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LiberateInternational Churches of Christ (ICC)
Boston Movement Crossroads
Movement Research
Examine
Verify
Educate
Assist
Liberate
International
Churches of Christ (ICC)
Boston Movement Crossroads
Movement
Here are a few books we strongly recommend you get and read. (But DO NOT leave them out where the ICC member may see them accidentally.) If you take this list to your local full-service bookstore, they will be able to find these books for you or order them.
The first book, The Boston Movement, contains a series of articles about the ICC itself. This book, more than anything else out there in printed form, will give you a picture of the community an ICC member lives in -- its beliefs and organization.
Steven Hassan, author of the second and third books, is a former Moonie who has done exit counseling with many former ICC members over his twenty years as an exit counselor. One case history in Combatting Cult Mind Control is about an ICC member. In it he also describes how to do non-coercive exit counseling using the "process-based" method, which he largely developed. Releasing the Bonds builds upon the knowledge and theory in Combatting Cult Mind Control, and based on this analysis, Hassan reveals sample strategies to help your friend or loved one be able to leave a cult. While you might be tempted to jump directly into application, you really need to know the former book first.
The fourth book, Exit Counseling, describes the process of setting up a family-based intervention. The author, Carol Giambalvo, is a former member of "est", a psychology cult. Carol helped develop the "information-based" counseling method, and has worked as an exit counselor for over fifteen years. She is also one of the field's experts on the ICC.
The fifth book, Captive Hearts, Captive Minds, contains very little about the ICC itself, but has important information for former cult members who are trying to process their cult involvement and go on with their lives. Family members and friends will also find it useful in understanding what being in a cult involved, and the aftereffects.
The sixth book, Twisted Scriptures contains some information on the ICC, but more so, on how cults utilize the Scriptures and take them out of context to make people do what the cult wants them to do. The book also discusses mind control and manipulation by use of Scriptures. Mary Alice Chrnalogar is an exit counselor.
Please get these books and read at least the first four before taking further action. You need to act from a basis of knowledge, not ignorance. Accurate information is critical to helping people caught in cults -- get as much of it as you can.
The best analogy, sadly, in getting a friend or loved one out, is war. In a war, your friend or loved one is being taken as a prisoner by the cult. You will need good reconnaissance, or else you will be shooting in the dark. You don't want to walk into an enemy ambush or trap. Reconnaissance is knowing what the cult thinks and how they operate, as well as knowing what your friend or loved one is doing. You will need to discover the supply lines and the fortifications and the defenses. You do not need to fight every battle or expend all your ammunition at every battle, but rather, you must fight very carefully and pick your battles. Otherwise, if you are without ammunition and without a strategy, you may lose the war.
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