---

Religion News Blog, Amsterdam, Netherlands
July 3, 2008 Summary
www.religionnewsblog.com

---

ReligionNewsBlog.com • Item 21722 • Posted: Thursday July 3, 2008  

---

Cult expert and exit counselor Allen Tate Wood has a series of brief articles in The Faith Column of the New Statesman

Inside the head of a new cult member

Much of the early discourse on the reasons for cult involvement missed the boat entirely by focusing on real or suspected pathology in the newly converted cult member. Though individual psychopathology should not be entirely dismissed, my experience as a cult member, cult recruiter and cult workshop director and ultimately as an exit counselor and educator on the cult phenomenon has consistently led me to consider the psycho-technology of the group in question. Psycho-technology, simply put, is the combination of a cult’s teachings, doctrine and recruiting/training procedures.

Wood knows what he is talking about. He spent five years in the Unification Church.

He describes his experiences in the book Moonstruck: A Memoir of My Life in a Cult

Saving your family from the Manson Family

The family of a cult member has a tough row to hoe. Coming to terms with a member of one’s family joining a cult group is a complex and difficult task. Many find themselves asking questions like “Why has my child, husband or wife joined this group?” or “Why won’t they just snap out of it?”
[...]

For further information on the subject, I highly recommend the work of my friend Steven Hassan. His two books, “Releasing the Bonds” and “Combatting Cult Mind Control” are far and away the best resources for those trying to understand this complex issue.

The social impact of cult groups

The Thirteenth Amendment put a formal end to slavery in the United States and its territories. In the last quarter century, however, many groups in the United States, i.e. paramilitary organizations, destructive cults, gangs, and criminal organizations have used the mantle of religion and along with it the protections and guarantees of the First Amendment in a deliberate strategy designed to defraud the innocent, the unwary, and the unsophisticated out of the protections guaranteed by the Thirteenth Amendment.
[...]

For further information, please visit the following sites:

http://www.allentwood.com/

http://www.freedomofmind.com/

The publishers of Apologetics Index, the site behind Religion News Blog, recommends Allen Tate Wood as well as Steve Hassan and other professional cult experts.

A buyer beware: the field of cult education and exit counseling has attracted its share of odd characters — including belligerent self-promoters without much, if any, applicable education and/or professional oversight (while charging steep fees for their involvement).

Therefore we provide these
guidelines for selecting a cult expert/counselor

---

What You Can Do From Here

---

Read More Articles On These Topics Categories: Cults Tags: Allen Tate Wood, cult, cult expert, Cults, exit counseling Share, Blog About, Bookmark, or Email This Article Subscribe Religion News Blog RSS feed [What is this?] RSS by topic: Cults Read Another Article Previous entry: Canadian polygamist may receive more than $10,000 from the government Next entry: Muslims outraged that police ad features a police dog-in-training RNB Homepage with latest headlines Find Related Information Use our custom search engines to find additional research resources on religions and cults Find Related Books Cults Most Popular Today Guyana’s Jonestown suicide site gets plaque Scientology practices ‘putting people at risk’ Recession: Muslim schools in UK under threat of closure 1-year prison term for man who participated in cyber attack on Church of Scientology Web sites Australian police take up complaints about Scientology Appeals court upholds removal of children from cult leader’s compound Born in U.S., a Radical Cleric Inspires Terror Scientology’s feet held to the fire in Australia: Struggle between a church and the state

---

Share This Article

---

To share this page simply copy and paste one of these URL's:

• Post a link on your blog or website:
  
• Send in an email or IM:
  
• Post on a forum:
  

Search for information about (religious) cults, cult-like organizations, -- as well as paranormal-, New Age, and pseudoscientific claims -- across 260+ websites, blogs and forums dedicated to cult research, spiritual abuse, ex-cult counseling & support.

Note: results are listed on another domain -- CounterCultSearch.com -- from which you can easily return here.

Search for apologetics articles, books, videos, and other research resources across 135 Christian apologetics websites and blogs.

Note: results are listed on another domain -- ApologeticsSearch.com -- from which you can easily return here.