Blamed and shamed for sexual sin she never committed, Jess was forced into multiple IBLP training centers for “bad girls” where she was put on a no-speak order for weeks at a time. Punished for asking for basic needs during extreme manual labor in the intense heat, she constantly felt to blame for not measuring up to impossible standards. Her story is one of perseverance and strength as she finally finds her way out of the cult and begins to acclimate to the completely foreign outside world.
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Theme Song Produced and Composed by Christian Guevara
00:00:00 Intro
00:02:26 Jess’s reactions to going viral on tiktok with her IBLP story
00:03:04 Brief intro to IBLP (Institute in Basic Life Principles)
00:04:46 A deeper look into the authoritarian doctrine
00:07:28 How her mother’s infertility affected her mental health
00:09:31 Jess’s home life before being sent to a training center
00:11:43 The de-humanization of her no-speak order
00:12:37 Why she was sent away to a camp for troubled youth
00:15:20 TW: Child abuse- Her mother followed the abusive book “To Train Up A Child”
00:20:22 What her first rehabilitation training center was like
00:24:06 How spiritual was Jess going into the center?
00:26:18 The guilt and shame from being sent away
00:28:17 Shaming and blaming for a man making comments about her being beautiful
00:31:39 What was the “benefit” of the no- speak order?
00:32:41 A cruel sleep deprivation punishment with reading and writing
00:35:49 Average age of child who pays to do free labor there
00:39:01 IBLP believes (like scientology) that teens are full adults
00:40:15 If you don’t follow these enforced rules, you’ll get kicked out of ATI/IBLP
00:42:58 Her next post: housekeeping for a hotel run by IBLP
00:49:42 Her hindsight perspective on her childhood
00:53:43 She went back to the cult 9 months after she left!
00:56:46 Her personal impression of Bill Gothard
01:01:20 A timeline of all the training centers she was sent to
01:04:11 Jess’s experience with ALERT (their paramilitary group for teens)
01:06:13 How her experience in Africa helped her wake up
01:10:47 Navigating the new world outside the cult restrictions
01:14:25 Grappling with extreme black and white thinking
01:19:22 Navigating her peace as a parent
01:24:08 A good resource for affordable therapy: Better Help
01:25:01 Linda, Listen
**Disclaimer: Thanks for joining us at Cults to Consciousness. This storytelling podcast is meant to be for entertainment purposes only and does not substitute for medical advice. We may discuss triggering topics and we ask that you make your personal mental health a priority. Lastly, the opinions of our guests do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the host.**