Vice.com’s Sarah Berman’s interview with famous cult deprogrammer, Steve Hassan, raises many interesting points. Berman is one of those excellent reporters who takes the time to actually learn about the topics she writes about and is ahead of more than 99 percent of the journalists writing about NXIVM. A good story to read if you haven’t already.
One of our readers, who used the name Village Diane, made this comment:
“There is a ‘Very Interesting’ tidbit in the Vice article where cult expert Steve Hassan is interviewed about NXIVM. Hassan says he has worked with ex-members. These ex-members report that they have no memory of their very first meeting with Keith. These are 2-4 hour meetings. Hassan thinks Keith used NLP. But I suspect hypnosis, based on Toni Natalie’s experience. Hypnosis is bad enough. But is it also possible that Keith pulled a “Bill Cosby” on them while they were “unconscious?” [i.e. used some kind of drug].
Hassan admitted to Berman that he is working with ex-NXIVM members. His profession forbids him to name who they are. In fact, he might be working with a current NXIVM member – Allison Mack – who by the terms of her bail is forced away from contact with any NXIVM people past or present. [Her Vanguard she cannot see or speak to for he in jail awaiting trial].
Mack may be unwillingly enduring deprogramming efforts as a condition imposed by her sadder but much wiser [and poorer] parents.
If this is true, Hassan may do much more than deprogram her. He might save her from years in prison. If Allison could discover a reality that her Vanguard was a selfish, despicable, brute who stole her life from her – she might be more inclined to support the cause of justice and assist the DOJ in their effort to get justice for the many victims of Raniere.
Allison seems to be in that twilight world of being part victim and part victimizer. She hangs in the balance. That balance could tip toward or against her. If she assisted the DOJ with honest information and forthright testimony, she might get a reasonable plea offer that could spare her a decade or more in prison. On the other hand if she goes into the night lying for Raniere to save him – as she has been taught or programmed, then I rather doubt she will be acquitted and the sentence will be harsh indeed. It may be 15 years or longer.
Let us pray for Allison and for Hassan. From what I am told, Allison is a most brainwashed customer.
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The Daily Beast has a story about the Perennial Beast – Clare Bronfman.
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Salinas Connection with Clinton?
A reader, Empty Wood writes — Mr Parlato, not sure if you are aware but this was released recently.
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The Knife was a little sharp as it dug into Elon Musk.
Elon Musk Goes To War With the Media, Promotes Site With Alleged Sex Cult Ties
I don’t see how she could do anything but change her plea to guilty and testify against others.
It is the only way any of us should be convinced that she has actually improved.
I don’t see it ever happening.
I figured from the beginning that the nonsense about a plea deal was just playing along a bit so she could get bail.
He just brought massive awareness to The Knife’s NXIVM ties. Outside of Frank Report, The Knife seems to go largely ignored / unnoticed.
So, I say thank you Elon Musk !!!
(And I still think he should start the journalist rating site.)
From what I’ve read about how cults work, a key component is isolation of members from non-members. The ideal cult follower does not trust anyone outside of the cult. We already know Allison was somewhat separated from her family, which may explain why she was more susceptible and also why some members could leave more easily than her.
Further, part of how cult members are “deprogrammed” is by getting them to trust someone outside of the cult. Hence, letting Allison be with her family is a smart move.
The idea of letting her suffer in prison as a method of deprogramming is faulty. Suffering offer causes people to adopt more radical beliefs, not more rational ones.
What about Allison’s victims?
They were hurt.
They were paddled, branded and sexually assaulted.
They were humiliated and dehumanized.
They were blackmailed.
And Allison Mack was perfectly fine with that.
All so Allison Mack could enhance her power in the cult.
Queen Allison the first Queen of NXIVM.
Cry me a river about how Allison Mack is a victim.
If the rumours of Clare bragging about still being in contact with Allison Mack are true, she isn’t really isolated at all.
Maybe solitary confinement is the only place she can actually wake up.
It would, at the very least, be some justice for her victims.
I think that bail forbade any contact with members of NXIVM except through Allison’s lawyers. If the lawyers were paid by Bronfman, she could technically speak to Allison via the lawyers.
Allison is one brave lady and she will stand for truth. No matter what any of you think.
Mack will be convicted and spend a very long time in prison. The feds don’t need her to flip to get Raniere, they have plenty on him without her help. It’s too late for her, start looking for the correct orange jumpsuit size, Allison.
Orange is the New Black.
Orange is the new Mack
Allison’s last name, Mack, is an old slang term for Pimp…so blame her actions on destiny.
Her mother seems to have exited stage left.
Good one!
What a clever name “Pea Onyou.”
Who dreamed that one up?
Raniere or Pimp Mack?
A brave woman would have stood up to Vanguard and told him he is a 50 year old plus baby who molests children.
You want to know real bravery?
During the last days of the Cold War my brother was a US army officer who traveled to East Berlin to gather information for NATO.
After the Cold War my brother traveled to Siberia to adopt two Russian boys from orphanages.
That’s real bravery.
Allison Mack can’t even call a pervert a pervert.
Hi Pee Pee, good to see your back !
Allison along with the Salzmans and Clare need to go to jail and join their huckster master. This “brainwashed” excuse doesn’t fly anymore. Plenty of people left from this cult without rigorous deprogramming. Humans aren’t machines or programmable robots.
Actually, they are just that.
Then a great place for deprogramming is a few decades in prison.
Yes deprogramming will happen in prison. Actually, it is simply reprogramming, known in society as “learning”
An example- “Alison Wack will be learning to adjust her new life style to live behind bars”
Actually, they aren’t. If they were, then they would all behave in the same way. All would go into an intensive and fall for this cult. All would do what Allison Mack did. Computerized machines do what they are programmed to do and nothing else. They don’t overstep their programming. Clearly, a number of cult members broke free without some rigorous deprogramming program. They may be initially victims in some sense, but at this point, they are mostly perpetrators and have been so for years.
Allison Mack has been in a state of denial for years.
She doesn’t understand that she has done anything wrong.
At the last court hearing Mack THANKED Raniere’s lawyers.
In fact Allison Mack and Raniere face potential new charges of using interstate wires to transmit blackmail material.
Mack took nude photos and videos and transmitted them over the internet for use in blackmail.
Allison Mack is a low down dirty blackmailer.
How do you deprogram that?
I know how to deprogram her. Lock her up! Lock her up!
Shock Therapy works every time.
Very very very well said! Truth be told! I hope she does the plea deal!
The feds don’t need a plea deal from Mack, they already have enough to go after Raniere…and Allison.
Allison is not gonna flip and testify against Keith. Anybody who thinks otherwise is not being realistic.
Here’w why:
1) Her ENTIRE world is Keith and NXIVM right now. In her own mind, there is no “Allison” without “Keith” and “NXIVM”.
2) She gave up being a successful TV actress for Keith and NXIVM.
3) She is no longer employable in the TV/movie/corporate world ever again because of that decision (that’s how powerfully she believes in Keith; she sacrificed everything for him).
4) She worships and lionizes Keith in the same way that Christians worship Jesus.
5) Her own inner “psychology” will present her with this question below…
If she accepts a plea to testify against Keith…..she’d have to admit TO HERSELF that she’s spent the last 12 years following a madman and has ruined her TV career for no good reason. She’d have to admit TO HERSELF that she’s ruined a good chunk of her life (her younger years, which she can never get back) out of pure foolishness. She’d have to admit that she went from a respectable TV star to an INSANE SEX SLAVER WHO BRANDED WOMEN, lol.
She won’t be able to admit that to herself BECAUSE the conditions of her home confinement are too comfortable. Living comfortably will only make her believe that she and Keith are martyrs (e.g. it’s her and Keith against the world).
*It’s ironic that IF she’d remained in jail this whole time, she’d be much more likely to accept a plea deal and to admit these harsh realities to herself…….BECAUSE extended time in prison is the kind of “shock treatment” that a person needs to see the truth about their situation.
If she accepts a plea I’ll be shocked beyond belief.
Just wanted to add that…
Even though others (Sarah Edmondson, etc) have been able to leave on their own and see the light without jail, Allison was FAR more insanely devoted to Keith than anybody else.
For goodness’ sake, Allison FUCKEN CRIED LIKE A STARSTRUCK FAN when Keith mentioned the simple word “authenticity” in that video, LOL.
I’ve seen several of those Mack-Raniere videos and I have never seen a woman more smitten with a man.
In her mind’s eye Allison Mack is the Queen of NXIVM.
Very very very well said! Truth! Fingers and toes crossed she does a plea deal.
If it’s true and i hope it is then Allison getting deprogrammed will serve her more good into realizing that everything Keith has taught her is nothing but a big fat lie. She can maybe help the DOJ by giving more information to put away Keith and the rest of the members of NXIVM.
Why do you keep pulling for Mack? She was #2 at NXIVM and should get almost as much time as Raniere. Is it because she used to be in show business? Are you REALLY that shallow?
I remember my meetings with Keith very well. He wasn’t frightening. More mundane and bookish than anything.
But when he does the trainings (and he would train Christine Collins and other senior members), Keith would talk for hours. Christine noted how she and others would fall asleep because of Keith’s monotone voice and self-absorption. He could probably fit in his mental suggestions then as the others were in twilight sleep.
Vanguard is not superhuman. He’s just a really proficient con man.
Yes, and a master manipulator to the T.
https://www.learning-mind.com/master-manipulator/
It is fortunate that you remember your meetings with Keith. But Toni Natalie had a different experience. From https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/politics/albany/2018/03/08/rochester-woman-battles-nxivm-keith-raniere/360847002/
“Once there, Raniere noticed the smell of cigarettes on Natalie, she said. He asked if she wanted to stop smoking. She told him she did.
He led her to a quiet room and they talked — about what makes her nervous, what makes her anxious. He touched what he called “trigger points” in her hands, telling her to touch them whenever she got the urge to smoke.
“I never smoked again,” Natalie said.
When she returned, Natalie’s husband asked what took so long. Lost in conversation and in something of a meditative state, she thought it had been 15 minutes.
He told her it was more than two hours.”
If other women are reporting the same sensation of not remembering, or of missing time, to me that suggests hypnosis. I have been hypnotized, and it did not put me to sleep. only produced a very relaxed state. I remember my hypnosis, but it looks like that is not always the case. For Raniere to hypnotize women in such a way that they have missing time, to me this has sinister implications.
In the past I it was thought that people can not be hypnotized to do things against their moral standards. But later I found out that is an urban legend, and that people can be hypnotized to do things they would not ordinarily do. This is not meant to excuse the wrong things Keith’s women have done. But it does make me wonder just what happened during these private meetings with Keith.
Being hypnotized does not put you to sleep, that’s called being bored to death by what someone is saying. Well, that could also be Erickson hypnosis- boring, confusing and only useful in a clinical atmosphere. Amnesia is a naturally occurring side effect of being hypnotized, as well as time distortion. Combining NLP with hypnosis goes hand and hand and becomes a very powerful way to motivate someone into doing almost anything, and have them think it was there idea to begin with. Actually it is very easy to learn and use. This is why anyone who learns it needs to have morals and use it ethically to help people. Keith, a sociopath does not have a moral compass.
I really hope this article is true and that Allison really is getting deprogrammed–if she can understand and acknowledge how she’s been hurt by Keith and in turn hurt others, that should jar her into reality and then she can cooperate fully with the authorities.
The authorities don’t need Mack’s cooperation, they have a cell with her name on it for the next few decades.