• Read all the interviews of the counter

Miguel Perlado (Barcelona, ​​1973) Clinical psychologist and psychoanalyst, has been specialized in sects in Spain and Latin America for 21 years. Publish Captured (Ariel), how they work and how to get out of them. In his youth he was in one.

You were in a cult. Yes, that was one of the motivations for me to specialize in this. It is not uncommon that in adolescence, as it happened to me, there is a moment of greater vulnerability to the seduction of these groups. Anyone who has a little low self-esteem can fall into one? We all share something very human: vulnerability and the fact that our mind works by simplifying reality. The simple, short explanations that solve everything have a huge hooking power. One of the myths that demolishes the book is that you cannot leave without outside help. Experience tells us that many former members leave spontaneously either because of a state of crisis or an accumulation of situations of abuse. Another thing is how they come out and in what state. But it does come out. Then there is shame, guilt and anxiety. Why shame? It is normal to think: what face will they look at me now? How will I explain what I have lived? There is also the fault of not having met the standards of the group and who instill from the sect, the panic on the way out is brutal. And then there's the downturn, the emptiness after having reached a state of enlightenment and fullness. In the book he criticizes the 'new age' a lot, even if it's not a 100% sect. Because it has a lot of social insight. Any citizen can go to a bookstore and find books on alternative therapies or quartz crystals ... Now the tarot is something 'cool'. Because it has that something dark, it is fashionable. It is good in certain circles to say that you have spent a weekend with a shaman taking ayahuasca, or that you went to a great coaching seminar that changed your life. The magical thought still endures. Create the illusion of getting out of the monotony of everyday life. It makes you feel special, chic , superior to others ... sophisticated. Like the Gwyneth Paltrow series, it's crazy. There, what Netflix is ​​doing is validating that speech without any ethical approach. The sects have always been interested in celebrities because they sell their product very well, but one sees John Travolta, Tom Cruise or Beck and does not seem to be crazy. Is that another myth is that everyone who is in a sect is alienated. Scientology is a classic: they have their own celebrity centers and they are not exposed to certain group practices that can arouse suspicion. Why in Spain there are no famous actors who belong to sects? We still have deep-rooted Catholic morals and there is fear of what they will say. But it is a matter of time. Yes, there are celebrities in the field of cinema linked to sects or flirted with them. Another thing is that it has come to light. Which is the largest in Spain? Scientology claims to have many followers, but the groups swell their numbers. New Acropolis and Sukyo Mahikari and more prototypical Christian groups such as Jehovah's Witnesses have a good penetration in our country. Did you see 'Wild Wild Country'? Yes, it seemed to me that it reflected many of the things that happened but with a certain fashion halo. Do not forget that Sheela was a very fanatical adept who pushed the movement for years and is redeemed. It is a false perception of what happened. Osho's is one of those groups that apparently disappeared in the 70s, but in reality they reorganized by spreading Europe among the commanders through communes that still exist today and company seminars. What sects do your patients come from? Scientology, the Gnostic movement and the Palmar de Troya, which is another sect that gives that air cañí, with a funny and spooky point, like a clown, but the boys who they were inside still in panic for Satan to eat them. Do they move a lot of money? Yes, and the money is very sweet. They end up buying academics of all kinds, sociologists, psychologists and anthropologists who issue favorable reports. Thus they obtain favorable judicial resolutions in their respective countries and then come saying they are persecuted. This is the case of Scientology and the Unification Church. How many Spaniards have been in contact with a sect? We do not have an exact figure, but about 0.7% of the population. Obviously we must discriminate against those who have militated very intensely and others who have had specific contacts. In Europe the percentage is 0.9% or 1%. In Spain, masses of the Hillhouse Church are celebrated, a sect, why are they not prohibited? There is no law of sects, so to speak. In France, Luxembourg and Belgium there is legislation, but that solves the problem only partially. Groups quickly change their name and place to stop being listed. Making a list of sects would be problematic, could lead to some persecution. The task is more to help people think, take care of themselves and not be abused. If we look at the legal repertoire we have, there are already devices and headings that can be used to combat them. Are many trials held? It is not usual, but there are people who come out to report for moral compensation. It is not so much a matter of winning a trial, but of knowing it. Why are we so fascinated? Because they have to do with perversion, exploitation, cynicism. There is something enigmatic that catches us, it's like when we watch movies of thieves in white gloves. Access to hidden places of the mind fascinates us. Have you ever received threats to help in the extraction of adherents? Yes, although always more or less veiled. I changed my home and received a Christmas greeting at the new address, even though only my closest friends and family knew what my new address was.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

Know more

  • Netflix
  • Barcelona
  • Final Interview

InterviewBlanca Suárez: "For now my phone is still ringing. Next year we will see"

The richest A year in the key of the rich: from the sale of Air Europa to the condemnation of Jaime Botín

The final interview Los Compadres: "Only with laughter can the tension of being Spanish be overcome"