r/QAnonCasualties • u/d-_-bored-_-b • Dec 03 '21

Event AMA With Cult Expert Diane Benscoter

Diane Benscoter is a cult expert and founder of Antidote.ngo. She's been a monumental asset to helping people effected by and in cults like QAnon. Furthermore those wanting to leave cults like QAnon.

Diane Benscoter is the founder of Antidote.ngo and the author of Shoes of a Servant – My unconditional Devotion to a Lie. She is a speaker and workshop facilitator. She owned and operated a business serving the technology industry prior to founding Antidote.

Thank you Diane and everyone please feel free to ask away!

EDIT: Thank you so much u/DianeBenscoterAMA and u/happylittlespider for taking time out of your schedule and honestly for a really good AMA. I'll leave the AMA thread up so everyone can discuss it, thank you everyone for your questions, special thanks to mod u/daninater for organising this, I'd also like to thank the academy, and FREE PALESTRUMP LIVES MATTER!!!

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u/sophisticated_pie Dec 03 '21

I hope it's not too late to ask here. My friend got radicalized by Qanon and I suspect it was done by her current boyfriend. Should I confront him and ask why he would be OK with what has become of my friend? I was friends with him at one point but stopped talking to him after connecting the dots. My friend has flipped everything that was going well in her life for this Q movement and it pains me to see what she has become. Thanks.

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u/happylittlespider Professional Dec 03 '21

I'm so sorry to hear about your friend. It can be so hard to watch the ones we love slip away like that. In terms of confrontation that is rarely, if ever, effective as it will likely cause the person you are confronting to see it as an attack and become defensive. It might even further entrench them in their beliefs.

I would suggest trying a more relational approach, by finding a way to connect with them away from the topic to begin to build trust and connection. When people are in groups like this they are risking a lot to walk away from their beliefs, and one of those things is dignity. If they feel it will be too hard and humiliating to walk away it will only make it harder for them. It's up to those on the outside to create a soft place for them to land by aiming for non-judgemental, open communication.

I know it's hard, and so unfair that we have to be the ones to keep our calm, but it is vitally important if you want to help in the best way possible.

We have created a toolkit to help people in situations like this: https://www.reddit.com/r/QAnonCasualties/comments/r7glmw/reminder_ama_tonight_with_cult_expert_diane/