The BITE Model of Authoritarian Control: Undue Influence, Cults & Recovery
The BITE Model of Authoritarian Control: Undue Influence, Cults & Recovery
November 3, 2023 3:30 PM ET 4:45 PM ET Session 6
12:30 PM PDT/3:30 PM EDT/7:30 PM BST/8:30 PM CEST/6:30 AM AEDT (November 4, 2023)
In this enlightening talk by renowned forensic expert Dr. Steven Hassan, prepare to gain profound insights into his BITE Model framework: the control of Behavior, Information, Thoughts, and Emotions. As a former member of the Moon cult, Hassan studied models developed from studying Chinese Communist brainwashing of the 1950s. He has written four books: Combating Cult Mind Control, Freedom of Mind, and The Cult of Trump.
It was in his first book, Combating Cult Mind Control (1988, rev. 2018), that many women realized that, in fact, they had been abused through the manipulation of these four overlapping categories. This model extends from one person controlling another to political dictatorships. Hassan cites the APA’s DSM-V criteria of Dissociative Disorder 300.15, which describes brainwashing, thought reform cults, and a disruption of identity. As a licensed counselor, Hassan has used his experience and expertise to help people recover from mind control situations and coaches family members and friends on how to help someone who has become unethically programmed. In his work therapeutic work with authoritarian and religious families, commercial cults and trafficking victims, Hassan has employed his framework to empower clients to take back control their own minds and make independent decisions. We hope this session will provide participants with similar tools and possibilities.