Part 2: Charisma, Kool-Aid, & Going 'All-In'We're back with Part 2 of our convo with Maria Skinner!In this episode, we're challenging what the wellness world taught us about leadership. We discuss the difference between teaching and performing... and take a critical look at how they are often confused.Then, the conversation goes all sorts of places: Charisma, culty hierarchies & the illusion of advancement "Are you in or are you out?" -...
In this week's bonus episode, Tracy & I are deconstructing dogma with our dear friend Maria Skinner! Maria is a former teacher and trainer with 'the Org', and were more than a little excited to sit down and hear from her. It was a jam-packed convo, so it's gonna roll out in two parts.Part 1: Transparency or TMI? - Healthy Boundaries in LeadershipMaria came to us with a burning 'cult'ure series question. When it comes to healthy leadership......
If you listened to this week's release on the main feed (Ep.53), you'll understand why I'm so excited to have Monica back for a Patreon bonus episode. Monica is a former Org teacher and a long-time friend of the podcast. I keep inviting her back because she's so full of heart, and she continually finds ways to wrap words around the unspeakable; her hard-earned insights move me - deeply.In this follow-up convo, we ask ourselves a big question:...
One year ago, Monica Welty shared her story with TDP listeners on the pod - see Ep.29 Grief & Gratitude - and now she’s back for another heart-to-heart about moving on after loss. Candice opens the episode with a commentary on spiritual bypassing, and then Monica joins her to share recent insights she’s been having in her own process of cult recovery. Monica spent a decade training at ‘the Org’ in addition to other new age wellness...
IF you missed part 1 of this convo, we highly recommend you circle back to it before diving into this one, because we pick up right where we left off. In this episode, Tracy & I continue our deconstruction of 'triple isolation' as defined by Alexandra Stein, who writes:"People in totalist organisations are pressed so tightly together that their individuality is erased – as are any trusting interactions among them. Everyone is a...
Alexandra Stein writes: "People in totalist organisations are pressed so tightly together that their individuality is erased – as are any trusting interactions among them. Everyone is a ‘friend’ but true friendship is suppressed as a diversion from, and a threat to, attachment to the cause, the leader and the group. In fact, far from finding true comradeship or companionship, followers face a triple isolation: from the outside world, from...
We're back with another episode in the Deconstructing Dogma series!This week we're finishing up a three-part language series with a focus on 'thought-terminating cliches' as defined by cult researcher, Robert Jay Lifton.We open things up with a discussion about the impact they have on folks who are experiencing grief - referencing an eye-opening conversation I had many moons ago on the podcast with Monica Welty. See Episode 29; it's a great...
Okey doke. Here's another installment of Deconstructing Dogma... and part two in a three-part series on Language & 'Cult'ure.Reminder (and I'm gonna keep saying it)... we're not here to pick on any one group or movement because all culture is a bit culty in similar & subtle ways. That said, as always we'll again be sharing personal experiences from a variety of spiritual and new age wellness circles b/c that's what we know best!This...
We are incorporating your requests!!Next up... a three-part series where Tracy & I are taking a closer look at the power of language as it relates to cultic indoctrination.In Part 1, we explore some of the key takeaways from Amanda Montell's book, Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism, we discuss a revealing documentary that demonstrates how charismatic language can serve as a smokescreen for undue influence, and we do our best to define and...
"Cosmic Salary" is a term often used in 'Org' training to remind teachers - and especially trainers - that the rewards of 'sharing the work' extend far beyond making money. At face value, it's a reasonable argument.But what about when it's used as a coercive sales tactic &/or to justify exploitive labor practices?FYI >> This was the FIRST episode of Deconstructing Dogma that we ever recorded... way before we launched Patreon and...
