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The Cult Effect: A True Story of Mind Control in Australia 1996 - 2010
A gripping account of the brutal impact of spiritual and violent extremism.
Carli McConkey was 21 years old when she happened upon New Age guru, Natasha Lakaev, and her personal development company, Life Integration Programmes, at the Mind Body Spirit Festival in Sydney, Australia in 1996.
What at first appeared professional and promising, became a vehicle for psychological and physical abuse. Over the next thirteen years, Carli lost her freedom...her mind...and her family.
This memoir demonstrates the subtle and insidious process of mind control, gives insights into the period of recovery after escape, and shows how determination and strength can overcome adversity.
Carli McConkey was 21 years old when she happened upon New Age guru, Natasha Lakaev, and her personal development company, Life Integration Programmes, at the Mind Body Spirit Festival in Sydney, Australia in 1996.
What at first appeared professional and promising, became a vehicle for psychological and physical abuse. Over the next thirteen years, Carli lost her freedom...her mind...and her family.
This memoir demonstrates the subtle and insidious process of mind control, gives insights into the period of recovery after escape, and shows how determination and strength can overcome adversity.
386 pages, Paperback
First published July 30, 2017
17 people are currently reading
49 people want to read
About the author
Carli McConkey
1 bookCarli spent over 13 years in the destructive cult, Universal Knowledge (formerly known as Life Integration Programmes), run by cult leader Natasha Lakaev (a registered Psychologist with AHPRA, Australia) from the age of 21 to 35 and escaped in January, 2010.
She says 'escape', because she was brainwashed into believing that she could not leave. If she did, either her three children would be taken from her, or she would die in Armageddon, prophesised by Natasha Lakaev for 11 November 2011 (later 12 December 2012).
Carli is a normal, everyday person who is intelligent, and yet she found herself in this situation.
People do not join cults. Individuals or families in vulnerable stages of their lives are recruited via manipulative methods to become involved with a seemingly legitimate group.
Cults use mind control techniques including food and sleep deprivation, hypnosis, sensory overload, coercion, and deception. People are separated from their family and friends and social support network. Before they realise what is happening, the group's indoctrination is ingrained in their psyche through sophisticated thought reform.
Cult members are then trapped in a prison with or without walls, until they are either thrown out, deprogrammed via intervention, or get to a point where their current circumstances are so bad that losing their salvation or the prospect of death, is a better alternative.
Carli and scores of others were abused by Natasha Lakaev, who used mind control to yield power, money and glorification within a high demand group. Cult leaders generally display the traits of a charismatic narcissist, with Antisocial, Borderline and Histrionic Personality Disorders, therefore it is very easy for unsuspecting bystanders to be susceptible to their manipulation and gaslighting.
Carli wishes to help educate family and friends of current and former cult members, so that they are better able to understand the process of mind control and support their loved ones through recovery.
She hopes that sharing her story, personal insights and triumphs, will help support fellow ex-cult members and prevent others from becoming involved in these dangerous groups.
For more information about cult education and recovery, visit www.carlimcconkey.com.
She says 'escape', because she was brainwashed into believing that she could not leave. If she did, either her three children would be taken from her, or she would die in Armageddon, prophesised by Natasha Lakaev for 11 November 2011 (later 12 December 2012).
Carli is a normal, everyday person who is intelligent, and yet she found herself in this situation.
People do not join cults. Individuals or families in vulnerable stages of their lives are recruited via manipulative methods to become involved with a seemingly legitimate group.
Cults use mind control techniques including food and sleep deprivation, hypnosis, sensory overload, coercion, and deception. People are separated from their family and friends and social support network. Before they realise what is happening, the group's indoctrination is ingrained in their psyche through sophisticated thought reform.
Cult members are then trapped in a prison with or without walls, until they are either thrown out, deprogrammed via intervention, or get to a point where their current circumstances are so bad that losing their salvation or the prospect of death, is a better alternative.
Carli and scores of others were abused by Natasha Lakaev, who used mind control to yield power, money and glorification within a high demand group. Cult leaders generally display the traits of a charismatic narcissist, with Antisocial, Borderline and Histrionic Personality Disorders, therefore it is very easy for unsuspecting bystanders to be susceptible to their manipulation and gaslighting.
Carli wishes to help educate family and friends of current and former cult members, so that they are better able to understand the process of mind control and support their loved ones through recovery.
She hopes that sharing her story, personal insights and triumphs, will help support fellow ex-cult members and prevent others from becoming involved in these dangerous groups.
For more information about cult education and recovery, visit www.carlimcconkey.com.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
November 23, 2018
It's hard to reconcile the meek, gullible girl at the start of the story with the strong forthright woman in the second half. There are some instances where I thought come on, surely enough is enough, who would put up with 2 hours sleep per night, unpaid work and being charged thousands of dollars when the taxes were wrong etc, but then that shows the power of a Cult; preying on the vulnerable and turning ordinarily intelligent people into doormats.
November 21, 2017
An absorbing and informative account of an abusive Australian cult that needs to be read.
The Cult Effect is an honest, grounded and, more often than not, terrifying recounting of a young woman's 13 year journey spent within an organisation that sought to brainwash and mind control its followers into giving their finances, labour and selves to its leader. You really get a sense of 'seeing behind the curtain' here with this account being from within the circle that is more often than not only seen from the outside. The result is a self-reflective telling of a story that explains how young people can be tricked into organisations and made to stay in them against their will. We see that these people are not at all gullible or easily fooled. It is the cults themselves that are clever enough to twist people until they don't know which way is up.
I admit I found it hard to put this book down. It's a credit to the book that such a distressing read can be so engagingly written and yet still retain its objectivity despite how deeply the author was entwined with the events. The statement at the front that truth often is stranger than fiction certainly holds its own here.
This is a fascinating and essential read for all people who have been through a similar struggle or know someone who has. Or anyone by that manner. This book helps to dispel certain misnomers about cult life and helps to raise awareness that this is an issue that is hardly protected by law in our country and more prevalent than a lot of people would imagine.
An essential and eye-opening read. Highly recommended.
The Cult Effect is an honest, grounded and, more often than not, terrifying recounting of a young woman's 13 year journey spent within an organisation that sought to brainwash and mind control its followers into giving their finances, labour and selves to its leader. You really get a sense of 'seeing behind the curtain' here with this account being from within the circle that is more often than not only seen from the outside. The result is a self-reflective telling of a story that explains how young people can be tricked into organisations and made to stay in them against their will. We see that these people are not at all gullible or easily fooled. It is the cults themselves that are clever enough to twist people until they don't know which way is up.
I admit I found it hard to put this book down. It's a credit to the book that such a distressing read can be so engagingly written and yet still retain its objectivity despite how deeply the author was entwined with the events. The statement at the front that truth often is stranger than fiction certainly holds its own here.
This is a fascinating and essential read for all people who have been through a similar struggle or know someone who has. Or anyone by that manner. This book helps to dispel certain misnomers about cult life and helps to raise awareness that this is an issue that is hardly protected by law in our country and more prevalent than a lot of people would imagine.
An essential and eye-opening read. Highly recommended.
May 10, 2020
Shocking
A very in depth look at how Carli was drawn into a cult resulting in her life being hell.
I found the story really fascinating but shocking and Upsetting at the same time.
The book was really well written, frustrating to read but very good. I don't want to give the story away too much but I wish Carli and her children all the best for the future.
A very in depth look at how Carli was drawn into a cult resulting in her life being hell.
I found the story really fascinating but shocking and Upsetting at the same time.
The book was really well written, frustrating to read but very good. I don't want to give the story away too much but I wish Carli and her children all the best for the future.
May 5, 2024
A horrific yet well-written true story about a brave woman who experienced horror we couldn't imagine.
July 24, 2024
The writing flops all over the place. Annoying read.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews