Leaving the Cult: Mechanisms of Manipulation, Mind Control, and Reclaiming Freedom

Artem Grigoryan spent more than fifteen years in the “Jehovah’s Witnesses”* . When he finally decided to leave, for relatives who remained in the organization he became the “enemy of God.” What began as a personal path to freedom gradually turned into a consistent investigation of how the mechanisms of cult influence work and how people manage to get out from under it.

Today, the author helps families and supports people who have decided to leave the sect. Drawing on his own story, academic research, and real cases, he shows how to recognize cult dependence, where sectarian thinking comes from, and what (and what not) close ones are able to do. This is a practical book for those who want to help a person without causing harm.

Thanks to “Out of the Cult” you will be able to:

• recognize the first signals of involvement in a cult;

• understand why attempts to “reason with logic” often only strengthen the devotee’s resistance;

• understand the stages of leaving and typical crises after it;

• support a person as they live through post-cult trauma.

* The religious organization “Administrative Center of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia” has been recognized as extremist based on a decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated 20.04.2017, and its activities are prohibited in the territory of the Russian Federation.