"Join Us" - new film about cults

[Songbird]

The following information about a new film on cults in America was included in the latest newsletter from Wellspring Retreat & Resource Center. For those unfamiliar with Wellspring, it is the only residential treatment facility in the US devoted to assisting former cult members. Here’s a link: www.wellspringretreat.org

Wellspring, BTW, was highly recommended by the late Robert Vaughn Young, who spent a period of time there after leaving CoS, and the facility has been a target of CoS harassment in the past (I don’t know whether that is ongoing currently).

Here’s the film info:

On June 23, 2007, “Join Us,” the latest work from award-winning film maker Ondi Timoner, premiered at the LA Film Festival with positive reviews. Dr. Paul Martin [Wellspring‘s director] is featured in this documentary which is now showing in venues around the world… We hope this will be a production that can give everyone an idea of what happens in an abusive group, the challenges that come up during treatment and life after the cult experience. Along with Dr. Martin this movie includes a list of other well known cult experts such as Rick Ross, Steve Hassan and Dr. Robert Jay Lifton who wrote the classic book, “Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism.” Dr. Lifton’s work is referred to in the Wellspring model of treatment. This film can be an educational tool to help the general public obtain a better understanding of the cult phenomenon. Look for this new film when it comes to your community. To find out more, visit: www.joinusthemovie.com