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Cults, Culture & Coercion with Dr. Steve Hassan

Restart and Restore: A Journal for Survivors of Manipulation with Rachel Bernstein, LMFT, MSEd

Cults, Culture & Coercion with Dr. Steve Hassan

Dr. Steven Hassan

Self-improvement, Society & Culture, Education

4.7 • 843 Ratings

🗓️ 23 February 2026

⏱️ 66 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Rachel Bernstein is a licensed marriage‑and‑family therapist in Los Angeles and a seasoned cult specialist with more than 35 years of experience. Rachel specializes in helping individuals exit authoritarian cults and narcissistic relationships and begin healing. She works on a one-on-one basis, hosts group therapy sessions, and speaks more broadly through education and media appearances. Rachel also hosts the weekly podcast, IndoctriNation, which explores cults, manipulators, and strategies for protecting oneself from systems of control. Over the course of the show, she has interviewed hundreds of cult survivors, journalists, and experts. Through the years, I’ve had the pleasure of working with Rachel on cases, witnessing firsthand the depth of her expertise and her commitment to empowering survivors. “I never thought this would be happening in the United States, that people would be looking for ways to escape for their safety,” Rachel observed of recent national events. We discussed the assaults on peaceful protesters and the recent killing of Nicole Good and Alex Pretti. Rachel noted that her own children, who are within the trans community, worried about their personal safety, and many in different communities are looking for routes of citizenship to other countries. Rachel also noted the quote from Kamala Harris about Trump turning the military against his own country, and how that was once deemed “hysterical”; now, it is spot-on predictive. Her newest book, Restart and Restore: A Journal for Survivors of Manipulation, combines psychoeducation, therapist notes, journaling prompts, and integration practices into a self‑paced guide for individuals emerging or healing from a manipulative relationship. The accompanying Companion Notebook offers additional activities and provides space for personal reflection and notes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

Hello, I'm Dr. Steve Hassan, author of Combating Cult Mind Control, and welcome back to another

0:09.2

episode of my podcast, Cults, Culture, and Coercion. If you're new to the channel and you're

0:14.8

interested in gaining a deeper understanding of cults, please give this video a like, and remember

0:20.0

to subscribe to this channel.

0:21.6

You can find a link to my sub-sec in the description where you'll join over 12,000

0:26.6

subscribers dedicated to learning about cult recovery and intervention.

0:31.6

I publish weekly articles on cult investigations, interviews with experts, as well as guidance from my years working with

0:39.5

cult survivors. Now this week, I have a very special guest joining me. Rachel Bernstein of

0:46.2

Old Friend is a licensed marriage and family therapist from Los Angeles, California. She's been

0:52.6

working in this field of cult intervention for over 35 years.

0:57.8

She helps people recover.

0:59.8

You may recognize her from the Stars documentary, Seduced,

1:03.4

Inside the Nexium Cult or the Netflix series Unwell.

1:07.5

Thank you so much for joining me, Rachel.

1:09.8

Will you please tell our viewers more about your work?

1:12.6

And you have two volumes that just came out,

1:16.6

Restart and Restore, and an accompanying workbook.

1:22.6

Welcome.

1:23.6

Oh, thank you so much.

1:25.6

It is so good to be here.

1:26.6

I am an FOS friend of Steve, which is lovely.

1:32.0

And it has been so good to reconnect with you throughout the years and work together at times

...

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