by Tara Backes | Jun 18, 2025 | Essays
This essay was written in honor of Dr. Philip Zimbardo, who died on October 14, 2024, at 91. Dr. Zimbardo was best known for his theory that situational and systemic factors can lead to ordinary people to commit harmful or immoral acts. Zimbardo’s research...
by Tara Backes | Jun 18, 2025 | Cults: The Basics, Essays
Keely Griffin and Andrew Pledger write about how sociologist Evan Stark coined the term “coercive control” to describe a broader form of domestic abuse that includes psychological, sexual, and economic manipulation. He argued it’s a gender based...
by Tara Backes | Sep 23, 2024 | Essays, In the Media
Taking a stand against Donald Trump as a public facing therapist and therapeutic trainer is not new to me and to my company, The Institute for Creative Mindfulness. As someone who grew up very conservative (with one parent even espousing many of the talking points of...
by Tara Backes | May 9, 2023 | Blog, Essays
By Janja Lalich, professor emerita of sociology at the California State University, Chico On Feb. 22, a federal judge in New York issued what is likely to be the final decision in the case of the so-called Sarah Lawrence cult. The sickening...
by Dr. Janja Lalich | Sep 2, 2022 | Blog, Essays, Resources
I’m voraciously reading Sins of My Father: A Daughter, A Cult, A Wild Unravelling by Lily Dunn, a difficult book to describe. It’s a harrowing and troubling story of growing up controlled and manipulated by a malignant narcissist, Lily’s father. It’s horrifying and...
by Dr. Janja Lalich | Oct 18, 2020 | Blog, Essays
Psychiatrist Robert Jay Lifton and others explore the issue. Originally published in PsychologyToday. Is Trumpism a cult? This question, among other issues, has preoccupied certain psychiatrists and mental health professionals since Donald...
