Steve Hassan Archives

The Definitive Guide to Helping People in the Cult of Trump

By Steven Hassan / February 21, 2020 February 14, 2021

Under the right circumstances, even sane, rational, well-adjusted people can be deceived and persuaded to believe the most outrageous ideas and leader. President Trump uses the same deceptive psychological techniques that cult leaders do (cult leader’s playbook) that influence his devoted followers’ behavior, information, thoughts, and emotions. Some people are also unwilling to entertain the …

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Ex-Jehovah’s Witness Mark O’Donnell on Latest Developments & How to Help and Heal

By Steven Hassan / February 16, 2020 February 14, 2021

This month, there have been quite a few developments in the Jehovah’s Witness community including a recent documentary, a newspread in People magazine, major legal developments, and more. I invited Mark O’Donnell, former Jehovah’s Witness turned writer, researcher, and activist, to discuss these events in detail. (You can read his story here.) Here are some …

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Announcing a New YouTube Channel: jon atack, family & friends

By Steven Hassan / January 30, 2020 February 14, 2021

This week’s video is a chat with my good friend, Jon Atack about his recently started YouTube channel: jon atack, family and friends. I told him that I wanted to let my readers know about the really interesting and important content he has been posting. I am excited to announce he now has over 500 …

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Lev Parnas, Michael Cohen, Omarosa Manigault Newman, George Conway, Anthony Scaramucci, Rick Wilson and Others: Trump is a Cult Leader

By Steven Hassan / January 23, 2020 February 14, 2021

Lev Parnas, during his interview with Rachel Maddow on MSNBC, described himself as waking up from a cult and Donald Trump like a “cult leader.” Michael Cohen, Trump’s personal attorney for twelve years, expressed similar thoughts and feelings. Omarosa Manigault Newman, in her book Unhinged, described leaving the cult of Trumpworld. George Conway, Republican attorney …

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Robert Jay Lifton, M.D. Discusses Trump and His New Book, Losing Reality

By Steven Hassan / January 16, 2020 February 14, 2021

I am excited to blog about and share my latest interview with my first mentor, Dr. Robert Jay Lifton, about his new book, Losing Reality: On Cults, Cultism, and the Mindset of Political and Religious Zealotry. In this unique and timely volume, Dr. Lifton proposes a radical idea: that the psychological relationship between extremist political …

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The Cult of Trump? What “Cult Rhetoric” Actually Reveals: A Response to Benjamin Zeller and Other Cult Apologists

By Steven Hassan / January 9, 2020 July 12, 2021

In October 2019, Benjamin Zeller wrote an article in Religion & Politics critical of my new book, The Cult of Trump, which he had not even had the courtesy of reading. It was entitled, “The Cult of Trump? What “Cult Rhetoric” Actually Reveals.” A response was thoughtfully written by independent scholar Jon Atack who is …

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Traumatic Narcissism: From Muktananda and Gurumayi to Donald Trump

By Steven Hassan / December 27, 2018 October 4, 2022

Daniel Shaw and Siddha Yoga This week’s blog features an interview with a licensed clinical social worker, Daniel Shaw. Dan is a private practice psychotherapist in New York City and in Rockland County, New York. Dan was deeply involved for many years and even a staff member at Siddha Yoga before he woke up and …

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