Newsletter: What Most Therapists Don’t Know - But Should!
Helping Cult Survivors Recover Requires a Specialized Skillset
This week’s livestream will take place on Wednesday, Dec. 10th, from 2:00-3:00 p.m. EDT. Join us with your questions! You can see last week’s recording here if you missed it.
This Saturday, Dec 13, I will be in Nancy, France, to speak at an all-day program on critical thinking and understanding mind control cults.
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“I had to teach my therapist about cults before she could help me.”
This sentence reflects what many who have left destructive groups face in therapy.
The vast majority of mental health professionals mean well and honestly want to help their clients, but sadly, the knowledge and skills they have are often inaccurate, outdated, and even harmful.
In this week’s paid subscriber post, “What Cult Survivors Wish Therapists Knew,” I explain some of the most vital points every therapist should know before conducting a session with a survivor:
The difference between those born or raised in a cult and those who were recruited as an adult
The unique family dynamics present in cults
The mourning and loss that those leaving a cult sometimes face
The normalization of abuse in some groups
How intelligent, well-balanced individuals with healthy family dynamics can still be recruited into cults
Helping the client develop their own identity and locus of control
The importance of holding a safe, non-judgmental space for healing and growth
A Foundational Course for Therapists
It’s also important to note that I’ve developed a foundational course for mental health professionals covering assessment, treatment, and recovery.
This course, Understanding Cults: A Foundational Course for Mental Health Clinicians, is approved for continuing education credits for:
SW | LMHC | PSY | LMFT | APA | ASWB | JA | ACCME
For laypeople interested in the subject, I also offer a lower-cost, non-CE version, Understanding Cults: A Foundational Course.
Whether or not you’re a therapist, if you’re not already a paid subscriber, this is the ideal time to become one. Paid subscribers get access to my complete archive of practical guides, cult history, and fascinating interviews with experts in the field, such as:
Top 11 Insights Cult Survivors Wish Therapists Knew - A practical list with a downloadable infographic for easy reference
Training Therapists To Work In Post-Cult Counseling With Dr. Gillie Jenkinson - A discussion with my colleague, Dr. Gillie Jenkinson
Lorna and Bill Goldberg: Fifty Years of Helping People Out of Cults - A salute to an amazing couple who helped me when I left the Moonies in 1976, and their lifelong work in this field
Many people in the LGBTQ community also require specialized, knowledgeable treatment, and the research is also changing in recognizing the unique experiences faced by people whose sexuality does not align with the “traditional” norms established by the more conservative heteronormative sector of society.
Understanding Sexual Fluidity
In my most recent episode of my Cults, Culture & Coercion podcast, “Sexual Fluidity: Understanding Women’s Love and Desire,” I spoke with Dr. Lisa Diamond, a psychologist and professor at the University of Utah whose groundbreaking research challenges the “born this way” narrative that has dominated LGBTQ rights discourse for decades.
I found it an eye-opening discussion that highlights the need for further research, understanding, and, most importantly, compassion as we move forward into a more inclusive and diverse society.
Listen on Apple | Spotify | Watch on YouTube
Or read the full blog post version:
Sexual Fluidity: Understanding Women’s Love and Desire with Lisa Diamond
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!
I wonder how Dr. Hassan views this quote from Carl Sagan's book, The Demon-Haunted World:
"“One of the saddest lessons of history is this: If we've been bamboozled long enough, we tend to reject any evidence of the bamboozle. We're no longer interested in finding out the truth. The bamboozle has captured us. It's simply too painful to acknowledge, even to ourselves, that we've been taken."
I was 🤯 when a leader of Duty to Warn said they were never taught about gaslighting.