Speaking of Cults

This week I welcome back Anthony Spurgin, a man who previously shared his story of growing up as a Traditional Catholic, to discuss the movement in more detail, how its loosely structured and whether this is actually a cult or not. Enjoy! Anthony's YouTube channel: @TheDragonsofVictory

This week I welcome back educator, author and amazing guest Melanie Trecek-King to discuss critical thinking, her work as an educator and we go deep on the aspects of critical thinking that do not get talked about enough anywhere, including in the ex-cult spaces. Enjoy! Melanie's website: https://ThinkingIsPower.com

This week I welcome Dr. Maurice Turmel, a clinical psychologist with decades of experience treating religious trauma syndrome and author of Breaking the Spell of Religion. We discuss the negative attitudes and behavior that are often present in deeply religious households and dealing with that later in life. Dr. Turmel brought some great points to this conversation. Enjoy!

This week I welcome Reverend Benjamin Cremer, a Christian pastor and religious influencer who has some very positive Christian messaging to fight back against the more extreme versions of Christianity that are trying so hard to take away the rights of all Americans to worship the way they want or to not worship at all. Rev. Cremer was a true joy to speak with and brought some great points to this conversation. Enjoy! Reverend Cremer's blog: https://benjamin-cremer.ck.page

This week I welcome Dr. Jonathan Stea, a clinical psychologist and author of the new book Mind the Science, to discuss pseudoscience in physical and mental health fields and how this can create even more problems for those of us seeking real help. In this show we cover what some of the big and obvious red flags are of this kind of scammy nonsense and what you can look for that might tell you that something is legit as a cure/remedy. Enjoy! Jonathan's site: https://jonathanstea.com

This week I welcome Dr. Clint Heacock, a former Evangelical minister who has spent years taking apart the Christian Nationalism movement and efforts by various political groups to turn the US into a theocracy. The roadmap to do that is Project 2025 and we break down what this is about here. Enjoy!

This week I welcome Tia Levings, author and survivor of very serious abuse at the hands of not only her Christian Fundamentalist ex-husband but by the entire "purity culture" mindset she was raised in which permeated every aspect of her life. Tia describes very clearly how this is a destructive cult environment and is purposefully created to enforce extreme ideas of gender roles, sexual morality and compliance. Tia's website: https://tialevings.com

This week I welcome Reverend Doctor Kenneth Garrett, a Portland-based minister who not only has his own survivor story as a former cult member but who has worked to help setup a community support group for former cult members which has had great success and which anyone can do in their own area. We discuss all of this and more. Enjoy!

This week I welcome Pamela Bowen, a third-generation survivor of the 2x2s, the "cult with no name" which has been appearing in media lately, and rightfully so as it's a religious cult that has enabled a great deal of sexual abuse. This is a harrowing episode but ultimately a successful escape from a destructive cult. Enjoy! Pamela on Twitter/X: @PamelaHuanani

This week I welcome Christian Szurko, a cult recovery consultant who has been helping people in their post-cult life for as many decades as I've been alive! Christian and I discuss key principles of cult indoctrination and recovery in this episode. Enjoy! Christian's website: https://dialogcentre.org.uk/

This week I am talking about how responsibility, causation and blame are used by cult leaders/predators to psychologically enslave their targets with guilt and gaslighting and how this can create not only unrealistic expectations or goals but can trap a person in a prison of belief.

This week I welcome Dr. John Hunter, a psychologist from South Africa who has done some amazing and detailed research on the neurological and psychological factors at play in Large Group Awareness Training systems (such as Est, Landmark and many others) going all the way back to the 1970s to now. We cover a lot in this podcast about how these LGATs were started, what they are doing to the participants and why this is deceptive as a practice. Enjoy! Dr. Hunter's website: https://JohnHunterPhD.com

This week I welcome guests Rod and Linda Dubrow-Marshall, who created and run the Masters program at the University of Salford in the psychology of coercive control. We had a great deal more to discuss than just the program and dived deep into the legal and ethical problems with cults and how coercive control touches on so many aspects of our lives. Enjoy! Salford University site: https://www.salford.ac.uk/

This week I welcome guest Annie Dawid, author and professor of creative writing here in Colorado. In this very wide-ranging episode we discuss the history, psychology and life of Jim Jones and the People's Temple as described in a historical fiction novel that Annie wrote. Enjoy! Annie Dawid's website: https://www.anniedawid.com/

This week I welcome guest Anne L. Peterson, author of "Is This a Cult?", her experiences working in and for Landmark Forum including her multiple interactions with Werner Earhardt, the founder of Est and Landmark. Enjoy! Anne Peterson's website: https://isthisacultbook.com

This week I offer a discussion on Carl Sagan's "baloney detection kit" and how it helped me learn a more scientific way of thinking and how to avoid manipulation, propaganda and pseudoscience before it became a huge problem. Enjoy!

This last weekend I produced my final analysis/breakdown video on Scientology practices and the subject was the E-Meter, the "religious artifact" that L. Ron Hubbard claimed could unerringly detect and bring to the surface emotional "charge" that was holding everyone down and keeping them from achieving their true potentials. Was he right? Not even close and in this extensive breakdown of the E-meter and Hubbard's writings about it, you are going to understand exactly what Scientologists believe and then you're going to see why it's all utter nonsense. Enjoy!

This week I welcome Jon Atack back to my podcast, this week to discuss blow-by-blow his written work called Scientology: The Cult of Greed. We cover a lot of territory in a short time and I think you'll really get something out it. Enjoy! Jon's website: https://jonatack.co.uk

This week I decided to tackle one of the most common and objectively false comments I've seen over the years about cults: the idea you have to be a moron or otherwise intellectually challenged to join a cult. This is simply not true and in this episode, I break down exactly what cults do to take advantage of new recruits and members. Enjoy! CHRIS'S LINKTREE (ALL SOCIAL/SUPPORT LINKS) https://linktr.ee/chrissheltonmsc

This week I welcome cult survivor and author Kate Gale to discuss her work as a writer and poet and her experiences growing up on an off-the-grid farm run by a religious fanatic. She had no access to the outside world until almost an adult but picked herself up and made a life and she shares that story with us today. Enjoy! Kate's website: https://kategale.com

This week I offer a short but complete breakdown on coercive control, how to spot it, why it happens and how to stop it. This is a vitally important topic for people in not just cults but relationships and work situations too.There's a lot in this one. Enjoy!

This week I welcome author and editor Arthur Goldwag to my show to discuss his new book, The Politics of Fear, and his body of work as it relates to destructive cults, politics and our current world situation. We cover a lot of territory in this one. Enjoy!

I really do apologize for the lateness in getting this posted. We went live mid-week to breakdown in one episode all the major science fiction beliefs that exist throughout Scientology's dogma and it's a lot. I hope you have as much fun with this as I did putting it together. Enjoy!

Sorry for the delay this week in posting this, but we did a live podcast this week to discuss the toll that it can take to challenge or try to expose your abuser, whether a cult, domestic partner, gang or something else. I hope you'll give this one a watch as it was really from the heart and I think there's something in here for every cult survivor. Enjoy!

This week we are very happy to feature Ashlen Hilliard, a fellow alumni of the Salford Coercive Control program and fellow cult fighter. She has a lot to share about her own motivations for doing this work, what our education did for our work, what ICSA is (and isn't) and forming support groups for ex-members. Enjoy! Ashlen's website: https://peopleleavecults.com

This week we are covering the topics of cyberstalking, cyber-harassment and digital coercive control, all very real and related activities that occur daily on the internet and especially in destructive cults. We're covering some of the key points of research and statistical information and what the problems are in dealing with these things in the real world. Enjoy!

This week I am joined by Chad Harris, a man who grew up under the religious homeschooling program of Bill Gothard and the IBLP, infamously connected to the Duggar family and featured on the recent documentary Shiny Happy People. Chad has quite a bit to share with us about how religious homeschooling can be done very wrong, how this can lead to other abuses and how he broke away. Enjoy! Chad Harris on TikTok: @archradish

This week I am joined by Cass Filetti, aka Theta Novis, a very recently escaped ex-Scientologist from Brisbane, Australia who has a lot of updates and an interesting story to share of her experience with Scientology in Australia and its connections to the US and Sea Org. Enjoy! Please consider supporting this podcast and helping me to offer more and better content. Venmo: @shelton1492 Patreon: https://patreon.com/chrisshelton PayPal: https://paypal.me/ChrisJShelton Click the blue Support button here: https://goo.gl/vHgSoE

This week I am joined by Dr. Jessica Schleider, a Harvard-trained clinical psychologist, to discuss her new book, "Little Treatments, Big Effects" and how single session interventions and recognizing the power of psychoeducation and epiphanies may help revolutionize mental health care. Enjoy! Dr. Schleider on Twitter: @jschleiderPhD Her book on Amazon: https://shorturl.at/itV69 Some of Dr. Schleider's work: https://acamh.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/jcpp.12811 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0890856716319335

This week I am joined by Dr. Yuval Laor to discuss in detail the symptoms and characteristics of Temporal Lobe Epilepsy and why we believe that L. Ron Hubbard (as well as many other cult leaders and historical figures) suffered from this condition. We go deep in this one because this has more relevant and importance of cultic studies than most people realize. Enjoy! Yuval Laor: YuvalLaor(@)gmail.com Here are some academic research papers on TLE: Temporal lobe seizure https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/temporal-lobe-seizure/symptoms-causes/syc-20378214 Hypergraphia in temporal lobe epilepsy https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1525505004003671 TLE, Dostoyevsky and Irrational Significance https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/neurology-and-religion/temporal-lobe-epilepsy-dostoyevsky-and-irrational-significance/FD2F6D1B35BB2107FAFA3B8B4CBFCFA3 Specificity of psychopathology in temporal lobe epilepsy https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1525505012007846 Comparative study of personality characteristics https://neuro.psychiatryonline.org/doi/10.1176/appi.neuropsych.11020039

This week I am joined by Emily Ragland, trauma facilitator and coach, to discuss how to recognize trauma in others, how to deal with that and help rather than make it worse. As part of this podcast, we go into detail about an incident of SA which is part of Emily's own story. This is a tough one but if you want to know more about these issues, this show is for you. Emily Ragland on social media: Instagram: (at)em_ragland LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emilyragland

In this week's episode, I am joined by Dr. Laura Anderson, a religious trauma specialist who has written When Religion Hurts You and who treats clients overcoming difficult experiences with religion. We discuss post-cult trauma and how this can affect ex-cult communities as well. Enjoy! Dr. Anderson's websites: https://drlauraeanderson.com/ https://www.traumaresolutionandrecovery.com/

For our second episode of Speaking of Cults, I am joined by Alexander Barnes-Ross aka @ApostateAlex, fellow YouTuber and former Scientologist for a deep dive discussion on how David Miscavige has been recycling the same "weird trick" for decades now and one way or another, things are going to come to a head with his most important supporters if something doesn't change. Enjoy! [We apologize for having uploaded the wrong audio file today. This is fixed now!]

Welcome to the first episode of the rebranded Sensibly Speaking podcast, now re-titled and re-purposed as the Speaking of Cults podcast. This podcast remains on the same website and RSS stream as the previous one, so you shouldn't have to change anything as an audio subscriber. This week we review all the basics of what a destructive cult is (and isn't) and how coercive control plays a part, plus we clear up common misconceptions about cults. Enjoy!

This week I am talking about the fact I'm taking a break for December on a bunch of my work, including this podcast and that when it comes back in January it will have a new name and branding. Details of this and a lot more personal stuff that's been going on recently are gone over. Enjoy!

This week I am joined by former Scientologist Mirriam Francis, whose story was featured on Scientology and the Aftermath, to discuss her experiences being raised in the Sea Org, escaping and what recovery has been like for her, including her involvement with the justice system for the abuse she endured at the hands of a family member. This is a tough but educational story about the lengths a cult will go to in hiding up its crimes.

This week I am joined by Dr. Darrel Ray - psychologist, researcher, author and President of the Recovering from Religion Foundation - to discuss childhood religious trauma, why it exists and why it can be so life destroying. This is not an anti-religious screed - it is a psychological fact and one that we have to deal with if we want happy, successful children. Enjoy!

We are posting a special bonus podcast episode this week as we didn't want to wait to get this interview out. Here we talk about the big protest staged by Apostate Alex with the help of Jeff Beaumont (PTS for Life) and others, what happened over the three days and why Scientology and David Miscavige definitely took notice. Enjoy!

This week I am joined by Jon Atack to finally have that talk about psychedelics, cult recovery and the drugs which can help bring about extremely altered states of consciousness. This was another wide-ranging discussion where we go deep on the dangers and potentials of drug therapy in moving on from an abusive/cultic experience. Enjoy!

This week I am joined by Jeff Beaumont, known in the SP TV community as PTS for Life, who has quite a story to tell as a second generation Scientologist raised in a broken home and in and out of the Sea Org more than once. We had an insightful time discussing his experiences and comparing notes on our time in the Sea Org. Enjoy!

This week I am joined by River Wood to discuss their upbringing in what is known as 2x2s but really is an extremist Christian cult with no official name and hiding in plain sight. We cover a lot of territory and I hope you find it as fascinating as I did. Enjoy!

This week I am joined by Jon Atack to discuss and debunk the conspiracy theories surrounding the Process Church, the Son of Sam and Scientology. And when we're done with that, we get into the real facts about Manson's involvement with Scientology. This is a wild one. Enjoy!

This week I welcome Dr. Laura Anderson, psychotherapist and religious trauma expert, to discuss how trauma works, how it is treated and what this has to do with cult members and everyday folks in our day to day life. We cover a lot of territory in this one. Enjoy! Find out more about Dr. Anderson at https://drlauraeanderson.com and check out her new book, When Religion Hurts You.

This week I am joined by former "tradcat" (Traditional Catholic) Anthony Spurgin to discuss his experiences and abuses growing up in a family practicing pre-Vatican II Catholicism. We cover what "tradcats" are, how sexual and child abuse is not dealt with in Catholicism and why this is absolutely unacceptable. Link to YouTube video of this podcast: https://youtu.be/5iKIszlTS4Y

This week I am joined by educator Melanie Trecek-King to discuss the real barriers and problems people have with engaging in critical thinking and we dived into cult thinking, belief and a bunch of other stuff. This was another fun and insightful conversation. Enjoy! aj6tr7m7 The post Sensibly Speaking Podcast #405: Our Biggest Barriers to Critical Thinking appeared first on The Sensibly Speaking Podcast.

This week I am joined by Mark Vicente, NXIVM survivor and film maker who joins me to discuss our cult experiences and life beyond that, including his most recent project interviewing psychopaths and where that is going. This was a fun and insightful conversation. Enjoy! The post Sensibly Speaking Podcast #404: NXIVM, Scientology and Beyond w/Mark Vicente appeared first on The Sensibly Speaking Podcast.

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This week I am joined by channel friend Jon Atack to discuss Charles Manson, his definite connections with Scientology and how this relates to mind control, Helter Skelter and popular belief. We covered a lot of ground in this podcast. Enjoy! The post Sensibly Speaking Podcast #401: Manson, Scientology and Mind Control appeared first on The Sensibly Speaking Podcast.

For our 400th episode of the Sensibly Speaking Podcast, we went live to discuss and breakdown the new cult documentary on Netflix, How to Become a Cult Leader. We had quite a bit to say and got some great feedback from the audience along the way. Enjoy! The post Sensibly Speaking Podcast #400: How to Become a Cult Leader – The Critical Review appeared first on The Sensibly Speaking Podcast.