Jean’s in her PJs. Glenn is wearing sweats. Because we’re all tired…

In this episode, the podcast is checking in on how we’re all coping (or not) in this very busy, constantly “breaking news” era. It is precisely in these moments of uncertainty that the self-help world typically kicks it into overdrive. So beware! We also talk about this interesting development we’re seeing–the self-helpification of US government.

And finally, we offer a few thoughts on how to manage in overwhelming times. Thanks, as always, for being our community!

Show Notes:

To Listen To:

If Books Could Kill Podcast

The Huberman Lab Podcast

To Read:
Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson

Elon Musk by Walter Isaacson

About Dianetics on Wikipedia

About 12-Step Programs on Wikipedia

About Internal Family Systems Model on Wikipedia

To Watch:

The Resurrection of Jake the Snake documentary

Learn more about SEEK Safely on our website

Follow SEEK on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook

Follow Dr. Glenn on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook

Read the memoir “This Sweet Life: how we lived after Kirby died” by Jean and her mom, Ginny Brown

Donate to support SEEK’s mission

To Contact SEEK email info@seeksafely.org

How do smart, motivated, successful people get pulled into spending thousands of dollars, many years, and lots of trust on a self-help program or teacher? Psychologist Dr. John Hunter applies the dopamine hypothesis to explain how these events may be messing with our brain chemistry in a way that puts us into a manic or hypomanic state. If you are curious about cults or if you’re a self-help person, this is a must-listen! Finally, we have a psychological explanation for what is actually going on in your brain when exposed to certain types of self-help.

Dr. John Hunter’s book is “Manufacturing Mania: The Dopamine Hypothesis of Religious Experience.” His research has focussed on LGATs (Large Group Awareness Trainings) and neurology, providing an important link to understand how anyone is susceptible to the power of these events.

Show Notes:

To Read:
Manufacturing Mania: The Dopamine Hypothesis of Religious Experience by Dr. John Hunter

LGATs and Fight Club. Dissecting a Delusion by Dr. John Hunter for The Fincher Analyst

To Learn:

Explanation of the Dopamine Hypothesis on Wikipedia

Learn more about SEEK Safely on our website

Follow SEEK on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook

Follow Dr. Glenn on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook

Read the memoir “This Sweet Life: how we lived after Kirby died” by Jean and her mom, Ginny Brown

Donate to support SEEK’s mission

To Contact SEEK email info@seeksafely.org

In November 2024, SEEK was proud to present the SEEK Safely summit, a day of reflecting, brainstorming, and imagining what a better, safer self-help world looks like. We gathered together self-help industry professionals to discuss tools for seekers and self-help practitioners, to find and facilitate more ethical self-help. In this episode of the podcast, Glenn and Jean chat with Anne Peterson, SEEK friend and author of “Is this a Cult” about her experience in Landmark, who facilitated the Summit event.

SEEK plans to make the Summit an annual event–learn all about it so you can join in 2025! You can also buy a ticket to gain access to the November 2024 event recordings.

Show Notes:

Learn more about the Summit, here (buy a ticket to access recordings)

Learn more about SEEK Safely on our website

Follow SEEK on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook

Follow Dr. Glenn on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook

Read the memoir “This Sweet Life: how we lived after Kirby died” by Jean and her mom, Ginny Brown

Donate to support SEEK’s mission

To Contact SEEK email info@seeksafely.org

Jean and Glenn chat with India Oxenberg, author, producer, and activist whose escape from NXIVM is documented in the Starz series “Seduced: Inside the NXIVM Cult.” India was an executive producer on the series. India also shares her story in her memoir, “Still Learning.”

The conversations focusses less on the sensationalist aspects of her cult experience, and more on the self-help nature of NXIVM as an organization, and what attracted India to the group in the first place.

More about India:

India produces ‘Still Learning’ the podcast, which engages its audience with ongoing conversational advocacy through interviews with compelling guests. She is one of the founding members of Healix 180, an online healing hub for recovery. India is a supporter of psychedelic therapeutics and is passionate about public speaking. In 2020, she was awarded for her production work by WIN (Women's Image Awards) in 2022 by the Colleges in Beverly Hills as a "Champion for Children" for her advocacy for survivors.

By sharing her personal story, she helps to raise awareness about the insidious nature of coercion and psychological manipulation. India resides in Key West, Florida with her husband Patrick and their two cats. In her free time she enjoys immersing herself in the wellness community, cooking, painting and yoga.

Show Notes:

To Watch:
“Seduced: Inside the NXIVM Cult” on Starz
“The Vow” HBO Series about NXIVM

To Read:
“Still Learning” by India Oxenberg
“Captive” by India’s mother, Catherine Oxenberg
“The Program” by Toni Natalie

To Listen To:
Audiobook of India’s Memoir, “Still Learning”
Still Learning podcast, produced and hosted by India

Learn more about SEEK Safely on our website
Follow SEEK on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook
Follow Dr. Glenn on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook
Read the memoir “This Sweet Life: how we lived after Kirby died” by Jean and her mom, Ginny Brown
Donate to support SEEK’s mission
To Contact SEEK email info@seeksafely.org

In this episode, Dr. Doyle and Jean return to the underlying discussion of the self-help industry and the flaws within it that drive SEEK Safely’s mission. It was after Kirby Brown’s death at the 2009 Spiritual Warrior retreat that the Brown family discovered some of the rot at the core of this multi-billion dollar industry. This drove the family to found SEEK Safely, recognizing that the impulse to seek is not the issue—it’s the unethical, unregulated self-help providers that are the issue and the source of potential harm. Empowering and protecting seekers has always been, and remains, SEEK’s ultimate goal.

Show Notes:

To Read:

Positive Imaging by Norman Vincent Peale

Tragedy in Sedona by Connie Joy

Cult Education Institute, website of Rick Alan Ross

Stanley Milgram Authority experiments

To Watch:

School House Rock: How a Bill Becomes a Law

Learn more about SEEK Safely on our website

Follow SEEK on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook

Follow Dr. Glenn on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook

Read the memoir “This Sweet Life: how we lived after Kirby died” by Jean and her mom, Ginny Brown

Donate to support SEEK’s mission

To Contact SEEK email info@seeksafely.org

Previously on the Podcast, Anne Peterson introduced her new memoir, "Is This A Cult?" about her many years of involvement with Landmark. Anne joins the podcast again to discuss the response to her memoir, including a flood of messages from other ex-Landmarkians saying "same here!" Anne also shares what she's learned since her book launch that has given her even more clarity about her own experience and what needs to happen going forward to create a more ethical self-help industry.

SEEK is excited to share that Anne is launching the Safe Practitioners Workshop, an 8-session program for self-help practitioners and consumers, designed around the tenets of the SEEK Safely Promise. Sign up for one or all sessions here. The Workshop starts June 5th. Listen for more on what Anne sees as the SEEK Safely Movement.

A couple of corrections/clarifications to things said in the episode:
- We slightly misspoke on the specifics of the financial arrangements around the sale of WEA (Werner Erhard & Associates) to Landmark, and understated the amount. Here is the legal case in which the specific of the deal were reported: https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/F3/16/410/491724/
- We conflated The Goddard School with Bill Gothard IBLP religious schools discussed in the doc-series Shinny Happy People. The Goddard School is a private pre-school company with an excellent reputation and has no affiliation to the Gothard schools.

Mentioned on the Episode:
To Read:
"Is This a Cult: Confronting the Line between Transformation and Exploitation"

To Listen:
Previous Episode with Anne about her Memoir
Anne on A Little Bit Culty

To Watch:
The Program

To Learn:
ilumn8.life
The SEEK Safely Promise

Learn more about SEEK Safely on our website
Follow SEEK on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook
Follow Dr. Glenn on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook
Read the memoir “This Sweet Life: how we lived after Kirby died” by Jean and her mom, Ginny Brown
Donate to support SEEK’s mission
To Contact SEEK email info@seeksafely.org

Here is Part 2 with Brit Barkholtz.
Brit Barkholtz is a licensed clinical social worker specializing in trauma and eating disorders, active in the Twitter therapist community as The Caffeinated Therapist. Brit shares her take on MLMs, self-help exploiting trauma, “culty” stuff, and Taylor Swift as a tool of trauma recovery.

This episode is Part 1 of 2.

To Read:
Brit’s thoughts on The Tortured Poet’s Department on HuffPo
PESI

To Listen To:
SEEK Podcast Episode on MLMs
SEEK Pod Episode on Trauma
Taylor Swift, The Tortured Poet’s Department

Learn more about SEEK Safely on our website
Follow SEEK on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook
Follow Dr. Glenn on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook
Read the memoir “This Sweet Life: how we lived after Kirby died” by Jean and her mom, Ginny Brown
Donate to support SEEK’s mission
To Contact SEEK email info@seeksafely.org