Steven Hassan
Author of Combatting Cult Mind Control
About the Author
Image credit: Steven Hassan, Ph.D.
Works by Steven Hassan
The Cult of Trump: A Leading Cult Expert Explains How the President Uses Mind Control (2019) 197 copies, 8 reviews
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Gender
- male
- Short biography
- Dr. Steven Hassan's unwavering passion for helping individuals who have experienced cults and mind control is deeply rooted in his own personal journey. As a former member of the notorious Moonies cult in the 1970s, Dr. Hassan experienced firsthand the devastating effects of undue influence and coercion. His escape from the Moonies and subsequent recovery process inspired him to dedicate his life to understanding and exposing the deceptive tactics used by cults and manipulative groups.
Dr. Hassan's courage in sharing his own story and using his expertise to empower others has made him a beacon of hope for individuals who have been affected by cults and coercive persuasion.
With his extensive knowledge, compassionate approach, and unwavering commitment to promoting freedom of thought and autonomy, Dr. Steven Hassan has become a respected figure in the field of cult awareness and recovery. His dedication to helping individuals break free from the grip of manipulation and regain their independence is a testament to his unwavering resolve to make a positive impact on the lives of others.
Members
Reviews
Combating Cult Mind Control: The #1 Best-selling Guide to Protection, Rescue, and Recovery from Destructive Cults by Steven Hassan
Combating Cult Mind Control: The Guide to Protection, Rescue and Recovery from Destructive Cults by Steven Hassan is an interesting and somewhat disturbing book. I rarely listen to audiobooks and even more rarely review books I listen to as audiobooks because I often don't feel like I can do an audiobook justice. However, Combating Cult Mind Control stuck with me. Hassan's story of becoming indoctrinated into a cult, the Moonies, his experience in the cult, and his eventual deprogramming is show more fascinating. Combating Cult Mind Control offers insight into the methods cults use while seeming to miss similarities to some groups not considered cults. Hassan tells his story and the story of helping others with a level of compassion and insight that reminded me of the fear of cults and the lack of compassion for the indoctrinated during my teenage years. I had never questioned where those fears or the lack of compassion came from, but Combating Cult Mind Control pushed me to revisit those attitudes and their origins with a better understanding but also with a more skeptical lens than I had at the time. Hassan's openness about his experience reminded me to dip into my compassion when confronting people who are manipulated by the techniques used by groups and even marketing techniques while embracing my critical thinking skills and skepticism. Combating Cult Mind Control reminded me to be careful of undue influence and people who want to influence my thoughts and emotions while still remembering that people who have been indoctrinated can be deprogrammed. show less
The Cult of Trump: A Leading Cult Expert Explains How the President Uses Mind Control by Steven Hassan
I really wanted to like this book.
I’ve seen Dr. Hassan in a couple of great docuseries on cults. I trust him as a cult expert, and the info provided about cults and cult mentality was great. The problem for me is that it became about the people who influenced Trump, as well as different groups of his followers. Those are things I experienced in real time within the last 4-5 years and did not feel the need to read about yet again, which did not feel relevant to the cult aspects of show more Trump’s presidency.
It did not help, either, that Dr. Hassan felt the need to describe Orthodox Judaism in ways that were quite offensive to me as a liberal Orthodox Jew. (Chabad as a mirror of the New Apostolic Reformation?! Come ON.)
The book concludes with his opinions about legal recourse for cults which, based on my understanding of the first amendment, would be very difficult to implement, and also would have no bearing on a political-type cult like the cult of MAGA.
While I appreciate Dr. Hassan’s experience as a former cult follower (he was in the Moonies in the 70s), I don’t feel that all of his insight is relevant to the subject, and that there is too much padding regarding the influence of others on Trump.
P.S. I was not impressed with his sources. He cites far too many secondary sources, such as online articles and YouTube videos, for an actual book. (At least get the primary sources those sources used!) show less
I’ve seen Dr. Hassan in a couple of great docuseries on cults. I trust him as a cult expert, and the info provided about cults and cult mentality was great. The problem for me is that it became about the people who influenced Trump, as well as different groups of his followers. Those are things I experienced in real time within the last 4-5 years and did not feel the need to read about yet again, which did not feel relevant to the cult aspects of show more Trump’s presidency.
It did not help, either, that Dr. Hassan felt the need to describe Orthodox Judaism in ways that were quite offensive to me as a liberal Orthodox Jew. (Chabad as a mirror of the New Apostolic Reformation?! Come ON.)
The book concludes with his opinions about legal recourse for cults which, based on my understanding of the first amendment, would be very difficult to implement, and also would have no bearing on a political-type cult like the cult of MAGA.
While I appreciate Dr. Hassan’s experience as a former cult follower (he was in the Moonies in the 70s), I don’t feel that all of his insight is relevant to the subject, and that there is too much padding regarding the influence of others on Trump.
P.S. I was not impressed with his sources. He cites far too many secondary sources, such as online articles and YouTube videos, for an actual book. (At least get the primary sources those sources used!) show less
Combatting Cult Mind Control: The #1 Best-selling Guide to Protection, Rescue, and Recovery from Destructive Cults by Steven Hassan
Flawed and deeply personal, but the only book of its kind, written before cults were able to keep their hooks in their members through the courts. Deeply enlightening for parents, family and friends of cult members.
The Cult of Trump: A Leading Cult Expert Explains How the President Uses Mind Control by Steven Hassan
Simply written, this book is a decent introduction for those not yet familiar with social psychology, especially as it relates to influence and the way Trump and those aligned with him wield it. At times the book can be repetitive, though I find this adds the benefit of being able to jump into any chapter and not feel that you've missed the meaning of some important term or study (etc.) - which, again, is helpful for those who are not as familiar with the terms and studies (etc.) being show more discussed.
The author outlines techniques to help reach those who have fallen prey to Trump's influence - techniques that align with what I have seen from other sources, mainly that facts do not change minds, relationships (trust, respect, and rapport) do, and that moving forward is going to require us to make the effort to compassionately and humbly meet people where they are in order to help lead them out of the influence they've fallen prey to. show less
The author outlines techniques to help reach those who have fallen prey to Trump's influence - techniques that align with what I have seen from other sources, mainly that facts do not change minds, relationships (trust, respect, and rapport) do, and that moving forward is going to require us to make the effort to compassionately and humbly meet people where they are in order to help lead them out of the influence they've fallen prey to. show less
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- Rating
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