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ChatChat - Claudia Cragg


Nov 25, 2021

The holiday season can be fraught for all kinds of reasons for so many. But just imagine how very alarming and emotionally harrowing it must be for those whose family members are in a cult. Perhaps you are, or perhaps you have friends or family who are (they may even be seeking to LEAD a cult themselves!) but at this time of year you'll more than likely have to spend time with them.

What to do?

Claudia Cragg @claudiacragg speaks here for @KGNU Denver/Boulder/Fort Collins with Dr Steve Hassan about this book, 'The Cult of Trump' but this content is helpful to all those in this situation. 

This is a thorough discussion of how #Trump, #QAnon and others use cult-like mind-control techniques to manipulate and maintain an unwavering support base. How is it that even now, post-election, Trump, with his highly documented failures, lies, anti-social behavior, remains the darling of right wing politics in the US.

Hassan breaks it down delving into Trump's early influence of Norman Vincent Peale's "positive thinking", prosperity Christianity, to hisnsymbiotic relationship with Fox News. The combination of such odd bedfellows as the NRA, Christian fundamentalists, Russia and the Catholic Church, who form the basis of Trump's peculiar appeal makes for fascinating, but occasionally frightening listening and reading of the book.

Steven A. Hassan, PhD, MA, M.Ed., LMHC, NCC is one of the foremost authorities on cults and mind control. He has been involved in educating the public about mind control, brainwashing, and destructive cults since 1976. He holds a Master's degree in counseling psychology from Cambridge College, is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor (LMHC) in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and a Nationally Certified Counselor (NCC). Steven received a Master's in 2020 from Fielding Graduate University. He later earned a doctorate in the Organizational Development and Change (ODC)program at Fielding’s School of Leadership Studies. Hassan did a TEDxBeaconStreet talk in 2018 entitled: Is Technology Controlling Your Mind? He was a participant in the "Dismantling QAnon" TEDXMidAtlantic program in 2020.