Family support
Organisations and helplines specifically for family members of people inside high-control groups.
64 resources. Use the full directory for multi-facet filtering, or browse other collections via the index.
International Cultic Studies Association — questions about high-control groups, referrals to cult-aware therapists, peer support.
HelplineGlobalEmergencyFreeFree peer-support hotline for people leaving any religion. Trained volunteers, no proselytising.
HelplineUSA / internationalEmergencyFreeAustralian / NZ family-support service for people concerned about a loved one in a high-control group.
HelplineAustralia / NZFreeUK helpline supporting families and ex-members of high-control groups.
HelplineUKFreeIndependent UK research-based information service on minority religions and high-control groups, founded at LSE.
HelplineUK / internationalFree24/7 crisis support and suicide prevention. Use if a loved one in a high-control group is in immediate distress.
HelplineAustraliaEmergencyFree24/7 emotional-support helpline.
HelplineUK / IrelandEmergencyFreeSteven Hassan's organisation — BITE Model assessments, exit-counselling resources, family education.
Support OrganisationGlobalFreeUK-based charity educating on coercive control across cults, abusive relationships, and online radicalisation.
Support OrganisationUK / internationalFreeNYC-based organisation supporting people who leave Haredi Judaism. Peer support, scholarships, mental-health referrals.
Support OrganisationUSAFreeJudaismIsraeli organisation supporting people leaving Haredi communities.
Support OrganisationIsraelFreeJudaismUtah-based organisation supporting people leaving fundamentalist polygamous Mormon communities.
Support OrganisationUSAFreeChristianLong-running NZ ex-member support organisation.
Support OrganisationNew ZealandFreeChristianAdvocacy for children harmed by religious medical neglect.
Support OrganisationUSAFreeSurvivor-led resource hub for ex-members and abuse survivors of the Two by Twos / 'The Truth' movement.
Support OrganisationUSA / internationalFreeChristianSupport for those leaving violent extremist movements.
Support OrganisationUSAFreePolitical / Ideological- Heathens United Against Racism
Universalist heathen organisation supporting people leaving Folkish Asatru groups.
Support OrganisationUSA / internationalFreePagan / Wiccan Independent investigation organisation specialising in spiritual-community misconduct cases (produced the 2020 3HO report).
Support OrganisationUSAFreeBuddhistWellness / Multi-Level- QAnonCasualties (Reddit r/QAnonCasualties)
Peer-support community for family members of QAnon believers.
Support OrganisationOnlineFreePolitical / Ideological - Combatting Cult Mind Control
Steven Hassan, 1988 (revised 2018). The foundational BITE Model book; CLCI Hub's core methodology source.
Book - Bounded Choice
Janja Lalich, 2004. Sociological framework explaining how members make 'real' choices that are nonetheless tightly bounded by group worldview and exit costs.
Book - Take Back Your Life: Recovering from Cults and Abusive Relationships
Janja Lalich & Madeleine Tobias, 2006. Practical recovery workbook.
Book - Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief
Lawrence Wright, 2013. Definitive journalistic history of Scientology.
Book - Educated
Tara Westover, 2018. Memoir of leaving a fundamentalist Mormon-adjacent family for academic life.
Book - The Storm Is Upon Us
Mike Rothschild, 2021. The definitive QAnon analysis.
Book - Unfollow
Megan Phelps-Roper, 2019. Memoir of leaving Westboro Baptist Church.
Book - Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology
Leah Remini, 2015. Personal account of leaving Scientology.
Book - Beyond Belief
Jenna Miscavige Hill, 2013. Memoir of leaving Scientology by the niece of David Miscavige.
Book - Daughter of Gloriavale
Lilia Tarawa, 2017. Memoir of leaving the Gloriavale Christian Community in New Zealand.
Book - The Family
Chris Johnston & Rosie Jones, 2016. Definitive account of Anne Hamilton-Byrne's Australian sect.
Book - Unorthodox
Deborah Feldman, 2012. Memoir of leaving the Satmar Hasidic community in Williamsburg.
Book - The Reluctant Apostate
Lloyd Evans, 2017. Detailed insider account of leaving Jehovah's Witnesses.
Book - Premka: White Bird in a Golden Cage
Pamela Saharah Dyson, 2020. Memoir documenting Yogi Bhajan's abuses inside 3HO.
Book - The Sullivanians
Alexander Stille, 2023. Definitive account of Saul Newton's Manhattan therapy cult.
Book Travis View, Julian Feeld, Jake Rockatansky. Long-running deep-dive analysis of QAnon and adjacent movements.
PodcastFreeSarah Edmondson and Anthony 'Nippy' Ames (former NXIVM). Survivor-led conversations across many high-control groups.
PodcastFreeJohn Dehlin's long-running podcast on LDS history, doubt, faith crisis, and exit.
PodcastFreeJane Marie. Investigative series on MLM cults and 'wellness' fraud.
PodcastFreeDerek Beres, Matthew Remski, Julian Walker. Where wellness, conspiracy theory, and religion intersect.
PodcastFreeRachel Bernstein, MFT. Cult-aware therapist interviewing survivors across many groups.
PodcastFree- The Telling The Truth Podcast
Long-running ex-Two-by-Two / 'The Truth' podcast.
PodcastFreeChristian - Going Clear (HBO, 2015)
Alex Gibney's documentary based on Lawrence Wright's book. Definitive Scientology overview.
Documentary - Wild Wild Country (Netflix, 2018)
Six-part series on the Rajneeshpuram experiment in Oregon.
Documentary - The Vow (HBO, 2020)
Multi-part series on NXIVM, made by ex-members Mark Vicente and Sarah Edmondson.
Documentary - Seduced: Inside the NXIVM Cult (Starz, 2020)
India Oxenberg's first-person account of NXIVM.
Documentary - Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey (Netflix, 2022)
Documentary on Warren Jeffs and the FLDS.
Documentary - Love Has Won: The Cult of Mother God (HBO, 2023)
On Amy Carlson's QAnon-adjacent online cult.
Documentary - Escaping Twin Flames (Netflix, 2023)
On Twin Flames Universe and the Divines.
Documentary - The Secrets of Hillsong (FX, 2023)
Series on Hillsong Church scandals.
Documentary - Dancing for the Devil: The 7M TikTok Cult (Netflix, 2024)
Investigation of Robert Shinn's 7M Films and Shekinah Church.
Documentary - Bikram: Yogi, Guru, Predator (Netflix, 2019)
On Bikram Choudhury's sexual misconduct.
Documentary - The Family (Netflix / SBS, 2016)
Anne Hamilton-Byrne and the Australian Family.
Documentary - Rise and Fall of Mars Hill (Christianity Today, 2021)
Mike Cosper's podcast series on Mark Driscoll's Mars Hill collapse.
PodcastFree - Strange Bedfellows podcast
Long-running cult-recovery podcast widely cited in the r/exjw and r/exmormon communities. Founder-perspective interviews with ex-members across multiple traditions.
PodcastFree Steven Hassan's Freedom of Mind Resource Center operates a separate intake channel for BITE-model consultation and Strategic Interaction Approach (SIA) referrals — distinct from the general FOM contact form.
HelplineEmergencyFreeLegal-resource hub covering MLM-debt recovery, predatory consumer contracts, and pyramid-scheme civil remedies — the practical legal pathways an exiting MLM member uses to claw back lost money.
Support OrganisationUSAFreeConnects low-income individuals to pro bono legal help — useful for cult exits involving custody disputes, divorce from a still-in spouse, or financial recovery where private counsel is out of reach.
Support OrganisationUSAFreeThe US high-school-equivalency credential — first stepping-stone for many born-in members of insular high-control groups (FLDS, Gloriavale-equivalent, some ultra-Orthodox communities) whose formal education stopped early.
Support OrganisationUSAFreeNew Zealand's largest distance-learning provider — a frequent first step for adults exiting Gloriavale and other insular NZ communities who need to upgrade from limited internal schooling to nationally recognised credentials.
Support OrganisationNew ZealandFree24/7 crisis line for LGBTQ young people. Particularly relevant for members of high-control religious communities whose exit is forced or accelerated by the discovery of their orientation or gender identity. Multilingual and multi-platform.
HelplineUSA / internationalEmergencyFreePeer community for LGBTQ Christians and those leaving anti-LGBTQ Christian communities — the most-cited support network in evangelical-exit literature for members navigating both faith and identity simultaneously.
Support OrganisationUSA / internationalFreeSurvivor-led network for people harmed by ex-gay / conversion-therapy programmes within high-control religious communities. Documents harm patterns, supports legal-action signatories, and provides peer connection for survivors.
Support OrganisationUSA / internationalFreeNorth Rhine-Westphalia's cult-information helpline. The most active German-language cult-recovery and family-support service; provides individualised consultations, refers to local clinicians, and maintains a comprehensive group-information database.
HelplineGermanyFreeJapanese 'Zenkoku Reikan Shōhō Taisaku Bengoshi Renraku-kai' — the Tokyo-based volunteer lawyer network founded in 1987 specifically around Unification Church / Aum-style harms. Authoritative source for ex-member legal advice in Japan and a major reference for the 2022–2024 post-Abe-shooting legislative work.
Support OrganisationJapanFree
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