Captive Hearts, Captive Minds : Freedom and Recovery from Cults and Other Abusive Relationships

by Madeleine Landau Tobias, Janja Lalich

Cult victims and those who have suffered abusive relationships often suffer from fear, confusion, low self-esteem, and post-traumatic stress. Take Back Your Life explains the seductive draw that leads people into such situations, provides guidelines for assessing what happened, and hands-on tools for getting back on track. Written for victims, their families, and professionals, this book leads readers through the healing process.

Genres: Cults, Psychology, Religion, Nonfiction, Mental Health, Female Authors, Self Help

304 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 1994

Reviews

[Ian · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book affected me a lot. I think I internalized a lot of what it said, about the techniques used by cult leaders to influence their followers. I'm finding that now I'm a lot more aware of people using guilt or pressure to manipulate me. I notice these methods of manipulation at work in daily life all the time now, only on a smaller scale and usually not all together as they would be in an abusive relationship or cult environment.
anyways, I found this book informative and easy to read, and i think the info contained in it could be useful to a lot of people.

[Wendy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book on the subject of recovery from cults and abusive relationships. Highly recommend.

[Nate Hendrix · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book got on my reading list because it was mentioned in another book that I enjoyed. This one not so much. This is either a self help book for people who have escaped a cult or a how to book for someone wanting to start a cult. I didn't realize how many cults were out there. I had to keep putting down the book to Google cults I'd never heard of. The best I can day is it was good enough that I finished it.

[Franklyn Gonzalez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Marketing, political ideologies, and abusive relationships. Great book to learn about cults. Picked it up for business purposes.

I don’t recall stories in this book dealing with people who have BPD though. I might be wrong on this. To my knowledge, forums and personal accounts share this form of abusive relationship.

Regardless of that, it is a good read and helpful as a guide to protect you.

[Leana Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent resource for definitions of a cult and explanations of mind control.