IndoctriNation

This is just a preview of our Patreon exclusive Bonus Episode. You can hear the full episode by becoming a member at:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ https://www.patreon.com/indoctrination 

In this Patreon bonus episode, Rachel Bernstein reflects on cult survivor and former supermodel Hoyt Richards and provides background on the high-control group at the center of HBO's 'Bring Me The Beauties: A Model Cult.'

The group was led by Frederick von Mierers, a s...

Carol Merchasin returns, and this time, Rachel and Carol go deep on what it actually looks like when survivors of coercive control, spiritual abuse, and high-control groups consider taking legal action.

Carol shares how her career shifted from corporate employment investigations to building a litigation practice focused on religious misconduct and cultic settings, and what landmark cases reveal about how the law i...

In this episode, Rachel Bernstein, LMFT, MSEd, sits down with Jared Stacy, PhD, who is a theologian and ethicist. He is the author of "Reality in Ruins: How Conspiracy Theory Became an Evangelical Crisis." They sit down for a deeply personal and clinically resonant conversation about radicalization, religious trauma, coercive belonging, and the courage it takes to say "I don't know."

Jared grew up ins...

This is just a preview of our Patreon exclusive Bonus Episode. You can hear the full episode by becoming a member at:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ https://www.patreon.com/indoctrination

In this Patreon bonus episode, host Rachel Bernstein, LMFT, examines how victim blaming functions across abusive relationships, sexual violence, cults, and high-control religious environments — and why it remains one of the most pervasive obstacles ...

In this episode, Daniella Mestyanek Young returns to IndoctriNation to discuss how cults exploit group dynamics. Born three generations into the Children of God, then a U.S. Army intelligence officer, Daniella has spent her career studying coercive control from the inside out. In her new book The Culting of America, she lays out a 10-part model of cult tactics — the same playbook used in religious cults, hi...

In this episode, Rachel Bernstein sits down with Lindsey Sanders to talk about her memoir, The Sacred Song of a Heretic, and what it means to reclaim "sacredness" outside of a high-control religion.

Lindsey was raised in a multigenerational Mormon family, where she was taught to value obedience, certainty, traditional gender roles, a limited range of acceptable emotions, and avoidance of outside sourc...

This is just a preview of our Patreon exclusive Bonus Episode. You can hear the full episode by becoming a member at:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ https://www.patreon.com/indoctrination 

In this Patreon bonus episode, host Rachel Bernstein unpacks the idea of "cults of two" — one-on-one relationships that can carry the same coercive control, manipulation, and reality-distortion found in larger high-control groups.

How does a single person create ...

In this episode, host Rachel Bernstein welcomes back author Tia Levings to discuss her new book, 'I Belong to Me: A Survivor’s Guide to Recovery and Hope After Religious Trauma.'

Tia opens up about surviving church-sanctioned domestic abuse and the long, deliberately paced process of rebuilding selfhood after leaving Christian patriarchy. She and Rachel explore how reclaiming body awareness, personal boundaries, and the simple...

In this episode, Rachel Bernstein interviews Ru Marshall about the hidden world surrounding the guru Carlos Castaneda. Marshall shares insights from their research into Castaneda’s history, manipulation tactics, spiritual abuse, and the disturbing aftermath surrounding his inner circle after his death.

The conversation explores charismatic narcissism, cult control, and how high-control spiritual leaders expl...

This is just a preview of our Patreon exclusive Bonus Episode. You can hear the full episode by becoming a member at:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ https://www.patreon.com/indoctrination

In this Patreon bonus episode, Rachel Bernstein explores how survivors of narcissistic families, manipulative relationships, and cultic systems can rebuild their identity after years of control, conformity, and emotional conditioning. Many survivors leave...

In this episode, Rachel Bernstein welcomes investigative journalist Alice Hines to discuss neurolinguistic programming (NLP), its origins, and the fine line between empowerment and manipulation. Known for her reporting on Twin Flames Universe and co-hosting Mind Games, Alice explores how NLP techniques have influenced therapy, sales culture, pickup artists, and groups like NXIVM.

Rachel and Alice examine rapid rap...

In part 2, Rachel Bernstein continues her conversation with Donna Lamb, a survivor of the Aesthetic Realism group. Recruited at 20 in New York City, Donna spent 32 years in the group before leaving in her fifties.

She explains how founder Eli Siegel and his successor maintained control through “contempt,” enforced self-criticism, surveillance, and manipulation, including “Respect meetings.” Donna also shares ...

This is just a preview of our Patreon exclusive Bonus Episode. You can hear the full episode by becoming a member at:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ https://www.patreon.com/indoctrination 

In this Patreon bonus episode, Rachel Bernstein explores “missionary tactics”—recruitment strategies used by high-control groups, including religious, political, wellness, MLM, and online communities. Through the story of “Alex,” the epis...

This is just a preview of our Patreon exclusive Q&A video. You can access the full content by becoming a member at:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ https://www.patreon.com/indoctrination

You asked. I answered, and these questions were remarkable.

Every time I read through what this community sends in, I'm genuinely moved by how thoughtfully you're engaging with these topics. This month's Q&A covers some important questio...

In Part 1, IndoctriNation host Rachel Bernstein speaks with Donna Lamb, a cult survivor and writer, about her 32 years inside Aesthetic Realism—a controversial group founded by Eli Siegel and still operating in New York City.

Recruited at age 21 through an acting class, Donna shares how love bombing, intellectualized teachings, and strict control shaped her life inside the group. She reveals the pressure to “change&rdquo...

In this episode, Rachel Bernstein speaks with Louise Williamson about the impact of conspiracy thinking on partners and families. Louise describes noticing her ex-husband’s shift in 2011, with conspiratorial topics becoming obvious by 2014 and escalating into extreme beliefs, worsening further during COVID, as he published anti-vax material and made accusations against her. She recounts social fallout, including friends withd...

This is just a preview of our Patreon exclusive Bonus Episode. You can hear the full episode by becoming a member at:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ https://www.patreon.com/indoctrination

In this Patreon bonus episode, Rachel Bernstein explains how survivors of past coercion can miss quieter, covert manipulation that looks like kindness, concern, or normal persuasion. Rachel contrasts extreme manipulation (overt coercion, isolation, strict...

You can hear more episodes by becoming a member at:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ https://www.patreon.com/indoctrination

In this unlocked Patreon episode, Rachel Bernstein gives an updated intro focusing on Synanon and includes recent news on renewed scrutiny of César Chávez and the United Farm Workers for allegedly adopting Synanon-style practices at the La Paz compound. She covers the UFW’s founding aims and describes reporting th...

In this episode, Rachel Bernstein speaks with Matthew Boedy, who is a professor of rhetoric at the University of North Georgia. He researches and writes about religious rhetoric, particularly in the last few years about the rise of Christian Nationalism. In the interview, Boedy explains rhetoric as framing reality through living language, and describes religious rhetoric as examining powerful “divine terms” like good an...