In the early 1990s, I learned that the leaders of some cults were buying copies of my first book, Combatting Cult Mind Control: The #1 Best-selling Guide to Protection, Rescue and Recovery from Destructive Cults, so they could learn how to resist the exit-counseling process. For example, Kip McKean, who founded the International Churches of Christ, reportedly held up my book at a general assembly and told some 15,000 members that it would be sinful to meet with me or even read my book.[2] In this way, cult leaders impeded the efforts of many families–but also forced me to develop more effective ways of strategically and creatively interacting with those trapped in cults. A cult member’s friends and family are traumatized by the situation and, to mobilize them, I had to find ways to empower them, both as individuals and as a team. These revelations became the cornerstones of the method I call the Strategic Interactive Approach, or SIA.
