Take Back Your Life: Recovering from Cults and Abusive Relationships

 

Having grown up in a cult until 15 years old, I was in denial about my childhood and what I experienced only until a couple of years ago. After acknowledging it, I started talking to other survivors and seeking resources to process what I had been through. There is where "Take Back Your Life" comes in.

Building from first-hand knowledge, the authors have put together a comprehensive and very thorough assessment of lingering side effects and daily struggles for those who, at one point or another, found themselves in a cult, either of their own volition or because they were born into it.

"Take Back Your Life" thoughtfully breaks down the reasons people join cults, whether they be spiritual, new age, etc. These include wanting belonging and community, as well as a sense of purpose within their lives.

The book is divided into several sections, such as cult experience (specifically the characteristics of certain groups and the definition of the term itself), recruitment into the cult, and re-socializing back into the world after leaving.

Lalich and Tobias pepper the book with certain questionnaires and checklists allowing the reader to reflect on their own experience and what lingering side effects remain after leaving the cult. In my case, these were instrumental in solidifying my understanding that, yes, I was indeed born into a cult, even though I had tried to minimize and downplay the experience for years. It turns out that this is, in fact, a common behavior mechanism from people who did grow up in cults. 

Some parts of the book are not relevant for everyone. As someone who was born into a cult and raised in it throughout my formative years until leaving, the chapters focused on those who are still in a cult but are thinking about leaving were not particularly pertinent. Nonetheless, they provide crucial insight and context into understanding the mentality of those who get involved with cults and, in my instance, the people who put me into cults and what they went through.

From a personal perspective, "Take Back Your Life" would have been most beneficial to me had it focused more on the experience of growing up in a cult against one's own will. Nonetheless, as a functional manual for the before, during, and after of the cult experience, it covers all the bases and then some.

Rating: 8/10