Shows
Speaking of CultsSpeaking of Cults...Writing Your Cult Trauma Away with Gerette BuglionThis week, I welcome cult survivor, author and consultant Gerrette Buglion to discuss her work, cults in general, and the healing power of writing. This is a wide-ranging conversation which I hope you'll check out. Enjoy!
Gerette's website: https://www.gerettebuglion.com/
2025-04-151h 49
Let's Talk About SectsSGAs with Maria EsguerraMaria Esguerra escaped the Children of God at the age of 22 with her two children who have disabilities. Maria’s firsthand experience drives her passion to support fellow survivors of cults and institutions, advocating for specialised understanding, interventions and access to governmental schemes such as Redress. Maria has actively engaged in media and advocacy efforts to raise awareness about the challenges faced by people escaping coercive environments. She founded a support group for second and multi-generational survivors (also referred to as SGAs or MGAs) from all cults. It addresses the devastating impacts from these groups, including abuse, denial of ba...2025-04-011h 21Let's Talk About SectsInterview Episode: An Everyday Cult with Gerette BuglionGerette Buglion holds a B.A. in Elementary Education and Special Education, and earned her ‘Master's Degree’ in cult awareness education from the school of life. She emerged from her 18-year cult odyssey in 2014 at age 52, and asked herself, "How did I, an educated, caring mother, wife, and business owner become that lost and for that long?" Gerette then set to work studying cultic dynamics, while reclaiming her autonomy with the help of a supportive family, therapy, and countless hours immersed in nature and writing.Gerette's memoir An Everyday Cult was published in 2021, and followed by her secon...2025-03-2557 min
Living Cult Free: The PodcastS3: The Price for Freedom - Cerese’s PilgrimagePlease note this episode has been edited to keep some names and identifiers confidential.Having grown up in a religious cult, Cerese shares the confusion, doubts, and even self hate - especially as an adolescent - feeling betrayed by her maturing body. The prescribed norms of the church dictated her reality, severing the healthy bonds with her father. Adolescence heralded the end of them sharing their mutual love for the outdoors. Survival as an adult included a return to the outdoors and through hundreds of hikes, as her authentic self emerged. However, it took the death of...2025-03-1855 min
Leaving Eden PodcastEp. 222: Dream Work Self Help Cult with Gerette BuglionIn this episode, we are joined by author Gerette Buglion, who joined a self-help cult related to dream interpretation and new age spirituality at the age of 33. She stayed in this cult for nearly two decades before leaving. Her story is deeply fascinating, we hope you enjoy it!Our discord server is now open! Join at https://discord.gg/pg9yXVyHJoin our subreddit! Reddit.com/r/EdenExodusBluesky:@leavingedenpodcast.bsky.social@hellyeahsadie.bsky.social@gavihacohen.bsky.socialInstagram:https://www...2025-03-171h 16
Living Cult Free: The PodcastS3: Finally Free: Lori Unravels Her Binds to a Controlling Virtual "School"Lori shares her story of how she became deeply involved in an online school that blurred the line between education and coercion. She opens up about the power of community, the subtle ways control takes hold, and the moment she realized she had to break free. In this candid conversation, Lori reflects on the challenges of leaving, rebuilding her life, and reclaiming her personal power. A powerful story of resilience, self-discovery, and the long road to healing. The episode opens with Lori reading from her piece, "Still Unsettled, but Healing...". Find Lori at her website.T...2025-02-1742 min
Living Cult Free: The PodcastS3: Breaking Free: Mariama’s Journey of Healing and Self DiscoveryIn this powerful episode, Mariama shares her deeply personal journey of growing up in a high-control religious group. She reflects on her upbringing, the constraints on personal expression, and the challenges of finding her identity while under constant scrutiny. Mariama opens up about the pivotal moments that led her to question the group's teachings, the emotional toll of leaving, and the courage it took to reclaim her life. Her candid storytelling highlights themes of self-discovery, healing, and resilience, offering hope and insight to those on similar paths.Trigger Warning: Due to these episodes containing stories that involve...2025-01-2053 min
Living Cult Free: The PodcastS3: A Mother’s Journey: From Control to FreedomKarina reflects on how her challenging childhood created a deep yearning for connection and stability and how she and her husband sought belonging. They turned to a messianic congregation that combined Jewish traditions with Christianity. The pressure to conform grew, as the group insisted on rigid adherence to its rules and practices about child rearing - and all aspects of church life. Over time, she began to critically examine the congregation’s culture of silence, where addressing personal struggles or differing views was discouraged and seen as gossip. Things came to a crisis after the church responded with harsh ju...2024-11-1156 min
Living Cult Free: The PodcastS3: Finding Home: Elad's Journey Into and Out of Hasidic JudaismElad shares how he grew up a secular Jew with Israeli parents and went on a spiritual journey, seeking meaning and community. This led him to a Hasidic community where he found “beauty, truth and beautifully true people.” Over time, though, he realized that ongoing acceptance within this religious family required a “total sublimation of my selfhood.” He describes the painful journey into a spiritual home, through disillusionment and, finally, walking away from the beliefs, people and places that had been his home to return to his authentic self. Note: 2 years have passed since this interview with Elad was first re...2024-10-0746 min
Confronting The LineE13 Recognizing Signs of Indoctrination w/ Guest Gerette BuglionMeet Gerette Buglion, author and educator. In this conversation we delve into the complexities of public discourse, cultural homogeneity, personal insights, and the dynamics of language and communication. We reflect on our similar experiences having spent years involved in different high-control groups and the importance of critical thinking in program design, while also exploring themes of personal growth and identity.
We took a look at some of the common terms being used a lot these days when discussing exploitation and abuse .. specifically we discuss what is and is not meant by Large Group Awareness Training (LGAT) and Indoctrination.
We...2024-09-281h 18
Dream Journal - Latest EpisodesManipulative Dream Interpretation with Gerette BuglionCan dream interpretation be manipulative? You bet! Our guest Gerette Buglion, of Living Cult Free, shares her experiences with 18 years in a dream cult. Gerette is passionate about reclaiming her own life and helping others to reclaim theirs. I start by reading a short passage from my book in progress about the vulnerability of […]2024-09-2300 minThe Dream JournalManipulative Dream Interpretation with Gerette BuglionCan dream interpretation be manipulative? You bet! Our guest Gerette Buglion, of Living Cult Free, shares her experiences with 18 years in a dream cult. Gerette is passionate about reclaiming her own life and helping others to reclaim theirs.
I start by reading a short passage from my book in progress about the vulnerability of dreamers when they ask for support around their dreams. Gerette tells two of her dreams and how they were interpreted by her ex-teacher in a way that belittled her tender nature. She goes on to tell a new dream in which someone negates...2024-09-2300 min
Living Cult Free: The PodcastS3: Rebecca’s Story: The Profound Impact of Religious Cults on Personal IdentitiesRebecca’s story transcends individual experience to illuminate universal themes of resilience, identity, and healing. It underscores the power of community, self-discovery, and the ongoing process of healing from psychological and emotional wounds inflicted by cults and similar restrictive groups while celebrating the courage and strength required to break free and reclaim one’s authentic self. Listen as Rebecca describes accepting and flourishing in her queer and polyamorous identity, and how grounding herself in those communities has allowed her to thrive.TW: Due to these episodes containing stories that involve cults and other types of coercive control that...2024-08-0534 min
Living Cult Free: The PodcastS3: Ciara’s Story: Is it a Sin to Talk About It?Grappling with existential questions about the origins of her thoughts, the influence of external forces on her autonomy, and her experiences within a religious cult, Ciara reflects on themes of control, deception, and the struggle for personal identity and freedom within a structured belief system. Listen to find out how Ciara finds bursts of inspiration often fueled by a sense of urgency or emotional resonance throughout her daily life.Find Ciara on Instagram You can find Living Cult Free on social media, especially on Instagram, at living_cult_free Our website is...2024-07-011h 00
Tough Call: A Mediation PodcastThree - Power Dynamics and Cult Recovery with Gerette Buglion*We apologize for the low grade hum due to a mic recording issue.
This week CT and Dale sit down with Gerette Buglion to discuss power dynamics, cults, Writing to Reckon, and where mediation comes into play.
Welcome to Tough Call: A Mediation Podcast ©. This podcast was produced and sponsored by Ehler Ryshpan Bhatti Mediation & Legal Services, LLP: serving Ontario and New York, with French bilingual services in Civil Litigation matters. Translation in Spanish, Mandarin and Arabic also available.
Connect for mediation directly with CT Ehler at ehlermediation@gmail.com for private mediation s...2024-04-2259 min
The Dream JournalThe Healing Power of Storytelling with Gerette BuglionHave you ever felt better about yourself after telling someone your story? Today we speak with author and cult survivor Gerette Buglion who guides others to tell their “I got out” stories in a process she calls Writing to Reckon. We start with a question from podcast listener Beth sent via Instagram, “What was your biggest motivation for telling your story and what were your hopes for it in the world?” We go deep into answers to those questions and also address the shame that people sometimes feel about discovering that they have been in a coercive situation. We talk abo...2023-07-1700 min
The Deeper Pulse with Candice Schutter#48 - #igotout: Why Our Stories Matter | Gerette & Lisa - Part 1 of 2The ‘cult’ure series continues with a a two-part conversation with the co-founders of igotout.org. In Part 1, Candice shares how #igotout was a saving grace when she first released her story publicly. Lisa & Gerette join her to share about the origins of the movement, speaking about the hashtag’s conception and why it is so important for cult survivors to have safe spaces to share their stories. Gerette makes a distinction between recognizing and ‘reckoning with' the harm we experience, and Lisa speaks to why anonymous activism is something she continually champions. Candice shares how the idealism that hooked h...2023-03-011h 19
Uncomfortable Conversations on Predators in Business, Community and CultureAn Everyday Cult - An Absolute, Upside Down Reversal of What is TrueGerette Buglion is author of An Everyday Cult, a memoir which shows howher innocent quest for meaning left her open to manipulation by acontrolling teacher. Gerette’s current work is in Cult Recovery andEducation. Her signature writing course called, ‘Writing to Reckon’ offers asafe space for cult survivors to tell their stories. She is co-founder of#iGotOut.org whose mission is to encourage people who have experiencedcultic abuse to tell their stories.Gerette Buglion #igotout she, her, hersAuthor...2023-02-261h 39
The Deeper Pulse with Candice Schutter#47 - Coaching ‘Cult’ure Red Flags: When Help & Harm Collide | Kathleen OhIn the final episode before a self-care break, Candice is thrilled to sit down with Kathleen Oh, a fellow writer, coach, and new-age wellness survivor. Kathleen lays the foundation for her cult-like experiences, sharing how she was born into high-control environments. She opens up about how the resulting black&white thinking shaped her choices at home as a young mother, and as in her work as a coach. Kathleen expresses her regret and speaks openly about how she is still coming to terms with the ways in which she spread misinformation and unknowingly used coercive sales tactics. She and...2023-01-251h 27
Life After MLMEpisode 139 : Gerette Buglion
This month we are teaming up with igotout.org, throughout the month of November, follow along with us as we share education, survivor stories and ways you can join in on the movement. Each episode this month will include stories of cult survival, including the abuses described in Dr Steven Hassan's BITE Model. This episode in particular deals with covert abuse, along with a variety of triggering subject matter. Please use discretion when listening.
Have an MLM CULT STORY to share? Email me! | Send a voice message! | Submit ANON These stories will be used in anthology episodes...2022-11-2757 minLet's Talk About SectsInterview Episode: Issues in Coaching and Wellness with Kathleen OhKathleen Oh is a rare breed: a wellness coach who is cynical about wellness and the coaching industry. She works with clients across integration and psychedelics education. Kathleen is trained in Internal Family Systems (also known as IFS Informed or IFSCA), which is a trauma-informed approach, and comes from a background of trauma herself. Kathleen was once an anti-vaxxer, and her community embraced all kinds of magical thinking and conspiracy theories. Over time, she realised that her own coaching may have involved undue influence, and through the words of a dear friend she recognised that a lot of her...2022-11-011h 49
The Dream JournalLosing a Loved One to a Cult with Gerette BuglionHave you ever lost a loved one to a controlling group? Whether around religion, self-improvement or politics, such losses can be devastating. Today we have a conversation with author and cult-recovery educator Gerette Buglion about why it is so important to keep open communication with the loved one and to offer our support for them even if we don’t understand what they are getting from that group. Gerette speaks about indoctrination and provides a check list we can use when questioning whether that group (or person) we have been so excited about might be a cult. We take a c...2022-10-1700 min
IndoctriNationAn Everyday Cult w/ Gerette BuglionGerette Buglion is a co-founder of the #igotout movement and a lifelong educator, who brings discernment, compassion, and understanding to the psycho-educational journey of cult recovery. She published her book An Everyday Cult in May 2021 and is currently working on a new project called Misunderstood. Gerette has a B.A. in Elementary Education and Special Education and earned her "Master's Degree" in cult awareness education from the school of life. This training occurred during her eighteen-year odyssey with Doug (fictitious name, real person) who was the leader of the ‘Center for Transformational Learning (fictitious name real group)
Gerette joins Rachel to...2022-09-281h 16
The Cult Vault#198 Interview with Author Gerette BuglionIn this episode I chat with the wonderful Gerette Buglion about her experiences in a high-demand group, her memoir "An Everyday Cult", life since Gerette's exodus from the group and her work around writing, consulting and working with others in the cult-recovery space. #igotouthttps://www.gerettebuglion.com/https://www.igotout.org/https://www.amazon.co.uk/Everyday-Cult-Gerette-Buglion/dp/1578690552Cult Vault Shop - cultvaultpodcast.com/shopCrimecon UK 2022 - https://www.crimecon.co.uk/Get In Touch:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cultvaultpod/Twitter: https://twitter.com/CultVaultPodReddit: https://www.reddit.com/user/Cult-VaultGmail: cultvaultpodcast@gmail.comPatreon: https://www.patreon.com/thecultvaultSupport...2022-09-031h 56
UncertainS3: E16 - When is it a Cult? with Gerette Buglion & Lisa from igotout.orgDiscussing the difference between a cult and a high control environment and the fine line between them. Addressing different tactics cult leaders use to control and how we reconnect with our core self after we’ve gotten out. Gerette Buglion is the co-founder of igotout.org, and is a spokesperson for the #igotout movement, co-manages day to day operations and communications while also providing her expertise in Cult Recovery and Education. Gerette is creator and facilitator of Writing to Reckon - and offers free classes for people to write their #igotout statement in a supportive environment. Gerette’s ed...2022-06-291h 26
Lucid CafeAn Everyday Cult with Author Gerette BuglionGerette Buglion, B.A. Elementary Education and Special Education, earned her ‘Master's Degree’ in cult awareness education from the school of life. She is the author of the memoir An Everyday Cult.In this episode, Gerette discusses:Her definition of cultic involvementHow she became involved in a cultThe subtle nature of indoctrinationThe concept of being “love bombed”How seeds of dependence are plantedWhat unhealthy dependence can look likeWhat to pay attention to when working with a teacher, healer or person of authorityNeurolinguistic Programing (NLP)The consequences of addressing your trauma history in a cult set...2022-01-2158 min
Let Your Ears Discover the Magic of Full AudiobookEveryday Cult Audiobook by Gerette BuglionListen to this audiobook in full for free onhttps://hotaudiobook.com/freeID: 576166
Title: Everyday Cult
Author: Gerette Buglion
Narrator: Gerette Buglion And Sarah Edmondson
Format: Unabridged
Length: 06:59:53
Language: English
Release date: 01-19-22
Publisher: Authors Republic
Genres: Biography & Memoir, Health & Wellness, Marriage & Family
Summary:
This true-life story shows how the author's innocent quest for meaning is hijacked by a teacher who recognized her thirst for spiritual knowledgeawakening insight while simultaneously strangling her capacity for critical thinking. An Everyday Cult follows the arc of Buglion's journey through young motherhood into a group that welcomed her but also captured her mind, her...2022-01-196h 59
Listen to Trending Full trial Audiobooks in Biography & Memoir, MemoirsAn Everyday Cult by Gerette BuglionPlease visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/576166 to listen full audiobooks. Title: An Everyday Cult Author: Gerette Buglion Narrator: Gerette Buglion And Sarah Edmondson Format: Unabridged Audiobook Length: 6 hours 59 minutes Release date: January 19, 2022 Genres: Memoirs Publisher's Summary: This true-life story shows how the author's innocent quest for meaning is hijacked by a teacher who recognized her thirst for spiritual knowledge…awakening insight while simultaneously strangling her capacity for critical thinking. An Everyday Cult follows the arc of Buglion's journey through young motherhood into a group that welcomed her but also captured her mind, her heart, and her money. She shows us...2022-01-1905 min
Discover the Best Audio Stories in Health & Wellness, Relationships & IntimacyAn Everyday Cult by Gerette BuglionPlease visithttps://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/576166to listen full audiobooks.
Title: An Everyday Cult
Author: Gerette Buglion
Narrator: Gerette Buglion And Sarah Edmondson
Format: Unabridged Audiobook
Length: 6 hours 59 minutes
Release date: January 19, 2022
Genres: Relationships & Intimacy
Publisher's Summary:
This true-life story shows how the author's innocent quest for meaning is hijacked by a teacher who recognized her thirst for spiritual knowledge…awakening insight while simultaneously strangling her capacity for critical thinking. An Everyday Cult follows the arc of Buglion's journey through young motherhood into a group that welcomed her but also captured her mind, her heart, and her money. She shows us...2022-01-196h 59
A Little Bit CultyWake-Up Call: Gerette Buglion on Everyday CultsA Little Bit Culty – If you think you’re too smart to fall for a cult, this episode is your wake-up call. Undue influence can poison what starts out as a ‘good thing’ and turn it into a culty shitshow. Just ask today’s guest: Gerette Buglion. She was a member of an under-the-radar cult for over 18 years. In this organization, there was no tithing, no rules about where you should live, what brand of deodorant you must use, or what clothes to wear. Instead, far more subtle techniques were used...but they were powerful, and destructive all the sa...2021-12-201h 07
The Dream JournalPower Dynamics in Dream Sharing with Gerette Buglion and Dr. Katherine LawsonWe start off by speaking with Katherine about working with cultural symbols vs letting the dreams speak for themselves through embodiment and personal associations. Gerette questions the idea that certain techniques are difficult to do on one’s own and we launch into a discussion of what to look for in a dream teacher including certification and evidence that they are doing their own work.
We also talk about the ethics of dream sharing from the point of view of the teacher or therapist. For one thing one must be aware of the egotistical high that can co...2021-12-0600 min
Living Cult Free: The PodcastS2: STRATEGIES - Get Out or Help Someone You Love Get OutToday we explore strategies you can use to get out of a cult or help a loved one get out. To setup the framework for our discussion, we look at numbers and definitions. The numbers are huge. Up to 10,000 cults still exist today in the United States. That number is growing. “Millions of people have been affected by undue influence. Many of us have had religions chosen for us or we’ve joined self-help or spiritual groups that became harmful or destructive. We have suffered from coercive control and mind manipulations while bending to narcissists. We’ve given our power...2021-11-1144 minLiving Cult Free: The PodcastS2: EMOTION CONTROL - Emotional BackfireThe subject of today’s podcast is Emotion Control. Like it or not, as human beings, we creatures tend to respond emotionally. Comfort, praise, recognition, and a sense of belonging are among our top stimuli. Our yearning for these is manna from heaven to cult leaders. They prey upon exactly this type of vulnerability. They lure us in under the veil of comfort and specialness and then set up an “us” versus “them” dichotomy. While under cultic influence, Dr. Hassan was told that the Moonies were his true family, all others were false – even evil. Vaxxers versus Anti-vaxxers is a similar ki...2021-11-0537 minLiving Cult Free: The PodcastS2: THOUGHT CONTROL - They Co-Opted my Brain!As smart, functioning adults, we like to think that we are in control of our own thoughts. This is not always the case. As we know from Gerette’s book An Everyday Cult and from this podcast, we know that destructive cults use any number of techniques to get members to stay and commit themselves to what may be harmful activities. Thought Control is the most insidious. Listen in as we discuss the different techniques cult leaders use to control the thoughts of their followers. Some techniques are extreme, others are subtle but insidious...If you...2021-10-2937 min
Free Your Inner GuruCulty Concerns About Coaching with Jenny and MarkPersonal experience surviving spiritual and therapeutic abuse led Jenny Cornbleet and Mark Futterman to study cult dynamics and undue influence with a variety of experts in the field.
In the process, they recognized that cult dynamics run rampant in our society and are particularly prevalent in the self-help and coaching industries.
Jenny and Mark now bring an anti-cult approach to all their work, with a knowledge that breaking free from undue influence is key to living authentically and doing what matters most.
Jenny Cornbleet and Mark Futterman are instructional designers, coaches, and consultants...2021-10-281h 16Living Cult Free: The PodcastS2: INFORMATION CONTROL - Standing up to ScrutinyControlling information is a critical way authoritarian leaders and cult leaders control the hearts and minds of their followers. This week we discuss how they do it and how you can take some agency regarding the information you consume. Dr. Hassan suggests that we must each do independent research, that we must ask difficult questions, and really dig beyond the cult-controlled internet algorithms to challenge our own beliefs. Gerette describes her experience within CTL, whose leaders subtly controlled information by dominating cult members’ free time. She sheds some light on the difference between information control in a...2021-10-2134 minLiving Cult Free: The PodcastS2: BEHAVIOR- Love is Stronger Than Mind ControlOur focus today is Behavior Control, the first methodology in the BITE model, which refers to control of Behavior, Information, Thought, and Emotion. Dr. Hassan developed BITE as a model for evaluating degrees undue influence. As functioning adults, we like to think that we are in control of our own behavior. Last week’s conversation about Influence leads us to reexamine that possibility.In this episode, we discuss how we become vulnerable to behavior control, types of behavior control, and how our environment shapes our behavior. Vulnerability to influence is part of the human condition. Dr. Hassan su...2021-10-1540 minLiving Cult Free: The PodcastS2: INFLUENCE - from mild to extreme and everything in betweenCan understanding the nature of influence support people in cult recovery? Dr. Steve Hassan, former cult member, author, educator, and world authority on cults will be our honored guest throughout this season . His published works include: The Cult of Trump: A Leading Cult Expert Explains How the President Uses Mind Control, Combating Cult Mind Control: The Guide to Protection, Rescue and Recovery from Destructive Cults, Freedom of Mind: Helping Loved Ones Leave Controlling People, Cults, and Beliefs. Today we are going to discuss his dissertation published January 2021: “The BITE Model of Authoritarian Control: Undue Influence, Thought Reform, Brai...2021-10-0941 min
Free Your Inner Guru#igotout: Every Cult Survivor's Story Makes a Difference#igotout is a hashtag, website and movement to make abuses of power unacceptable in all kinds of groups, not just cults.
Gerette Buglion and Lisa are two of the founders of #igotout. They believe now is the time for survivors of cult dynamics to share their stories with unflinching honesty. Every story matters, and the ripple effect of speaking up can make a difference.
Survivors of cultic abuse can raise awareness of undue influence and coercive control. The goal is to change the cultural acceptance of abuse of power in all kinds of groups, not...2021-09-301h 12
The Dream JournalAn Everyday Cult with Gerette BuglionWe explore the dynamic of unethical persuasion especially in the context of dreams. Sharing a dream is a vulnerable act. How do we support each other in owning our own dream experiences without unduly influencing each other? Today we talk with Gerette Buglion about her new book, An Everyday Cult. Gerette is passionate about promoting ethical forms of self-discovery.
We talk about gentle ways of exploring dreams together and about what red flags to look out for around choosing a practitioner. Gerette shares some of her experiences about how her life was upended through a cult whose...2021-08-2300 minLiving Cult Free: The PodcastS1: Everyday Cults. Everyday People. Episode Six: Waking Up Again and AgainWe explore what Gerette has identified in her book as the final stage of cultic involvement: Waking Up Again and Again. In this ongoing phase, one becomes fully aware of the reality of cultism. Awake, cult survivors remain ever watchful for the potential for harmful power dynamics that play out in the world or in themselves. Waking Up Again and Again is the effort required to be a conscious, conscientious, human being.In this episode on post-cult life, we discuss the human need to be part of a group, cult-hopping, self-care, the importance of recognizing one’s ow...2021-07-0739 minLiving Cult Free: The PodcastS1: Everyday Cults. Everyday People. Episode Five: SnappingIn this episode of Everyday Cults. Everyday People, we explore what Gerette identified in her book as the fourth stage of cultic involvement: Snapping—as in snapping out of it. This is the period of dawning recognition; it’s the acknowledgement that you have been indoctrinated. It demands a huge shift in consciousness. For many, it is also an awakening of conscience when you see how you or your loved ones have been harmed by the group. It may also be a realization that you have been complicit with something that is in direct contradiction to your deepes...2021-06-1127 minLiving Cult Free: The PodcastS1: Everyday Cults. Everyday People. Episode Four: AsleepEveryday Cults. Everyday People explores the five stages of cultic involvement identified by Gerette Buglion in her new memoir An Everyday Cult. In this episode, we discuss what she calls “Asleep,” the third stage of cultic involvement.Gerette estimates that she was asleep for five out of the eighteen years she was in the cult. We discuss how the cult leader lulled members into this stage and the impact it had and still has on their lives. We also talk about how to recognize such a sleeper and what you can do when you think a loved one...2021-06-0429 min
1,000 EspressosNew Beginnings: A Wrap Up with Jane and LJIn this episode Jane and LJ wrap up a month of conversations about New Beginnings. They’ve had some great guests: Gerette Buglion talked about starting over after escaping a cult, Mark Boudreau gave us a Buddhist perspective on starting over every day, Markey Read described how the pandemic gave her more time to reflect on the new ways she wants to run her business and her life.Starting over is part of the human experience. Letting go of who you are now in order to move forward is a vulnerable act, but when we approach a ne...2021-05-2820 minLiving Cult Free: The PodcastS1: Everyday Cults. Everyday People. Episode Three: DriftingIn this, our first season of Everyday Cults. Everyday People we explore the five stages of cultic involvement Gerette identifies in her new memoir An Everyday Cult. Last week, our subject was Falling—as in falling for the trickery of a cult. Today, we discuss drifting, the second stage.Drifting is a period of psychological meandering where part of one’s psyche is lulled into unconscious complicity with a doctrine. During this stage one can be easily influenced but can also hold down a job and raise a family without great negative impact, despite the fact that they...2021-05-2531 minLiving Cult Free: The PodcastS1: Everyday Cults. Everyday People. Episode Two: FallingJust as no one intentionally falls in love with an abuser, no one intentionally joins a cult—we fall for them. Falling, in this case, refers to both falling in love and falling asleep. Gerette fell. Her fall lasted eighteen years. Often - but not always – cultic involvement begins with 'love-bombing' - a starry-eyed stage where someone is magnetically drawn to a group or a leader who promises the moon and it feels really good. Typically, the early stages of cultic involvement can include a lot of longing, learning about one’s self, and a whole lot of idea...2021-05-1822 minLiving Cult Free: The PodcastS1: Everyday Cults. Everyday People. Episode One: Everyday Cults 101What is a cult? How are they created? Who joins a cult? Why? How can we recognize a cult if we’re in one? In this introductory episode, cult survivor Gerette Buglion, author of An Everyday Cult, delves into her experience living in a cult for eighteen years to answer these compelling questions. Cult dynamics exist in all layers of society. They can be political, racist, religious, sexual, satanic, or educational. They can be founded on human potential, mass transformation, or mass marketing… Initially, many Everyday Cults can seem perfectly normal and acceptable until that very convincing façad...2021-05-1227 min1,000 EspressosNew Beginnings: A Conversation with Gerette BuglionThis month the topic on #1000Espressos is New Beginnings. As a cult survivor, our guest Gerette Buglion, cult awareness educator and author of An Everyday Cult (to be published May 23!) is intimately familiar with them. New beginnings imply change. Heraclitus famously said that “The Only Constant in Life Is Change.” But Neuroscience suggests that the human brain favors the familiar instead (even when cults are involved). Studies show that when we change the brain’s aversion to change through exposure to new situations, the more confident we become. Let us explore.Whether your drink is...2021-05-1033 min