IndoctriNation

This week's guest is a fourth-generation Christian Scientist. Lauren Hunter is a freelance writer, consultant, and entrepreneur. She is the author of "Leaving Christian Science, 10 Stories of New Faith in Jesus Christ". Lauren shares with Rachel her story of leaving the church and describes the religious trauma that followed. Lauren also talks about her work with The Fellowship of Form...

Elli was raised a third-generation Christian Scientist in Southern California. She left the religion in her late teens and discovered it was a cult in her mid-twenties. Her journey of over 10 years has been undoing the restrictive thinking and false beliefs imprinted since birth and finding out who she is underneath it all. In this conclusion of a three-episode series, Elli shares with Rachel her...

Elli was raised a third-generation Christian Scientist in Southern California. She left the religion in her late teens and discovered it was a cult in her mid-twenties. Her journey of over 10 years has been undoing the restrictive thinking and false beliefs imprinted since birth and finding out who she is underneath it all. In this second part of a three-episode series, Elli continues sharing her...

Elli was raised a third-generation Christian Scientist in Southern California. She left the religion in her late teens and discovered it was a cult in her mid-twenties. Her journey of over 10 years has been undoing the restrictive thinking and false beliefs imprinted since birth and finding out who she is underneath it all. In this first part of a three-episode series, Elli shares with Rachel her...

Rachel and Erin Alder are a married couple from Seattle. Shortly after they met they became entangled in a situation within AA where their vulnerabilities were being used to control their behavior by a controlling sponsor. In Rachel's case, the vulnerability that was exploited was undiagnosed mental illness, specifically Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. While Erin’s biggest vulnerability became...

Rachel and Erin Alder are a married couple from Seattle. Shortly after they met they became entangled in a situation within AA where their vulnerabilities were being used to control their behavior by a manipulative sponsor. In Rachel's case, the vulnerability that was exploited Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder while Erin’s biggest vulnerability became whether the marriage was dependent on continu...

Rachel and Erin Alder are a married couple from Seattle. Shortly after they met they became entangled in a situation within AA where their vulnerabilities were being used to control their behavior by a controlling sponsor. In Rachel's case, the vulnerability that was exploited was undiagnosed mental illness, specifically Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. While Erin’s biggest vulnerability became...

Robbie Balonick was raised in a non-religious, household, in middle America in the 1950s and 60s. She was a lifelong seeker who was looking for Truth with a capital "T" and passed quickly through psychedelics and the Hippy movement as mind-opening doors. After the assassination of the Kennedys and Martin Luther King, she became totally disillusioned with the suburban, capitalistic dreams t...

In a special crossover episode, this week we are airing Rachel's interview on Nobody Listens to Paula Poundston‪e‬. Paula, along with her co-host Adam Felber, ask Rachel about how to define a cult, the rise of cultic tactics in politics, and the intricacies of intervention, while Paula and Adam interject with their comedic takes. We hope you enjoy this lighter, yet still insightful, conversati...

This week's guest Dimitri is the son of our previous guest Ariela Sarai. He was introduced to the cultic environment of Avatar courses by his mother at just 8 years old. He grew up heavily involved in the teachings of the group, eventually becoming a teacher of the courses himself at only 12 years old. After leaving college to help his mother through a difficult time, he got his real estate li...

Micro-Compromises of Integrity w/Ariela Sarai After graduating from Columbia University, Ariela spent almost two years in India, first volunteering for Mother Teresa then studying Tibetan Buddhism. When she returned she got an MSW from the University of Pennsylvania. She worked as a therapist in prisons, hospitals, foster homes, and hospices. Then she established a Private Practice where she suppo...

After graduating from Columbia University, Ariela spent almost two years in India, first volunteering for Mother Teresa then studying Tibetan Buddhism. When she returned she got an MSW from the University of Pennsylvania. She worked as a therapist in prisons, hospitals, foster homes, and hospices. Then she established a Private Practice where she supported people who were focused on personal growt...

When today's guest Jonathan was 15, he felt lost, alone, and unable to voice the feelings and thoughts that were troubling him. The domestic roles he was fulfilling as a young man and full-time student, including caring for his ill mother while navigating his parent's divorce, eventually led to him seeking help from a therapist. This therapist gained Jonathan's trust by appearing to un...

When today's guest Jonathan was 15, he felt lost, alone, and unable to voice the feelings and thoughts that were troubling him. The domestic roles he was fulfilling as a young man and full-time student, including caring for his ill mother while navigating his parent's divorce, eventually led to him seeking help from a therapist. This therapist gained Jonathan's trust by appearing to un...

Daniel is an entrepreneur and was raised inside the church. His journey into understanding the nature of fraud and its application to religion started when he was excommunicated from his church for exposing sexual abuse. This has led him to ask the hard questions around his most deeply held beliefs. He has found healing through conversations around faith and abuse. He shares very personal stories...

In a special episode, this week Rachel speaks about Heaven's Gate, the UFO religious cult based near San Diego, California. Founded in 1974. Rachel provides some background on the group's leaders Marshall Applewhite and Bonnie Nettles and their teachings. She explains the importance in our times specifically of remembering the tragedy of the group's ritual suicide. In March 1997, 18 wo...

Dan Shaw is a licensed clinical social worker and a psychoanalyst in private practice in New York City and in Nyack New York. He was originally trained as an actor at Northwestern University with the renowned teacher Uta Hagen in New York City. Dan later worked as a missionary for an Indian guru. His eventual recognition of cultic aspects of his organization led him to become an outspoken activist...

Dan Shaw is a licensed clinical social worker and a psychoanalyst in private practice in New York City and in Nyack New York. He was originally trained as an actor at Northwestern University with the renowned teacher Uta Hagen in New York City. Dan later worked as a missionary for an Indian guru. His eventual recognition of cultic aspects of his organization led him to become an outspoken activist...

Licensed Marriage and Family Therapists, and Co-owners of The Therapy Group, Emmalee Bierly and Jennifer Chaiken are the hosts of Shrink Chicks Podcast. They invited Rachel on their show after seeing her in the STARZ documentary Seduced. They ask Rachel about how she got started in the field of cult psychology, the complications of providing therapy to vulnerable cult survivors, and the lack of ed...

Lola Binkerd is an Author and Actress who was born and raised as a fourth-generation member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormon) in Salt Lake City, Utah. She has lived in Los Angeles for 16 years and her horror anthology "The River God and Other Stories" and short story "4-H" are available as eBooks on Gumroad and Amazon. Lola details how being raised in a pa...

Lola Binkerd is an Author and Actress who was born and raised as a fourth-generation member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormon) in Salt Lake City, Utah. She has lived in Los Angeles for 16 years and her horror anthology "The River God and Other Stories" and short story "4-H" are available as eBooks on Gumroad and Amazon. Lola shares with Rachel her experienc...

Stacie Stukin is an arts and culture journalist who grew up in Los Angeles. She was a contributing editor at Yoga Journal and she’s also written about yoga for the Los Angeles Times and Time Magazine. Over the years, she’s had the opportunity to write about and practice many different forms of the practice including Kundalini Yoga as taught by Yogi Bhajan. This past July, she wrote a comprehensive...

Stacie Stukin is an arts and culture journalist who grew up in Los Angeles. She was a contributing editor at Yoga Journal and she’s also written about yoga for the Los Angeles Times and Time Magazine. Over the years, she’s had the opportunity to write about and practice many different forms of the practice including Kundalini Yoga as taught by Yogi Bhajan. This past July, she wrote a comprehensive...

Daniel is an entrepreneur and was raised inside the church. His journey into understanding the nature of fraud and its application to religion started when he was excommunicated from his church for exposing sexual abuse. This has led him to ask the hard questions around his most deeply held beliefs. He has found healing through conversations around faith and abuse. He shares very personal stories...

Brooke Knaack is a licensed marriage and family therapist and registered art therapist based in Los Angeles who has over ten years of clinical experience. She currently sees clients at her private practice where she uses cognitive, relational, and somatic techniques to help individuals with developmental trauma or dysfunctional families cultivate healthy boundaries and relationships. Brooke was in...