Editing Deprogramming (section)

==Rationale and effectiveness==
Carol Giambalvo described the reasoning behind deprogramming thus:<blockquote>It was believed that the hold of the brainwashing over the cognitive processes of a cult member needed to be broken – or "snapped" as some termed it – by means that would shock or frighten the cultist into thinking again. For that reason, in some cases cult leader's pictures were burned or there were highly confrontational interactions between deprogrammers and cultist. What was often sought was an emotional response to the information, the shock, the fear, and the confrontation.<ref name="Giambalvo 1998"/></blockquote>

Another associate of Ted Patrick, Sylvia Buford, identified five stages in the deprogramming which would, ideally, bring the subject to a recognition of their condition:
# Discrediting the authority figure
# Presenting contradictions - comparing the ideology with the reality; for example, "How can he preach love when he exploits people?"
# The breaking point, at which the subject begins to accept the deprogrammer's position and begins doubting the ideology
# Self-expression: the subject begins to voice criticisms and complaints against the cult.
# Identification and transference: the subject begins to identify with the deprogrammers, thinking as an opponent of the cult rather than as a member.<ref name="All Gods Children">Stoner, Carroll; Parke, Jo Anne (1977). ''[[All Gods Children (book)|All Gods Children: The Cult Experience – Salvation or Slavery?]]''. [[Radnor Township, Pennsylvania|Radnor, PA]]: Chilton.</ref>

According to Giambalvo and others, however, deprogramming frequently failed completely to achieve the desired outcome and often caused significant harm. While some advocates claimed a high success rate, studies show that natural attrition rates are actually higher than those achieved by deprogramming interventions.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Gomes |first=Alan W. |title=Unmasking the Cults |publisher=[[Zondervan]] |year=1995 |isbn=9780310704416 |location=Grand Rapids, MI}}</ref>

Professor of psychiatry [[Saul V. Levine]] suggests that it is doubtful that deprogramming helps many people and goes on to say that it actually causes harm to the victim by the very nature of deprogramming. For deprogramming to work, the victim must be convinced that they joined a religious group against their will. They then must renounce responsibility and accept that in some mysterious way that their minds were controlled. He argues that deprogramming destroys a person's identity and is likely to create permanent anxiety about freedom of choice and leave the deprogrammed subject dependent upon the guidance and advice of others.<ref name="levine">{{cite journal |last1=Levine |first1=Saul V. |year=1979 |title=The Role of Psychiatry in the Phenomenon of Cults |journal=[[Canadian Journal of Psychiatry]] |volume=24 |issue=7 |pages=593–603 |doi=10.1177/070674377902400703 |pmid=519625 |s2cid=27997894}}</ref>

The [[Dialog Center International]] (DCI) a major [[Christian countercult movement|Christian counter-cult]] organization founded in 1973 by a [[Denmark|Danish]] professor of [[missiology]] and [[ecumenism|ecumenical]] [[theology]], [[Johannes Aagaard]], rejects deprogramming, believing that it is counterproductive, ineffective, and can harm the relationship between a cult member and concerned family members.<ref>Chryssides, ''Exploring New Religions'', 353–54.</ref>