Following the revelation of the identity of Deep Throat
the Washington Post, referred to by the Encarta encyclopedia
as "one of the most respected daily newspapers in the United States", recently did a follow-up article about Deep
Throat's daughter Joan Felt.
As it turns out, Joan is a follower of the Adidam cult.
"Some of what is known adds to the mystery: Joan Felt is a devotee of an unusual and controversial self-proclaimed guru who,
in two California lawsuits and several public statements 20 years ago, was accused of sexual abuse, slavery, false imprisonment, assault and
brainwashing that was said to include persuading people to give him all their money.
Asked about the guru today, Joan Felt says, "None of this has anything to do with the Deep Throat story." She won't talk about the guru's group,
known as Adidam as well as the Johannic Daist Communion. Nor would she discuss the length and scope of her role within it. Earlier this month,
when asked about it in a brief encounter outside her house, she said Adidam was like Buddhism."
Pressed for additional information about the impact of the cult, the Washington Post turned to Steve Hassan for answers.
It is unclear how many devotees Adidam has, though some sources estimate a few thousand. Adidam study groups and bookstores can
be found in major cities around the country, including one in Bethesda, where several phone calls went unanswered and where no one could be
found yesterday. [...]
Steve Hassan, a licensed mental health counselor and a Boston-based cult expert for nearly 30 years, says Adidam fits the classic cult model.
"I have counseled victims of this man," says Hassan, " . . . a couple dozen over 20-plus years," including as recently as 2002.
May
Cult counselor Steve Hassan appears on Dr. Phil Show
On Tuesday, May 3rd, 2005, Dr. Phil McGraw, called "one of the most influential self-help therapists on the air waves today" by
Family First, did a show focused on the plight of two teenage runaway girls
from a fundamentalist Mormon cult, the Fundamentalist
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in Colorado City,
to escape polygamy:
"Dr. Phil goes inside a religious sect where young girls are reportedly forced to marry men three
times their age and bear as many children as possible. On the verge of becoming child brides,
two teens escaped. Now they turn to Dr. Phil for help leaving their painful past behind.
Is the law looking the other way?
-- Source: Dr. Phil.com
Cult expert Steve Hassan was called in for his counseling expertise and did follow up pro bono counseling
with them and the family who took them in, since the show taped.
Steve Hassan, a world-renowned cult expert and author of Combating Cult Mind Control, explains how brainwashing occurs. "People can be systematically broken down —
indoctrinated through controlling information, controlling their behavior, controlling their thoughts, controlling their emotions —
and made into obedient dependent slaves or clones of the cult leader," he says. "There are thousands of people who've been in other
groups with other leaders who are prophets or apostles or messiahs or avatars where the same
system of mind control is in place." Some may escape, but often don't have anywhere to turn.
"Many people in the mental health profession are not trained on how to counsel people involved
with destructive mind control cults."
-- Excerpt from Brainwashed Brides
The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
(FLDS) is a splinter group of the Mormon
church (aka Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-Day Saints). Its
leader, the "prophet" Warren Jeffs, prophesied that the
world would come to an end on April 6th, and then claimed he never
said that. He reportedly has stockpiled weapons and has a group
of young men committed to do whatever he directs them to do. They
have a sheriff who belongs to the cult.
Media Alert : Bobbi Parker case not Stockholm Syndrome
Renowned mind-control and cult expert
explains the strange case of Bobbi Parker (Randolph Dial) is "not Stockholm Syndrome but
rather is similar to Elizabeth Smart."
"Parker’s profile and situation does not fit the so–called Stockholm Syndrome."
I don’t know how many of you
heard Dr. Philip Zimbardo on NPR or read any of the many news
articles he has recently been quoted in (Google News search)
but I highly recommend that Freedom of
Mind discussion members see his slide show about his famous 1971
prison experiment. The web site is www.prisonexp.org/
Also, on his web site, zimbardo.com under
Currently Hot!, read his article on “A Situationist Perspective on the Psychology
of Evil: Understanding How Good People Are Transformed into Perpetrators
(2003).” (View PDF
or as HTML).
This applies directly to the current situation
where soldiers are being charged with torturing Iraqi prisoners.
Zimbardo was president of the American Psychological Association
in 2002.
March, April:
Steven Hassan has been getting
systematically harassed by CCHR, a front group for Scientology.
The most form of harassment has been finding everywhere on the
Internet where I have been erroneously referred to as a psychologist,
instead of a nationally certified counselor, or licensed mental
health counselor. If you would like to volunteer to help, contact
us at center@freedomofmind.com.
We have a number of creative ideas for how to deal with this cult
activity. If you come across any erroneous attributions, feel free
to inform the web site owner. Also, if you come across any web
site that don’t link to freedomofmind.com that you think
should, let them know! Thanks, Steve
2003
December:
I am pleased to tell you that I just received notification that
I passed October’s grueling 4 hour exam and can now use the credential of National Certified
Counselor (NCC) in addition to my Licensed Mental Health Counselor (LMHC) credential.
At this point, there is no national licensure standard for counselors. They are licensed on a state by
state basis. My LMHC is given by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. There is a movement to make one
national standard, so that the credential would have portability. The National Board of Certified
Counselors (nbcc.org) is the organization which has worked to establish that
standard.
Steve appeared on The John Walsh Show titled
"Abducted & Brainwashed: What Happens Next?" on
April 1. This show topic was promped by the rescue of Elizabeth Smart from her alleged
abductors. (Note: the John Walsh web site is offline. See this archived text copy
of the show's announcement instead.)
For more than two decades he has
been a powerful and influential political figure, despite being
more than a bit out of step with mainstream America. Now, perhaps
thinking of his own mortality, he has become more visible, staging
and sponsoring numerous events and conferences. A revivified
Rev. Sun Myung Moon is planting the seeds of his political legacy
-- and he's getting help from his friends in the Bush Administration.
On December 19, 2002, while many Americans were caught up in Trent
Lott's troubles or trying to figure out what to get their mother-in-law
for Christmas, the Corporation for National and Community Service
announced the appointment of three managers to oversee AmeriCorps.
David Caprara was appointed director of AmeriCorps*VISTA (Volunteers
in Service to America). Caprara comes to government service having
served as president of the American Family Coalition, an organization
many observers say is a "front" organization for the Rev.
Sun Myung Moon.
Caprara's appointment is the latest in a series of events signifying
a close relationship between the Bush Administration and the Rev.
Moon's Unification Church. [...more...]
-- by Bill Berkowitz - WorkingForChange
Freedomofmind.com fully supports religious
freedom and the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
The fact that a person’s name or group appears on our website
does not necessarily mean they are a destructive mind control cult.
They appear because we have received inquiries and have established
a file on the group.
The Freedom of Mind Resource Center Inc. was established by cult expert Steve Hassan.
Following the revelation of the identity of 
On Tuesday, May 3rd, 2005, Dr. Phil McGraw, called "one of the most influential self-help therapists on the air waves today" by
Steve & wife Misia adopt boy from Ukraine
