Let’s say you are a victim of a predatory psychopath, and you reach out to someone you trust for help, the person you trusted goes behind your back and reports your concerns to the psycho. This is the Psycho Cluster. In this scenario, the psychopath has everyone in your circle of influence under his or her control. He or she can easily influence them, convince them that you are psychologically unstable, and he will use them to “deal with you,” all under the guise of “caring about you so much.”
This creates a whirlwind of anti-you influence all around you. Anything you say and do from that point forward in an attempt to expose your psychopath for who he or she really is will not be taken seriously and only makes you look more and more as if you are losing your mind, and chances are, even you will start to question your own sanity, as the people around you try to support you by keeping you sedated and compliant. Because, after all, they are looking out for your best interests, right?
Wrong. They are simply mindless tools doing the bidding of the predatory psychopath. But they have no idea. They are convinced that they are doing the right thing for you. Amidst the Psycho Cluster, your whole world is turned upside down, and you don’t know who to trust. Because that one person you think you can trust might be the one that makes everything even worse.
Now your psychopath knows that you are onto him or her and are looking for a way out, so he or she has no choice but to turn on the heat, initiate the Psycho Cluster, and turn everyone against you.
I can look back, now, and see that early on, in my career as a Christian Counselor, I was duped by individuals who I would now know as psychopathic personalities. And I, with the best of intentions, sent people straight back into the lion’s den and encouraged them to essentially man up and get control of their life. And back then? When I talked about getting control, it wasn’t like I would talk about doing so today. In those early years of my ministry, it meant, “Doing the right thing.”
Whatever is happening in your life serves some greater purpose. Just go along with it, and everything will work out alright.
Doing the right thing meant, sucking it up. Sleeping in the bed that you made for yourself. Keeping your word and commitments regardless of external circumstances. Walking the straight and narrow without regard for self. All under the premise that whatever is happening in your life serves some greater purpose. Just go along with it, and everything will work out alright. Plus, God would never let you find yourself in a situation that you were not already equipped to handle.
“So, buck up buttercup. Get in there and do the right thing, even if it means being a martyr for what you believe in.”
(I was such an idiot back in the day.)
It was like; if Jesus died for you, why wouldn’t you put your own life at risk, even facing the possibility of death for the sake of your spouse, family, or friends while committing acts of selfless servitude?
Today, in a more enlightened therapeutic environment, responses like these would be considered as psycho-ignorant disrespect, potentially blaming the psychopath victim, and detrimental to any hope of successful recovery.
Goodness could be found in anyone.
And back then, I truly believed that all of mankind was basically good. Like goodness could be found in anyone. I had witnessed the redemptive power of God with my own eyes. Previously wicked people and criminals turned their lives around and lived blessed lives, adding value to the community and making the world a better place. People I thought had no hope of redemption.
That was until I met my first psychopath. At that moment, I knew I had been sorely mistaken.
If you think that certain religious orders do not have psychopaths as members and among the leadership. Think again. Psychopaths gravitate to religion because it has built-in manipulation tactics that they can use for their own dark purposes.
It is impossible to know what is going on inside the head of a psychopath.
So, I can see how professionals, doctors, therapists, counselors, and advisors of all types can easily be conned by a skillful predatory psychopath and get drawn into the Psycho Cluster because it happened to me. It could happen to anyone who has no idea that this kind of manipulation tactic is at work behind the scenes. We only know what we know, and it is impossible to know what is going on inside the head of a psychopath.
If you find yourself as the victim of a predatory psychopath who has already spun the Psycho Cluster into motion, then forget to reach out to anyone in your circle of influence. Reach out to someone who is not associated with your private or public life to talk to.
Do not engage in any therapeutic process with your predatory psychopath, and if you are forced to do so, play along. That means, do not speak your truth, guide your heart, do not let your true feelings show, and be looking for someone else who can help guide you in your plan to separate yourself from the psychopathic control, and get you surrounded by a safe and secure environment where you can do the work of healing and recovery from this psychopathic chapter of your life.
A Certified Psychopath Victims Coach will be on the lookout for signs of such a relationship (which is not really a relationship at all) or evidence of Psycho Cluster activity, and even if they have met you in a couples counseling arena, they will help to refer you to someone you can speak to or make other means available to you to reach out for help.