types of grief, such as loss of a loved one, loss of a treasured possession, even the prospect of facing a major life change such as a long prison sentence.

There are seven stages that people experience (I won't list them here) and those stages are not always experienced in order. Some stages are repeated - especially if the person involved does not complete a stage.

Take a look at this graphic of the stages and waves of response:














Up until fairly recently, The Academy for Psychic Studies was more concerned with expansion and diversification. The ISHI hypnosis program was created and operated with the same amount of dysfunction and unbelievably unethical behavior as the Academy. But at present, The Academy for Psychic Studies is fighting for something more fundamental. They are trying to survive.


The number of members has dwindled from a high of nearly 40 devotees to the current number of followers: 16. Many departures occurred in the last two years. And enrollment in the highly touted Clairvoyant Training Program has dropped from a high of nearly twenty students to only one.

Through it all, the culties are presenting a happy face to the world. Speaking of their boundless prosperity while their membership dwindles. Speaking of the benefits and advantages of The Academy for Psychic Studies while they have no examples of any benefits or advantages. But they all say the same thing about their time at the Academy: that they are prosperous. Even though there is only one couple who are homeowners (purchased well before their membership), few hold decent jobs, almost none keep retirement or other savings and the trapping of prosperity (a decent, reliable vehicle; attractive, well-fitting clothing; the ability to enjoy a vacation or celebrate with friends and family) they tell the world that life is grand, they are prosperous to a degree you cannot even begin to imagine and The Academy for Psychic Studies is the key to the kind of life you were born to live.

All it takes is a true devotion to the teaching, 10-30% of your income every month, 10-30% of your assets every year, and a devotion of your time and energy to repair the leader's homes for free, maintain the headquarters for free, payment of outrageous fees for classes that have little benefit (and which content was stolen, er, "inspired" from another source).

And that life you were born to live consists of constant, unrelenting financial pressure; the surrender of your spouse and children to the control of the cult; the loss of your soul to people who have no concern for you outside of what you can provide for them.

No wonder there are no takers. But why do the cult-ies continue to whistle while they work?

Take a look at the Kubler-Ross stages. When the founder was alive, The Academy for Psychic Studies was in a stable position.
A freaky and ugly position, but stable.

Now that the end is in sight, what stage would the faithful be in now? Does it make sense?

Well, I think according to the Kubler-Ross stages, the stage of denial that The Academy for Psychic Studies is in now make all the sense in the world.

The meditation techniques taught there encourage denial and create dissociation. If you are in a tripped-out, giddy state of mind, you can deny anything. After all, it's not your emotions you are feeling. It's not your feeling of dread.

But it's going to be your ass when the whole thing comes down.

I'd start the process of leaving denial behind and quickly look for an escape hatch, if I were the remaining faithful. With little in the bank, no support systems outside (as they have alienated family and friends) escape can be difficult. But it would be essential.

I feel lucky. A few years after I joined up, some courageous spouses and fathers of children trapped in the cult were able to expose that whole mess in the media. A few years later, when Bill Duby died right in front of me, it still took some amount of time before I figured out what the hell was happening.

The event that finally kicked me in the proverbial ass was the death of my father and the modest estate he left for me. Bill's two women Robin and Angela worked me over to turn my inheritance (valuable San Francisco Bay Area real estate) over to the cult. If Bill were alive, I believe that small bit of property would be signed over to him without a second thought. It's a damn fortunate thing that man dropped dead.

I finally got to the point of acceptance that I was in a cult and that the end of my time with them was near.

I just hope those who remain can get to the acceptance stage sometime before they go down with the ship.