Deprogramming

An individual who has been brainwashed, for example by some cult, is deprogrammed through a system of interrogation. Questions he or she has not been programmed to answer force the mind, after initial confusion and frustration, to make its own decisions. Thoughts and questions suppressed by brainwashing now surface and are addressed, so that instead of permanently centering on cult needs the individual faces up to conflicts normal to his or her development. This latter is likened to "defrosting" a mind "frozen" by indoctrination.