Releasing the Bonds: Empowering People to Think for Themselves [Hardcover]

Steven Hassan (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 389 pages
• Publisher: Freedom of Mind Pr (May 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0967068800
• ISBN-13: 978-0967068800
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (34 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #322,864 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

69 of 71 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Life Changing information, May 17, 2000

By 

Eric Scheibeler - See all my reviews

This review is from: Releasing the Bonds: Empowering People to Think for Themselves (Hardcover)

I have not only read Steve Hassan's book but I was a client of his as it was nearing publication. He assisted me in re-entering society after having spent nearly a decade in a motivational/commercial cult associated with a large multi level marketing company. Exiting the cult was the most terrifying experience of my life. Steve Hassan's approach is gentle and allows the former cult member to slowly begin to re-evaluate the paradigms that have been installed over years in a cult. To be honest, initially, I was as fearful of him as the people I was leaving. His guidance, experience and the strategic interaction approach he developed will help many, many people. The new life that I am fortunate enough to begin rebuilding is a living testimony to the methods in this wonderful book. Until now, the families and loved ones of someone ensnared in a cult have been nearly powerless in being able to help the one they have "lost". I thank god for Mr. Hassan, his work, dedication and this book.

38 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Must-read book on cult issues, June 15, 2000

By 

J. Hudson (Amsterdam, Netherlands) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Releasing the Bonds: Empowering People to Think for Themselves (Hardcover)

While there is no substitute for professional counseling, Releasing The Bonds goes a long way toward helping those affected by destructive mind control. That includes not only people recruited into manipulative relationships or groups, but their relatives and friends as well.

In what may well turn out to be the definitive handbook on cult intervention, Hassan presents his ''Strategic Interaction Approach (SIA)'' - a non-coercive, highly effective counseling system refined over the twelve years since he wrote the best-seller, Combatting Cult Mind Control. This tried-and-true approach has none of the drawbacks of involuntary deprogramming or voluntary exit-counseling.

Many other books on cult issues are long on describing problems, and short on practical advice. Releasing The Bonds is different, in that that it is a step-by-step manual filled with sensible, useful information. The book also includes a resource section, listing various cults experts and organizations (ranging from the secular American Family Foundation (AFF) to the Christian countercult ministry, Watchman Fellowship. Hassan also identifies cult defenders. In addition, the book includes an excellent bibliography, and a useful index.

Releasing The Bonds is a must-read book not only for those with a friend or relative caught up in a destructive cult or relationship, but also for anyone interested in cult-related issues. In clear, precise language, Steve deals with concerns ranging from religious beliefs to religious freedom.

The chapter describing destructive mind control alone is worth the price of the book.

Incredibly, cultists and cult defenders often claim that those who criticize cults are ''anti-religious'' or ''oppose religious freedom.'' Of course , such accusations are baseless. Instead, Hassan's sensitivity toward, and understanding of, religious freedom and other people's beliefs shows throughout the book.

I'm quite sure that this is not the last book from Steve's hand. While he writes that he considers ''Think globally, act locally'' to be an inspiring motto, it is also clear that he thinks big as well. In his conclusion to Releasing The Bonds, titled, ''We All Must Help!'' Hassan encourages people to get involved. For example, he suggests citizens set up local activist groups, urges governments to establish consumer protection agencies and to investigate cult lobbies, and challenges mental health professionals to commit to more research regarding all aspects of cult mind control. He shows what religious institutions, legal professionals and the media can do to help educate and protect the public.

Best of all, throughout the book, he shows what *you* can do.

Anton Hein Publisher, Apologetics Index

35 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Resonance and reason., December 1, 1999

By 

Peter Fulton (Salem, New Hampshire) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Releasing the Bonds: Empowering People to Think for Themselves (Hardcover)

This book does not simply "tell": it provides and enables.

My sister escaped (literally in fear in the dead of night) from a cult with her son. I saw first-hand the disabling terror she experienced as she tried to go shopping at the mall with my wife during the first week of her freedom. This book resonates with that experience.

But the real strength of the book is that it reveals, through reason, what each of us needs to know to recognize and deal with the increasing number of unhealthy organizations that are manipulating our individual rights.

Steve Hassan is the real thing and this book is a "must read" for anyone who cares about their personal freedom and a free society.