Steven Hassan, PhD, is a licensed mental health professional, an expert on undue influence, brainwashing and unethical hypnosis and author of the best-selling book, Combating Cult Mind Control.
Steven Hassan is the Founding Director of the Freedom of Mind Resource Center, a coaching, consulting, and training organization dedicated to supporting individuals to have the freedom to think clearly and to freely consider how they want to live their lives. Steven pioneered the Strategic Interactive Approach (SIA), an effective and legal intervention alternative for families to help cult members. The SIA teaches family and friends how to strategically influence the individual involved in the cult. He is also the creator of the BITE and Influence Continuum models for the assessment of controlling individuals and groups.
He is the author of several books, book chapters, a peer-reviewed journal article, other articles and blogs. His books are Combating Cult Mind Control: The #1 Best Selling Guide to Protection, Rescue, and Recovery from Destructive Cults (1988, 1990, 2015, 2018), Releasing the Bonds: Empowering People to Think for Themselves (2000) and Freedom of Mind: Helping Loved Ones Leave Controlling People, Cults & Beliefs (2012, 2013). The Cult of Trump: A Leading Cult Expert Explains How the President Uses Mind Control (2019) is his new book with Simon and Schuster. Steven is a translated author with published books available in 9 languages.
He is also the co-developer of Ending the Game, a non-coercive curriculum designed to educate and empower sex trafficking victims to leave pimps and traffickers. Steven is an active advocate for updates to the legal system’s understanding and assessment of coercive control and undue influence.