Types of Programs

Here you will find a list of commonly known programs and their community-given names. The explanations of most of these programs are not professional. Rather, they come from survivors in OEA spaces who needed to label their experiences while communicating with one another. As such, you may see different terms elsewhere explaining the same types of programmed experiences. Some commonly known, general terms are:

• Alpha: Compliance and loyalty programming. Basic obedience training that underlies all other forms of programming.
• Beta: Sexual programming. Often includes the indoctrination of stereotypical gendered behaviors and the individualizing of dissociated parts to fit the fetishes of specific abusers. Commonly seen in patriarchal cults and sex trafficking.
• Chi: Better known as Callback programming. Implanted urges to return to abusers, including (but not limited to) the desire to contact abusers, go to sites of past trauma, re-join one’s group, re-enact the behaviors one was forced to partake in during their time in the group, etc. This differs from regular trauma reenactment behaviors seen in non-OEA abuse survivors; callback is generally more extreme and must be combatted using more drastic measures, such as psychiatric hospitalization, to prevent survivors from returning to their group.
• Delta: Violence programming. Often includes training in physical fighting or even the intentional killing of others. Commonly seen in underground fighting circuits, paramilitary groups, and child soldier regiments.
• Epsilon: Dehumanization programming. Deliberately forcing a survivor to believe they are an animal or an inanimate thing unworthy/unneeding of “human” comforts.
• Omega: Better known as Suicide programming. Causes immediate, active suicidality or otherwise self-destructive behaviors. Considered a “last resort,” programmers place omega triggers to prevent survivors from learning or sharing too much about their group, make survivors seem unreliable or too “emotionally unstable” to medical professionals, and more.
• Theta: Spiritual programming, or the manipulation of a survivor’s belief in religious powers, gods, ESP, etc. to further justify their abuse. Depending on the spirituality (or lack thereof) of one’s group, this can look like convincing the survivor they were chosen by their god to be tortured, telling the survivor they have special powers that require “secret training,” and more.
• Zeta: Normalization programming, or the normalization of death, murder, abuse, etc. Causes victims to unquestioningly accept these things as parts of everyday life. A zeta-programmed survivor may watch unflinchingly as someone they care about is tortured, believing the extreme violence to be normal and unavoidable.
• Narco: Cue-controlled sleep programming. When triggered, victims may either lose consciousness or enter a sedated state. This is often used when transporting victims so they are unaware of where they’re being taken. Narco programming can also be used to forcibly keep victims awake, causing sleep deprivation and insomnia-like symptoms.

Therapy Interference Programs

• Spin: The intentional spreading of painful body memories, negative emotions, and other upsetting symptoms throughout a victim’s mind. Spinners, or dissociated parts who are spin programmed, may be imbued with therapy-interfering triggers. (For example, a part may be trained to start spinning out overwhelming feelings of distrust and betrayal if the victim discusses their trauma in therapy, making the victim more apprehensive about their therapist.) This might be represented using imagery such as tornadoes, cyclones, carousels, etc. Spin is arguably the most thoroughly documented program, as there is a 1993 academic paper detailing the specifics of spin and the effect it has on survivors.
• Reporter: Programming that causes victims to contact their abusers and provide updates on their life. Reporter parts are often programmed into victims without their knowledge, hindering the recovery process by opening the victim up to being re-programmed into silence.
• Hyperverbal: A program that causes victims to say anything that’s on their mind when cued. This is usually tied to Reporter programs to ensure that victims are not keeping any secrets from their programmers and handlers. Directly contrasts with nonverbal programming.
• Shutdown: A programmed “off-switch.” Shutdown may affect victims internally, disrupting their ability to communicate with dissociated parts across innerworld borders, or externally, causing them to become unresponsive.
• Nonverbal: A program that prevents victims from speaking or using words to communicate when cued. This is usually put in place to prevent victims from revealing any group secrets. Directly contrasts with Hyperverbal programming.
• Scramble: Programming that disrupts victims’ internal processing. When triggered, victims may find it hard to connect their thoughts or comprehend concepts they previously understood. This can cause repeated therapeutic setbacks, forcing survivors to reprocess the same material over and over.
• Flood: Parts who are flood programmed are usually stuck in a flashback, constantly reliving their trauma. Once triggered, they are rushed to front, causing an overwhelming experience of traumatic memories, negative emotions, and other upsetting symptoms. This might be represented using imagery such as floods, waves, tsunamis, etc.

Organizational Programs and Structures

• Duality: Dichotomisation programming, or the splitting of a personality system into two highly distinct groups for the purpose of organization and polarization. Duality programming unwittingly teaches parts to keep themselves in line, as the opposing sides are constantly battling with each other. They may develop biases or prejudices towards one another, hindering their ability to work together. Examples of duality include good vs. bad, black vs. white, rightside-up vs. upside-down, day vs. night, God vs. Satan, etc.
• Grouping Programs: Parts may be assigned a specific designation for grouping, making it easier for programmers to access them. Some examples include number programming (where victims are assigned a number or a number-letter combination as an identity), color programming (where parts are grouped and assigned programmed roles by color, such as pink = feminine beta parts or black = delta soldier parts), gem programming (where victims are ranked according to their status within their group using precious stones), and more. These programs are often intertwined with epsilon programming, making it hard for survivors to develop a self-image as anything other than their number, color, gemstone, etc.
• Hierarchical Structures: Programmed systems often have internal structures that echo the organizational structures of the group programming them. Victims may be forced to split parts that maintain their programs in the innerworld and keep the system in line. These parts may be referred to as internal programmers, internal handlers, or internal higher ups. Victims’ innerworlds may also be shaped in specific ways that illustrate their hierarchical structure. Some common shapes include triangles, spider webs, multi-layer figures, and more.
• Layer: Distinct levels within a system. Layers may have barriers, such as locked doors or guarded gates, that prevent unauthorized parts from accessing them. Programmers may use layers to keep parts from interacting with each other.
• Military: Programming that designs a system’s innerworld and structure off of current or historical militaries. Parts may be assigned ranks, with higher ups functioning as “superiors” and the parts under them as “officers.” Often correlated with neo-Nazi groups, paramilitary groups, government-sanctioned programming, and other groups that utilize child soldier training; usually intertwined with delta.
• Shell: A part through which other parts front and present themselves to the world. Shells mask the differences between parts so the system appears as having one consistent identity. In systems with shells, parts may blend with the shell whenever they come near front to create seamless switches. Shell parts may be epsilon programmed or deal with a distressing lack of identity, often causing them to feel empty in the absence of other parts.
• Sidesystems and Subsystems: Separate systems within one body. Programmers may intentionally split multiple systems within a victim as a method of complex grouping. Some people use the term sidesystem for systems that are distinctly “alongside” the other system(s) and subsystems to describe nested systems; others use these terms interchangeably.

Scripts

Some programmers use a script, or a piece of media, as a programming aid to make instructions easier for young children to understand. By manipulating the characters and themes to fit their needs, programmers can use scripts to teach children desired programs and manipulate their worldview.

Scripts require near total access to a child, as they take a lot of time, work, and organization to implement. A properly implemented script often results in the mass introjection of characters in the media as dissociated parts, each with designated roles or specific programs that serve their abusers. The child’s innerworld may have organizational structures that match structures within the script. Commonly documented scripts include AiW (Alice in Wonderland), WoZ (Wizard of Oz), Disney princess movies, and children’s fairy tales.

Improperly implemented scripts are possible, as is the use of multiple scripts. However, the goal of scripts is to make programming easier for young children to accept. Bearing this in mind, it is unlikely that programmers would use any piece of media that is too confusing or imbue their victims with multiple full-length scripts.

It is important to note that not all survivors who experience mass introjection or forced introjection have a script. In fact, most groups do not use scripts because of the dedicated time and effort it requires.