-Helping Loved Ones Leave Controlling People, Cults And Beliefs-
A new book by Steven Hassan as discussed by Pierre S. Freeman

According to Steven Hassan in his new book, Freedom of Mind, one of the keys to binding a cult member to his cult is the creation of a cult identity, an agenda of Mind Control common to most cults and often developed in a very conscious, careful way. Hassan points out that this is done by finding anchors in a person’s authentic self, often somewhat discarded at a certain time, but can be used to build the new identity.
            In his case, Hassan talks about how the idealism of his youth, his naïve belief that the world could be free of lying, cheating, and stealing, a belief that he discarded when he was relatively young because of his experience, was able to be revivified by the Moonies, who spoke of a perfect world that would be inaugurated by the Messiah.
            Another discarded facet of his life was his youthful identification with Judaism, which he discarded because of its ritualistic and traditional, past-oriented emphasis, but which had also been an ingredient of authentic religiosity in his youth.  By saying there could be a perfect world and a true religion, the Moonies had found a way of remolding these beliefs to fit a pliable instrument of personality they could use to mold Hassan as a leader in their movement.

            I think it makes sense, as Hassan says, that elements of childhood can be used to reformulate personality. That is why often cults reconstruct the elements of many children’s childhood summer camp experience, convening often evenings over an open fire, telling stories, singing songs and playing games, examples of which are exceptionally depicted in the Canadian movie, Ticket to Heaven, which focuses on cult identification and the efforts family and friends make to intervene and extract a cult member from a very Moonie-like cult.

            One of the techniques that Hassan describes as a method of breaking down this cult identity is to try and reach the roots of the anchors that were used as an instrument of reconstructing the personality. In other words, the Strategic Interactive Approach encourages team members to find elements of the authentic self that were buried and now deflected for cult purposes.

            For instance, as a cult tries to co-opt the parental role, often by disparaging the positive and loving role of his or her original parents, members of the SIA Team, particularly family members may attempt to bring the cult member to awareness of his actual childhood by showing him old photographs and movies, recalling elements and anecdotes of his real childhood and taking him on trips which recapitulate the experience of the past- like fishing trips or hiking jaunts- that were part of his childhood experience. In this manner, the true feelings and identifications with childhood, which the cult has distorted and co-opted, can be restored and the cult identity is weakened.