by Tara Backes | May 7, 2026 | Blog, Cults: The Basics, In the Media
Dr. Janja Lalich and I talk about cults (we are both cult survivors and cult researchers) and we meander through these topics: Why people join: The main thing that attracts people to cults is their own idealism. Most people are recruited into cults by friends and...
by Tara Backes | Mar 23, 2026 | In the Media
Featuring Dr. Janja Lalich on This Is Your Brain In this episode of This Is Your Brain, sociologist and cult expert Janja Lalich joins Phil Stieg to explore the psychology of cults and high-control groups. Dr. Lalich explains how influence and control can reshape...
by Tara Backes | Dec 3, 2025 | In the Media
Listen to the podcast here! On this episode of The Gaslight Effect Podcast, Dr. Robin Stern sits down with Dr. Natalie Fabert, a psychologist, faculty member at Arizona State University, and board member and Director of Continuing Education at the Lalich Center on...
by Tara Backes | Feb 24, 2025 | In the Media, Presentations
Jamie Marich, PhD (she/they) speaks internationally on EMDR therapy, trauma, addiction, dissociation, expressive arts, yoga, and mindfulness, and runs a private practice and online training network in her home base of Akron, OH. Janja Lalich, Ph.D. is a...
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 | Jun 27, 2024 | In the Media
Janja Lalich is an author and educator who specializes in researching cults and coercion, and has written several books, including “Take Back Your Life: Recovering from Cults and Abusive Relationships.” Keely Griffin is a former member of a spiritual relationship...
