One-on-One Cults – How Coercive Control Made Sarma Melngailis the Bad Vegan 

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If you watched the Netflix series Bad Vegan, you saw a twisted and deliberately confusing version of the story of my guest, Sarma Melngailis. Her restaurant, Pure Food and Wine, and her raw vegan brand Lucky Duck captured the hearts of healthy eaters in Manhattan. Her brands and personality were famous among major celebrities to high-profile politicians. In my professional opinion, she fell victim to an artful, designing psychopath who used one-on-one mind control. The situation blew up because of her celebrity and how much money he extracted from her while alienating her from her family. 

How Colonizers Use Mind Control: A Conversation with Cindy Blackstock

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The “merciless Indian savages…” Those words in the United States Declaration of Independence entrenched the way colonial states defined Indigenous peoples as “savage” and their relationship with the “civilized Americans” as represented by federal and state governments. This dehumanizing propaganda was the pen of history, of social norms and laws writing on our societal manuscript about what the United States is and who we are as Americans. It served to normalize and even legitimize the wrongful dispossession of land, resources and even the children from Indigenous peoples.

Mental Health Diagnoses and QAnon: A Complicated Issue

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On March 25, 2021, The Conversation published an article by Dr. Sophia Moskalenko entitled Many QAnon followers report having mental health diagnoses. According to this article, 68% of the QAnon followers arrested because of their involvement in the failed January 6th insurrection reported mental health diagnoses.

Undue Influence, Judge Barrett and the People of Praise Covenantal Community

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In an AP article written about Amy Coney Barrett’s nomination to the Supreme Court and her involvement with the People of Praise, Vice President Mike Pence was quoted from a television interview as saying, “The intolerance expressed during her last confirmation about her Catholic faith I really think was a disservice to the process and a disappointment to millions of Americans.”

In this blog, I assert that the issue is really not about religion, or about Catholicism, or religious freedom, but rather a legal issue: undue influence. This is the subject of my doctoral research which is focused on offering a scientifically validated instrument to help ascertain if undue influence has been exerted.

A STUDY TO ATTEMPT TO IDENTIFY KEY PSYCHOLOGICAL ISSUES THAT PEOPLE MAY HAVE, WHO WERE ONCE INVOLVED WITH CONTROLLING GROUPS OR PEOPLE

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Here is a brief intro to the study, which is completely anonymous to protect your privacy. As we know, research is so critical for our understanding of people and their experiences. We really appreciate it if you take some time out and answer this survey. It is not required that you be a former member of a destructive group or controlling relationship at all, anyone can answer this. While it takes some time to fill this out, you can feel good that you are contributing to science. If you are willing to share the link of this website to at least 5 people that you know, we will have a robust data sample. There are 3 versions of this study, we would like you to select the version as follows: