This week I decided to tackle one of the most common and objectively false comments I've seen over the years about cults: the idea you have to be a moron or otherwise intellectually challenged to join a cult. This is simply not true and in this episode, I break down exactly what cults do to take advantage of new recruits and members. Enjoy! CHRIS'S LINKTREE (ALL SOCIAL/SUPPORT LINKS)https://linktr.ee/chrissheltonmsc

This week I welcome cult survivor and author Kate Gale to discuss her work as a writer and poet and her experiences growing up on an off-the-grid farm run by a religious fanatic. She had no access to the outside world until almost an adult but picked herself up and made a life and she shares that story with us today. Enjoy! Kate's website: https://kategale.com

This week I offer a short but complete breakdown on coercive control, how to spot it, why it happens and how to stop it. This is a vitally important topic for people in not just cults but relationships and work situations too.There's a lot in this one. Enjoy!

This week I welcome author and editor Arthur Goldwag to my show to discuss his new book, The Politics of Fear, and his body of work as it relates to destructive cults, politics and our current world situation. We cover a lot of territory in this one. Enjoy!

I really do apologize for the lateness in getting this posted. We went live mid-week to breakdown in one episode all the major science fiction beliefs that exist throughout Scientology's dogma and it's a lot. I hope you have as much fun with this as I did putting it together. Enjoy!

Sorry for the delay this week in posting this, but we did a live podcast this week to discuss the toll that it can take to challenge or try to expose your abuser, whether a cult, domestic partner, gang or something else. I hope you'll give this one a watch as it was really from the heart and I think there's something in here for every cult survivor. Enjoy!

This week we are very happy to feature Ashlen Hilliard, a fellow alumni of the Salford Coercive Control program and fellow cult fighter. She has a lot to share about her own motivations for doing this work, what our education did for our work, what ICSA is (and isn't) and forming support groups for ex-members. Enjoy! Ashlen's website: https://peopleleavecults.com

This week we are covering the topics of cyberstalking, cyber-harassment and digital coercive control, all very real and related activities that occur daily on the internet and especially in destructive cults. We're covering some of the key points of research and statistical information and what the problems are in dealing with these things in the real world. Enjoy!

This week I am joined by Chad Harris, a man who grew up under the religious homeschooling program of Bill Gothard and the IBLP, infamously connected to the Duggar family and featured on the recent documentary Shiny Happy People. Chad has quite a bit to share with us about how religious homeschooling can be done very wrong, how this can lead to other abuses and how he broke away. Enjoy! Chad Harris on TikTok: @archradish

This week I am joined by Cass Filetti, aka Theta Novis, a very recently escaped ex-Scientologist from Brisbane, Australia who has a lot of updates and an interesting story to share of her experience with Scientology in Australia and its connections to the US and Sea Org. Enjoy! Please consider supporting this podcast and helping me to offer more and better content. Venmo: @shelton1492 Patreon: https://patreon.com/chrisshelton PayPal: https://paypal.me/ChrisJShelton Click the blue Support...

This week I am joined by Dr. Jessica Schleider, a Harvard-trained clinical psychologist, to discuss her new book, "Little Treatments, Big Effects" and how single session interventions and recognizing the power of psychoeducation and epiphanies may help revolutionize mental health care. Enjoy! Dr. Schleider on Twitter: @jschleiderPhD Her book on Amazon: https://shorturl.at/itV69 Some of Dr. Schleider's work: https://acamh.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/jcpp.12811...

This week I am joined by Dr. Yuval Laor to discuss in detail the symptoms and characteristics of Temporal Lobe Epilepsy and why we believe that L. Ron Hubbard (as well as many other cult leaders and historical figures) suffered from this condition. We go deep in this one because this has more relevant and importance of cultic studies than most people realize. Enjoy! Yuval Laor: YuvalLaor(@)gmail.com Here are some academic research papers on TLE: Temporal lobe seizure...

This week I am joined by Emily Ragland, trauma facilitator and coach, to discuss how to recognize trauma in others, how to deal with that and help rather than make it worse. As part of this podcast, we go into detail about an incident of SA which is part of Emily's own story. This is a tough one but if you want to know more about these issues, this show is for you. Emily Ragland on social media:Instagram: (at)em_raglandLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emilyragland

In this week's episode, I am joined by Dr. Laura Anderson, a religious trauma specialist who has written When Religion Hurts You and who treats clients overcoming difficult experiences with religion. We discuss post-cult trauma and how this can affect ex-cult communities as well. Enjoy! Dr. Anderson's websites:https://drlauraeanderson.com/https://www.traumaresolutionandrecovery.com/

For our second episode of Speaking of Cults, I am joined by Alexander Barnes-Ross aka @ApostateAlex, fellow YouTuber and former Scientologist for a deep dive discussion on how David Miscavige has been recycling the same "weird trick" for decades now and one way or another, things are going to come to a head with his most important supporters if something doesn't change. Enjoy! [We apologize for having uploaded the wrong audio file today. This is fixed now!]

Welcome to the first episode of the rebranded Sensibly Speaking podcast, now re-titled and re-purposed as the Speaking of Cults podcast. This podcast remains on the same website and RSS stream as the previous one, so you shouldn't have to change anything as an audio subscriber.  This week we review all the basics of what a destructive cult is (and isn't) and how coercive control plays a part, plus we clear up common misconceptions about cults. Enjoy!

This week I am talking about the fact I'm taking a break for December on a bunch of my work, including this podcast and that when it comes back in January it will have a new name and branding. Details of this and a lot more personal stuff that's been going on recently are gone over. Enjoy!

I apologize for the one-day delay in getting this audio podcast posted. We went live this week and had a great time discussing a number of issues, including whether Miscavige is being paid by the IAS, how Scientologists celebrate Thanksgiving, how we all lie to ourselves about our past and a lot more. Enjoy!

This week I am joined by former Scientologist Mirriam Francis, whose story was featured on Scientology and the Aftermath, to discuss her experiences being raised in the Sea Org, escaping and what recovery has been like for her, including her involvement with the justice system for the abuse she endured at the hands of a family member. This is a tough but educational story about the lengths a cult will go to in hiding up its crimes.

This week I am joined by Dr. Darrel Ray - psychologist, researcher, author and President of the Recovering from Religion Foundation - to discuss childhood religious trauma, why it exists and why it can be so life destroying. This is not an anti-religious screed - it is a psychological fact and one that we have to deal with if we want happy, successful children. Enjoy!

We are posting a special bonus podcast episode this week as we didn't want to wait to get this interview out. Here we talk about the big protest staged by Apostate Alex with the help of Jeff Beaumont (PTS for Life) and others, what happened over the three days and why Scientology and David Miscavige definitely took notice. Enjoy!

This week I am joined by Jon Atack to finally have that talk about psychedelics, cult recovery and the drugs which can help bring about extremely altered states of consciousness. This was another wide-ranging discussion where we go deep on the dangers and potentials of drug therapy in moving on from an abusive/cultic experience. Enjoy!

This week I am joined by Jeff Beaumont, known in the SP TV community as PTS for Life, who has quite a story to tell as a second generation Scientologist raised in a broken home and in and out of the Sea Org more than once. We had an insightful time discussing his experiences and comparing notes on our time in the Sea Org. Enjoy!

This week I am joined by River Wood to discuss their upbringing in what is known as 2x2s but really is an extremist Christian cult with no official name and hiding in plain sight. We cover a lot of territory and I hope you find it as fascinating as I did. Enjoy!