Cults, Culture & Coercion with Dr. Steve Hassan

Do you worry about your teenager's safety and fear they could fall into the deceptive webs of manipulative, cult-like groups? Are you a desperate parent seeking intervention services for your struggling teen? If so, you can't afford to miss this interview with Melanie, a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and a survivor of the infamous Troubled Teen Industry —a largely unregulated web of residential behavior modification programs notorious for subjecting struggling teens to various forms of abuse. Our riveting dialogue focuses on these unregulated behavior modification programs' stark realities and untold abuses. Melanie's mission is to raise awareness and educate mental health professionals on coercive control settings like these. Why is this essential? Because desperate parents might unknowingly send their vulnerable teens into a dangerous commercial cult. Of course, there are legitimate therapeutic groups and settings but one needs to vet them extremely carefully and understand from former victims and experts what red flags to watch out for!Learn more about Steven Hassan and Freedom of Mind Resource Center. Visit freedomofmind.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Growing up in the Assemblies of God, the second-largest Pentecostal denomination in the United States with approximately three million members, Paul Jensen witnessed firsthand the controversial culture and beliefs that define this religious movement. Founded in 1914 and initially considered a fringe group by mainstream Protestant denominations, the Assemblies of God gradually gained acceptance. However, as Paul discovered, this movement’s high-demand and questionable history are often concealed from public scrutiny. He shared his journey of discovery after growing up in the Assemblies of God, the world’s largest denomination of the Pentecostal and Charismatic “Spirit Led” movement. He reveals the little-known authoritarian cult roots of the Assemblies of God and how the church has created an official narrative that conceals its true history. Unfortunately, the protections of law that prohibit religious groups from engaging in supporting political campaigns has been sidestepped in the USA, so understanding the fraud used to control members and their beliefs that they “hear from God” has caused intense polarization with all who do not subscribe to their “certainty” of commitment.Learn more about Steven Hassan and Freedom of Mind Resource Center. Visit freedomofmind.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In a world marked by political extremes, high-control groups, and the Influence Continuum, the story of Rich Logis stands out as both compelling and enlightening. Formerly a true believer pundit for the MAGA movement, Rich’s transformation offers a deep dive into the mechanics of belief, mind control, the allure of belonging, and the power of self-reflection and transformation. Rich Logis was a podcaster and deeply committed MAGA activist. His journey resonates with what I’ve observed repeatedly: deceptive recruitment, emotional manipulation, and information control that exploits the deep-seated human need to belong and make a difference. Yet, the moment of awakening and subsequent transformation makes his narrative genuinely captivating. Now, as he says, he’s working to bring good news to the afflicted and to help others leave MAGA and exit the closed system of demonizing all opponents.Learn more about Steven Hassan and Freedom of Mind Resource Center. Visit freedomofmind.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Large Group Awareness Trainings (LGATs) bill themselves as transformational multi-day workshops. You often feel pressured to attend, perhaps by your corporation or a family member or friend, and you are deliberately not told what will happen there. These workshops often utilize eight to twelve-hour marathon sessions to wear down a person's identity. According to research by South African Dr. John Hunter, they artificially create bipolar states in participants. Hunter offers a fresh and unique analytical framework to explain the highs people experience at the end of a "training." He is a researcher and lecturer based in Johannesburg. His interest in large group awareness trainings – and their impact on mood and psychosis – is grounded in his personal experience of bipolar disorder and his participation in an LGAT in 2010. Dr. Hunter put forward the Dopaminergic-Defense Hypothesis, which offers insights into both (i) the "transformational" experiences associated with LGAT participation and (ii) the common claims of psychological harm and problematic behavior associated with LGAT participation. In 2022, he published an article summarizing the mechanism behind the dopaminergic defense in the Journal for the Cognitive Science of Religion (Hunter, 2022). Hunter and I believe the stress and hyperarousal methods occur in many different environments including authoritarian cults and religious groups. This interview is fascinating.Learn more about Steven Hassan and Freedom of Mind Resource Center. Visit freedomofmind.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Esther Friedman is an expressive therapist and former five-year member of the Odyssey Study Group (OSG), a secretive cult utilizing the Gurdjieff ideology. Her excellent book is The Gentle Souls Revolution: A Secret Cult, an Open Rebellion, and Lessons in Protecting and Honoring Your Gentle Soul. This memoir and guide offer valuable insights and guidance for survivors of narcissistic abuse. It serves as a roadmap for those seeking to heal and rebuild their lives after leaving a cult. Through her personal experiences and professional expertise, Esther provides practical tools and strategies for navigating the complex emotions and challenges that arise after undue influence. The Gentle Souls Revolution also emphasizes the importance of self-expression and creativity in healing. Esther encourages survivors to explore their artistic side through writing, painting, music, or other creative expression. By engaging in these activities, survivors can tap into their inner strength, process their experiences, and find a sense of empowerment.Learn more about Steven Hassan and Freedom of Mind Resource Center. Visit freedomofmind.com  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

One of the hottest topics in modern psychology is utilizing psychedelics to aid psychotherapy. Research is being conducted on the potentially beneficial use of substances like psilocybin, LSD, DMT, and MDMA in a controlled environment. In recent years, it’s gotten attention for its efficacy in treating treatment-resistant depression and PTSD, addiction, and end-of-life anxiety. Related to this is the psychedelic underground, a movement that similarly wants to use these substances to improve lives but takes a different, more spiritual approach. I spoke with Rachel Harris, who has experience in both, about this exciting world. Rachel is the author of Swimming in the Sacred: Wisdom from the Psychedelic Underground and Listening to Ayahuasca: New Hope for Depression, Addiction, PTSD, and Anxiety. A psychologist who has been in private practice for 40 years, she spent ten years in an academic research department where she published more than 40 scientific studies in peer-reviewed journals and received a National Institutes of Health New Investigator’s Award. Join us for the fascinating interview!Learn more about Steven Hassan and Freedom of Mind Resource Center. Visit freedomofmind.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ramadan was freed from prison on March 15th 2023, after 51 years of incarceration by  the parole board and finally Governor Baker who commuted his life sentence. A Vietnam vet Shabazz suffered PTSD and drug addiction upon his return from service and got involved in armed robbery that  resulted in the deaths of two innocent people. He was initially sentenced to death. Ramadan Shabazz is a rare success story and a model that proves a person who commits a horrible crime can reform and truly become a model citizen. In 1983, he began his 40-year association with the Parker family. While incarcerated, Ramadan earned his bachelor's degree and master's degree from Boston University. He also participated in programs to assist other prisoners with mental health struggles. Ramadan Shabazz and my friend, Dr. Richard Parker, joined me on the Influence Continuum podcast this week to discuss his life journey and the phenomenal effort to help him be a free man today. This is a heartwarming story which brings much needed light on a prison system that deserves reformation.Learn more about Steven Hassan and Freedom of Mind Resource Center. Visit freedomofmind.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With Scientologist celebrity Danny Masterson being sentenced to 30 years in jail for brutal rapes recently, I want people to hear from a woman who was forced to grow up in this notorious cult., Katherine Spallino, the author of a new book, The Bad Cadet: Growing Up in the Church of Scientology’s Sea Organization, has had quite a life journey. Katherine grew up on a secluded ranch within the cadet org, Scientology’s Sea Org school for children. At a young age, Katherine began to journal about her day-to-day life, capturing the thoughts and experiences of a child coming of age in a cult. Katherine’s background offers the rare opportunity to tell the story of the hundreds of children who rarely saw their parents and were indoctrinated to become future Sea Org members. The Sea Org is considered the “elite” part of the cult, and members are made to commit to a billion-year contract. In other words, this lifetime and many future lifetimes. Potential Sea Org members take part in both manual labor and indoctrination classes. Katherine’s book is unique because it is told by someone who journaled as a child.Learn more about Steven Hassan and Freedom of Mind Resource Center. Visit freedomofmind.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I speak with the acclaimed psychiatrist and my mentor, Robert Jay Lifton, M.D., about his new book, Surviving Our Catastrophes: Resilience and Renewal from Hiroshima to the Covid-19 Pandemic. Lifton’s research on thought reform and the psychology of totalism, specifically his study on “brainwashing” in China, has been widely regarded as groundbreaking. His book Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism (1961) was used in my deprogramming. It was Lifton who encouraged my career which has spanned 47 years. In this new book, Lifton delves into “Survivor Power” and the transformation from victimhood to survivorship. He emphasizes the importance of drawing on the knowledge and wisdom gained from surviving traumatic experiences to continue living meaningful lives. The book takes inspiration from historical examples of survivors who have endured unimaginable suffering and trauma. Lifton highlights the remarkable responses of individuals who, in the face of unspeakable horror, have created activist movements, converted their experiences into art and literature, and demonstrated the resilience of the human spirit. From the people of Hiroshima, who responded to the atomic bombing by creating an activist “city of peace,” to the survivors of Nazi death camps who combated mass killing and showcased their healing through art and literature, these examples serve as beacons of hope.Learn more about Steven Hassan and Freedom of Mind Resource Center. Visit freedomofmind.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I talk with the forensic psychiatrist and an internationally recognized expert on violence who edited the best-selling book, The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump: 37 Psychiatrists and Mental Health Experts Assess a President. Years after she and other mental health experts warned Trump was unfit and a danger to the public, we continue to see vivid proof that the public has suffered by censoring experts! Her recent book is Profile of a Nation: Trump’s Mind, America’s Soul. What was behind the mainstream media silencing of credible experts like Dr. Lee and myself? We discuss this and many important topics like the “duty to warn” and the importance of mental health, especially in people who are supposed to be public servants. We discuss the 25th Amendment of the Constitution and how it could be bolstered to prevent anyone who is so grossly incompetent from coming to the Presidency again. We also discuss the corrupt and authoritarian family court system in the United States- the subject of a forthcoming book.Learn more about Steven Hassan and Freedom of Mind Resource Center. Visit freedomofmind.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices