Tidbits to Threads Number Four

Today, its all about Word Salad

“WORD SALAD”

(wurd SAL-uhd) noun

Word salad is a communication tactic where excessive, confusing, or contradictory language is used to overwhelm, derail, or destabilize another person.

(definition adapted from dictionary sources)

In psychology and relationship-education spaces, word salad describes speech that sounds meaningful but is intentionally confusing, circular, or overwhelming so the listener can’t think clearly or challenge what’s being said.

In undue influence, it’s not about mental illness, it’s about control of the conversation.

It’s a red flag when someone floods a conversation with tangled language.

Over time, I’ve come to recognize a few cues that signal when I’ve encountered this dynamic in a conversation or environment.

Let’s look at them together.

Do you find yourself leaving the interaction mentally exhausted, questioning whether you heard correctly, or replaying the conversation in your mind trying to make sense of i? When this happens on repeat, it can slowly chip away at self-trust, especially as you begin to doubt your own ability to understand what was actually said.

Do you may also notice yourself agreeing just to end the conversation? That can be another signal that clarity wasn’t really the objective. Control may have been.

On the other hand, clarity feels very different. Clarity allows space to ask questions. It allows for boundaries in conversation, where you have autonomy over what you choose to share and what you keep to yourself. Clarity also makes room for disagreement without the threat of losing connection.

But confusion tries to remove those things. Why? Because the goal is no longer really communication. Often, the goal becomes something else, whether that’s power-over, control of the interaction, or even emotional exhaustion.

Word salad can also show up through circular logic.

Circular logic happens when someone speaks in loops, so the conversation never actually resolves or comes to a full stop. I like to think of it as asking: does the conversation ever end? Does it metaphorically put a period at the end of the sentence, or close the chapter in a book?

You might hear something like: “I didn’t… you misunderstood. And the fact that you misunderstood shows why I didn’t tell you in the first place.” Suddenly, you’re right back where you started. The conversation goes nowhere, and it can leave you feeling like you’ve just been gaslighted.

Word salad can also show up when someone uses big or vague concepts that make the topic feel slippery instead of understandable. Rather than feeling like you’re grasping a clear idea, everything starts to feel abstract and untethered. I often noticed this when I was taught spiritual concepts without anything concrete or grounded in reality.

Here’s another pattern I learned to watch for: does the person speak rapidly and contradict themselves in a way that makes your brain go, wait… what? You just said this, and now you’re saying the opposite. The statements shift so quickly that you, as the listener, can’t keep track.

I have come to learn that ‘monkey-brain’ is just another symptom of having spent too much time in environments and conversations where word salad was prevalent.

Word Salad shows up in pseudo-spiritual language

Word salad can also come in the form of pseudo-spiritual language, especially in undue influence or high-control groups. It can show up in reframing a disagreement as a flaw or that something wrong with you, the listener, rather than the person speaking, especially if they are in a position of authority.

Somatically, you may feel dizzy, off balance, that felt sense that something in your life is out of alignment.

In hindsight, did you watch yourself come away questioning, asking yourself what the topic or conversation was actually about? Did you find yourself doing the ‘I’m sorry’ without really knowing why? Just to switch topics or end the conversation? I know I did.

Word salad creates cognitive overload, which reduces the ability to think critically in the moment. Your mind can no longer track the language, and your critical thinking temporarily stagnates.

When I was writing my book Velcro Kisses about my trauma bond to prophecy, I included a few of the prophetic words (transcribed) that I had received. I wanted to highlight how the prophecies that I received were not ‘just reading a fortune cookie or a daily horoscope.’ The type of prophetic words spoken over my life, took root within me and I became attached to them - like Velcro.

These prophesies not only primed me, but these prophecies became part of me. Now understand why I was so hooked. Then, my vulnerable points lowered my defenses and opened myself to their word salad.

At one point in my deconstruction and recovery process, I brought my prophecies into therapy, the ones I was already planning to include in my book. I read them out loud to my therapist, and after the first prophetic word, she paused and asked me a simple question: “How are you feeling after reading those words?”

The first word out of my mouth was, “dizzy.” I remember saying, “I can’t believe how dizzy I feel after reading this.”

Her response came in two parts. First, she said, “Yes… I am too, just trying to follow what you’re saying.” And then she added, “I can’t believe the arrogance in the words that were spoken over you.”

This was my first real-time awareness of what word salad can actually do in the body, after having set those prophetic words aside for over 14 years. We paused in the session and took time to ground before continuing. And no, I didn’t read anything else that day. I even added a clause in my book to prepare readers for when they come across one of those prophetic words.

When I think back to that season now, it makes sense in a way it didn’t then. I would read, re-read, or listen to cassette tapes, trying to take in what I believed were God’s future-telling words over my life. Looking at it now, I can see how ungrounded I was. The systems I was enmeshed in were structured in a way that kept me seeking, kept me off balance, and kept me from settling into clear, grounded thought.

From my book: Velcro Kisses

Here is an example of word salad in a prophetic word. At times these words may feel disjointed or even chaotic; that is the rhythm of the prophet’s voice. I include them not merely as parts of my story but as a window into what has been, what might be, and what continue to unfold today in groups of undue influence – often in the name of God.

2006 we received a prophetic word from North American prophets:

“For the Lord would say to you son and daughter know that I’m doing new things within you. Son I would say to you there was even a dream that was once within your heart. I’m resurrecting it even afresh and new. And it would have seemed that those dreams were dashed and gone into the ground for a season but I’m even breathing new life on it. And there’s even change that I’m bringing even around about for you. And the Lord would say that it even felt like you were in a rut, and you’ve been faithful even in the little things even as it would seem to be what you would have called even some menial tasks. But you’ve been walking in My process over a period of time. And the Lord would say unto you daughter you’ve been one who has been that great strength that great stability, even been that strong prayer warrior. …. And the enemy would have had a plan to even destroy you and to take your out because of discouragement. But the Lord would say I even infused you with new hope and even with supernatural strength of My spirit, the Lord would say unto you son and daughter I’m about ready to catapult you even into this next season of your life that I have for you. …..I’m about ready to bring you to a new season of transition and new season of release even in some areas of ministry, but even in some areas of function even in business…..you to be strong ministers in the market place but yet you shall be those ones who shall be that strength of ministry, even be those strong ministers even within the church because there is an anointing upon you to lay foundations in peoples lives and there an anointing upon you to even break open the pathway. …. The lord would say daughter know that there is even truth I’ve revelated to your and I’m opening up your eyes of your understanding of spiritual matters and even in intercession and in that place of prayer there’s even a strong discerning of spiritus that I’ve placed within your and there’s a strong prophetic anointing a strong prophetic call and it would have seemed for a season of time that you would have even been set on a shelf, you would have been sat by because there would have been those who would have even discarded you and laid you aside even in some disappointment and some trauma even of past days. ...And the Lord would say know son and daughter your about ready even to walk into that new place and even the release of the promise I that had originally gave you and know that I am restoring to you even that which the enemy robbed. The enemy came in to rob, kill and destroy for a s season but the Lord would say know that I am even infusing with new life to you in the realm of the Spirit and in the natural and I am even restoring even your fortune. Surely know that even as I have turned your captivity this is a season that I am restoring your fortunes back to you. That was the enemy that robbed and even the hand of man to even rob from you, this is a season that I am causing restoration to come to all things.”

Word Salad ingredients in this prophecy: God’s speaking – I’m his daughter – new things within – dream – resurrection – dreams dashed – change – rut- faithful – menial tasks – walking process time - great strength, great stability, prayer warrior, enemy have a plan to destroy me and take me out (what? Wait. - Am I not God’s daughter? - because of discouragement? But – and so on and so on…it goes from that to release – business- ministry – marketplace- back to church – break open pathways to spiritual matters, intercession, spirits, prophecy -back to shelf – discarded – trauma. To Spirit – Enemy robbed – hand of man to rob us…and so on…

The tone of this prophetic word, as it was spoken, was authoritative. It had an air of certainty, as though it were being declared as Truth. The person displayed a confidence such that God was endorsing the words being spoken. Often it would begin with phrases like, “the Lord would say…” That tone, combined with the language itself, created a strong internal pull.

Then add in everything happening around it: the response in your nervous system, the energy of people laying hands on you and speaking in tongues, others gathered around you, the instruments still playing in the background. And in the middle of it all, your brain is trying to track what is being said while also being aware that people are watching you. Watching this happen to you.

It’s powerful. It’s heady. And it can leave a person feeling off balance and ungrounded, while still feeling deeply “spiritual,” as the nervous system tries to make sense of what is happening in real time.

What is actually happening, in part, is word salad combined with layered energetic dynamics. And when these experiences are repeated over time, they can begin to subtly erode self-trust. And when self-trust is weakened, it becomes harder to discern what is true, what is real, and what is grounded.

My first encounter with word salad that I can remember was in my early twenties. I had entered the personal development world through Large Group Awareness Trainings (LGATs), and I remember my first “wait, what?” moment—but I didn’t have language for it then. I didn’t know how to tag red flags, and I definitely didn’t recognize what was happening in real time.

Looking back, the word salad I was exposed to during those three years in the personal development world gradually undermined my self-trust. It disconnected me from my intuition and left me ungrounded in my sense of reality. Yes, I experienced what was called “breakthrough,” but not the kind I was actually looking for. The kind of breakthrough I had ended with me in the emergency room.

Hindsight makes things a lot clearer.

Since then, I’ve learned to see how word salad can be used to manipulate attention and shut down critical thinking—especially when it’s wrapped in a spiritual, wellness, or personal development lens. I work every day to retrain and strengthen my critical thinking skills, because it’s a skill like any other and it can be learned and rebuilt.

I no longer deprioritize critical thinking in favor of trying to keep up, trying to understand, or trying not to miss something important.

My new favorite salad? You guess it! It’s chock-full of curiosity, questions, and an excessive sprinkle of critical thinking. And the best part is…it tastes amazing without the secret sauce and the dressing is finally transparent!

Yes, this is me trying to make a joke😊

Will you join me?

Thank you for reading Tidbits to Threads: where small moments, insights and deep threads become a return to self-trust, reflection, and healing.

Small moments. Deep threads. A return to self-trust.

Author of Velcro Kisses: prophecy, trauma bonds & Reclaiming narrative.