Cults, Culture & Coercion with Dr. Steve Hassan

A frank discussion on the subject of the Netflix docu-series Bad Vegan. One-on-one coercive control is what this story was about! Sarma co-founded Pure Food and Wine restaurant in NYC and founded the raw vegan brand, One Lucky Duck. The series failed utterly by not explaining how predators operate, or how hypnosis can be used to elicit obedience and induce amnesia. In this case, large sums were drained from Sarma's business, and both she and her predator were jailed at Rikers Island, prosecuted as if both had criminal intent. This episode is for anyone wishing to understand how an educated, intelligent woman's business and life were obliterated via years-long grooming and mind control. All the evidence was there but prosecutors IMPO did not wish to investigate what really happened.Learn more about Steven Hassan and Freedom of Mind Resource Center. Visit freedomofmind.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Germaine is a Geriatric Neurologist, Professor Emeritus at OU College of Medicine. Her career has been devoted to people with dementia and their caregiver. She became a caregiver for her mother with dementia. She was recruited to Oklahoma University College of Medicine to develop a geriatric curriculum for medical students and focused her teaching on recognizing and caring for people with cognitive impairments. She required all her medical students to participate in Alzheimer's support groups. As the population ages in America, more and more people are suffering from severe cognitive impairments. While there is a great deal of research, Dr. Odenheimer warns us that caveat emptor: buyer beware.Learn more about Steven Hassan and Freedom of Mind Resource Center. Visit freedomofmind.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Lance Dodes, M.D. is a retired assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. He has been the Director of the substance abuse treatment unit of Harvard’s McLean Hospital, Director of the Alcoholism Treatment Unit at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital (now part of Massachusetts General Hospital), and Director of the Boston Center for Problem Gambling. He is the author or co-author of many journal articles and book chapters about the psychology of addiction and the author of three books: The Heart of Addiction (HarperCollins, 2002), Breaking Addiction: A 7-Step Handbook for Ending Any Addiction (HarperCollins, 2011), and The Sober Truth: Debunking the Bad Science Behind 12-Step Programs and the Rehab Industry (Beacon Press, 2014; senior author). This fascinating exchange helps to challenge the idea of a “disease” model of addiction and offers his decades of experience helping people overcome the compulsion underlying most addictions.Learn more about Steven Hassan and Freedom of Mind Resource Center. Visit freedomofmind.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dr. Holzer was co-editor of the Oxford University textbook entitled Lone-Actor Terrorism: An Integrated Framework. The book is a scholarly endeavor to approach the complex subject from a variety of disciplines. I contributed a chapter titled, Understanding Online Indoctrination, with my coauthors, Jon Caven-Atack, Mansi Shah, and Simron Malhotra. With hundreds of mass shootings as well as other violent terrorist acts, it is essential to not limit discussion to banning assault rifles as solutions will require far more robust approaches. Citizens, along with law enforcement, and intelligence officials will all need a more refined understanding of what can be done to make the world safer. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tricia Jenkins, Ph.D. is a podcaster and professor of film, TV, and digital media at TCU in Fort Worth, TX. She is the author of three books including The CIA in Hollywood, as well as Superheroes, Movies, and the State. Her new podcast, Worldwide: The Unchosen Church, features stories about growing up in the Worldwide Church of God- a doomsday apocalyptic cult. We talk about issues facing children and second-generation members born into cults. Details about Herbert W. Armstrong’s authoritarian cult group, an influential Christian right group, and its history are fascinating.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the wake of the assassination of former prime minister Shinzo Abe by the assassin Tetsuya Yamagami, we are posting this interview. The killer was reportedly angered because of Abe’s family’s support of the Unification Church - aka Moon organization. Wood was a major expert testifying to courts including before the Supreme Court. Allen Tate Wood a former American Leader of the group talks with Steven Hassan in this must-watch interview. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dr.  Pavao is a psychologist, trained social worker, and licensed marriage and family therapist who is an internationally recognized expert in the field of adoption. An adoptee herself, she has been influential in moving adoption from a parent-centered process to a child-centered one. This in-depth interview is essential listening for all people who have been adopted, have a relationship with an adoptee, or have adopted a child. Open adoptions have become more commonplace and inexpensive DNA testing has allowed people to find biological relatives. But most people are not aware of the deep trauma that some children experience, even as grown adults. Mental health professionals, as well as teachers, will benefit from this fascinating discussion. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Founded by John and Revé Walsh (America's Most Wanted), the National Center (NCMEC) is the major resource to help children in America. Marsha Gilmer Tullis is a trained social worker and the Vice President of Family Advocacy. For anyone truly interested in helping children who are abducted, being trafficked, or being abused, this non-profit is THE go-to resource. Their center has experts from the FB, to Immigration and is a fantastic entity that deserves not only praise and contributions but more public exposure for its good work. There are millions of people who have been mobilized to save children from exploitation. Everyone should know about this agency that has helped children and their families for decades. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Amanda Ripley is the Co-Host of the Slate podcast How-To and is the best-selling author of High Conflict: Why We Get Trapped and How We & The Unthinkable.' This book was so well researched and easy to read and so interesting that in all of her research, it pretty much aligns with my experience. This is a fascinating conversation and helps to identify patterns characteristic of high conflict. She gave practical advice on how we can take steps ourselves to lower the temperature, and realize there is complexity in every situation.  When people operate out of All or nothing/ us vs them thinking, polarization takes place. Curiosity, respect, and listening to each other with the goal of reaching a solution work well. We need to come together to do real problem solving- NOW! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A leader in the anti-human trafficking movement, Carissa Phelps is a highly respected and impressive advocate to protect young people from pimps and traffickers. She has an MBA and JD from UCLA, had a documentary, Carissa, and a book, Runaway Girl: Escaping Life on the Streets One Helping Hand at a Time, and a company to help train survivors on how to educate and help victims. Carissa invited me to a law enforcement training and the first curriculum for survivors, championed by Rachel Thomas called Ending The Game was developed. If you care about helping to expose high-level traffickers, you must listen to this interview and understand the problem and what is being done. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices