Releasing the Bonds: Empowering People to Think for Themselves

The number of destructive mind control groups is growing, with estimates as high as 5,000 in the U.S. alone. Steven Hassan, himself a former member of the Unification Church, addresses the problem in Releasing the Bonds. Based on insider knowledge, years of scientific study, and the author’s frequent workshops, the book offers a noncoercive, legal model for helping victims of mind control. The Strategic Interaction Approach teaches family and friends how to strategically influence the individual involved, laying out practical methods for recognizing the signs of a destructive relationship, undoing residual effects of past cult experiences, refuting fallacies about these groups, and becoming active in opposing them.