High demand or cult-like groups will use these strategies and tactics:

​Psychological Manipulation - Isolation and fear tactics

• Threats of punishment - leaving or disobeying the group is said to result in spiritual ruin, illness or death.

• Apocalyptic warnings - the group may predict imminent disaster, claiming only they offer safety

• Demonising dissenters – former members and people who challenge the group are labelled as cursed, mentally unstable, or agents of evil.
   

Dependency Building - Leaves people dependent on the group

• Love bombing – new recruits are overwhelmed with affection and attention to create emotional attachment

• Creating helplessness – members are told they are weak or lost without the group’s guidance

• Discouraging critical thinking - questions are reframed as rebellion or a lack of faith

Financial Pressure - Groups may extort mandatory donations

• Tithes as salvation – members are told that giving is required to receive blessings or avoid harm

• Public shaming – those who don’t give enough are called out, punished or subtly excluded

• “Faith giving” – members are encouraged to give beyond their means, trusting that ‘God’, or the ‘Universe’ will provide

• Unpaid Labour: Members may be expected to work for free, framed as “serving the mission"

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Scriptural Distortion - Using scripture for guilt, fear, financial pressure

• Selective quoting: sacred texts are twisted to suppress dissent, enforce control and extract resources

• Spiritual Blackmail: members are told that questioning is the equivalent of rejecting God

• Confession rituals: members are pressured to publicly confess ‘sins’. This information is then used to harm or humiliate