''Recovery from Cults: Help for Victims of Psychological and Spiritual Abuse'' a 1995 book about counselling and therapeutic approaches for individuals exposed to coercive or harmful practices in

cult In modern English, ''cult'' is usually a pejorative term for a social group that is defined by its unusual religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs and rituals, or its common interest in a particular personality, object, or goal. This ...

s. It is edited by

Michael Langone Michael D. Langone (born 1947) is an American counseling psychologist who specializes in research about cultic groups and psychological manipulation. He is executive director of the International Cultic Studies Association, and founding editor o ...

, director of the anti-cult non-proft organization

International Cultic Studies Association The International Cultic Studies Association (ICSA) is a non-profit anti-cult organization focusing on groups it defines as "cultic" and their processes. It publishes the ''International Journal of Cultic Studies'' and other materials. History ...

(formerly the American Family Foundation), and is published by W. W. Norton & Company. The book examines coercive cult practices through theories of social influence,

cognitive psychology Cognitive psychology is the scientific study of mental processes such as attention, language use, memory, perception, problem solving, creativity, and reasoning. Cognitive psychology originated in the 1960s in a break from behaviorism, which ...

, and

psychotherapy Psychotherapy (also psychological therapy, talk therapy, or talking therapy) is the use of psychological methods, particularly when based on regular personal interaction, to help a person change behavior, increase happiness, and overcome pro ...

. The book has 22 contributors, primarily from the International Cultic Studies Association. Designed as a reference for people seeking help past

New Religious Movement A new religious movement (NRM), also known as alternative spirituality or a new religion, is a religious or spiritual group that has modern origins and is peripheral to its society's dominant religious culture. NRMs can be novel in origin or th ...

Cult In modern English, ''cult'' is usually a pejorative term for a social group that is defined by its unusual religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs and rituals, or its common interest in a particular personality, object, or goal. This ...

s/ Sects experiences.Recovery from Cults
''XBK info: A guide to life after leaving the Brahma Kumaris'', 2006

Reviews

The review in ''

The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease ''The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease'' is a peer-reviewed medical journal on psychopathology. It was established in 1874 as the ''Chicago Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease''. "Chicago" was dropped from the title beginning in 1876. Articl ...

'' observes that the book "looks at cults from the perspective of ex-cultists and the mental health specialists who help them to break away and, equally difficult, to pick up and integrate the threads of normal living once again." It notes that the work begins "with an introduction and historical background and then presents an edited collection of 19 essays that are, taken individually, stimulating and informative and that, taken as an ensemble, give a rounded view of cultic processes and exiting from cults." The review summarizes the contents as descriptions of cult dynamics; strategies and insights from therapists; and interpretation of cult dynamics through theories of social influence,

, and

. The reviewer concludes: "I regard this as a good book, value for money and also value for the time it takes to read it...It will be particularly useful for therapists whose clientele includes present and former cult members". A review in the ''

British Medical Journal ''The BMJ'' is a weekly peer-reviewed medical trade journal, published by the trade union the British Medical Association (BMA). ''The BMJ'' has editorial freedom from the BMA. It is one of the world's oldest general medical journals. Origi ...

'' stated that the work appears mostly aimed at people who are concerned a friend or relative might be in a cult, little exploration of why an individual would join a cult, that there is little analysis of the definition or effectiveness of "exit counselling" that the book recommends, and there is little difference in the outcomes of exit counselling irrespective of whether the person left the cult voluntarily versus being ejected. (registration required)

References

External links

Available online
through

Google books Google Books (previously known as Google Book Search, Google Print, and by its code-name Project Ocean) is a service from Google Inc. that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical c ...

, Pages displayed by permission, W. W. Norton & Company {{Opposition to NRMs Books about mind control Books about cults 1995 non-fiction books W. W. Norton & Company books

Reviews

References

Further reading

External links