Cults, Culture & Coercion with Dr. Steve Hassan

Cults, Culture & Coercion with Dr. Steve Hassan

How Ex-Members Slip Back Into Cult Thinking

The conditioned response that jolts survivors back into the cult mindset

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Dr. Steven Hassan
Aug 26, 2026
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In the 1970s, as deprogrammers worked with more cult members, they noticed that some ex-members who appeared to have clearly realized the group was a fraud, or a brainwashing cult, and wished to exit, they still might get triggered and, mid-conversation, be back into the group’s way of thinking, realize it, and then shift out again.

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