Freedom of Mind Resource Center

“Dr. Hassan's online course was personally and professionally life-changing for me, and revealed a major blind spot in my clinical training. The course fundamentally changed what I often see and diagnose. I already knew that traditional psychiatry, medicine, and spirituality are by-and-large not trauma-informed, but I had never considered the degree to which narcissistic and authoritarian individuals and groups are in fact the source for much of the trauma that patients experience. Not helping patients recognize this and boundary against such relationships is akin to treating symptoms but not causes. This oversight is causing many patients to languish for years in insufficient treatment. It is of utmost importance that clinicians undergo this kind of training so that this is no longer the case. ”

Jeffrey D. Rediger, MD, MDiv Medical Director, McLean Southeast Adult Psychiatry and Community Affairs McLean Hospital / Mass General Brigham

“Steven Hassan’s writings and life work fill a critical need in our health and our lives. Health care professionals have long ignored the essential role that social psychology and influence play in our efforts to be healing. Beyond the skills of therapeutic persuasion in our own clinical effectiveness, too many sources of undue influence pervade our culture to ignore its significance in health and illness. Our work must include investing in the resiliency of those for whom we care by teaching them to test their realities, to value their intuitions, to know their own minds. This is Hassan’s mission. He succeeds largely because of his intelligence, passion and dedication. Those are contagious characteristics and just cause for due influence. ”

Laurence I. Sugarman, M.D. F.A.A.P., A.B.M.H., Director and Research Professor, Center for Applied Psychophysiology and Self-regulation, Rochester Institute of Technology

“Steven Hassan is a compelling spokesman on the topic of cult mind control, which encompasses issues of human identity and our innate psychological vulnerability to dissociate. In addition, he educates and challenges us to think about the groups using mind control techniques in our culture, and how to help those affected reclaim their lives. His commitment to this neglected area of human experience is exemplary. At my invitation, Steven has taught psychiatry residents at Brigham and Women’s Hospital about these issues for the last 14 years. Knowledge of these issues is crucial for all mental health professionals.”

Mary K. McCarthy, M.D., Assistant Professor of Psychiatry Harvard Medical School