Toxic Workplaces and the Cult Survivor

Cult survivors make great little worker bees (and I say this with a lot of love, respect, and a huge dose of sarcasm), at least in the minds of bosses; especially second and multi-generational survivors. But this is because we spent years working in an exploitative and abusive system that formed the basis for our work ethics. While I think that many bosses probably do admire the work ethic of their survivor employees (and they usually are not made aware of the employee’s survivor status, because we often keep it hidden for fear of stigma), I think that there is little recognition of how the culture of the American workplace taps into and triggers the old wiring of survivors. So I wanted to do a post that explores and examines these things.

Some resources mentioned:

Investigative journalist and Conspirituality podcast cohost Matthew Remski's post The Goodness of a Cult Comes from Those it Abuses. 

Alissa A. Leisure Whitlatch, Ph.D.'s dissertation The Impact of Cult Membership on Career Development and Employment. 

Dr. Margaret Singer and Dr. Janja Lalich’s book Cults in Our Midst: The Continuing Fight Against Their Hidden Menace. 

Edwin Herr and Stanley Cramer's book Career guidance and counseling through the lifespan: Systematic approaches. 

Dr. Janja Lalich and Madeline Tobais's book Take Back Your Life: Recovering from Cults and Abusive Relationships. 

Trauma and Recovery: The Aftermath of Violence--From Domestic Abuse to Political Terrorby Judith Herman. 

Complex PTSD: A syndrome in survivors of prolonged and repeated traumaby Judith Herman. 

A study called Posttraumatic stress disability after motor vehicle accidents: Impact on productivity and employment. 

A study called Independent living skills and posttraumatic stress disorder in women who are homeless: implications for future practice. 

Amanda Montell’s book Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism. 

A 2019 Forbes article entitled, The Turbulent And Toxic State Of The Nation’s Work Culture: What You Absolutely Must Know And Do.