Newsletter: Service, Diversity, and Community
Stepping Forward into the New Year with a Commitment to Do Good
I was pleasantly surprised and humbled to find that my Influence Continuum© has become a standard reference tool when discussing levels of control in organizations and relationships, so much so that this week, it appeared in two separate articles. The first is from my friend and colleague, psychiatrist Ravi Chandra, MD, in an article in Psychology Today entitled “Duty Vs. Self-Enhancement in the American Psyche,” where he discusses the life and influence of the late President Jimmy Carter. The other mention of my Influence Continuum is in an article in the Daily KOS by Vince Rizzo, entitled “The Politics of Change in an Age of Cults,” which discusses the cult-like nature of Trump’s followership and rise to power.
This week’s Cult Conversations: The Influence Continuum podcast features Luke Wilson, PhD, a scholar, editor, and advocate who edited the fascinating book Shame-Sex Attraction: Survivors' Stories of Conversion Therapy, which details the stories of people who have been forced to endure the abhorrent practice. As a survivor of this fake “therapy” himself, he is an amazing example of a person who has transformed his life, leaving behind his cultic trauma and moving forward to serve others: he is truly an amazing and compassionate man, and I think you’ll find our talk inspiring and uplifting.
Next week’s podcast will feature an interview with Andre Jackson, a former Jehovah’s Witness who has recently completed his doctoral degree in Business Psychology. He studied factors that helped people leave the cult from Bethel- the headquarters of the Watchtower Society. I was pleased to serve on his doctoral committee.
Tomorrow, Wednesday, January 15th, at 6 p.m., I will give a talk and answer questions at the Forbes Library in Northampton, MA. I might be able to livestream it; I am waiting for permission. I will record myself. If you can come in person, my hope is activists will be in the audience!
This week’s livestream will take place at 2 pm EST on Thursday; I’d love to hear from you with your questions, comments, and observations. This will be my first livestream of 2025, so let’s make it special!
Have you tried to fill out bitemodel.com yet? Please consider doing so for healthy relationships and groups, too! Please give the name of the healthy group. You can make multiple entries if you have been involved in more than one group. We wish to collect a database, especially of authoritarian groups.
“Conversion therapy”—a discredited practice that purports to change an individual's sexual orientation and/or gender identification and expression—has harmed countless lives under the guise of morality. In a recent episode of Cult Conversations, I spoke to Lucas Wilson, an SSHRC Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Toronto Mississauga, as he shared his harrowing experience with “conversion therapy” at Liberty University. His story serves as a testament to the perseverance of the unique human spirit and a warning against the devastating impacts of undue influence.
Read the blog post or listen to the podcast below:
How can you tell if that group your family member has joined is safe? Is your relationship hitting a “rough patch,” or is there actual cause for concern? With this anonymous, easy-to-use diagnostic tool, you can answer simple questions and determine if any group is beneficial or destructive, ethical or unethical, healthy or unhealthy. And now, you can share your results on your social media if you wish!
As always, please let us know what you think about these pieces or what you’d like to see us discuss in the future. Thanks so much!
