I have a son, daughter-in-law, and new grandson born last month who belong to Wells TX YMBBA, and they refuse to let us see him unless we sit and listen and perhaps join. Has anyone with the same dilema tried to get grandparents rights?

Trish, have you looked at the YMBBA thread here? There are other parents who have been cut off as well as townspeople. If you private message one of us, we will be faithful to respond. Just be careful what you post publicly as the site is monitored. We know because it has been addressed on their website, www.thechurchofwells.com.

Thank you :)

Buy them a copy of Steve Hassan's book , then go and pray for your grandson, eevn if you are not religious. He will need you.

I would find an attroney and get the legal process rolling for the childs wellness. I know nothing of the cult, but any cult that forbids parents to allow visitation to blood grandparents for ANY grounds is , well , yes, wacko land.

The other option is to find a family that would like to adopt a grandson , and get him out of where he is, at all cost.

Truthtold:

Please don't promote Steve Hassan or his books here.

The Steve Hassan Web site is a for profit commercial Web site and I have received very serious complaints about Steve Hassan.

It seems to me that Hassan uses his books as marketing tools to draw in vulnerable families. Steve Hassan routinely charges families $500 per hour and in my opinion exploits people in distress. Often Hassan charges tens of thousands of dollars for what he calls "preparation" and nothing is effectively done, i.e. there is no meaningful intervention effort to get a cult member out and/or the intervention is a failure. He seems to be little more than a con man.

Steve Hassan's writings have also been criticized.

See [www.cultnews.com]

There are much better books written by credible authorities about cults, which are far more useful and informative for families.

Psychologist Margaret Singer's book "Cults in Our Midst" [www.amazon.com]

Sociologist Janja Lalich's book "Bounded Choice" [www.amazon.com]

Communication experts Flo Conway and Jim Siegelman's book "Snapping" (second edition) [www.amazon.com]

Any of these books is vastly superior to anything written by Steve Hassan and subsequently more helpful to families and other individuals concerned about cults.

Hassan attempts to take credit for ideas that are not his own and uses the ideas of others in his books without proper citations or footnotes, which can be seen as plagiarism.

I would not recommend Steve Hassan to anyone for anything at any time. This also includes Mr. Hassan's books and Web site.

Hassan is unethical and in my opinion a disgrace to those working ethically to help families and individuals impacted by destructive cults.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 11/19/2012 10:04PM by rrmoderator.

Truthtold,
I don't know what credentials you have or if you have any experience dealing with cult-involved families, but your post provided very harmful "advice." If you are not a licensed attorney, you should not give legal advice. I have been qualified as an expert in a court of law (not just calling myself an expert like Hassan does) in these areas, and the procedures for child custody or grandparents rights are quite complex. You actually do harm when you offer advice that is so misguided and just plain wrong.

I don't know if you work for Steve Hassan or not, but his books hold absolutely no weight in legal situations. Outside of one attempted legal adventure many years ago (which ended by the judge stating Hassan was not qualified to offer an opinion in the case), Hassan has never been qualified as an expert in this or any other area, so his books would not help at all. Further, Hassan is the sole purveyor of his extreme and generally stolen ideas and techniques. No one in a legal case would ever cite any of his books and expect to maintain crediblity.

Perhaps you could educate yourself on the choices we have in terms of understanding indoctrination and cult processes and how these affect children. To my knowledge, Hassan has never evaluated a child in these areas, so this is just another example of how his books are worthless, IMO. He has had more than 30 years to educate himself on the current research and science in these areas, but each of his 3 books are just a regurgitation of ideas he's held for that span of time.

Truthtold,
Your portrayal of current cult members as "wackos" is extremely disrepesctful and shows no understanding of the problem. Who are you to place such a label on cult members?

You hide behind a pseudonym and call names? Shame on you.

Second, you give advice that someone should kidnap their kid and have him adopted out? How outrageous, and is close to recommending someone commit a criminal act involved fraud.

I sincerely hope you never go anywhere near a cult member's family or have any dealing with children. I hope that everyone disregards your reckless comments and goes to someone who knows these issues.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/19/2012 11:55PM by Cathleen Mann, PhD.

I, too, have a family involved in the group at Wells. Truthtold, do you have a family member involved in a cult somewhere? If not, you have no idea the devastation that is caused to the family members who have been cut off. Everyone has an opinion on what we should feel, do, say and think. Until my husband and I experienced it firsthand, I am pretty certain I would have been in that group with my own strong ideas! It has been over a year since they joined and we were condemned. A year since they moved to be a part of the group. Six months since we last saw our three grandchildren. We have consulted lawyers, CPS, state representatives, detectives, counselors and, last but not least, our pastors. Please please please never presume to know what we should do.

As parents, we feel The Lord is telling us to wait on Him. We pray for ALL the members of the group and the families that are affected. God will be glorified!!

Dear Cathleen Mann, PhD,

Your absolutely correct. Although we have tried to reason with them to no avail, I will never stop praying and extend my open door when, and I do say when, there eyes have been open. After much research, I have found that the manipulation and deception is beyond my comprehension. Do you have any wisdom in this area?

Hi Trish, these are complicated issues. I recommend that you stay in contact with your family members, and avoid being judgmental and accusatory, because that's what they expect you to do. Just be loving and inquisitive. I recommend you read widely on the topic, and avoid any extreme or other-serving positions.