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The following list of resources includes educational materials, presentations, podcasts, and more covering the topic of cults, cult-like behavior, high-demand groups, and specifically commercial cults (MLMs).

It can be used as a quick-reference guide for people who educate about cults, MLMs, and other scams on social media and elsewhere.

We highly recommend these resources be perused with an open mind by anyone thinking about joining a multilevel marketing company, or already working for one and seeking information sourced outside the MLM Industrial Complex (Big Pyramid).

Outofmlm.info

FOR YOUR
#ANTI-MLM
INFORMATION

#igotout and igotout.org

The mission of #igotout is to inspire survivors of high demand environments who have experienced cultic, religious, or spiritual abuse to tell and share their stories – if and when it’s safe to do so.
The hashtag, the igotout.org website, and associated social media platforms are intended to provide an inclusive online space in which to heal, learn from each other, prevent further harm, and educate the public about the harmful effects of coercive control and undue influence.
We believe the simple yet profound act of safely sharing our stories can help lessen the burden of shame, stigma, and isolation while also correcting widespread misconceptions about cultic involvement. Our stories can help the general public better understand complex cultic dynamics and how they impact us all today.

#igotout

Steven Hassan’s BITE Model
(Identifying a Cult)

Destructive mind control can be determined when the overall effect of these four components promotes dependency and obedience to some leader or cause; it is not necessary for every single item on the list to be present.
Like many techniques, it is not inherently good or evil. If mind control techniques are used to empower an individual to have more choice, and authority for their life remains within themselves, the effects can be beneficial. For example, benevolent mind control can be used to help people quit smoking without affecting any other behavior. Mind control becomes destructive when it undermines a person’s ability to think and act independently.

Steven Hassan, PhD

Steven Hassan’s Influence Continuum

From the moment we are born, we are constantly being influenced by all kinds of people, ideas, and forces.  Some of this influence is healthy, and promotes our ability to grow into independent, fulfilled, authentic adults.  Other forms of influence instill dependency and obedience, at times even indoctrinating people to harm themselves and others.  There is a wide spectrum of healthy and unhealthy influence.

Steven Hassan, PhD

Gerette Buglion & her Write to Reckon Course

An educator most of her life, Gerette’s focus on coercive control and cultic dynamics ignited in 2014 after emerging from eighteen years in a controlling self-help group. Self-study combined with introspection, therapy and a commitment to unflinching honesty were the pillars of her recovery process. Her passion for community education and awareness gradually formed into a profession when others began to turning to her for help. Gerette’s educational offerings have developed over the years and now include her signature class: Writing to Reckon, personal retreats, consultations, workshops and speaking engagements.

GERETTEBUGLION.COM
Gerette Buglion, School of Life

BOOKS ABOUT CULTS AND HIGH DEMAND GROUPS

Cults

Cultish

PODCASTS ABOUT CULTS AND CULTISHNESS

A Little Bit Culty

Everyday Cults. Everyday People.

The word ‘cult’ used to be taboo. Now, like sex, everyone is talking about it. We flirt with the word, unaware of the wounds, the wounded, and the wounding just outside our back door or perhaps in our own home. For Gerette Buglion, author of the memoir An Everyday Cult, the c-word is one of the most complicated and nuanced verbs in the English language – right up there with love.

Everyday Cults. Everyday People. explores destructive controlling groups and the impact they have on everyday people like you and me. When ex-cult member Gerette riffs with author C. Jane Taylor they travel into the ‘cultiverse’ – a complex world encompassing coercion and tragic harm as well as the profound liberation of minds that have been freed from undue influence. Through broad brush strokes and intimate musings, Gerette and Jane walk with listeners around the neighborhood of everyday cults and everyday people.

C. Jane Taylor is a writer, podcaster, biker, and yoga teacher. She is the podcast cohost of 1,000 Espressos and College UnBound. Her podcast, C. Jane Reads features her personal essays and stories. She writes resumes, professional bios, and creative essays, and is the author of Spirit Traffic. She lives in Vermont with her husband John who is a yoga teacher and their dog Dewey who is also a yoga teacher.

GERETTEBUGLION.COM

On The Emmis

The Influence Continuum

Sounds Like A Cult

Parcast: Cults