Jul 14, 2026 · 39 min · 11 segments
When I got to AA, like in my first week, I heard people saying "we're not a cult but we need the brainwashing" or "I needed brainwashing when I got here." But what does that actually mean? And what…
Kirsten JohnsonHost
Let's start off with what the heck is brainwashing? So when I think of the word brainwashing, it's kind of an antiquated term, isn't it? So it is thought reform, is how Robert J.
Lifton would have referred to this phenomenon, or mind control is maybe how, what MKUltra [chuckles] is, is how other people might refer to this.
I think in AA when they have that term, uh, "But we needed the brainwashing," or, "I needed the brainwashing," people aren't really understanding seriously what it means.
If you wanna know specifically how AA does thought reform or how AA brainwashes, we did do a entire series here on the channel looking through each of Robert J. Lifton's eight criteria for thought reform, unpacking specifically how AA does this, how AA does mind control, how AA does brainwashing, how Alcoholics Anonymous does thought reform.
Yeah, and there's eight videos, so I will pop that up here if you are interested in checking that out.
Let's look at a definition of brainwashing now so we can get on the same page here.
Let's start off with what the heck is brainwashing? So when I think of the word brainwashing, it's kind of an antiquated term, isn't it? So it is thought reform, is how Robert J.
Lifton would have referred to this phenomenon, or mind control is maybe how, what MKUltra [chuckles] is, is how other people might refer to this.
I think in AA when they have that term, uh, "But we needed the brainwashing," or, "I needed the brainwashing," people aren't really understanding seriously what it means.
If you wanna know specifically how AA does thought reform or how AA brainwashes, we did do a entire series here on the channel looking through each of Robert J. Lifton's eight criteria for thought reform, unpacking specifically how AA does this, how AA does mind control, how AA does brainwashing, how Alcoholics Anonymous does thought reform.
Yeah, and there's eight videos, so I will pop that up here if you are interested in checking that out.
Let's look at a definition of brainwashing now so we can get on the same page here.
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