Services We Offer

Explanatory note: Whenever we use the words ‘cult’, ‘cultism’ or ‘cultist’ we are referring solely to the phenomenon where troubling levels of undue psychological influence may exist. This phenomenon can occur in almost any group or organisation.

Advice and information:

We provide advice and information to individuals and  families and  about cultist groups. We also provide this service to schools, government departments, and to the media who are an essential element in opening up cultist issues in society. We try to help people clarify whether the problem they are encountering results from involvement with cultism or from other issues. We refer people on to people who understand the issues related to the participation of the person in the particular cultist group they are enquiring about. Sometimes the issues relate to non cult issues and in that case we have people we recommend who understand cultism but who are counsellors with specific skills like hypnotherapy and psychotherapy. Sometimes we get an initial call and in our experience it can take up to two years before the person gets back to you. Here is an example where the person was able to take the advice and to get back to us.

Dear Mike,

I want to thank you for the time you afforded me last week and also for helping me to understand a situation that is quite distressing for me to observe. Over the past few days, I have decided that my relationship is too peripheral and tenuous to interfere in this person’s life at this time. I can see that the family circle is an important one, and also how much it is effecting the whole situation but I am not in a position to contact these two sisters as it would expose my own relationship. This would also be a huge breach of confidence to the person concerned.

I have also thought about this in relation to my own intent, and I need to focus on my own projects. I’ve had very long discussions with all of the important people in my life and they’ve unanimously told me to leave it alone and get on with my own stuff. You very correctly observed that this person is no good for me at this time. Becoming involved to the extent we discussed would take an enormous amount of emotional energy for me and I can’t afford this at the moment. My interference may also be very unwelcome to all of the people concerned.

If the situation changes, which could happen at any time. I will contact you and I know now where I can go, or where to send other people who may need your help. You are doing wonderful work!

Regards,
Tom XXXXX

Specific support Groups:

We also facilitate support groups for those coming out of a particular movement as a way to help them resolve the issues their involvement resulted in. We provide an initial support to the group until they become self supporting.

Islamism Consultancy:

Dialogue Ireland has developed an expertise in regard to Islamism here in Ireland as part of our work in regard to Cultism. https://dialogueireland.wordpress.com/category/cultism/

Following our WordPress blog will provide background to current developments. The history of the developments in this area and the fact that Ireland is the HQ of the Muslim Brotherhood in Europe. Mike Garde, Director of Dialogue Ireland can give background to this development generally since engaging with this issue since Sept 11, 2001. Ireland has no centre doing research on this phenomenon. See other similar reports from other countries on our site. https://dialogueireland.wordpress.com/category/islamism/
Prime Time had a detailed look at this issue in Dec 2006 which was broadcast in the Christmas week and hence did not receive the attention it deserved.
http://www.dialogueireland.org/dicontent/resources/video/primetimeradicalislam.html

Dialogue Ireland is not interested in Islam as such, but Islamism. We are only concerned about the cultist aspect of Islam. We see the solution to radical Islam is moderate Islam.

Thought Reform Consultancy:

Formerly it was believed that a person who joined a Group was programmed and as a result he needed to be ‘deprogrammed.’ This then led to ‘exit counselling’ where it was assumed that the only direction a person could go in was out. Now the issue has developed to the point where we talk about Thought Reform.

• Here the idea is that the person is presented with alternative information about the group s/he is in. It involves getting the whole family involved in the process. It is entirely voluntary which means the person does not have to escape back to the group with his horror story about being deprogrammed. This can take time to develop and for the right conditions to exist to present alternative views. So instead of the use of subterfuge saying for example that someone is sick, and you must come home, you must take time to understand what happens in groups and how people become involved. There is a natural tendency to want to get the person out, but that has more to do with the person concerned about the person in the group than about the actual situation. We must always remember that we must respect the human rights of those who decide to become involved with a group we do not agree with. So the use of short cuts and trying various tricks to get the person to leave has the tendency to make the situation worse. It is important to realise that involvement with a group does not mean that the person is suffering from a psychiatric disorder but rather is under influence.
• https://dialogueireland.wordpress.com/about/cultism/
• This way recognises the right of a person to make their own choice as an adult but it allows for differences to be resolved within the family, and it can lead to healing in relationships which have no connection to the cult issue.

Contacts with government:

This is done on behalf of the victims and survivors and their families who obviously do not go to their TD to raise the issue as there is a stigma associated with joining a cult. Ireland is one of the only countries in Europe that has not addressed the issues of “cults” in a systematic manner. We have attempted for over a decade to get a hearing from government, but without success

There is a requirement for the study of cults in an academic context, with researchers, and resources made available to provide support for the many families who have had to bear the wounds of battle without assistance. The Belgian government for example has a committee that provides this service and it has an interdepartmental team that looks out for cultist issues within Belgium. Also the introduction of World Religions as part of the Junior and Leaving Cert Syllabii requires some kind of Third level centre where the world religions issue can be addressed.

The Schools’ Programme:

Generally most of us are shocked every few years when we hear about incidents like Waco, or the Solar Temple but say to ourselves it won’t happen here! Many people think that the cult issue is no longer with us. They remember the cult scares of the 70s, 80s and 90s, with the Moonies and Scientology being the prominent groups that are remembered. Now with the collapse of religion in general there is no sense of the danger cults involve. It is only when someone close to them suddenly changes and joins a group that they become aware.Unlike the drugs issue which is quantifiable, Cults are not so easy to evaluate. How many are there? What numbers are involved? We have no statistics, but from research in other countries we can say that up to 1–1.5 % of the population are caught up. That means that up to 60,000 people could be involved. Just because we are not aware of anyone being involved should not blind us to the need for this to be given some space in either the RE programme or at least somewhere on the school programme. I am getting calls on a daily basis from families whose adult children have joined this group or that and say to me, “if only they had had that talk!” These people turn to Dialogue Ireland for guidance and support. Such situations can be unbelievably painful for the people involved. Some have compared it to the death of a loved one without the funeral. Fortunately, the experiences of most people joining new movements are much less dramatic than this. Also the general culture is becoming more aware of the real possibility of mind control as we see ostensibly normal young people taking part in suicide missions where they are educated within very narrow parameters about a particular religious tradition. Click here for more on the schools’ programme

Donations & Fees:

Dialogue Ireland is a unique organization that deals with a very specialised, if almost esoteric, subject. Most people rarely think about this subject, and only do so when a major event hits the media or when they, or a loved one close to them, become involved in a group that leads to a family crisis. As a charity we do not charge for advice and information on the phone or through email anywhere in the world.

We charge for private consultations in person or with organisations, and terms will be worked out prior to commencement of the work. We also charge for specific research projects on behalf of families, individuals or organisations.

However, as a charity, we will provide a service to those who have an inability to pay. We rely upon volunteer work (which can add up to hundreds of hours) and upon the financial support of donors such as you who make it possible for us to continue offering services. Please consider making a donation that will help us to continue providing our services to the community.

Contact us

MIKE GARDE
DIRECTOR DIALOGUE IRELAND
Phone: 353 -1- 8309384 or mobile 353 – 87 2396229

Postal Address:

7/8 Lr Abbey St; Dublin 1
Web site: https://www.dialogueireland.ie

Blog: https://dialogueireland.wordpress.com
Email address: info@dialogueireland.ie

Dialogue Ireland Charity no. 14004

Registered Charity Number: 20045111

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