1. The Assault Upon Identity- This consists of physical and emotional assaults, interrogations, physical restraints and brutality; with the ensuing result of depriving individuals of "power, mastery and selfhood of adult existence." Resistence brings about another round of assaults.
2. The Establishment of Guilt- Subjects of the process are given a message of guilt that is both existential ("you are guilty") and psychologically demanding ("you must learn to feel guilty").
3. The Self-Betrayal- The next step in the process is the denunciation of self, friends and associates. The objective is to subvert the structure of the subjects' lives.
4. The Breaking Point: Total Conflict and the Basic Fear- Subjects are persistently accused of being "out of touch" until they "get it" about how guilty they are. These pressures are so strong that the subjects feel the threat of total annihilation if they do not comply.
5. Leniency and Opportunity- Leniency does not mean that the milieu budges from any of its demands; it just lets up on the pressures long enough to let the prisoners absorb the demands. This resembles the "good cop, bad cop" routine. The key idea here is that total annihilation is avoidable, if the subjects "cooperate."
6. The Compulsion to Confess- Confession is the only way to survive the environment; subjects learn this as a key to survival as well as a means to overcome the guilt they have assumed.
7. The Channelling of Guilt- Once the subjects are ready to move forward in their formal confessions of guilt, the environment channels these confessions towards its own ends. This includes the re-interpreting of past events in terms of guilt and shame, which reinforces the claims of the environment.
8. Re-Education: Logical Dishonoring- The desecration of the subects' identities, opening the door for acceptance of the agenda of the captors.
9. Progress and Harmony- Once subjects show "progress" they are "accepted" by the captors. In the prison camps, this meant being put in a position to influence other, less "advanced" prisoners, as well as receiving better treatment and circumstances.
10. Final Confession: The Summing Up- At the point of harmony, the subjects emotionally side with the captors, denouncing ther previous ways for the "benefit" of themselves, the captors, and other prisoners.
11. Rebirth- Once subjects have "graduated" to the other side and made their confessions, the captors find new jobs or roles for them to fulfill; places in the organization where they can serve "the people."
12. Release: Transition and Limbo- The subjects are finally ready to leave the environment and take their new roles. Yet, most Westerners (indeed, all of Lifton's subjects) were expelled from the country instead of following through on plans for their new roles. It is as if the captors know the whole process has not been successful, or that Westerners have no place in the new China.

  It was no longer enough to admit guilt, to feel guilty, or even to recognize specific guilty actions. The prisoner had to extend self-condemnation to every aspect of his being, and learn to see his life as a series of shameful and evil acts-- shameful and evil not only in the possible opposition to Communism, but also because they violated his own cherished ideals.....
  At this point, the prisoner faces the most dangerous part of thought reform. He experiences guilt and shame much more profound and much more threatening to his inner integrity than and experienced in relation to previous psychological steps. He is confronted with his human limitations, with the contrast between what he is and what he would be. His emotion may be called true or genuine guilt, or true shame-- or existential guilt-- to distinguish it from the less profound and more synthetic forms of inner experience. He undergoes a self-exposure which is on the border of guilt and shame. Under attack is the deepest meaning of his entire life, the morality of his relationship to mankind. The one-sided exploitation of existential guilt is thought reform's trump card, and perhaps its most important source of emotional influence over its participants. Revolving around it are issues most decisive to thought reform's outcome. (pp. 77-8, emphasis added)