------------------------------------------------------------------- F.A.C.T.Net, Inc. (Fight Against Coercive Tactics Network, Incorporated) a non-profit computer bulletin board and electronic library 601 16th St. #C-217 Golden, Colorado 80401 USA BBS 303 530-1942 FAX 303 530-2950 Office 303 473-0111 This document is part of an electronic lending library and preservational electronic archive. F.A.C.T.Net does not sell documents, it only lends them according to the terms of your library cardholder agreement with F.A.C.T.Net, Inc. ------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 Professional Profile: Bob Fellows, M.T.S. Bob Fellows (M.T.S., Harvard Divinity School), of Mind Matters, Inc., presents lecture-demonstrations on psychological manipulation and deception to help people develop critical thinking skills that aid them in resisting such methods. His highly unusual approach to teaching came from several sources, including the study of yoga more than twenty years ago with an Indian guru who inspired considerable devotion and trust. Mr. Fellows then taught yoga and developed his own following, thus becoming aware of both sides of the cultism issue. He gave magic performances to support his studies in psychology and religion at Harvard, and became a full-time magician after graduating, emphasizing "mind reading " by ESP. Mr. Fellows learned about the work of the American Family Foundation by chance, and began "to study the literature on cultism." He found that he was "able to bring a new perspective to the field. As a magician, I instinctively knew the principles of manipulation." He lectured on the subject at an AFF conference, and soon began speaking at schools where he performed his magic act on "Magic and Mind Control." One of his aims was to show believers in ESP how stage magic works, and to demonstrate the similarities in these techniques in cults, sales and advertising, and in many human relationships. He found students both curious and credulous about "psychic powers," understandably enough, but he was surprised that health professionals were, in some cases, even more gullible than the lay public in responding to his offer of a non-existent course on "How to Develop Your ESP." "Even former cult members and parents of children in cults - who might be expected to know better - showed interest" when he spoke to cult awareness groups around the country. In recent years, Mr. Fellows has added a new emphasis on health and well-being to his lecture-demonstrations. In workshops at "wellness" conferences nationwide, in Canada, and even Australia, he helps participants to recognize undue social and psychological influence and cultic manipulation. He is interested in "getting the message across to audiences outside the cult awareness world" that they need to take greater responsibility for their own health. Mr. Fellows is an advisory board member of the Inter-national Cult Education Program, through which he accepts speaking engagements, and on whose videotape, "Cults: Saying 'No' Under Pressure," he appears. His book, Easily Fooled: New Insights and Techniques for Resisting Manipulation (1989), is available through the Cult Awareness Network. He has been a guest on "Fight Back" with David Horowitz, Donahue ("ESP and Psychics"), the Wil Shriner Show, "Canada AM, and "Midday" in Australia, a country he has visited three times with increasing interest and enjoyment. 2 Professional Profiles: Janja Lalich Janja Lalich (B.A., Wisconsin) a writer, editor, and marketing/publication consultant from Alameda, California, has used her considerable talent to help explain AFF to the public, professionals, and supporters who have a vested interest in our work. A recent contribution was the report of our benchmark "Recovery from Cults" conference. She is now scouting publishers for a book based on the work of presenters at the conference, most of them fellow AFF committee members. Ms. Lalich, as an executive for several firms during the last decade, has managed direct mailings ranging from 500,000 to 6,000,000 pieces, superintended the publication of clothbound and paperback books, and developed and implemented marketing strategies for a number of organization, both commercial and non-profit. Like some other AFF associates, Ms. Lalich came to cult-related work from a cult experience; for the better part of a decade she was a member of a political cult -- the Democratic Workers Party -- having been recruited while in her late twenties and already well established in the working world. She has thought and learned a great deal about cultism since she left the group, and believes that political cults have been neglected by students of the phenomenon, perhaps, she says, because a great many leavers do not feel they have been crassly manipulated, only that they have failed their idealistic goals. She is now working on an article for the "Cultic Studies Journal" about the early development of the group to which she belonged, and its training and indoctrination methods. Ms. Lalich first learned of AFF when, in post-cult therapy, she was made aware of our work and especially of the CSJ. She was encouraged to contact CSJ editor Michael Langone. Soon, she became involved in assisting with the development of our direct mail strategy and later began to help copy-edit the CSJ. She has told other former cult members about our work and has even encouraged former members of the group to which she belonged to complete Michael Langone's research questionnaire. Ms. Lalich says AFF was very important to her when she left the cult because it is a benign group. She was frightened, after her break with the political cult, to join "voluntary" associations (and even now admits to being wary of involvement in organizations). She reports that another lasting effect of her cult membership is that she now prefers editorial and publishing work to direct mail "persuasion," although she emphasizes that direct mail is an indispensable avenue for information -- about AFF, for example -- that cannot easily be directed through other media channels. ================================================================= If this is a copyrighted work, you are acknowledging by receipt of this document from FACTNet that on the basis of reasonable investigation, you have not been to obtain a copy elsewhere at a fair price, and that you are and will abide by the following copyright warning. WARNING CONCERNING COPYRIGHT RESTRICTIONS: The copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of photo copies or other reproductions of copyrighted material. Under certain conditions specified by law, libraries and archives are authorized to furnish a photocopy or other reproduction. One of these specified conditions is that the photocopy or reproduction is not to be "used for any purpose other than private study, scholarship, or research." If a user makes a request for, or later uses, a photocopy or reproduction for purposes in excess of "fair use," that user may be liable for copyright infringement. FACTNet reserves the right to refuse to accept an order for copying or other duplication, or delivery of copied or duplicated material if, in its judgment, fulfillment of the order would involve violation of copyright law. ------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------- F.A.C.T.Net, Inc. (Fight Against Coercive Tactics Network, Incorporated) a non-profit computer bulletin board and electronic library 601 16th St. #C-217 Golden, Colorado 80401 USA BBS 303 530-1942 FAX 303 530-2950 Office 303 473-0111 This document is part of an electronic lending library. F.A.C.T.Net does not sell documents, it only lends them according to the terms of your library cardholder agreement with F.A.C.T.Net, Inc. ------------------------------------------------------------------- CARD CATALOG ENTRY DOS FILENAME OF TEXT FILE: CO0192AF.TXT DOS FILENAME OF IMAGE FILES: none ADMINISTRATIVE CODE: OK SECURITY CODE: SCO DISTRIBUTION CODE: RO DESCRIPTION FOR BBS FILE LISTING: The Cult Observer Vol. 9. No. 1, 1992. SORT TO: AFF CONTRIBUTOR: American Family Foundation (AFF) LOCATION OF ORIGINAL: American Family Foundation (AFF) NOTES: Back issues and selected reprints of the Cultic Studies Journal are available from the American Family Foundation, P.O. Box 2265, Bonita Springs, FL 33959-2265. PROFESSIONAL PROFILES: | 1 Bob Fellows, M.T.S. | 2 Janja Lalich For additional verification see the contributor of the document. UPDATED ON: 8/31/94 UPDATED BY: FrJMc =================================================================