My Statement regarding Steven Hassan

Although I did not plan to post on this blog anymore, I decided to make an exception and post this statement.

I wrote a number of critical posts regarding Steven Hassan on this blog. I also criticized him in other places. However, I came to conclusion that I actually was not objective and not fair to him.

There are several people who criticize Hassan's professional work (his counseling, his books, etc.): Monica Pignotti, Cathleen Mann, Rick Ross. Some people (David Clark, Carol Giambalvo, Noel Giambalvo, Kevin Garvy, and Michael Langone) did this in the past in the book entitled Recovery from Cults. However, this book was published a very long time ago. I used some of their ideas in my criticism of him, including some posts on this blog.

However, I am not a mental health professional. There are many different opinions in the mental health field. And the anti-cult field is especially controversial. There are different approaches to mind control / thought reform theories, to exit counseling, to cult recovery. According to my observation, professionals who work in this field often disagree with one another. Well, it is hard for me to make any conclusions here because I am not a mental health professional. I just do not have sufficient professional knowledge to make objective conclusions here.

Moreover, it may be a matter of the personal preference what approaches are used. It happens in many other fields as well. For example, there are different computer operation systems: Windows, Linux, Mac OS. Some people spend much time in endless debates which OS is better, for example, Windows or Linux. Well, the thing is that it is just a matter of the personal preference. Some people prefer Windows, some prefer Linux, and that is all. Suppose a person who is not very knowledgeable about computers will read these debates about Windows vs. Linux. Will he or she be able to make an objective conclusion? Probably, not because he/she does not have sufficient knowledge.

Likewise, I just do not have sufficient knowledge to be objective regarding Hassan's (or anyone's else) professional work in mental health field. Well, I may like some ideas of some professionals, but I just do not have sufficient qualification for making any conclusions in this field. It would not be objective. In the past, I agreed with some professionals who criticized him. But the thing is that I cannot really make conclusions regarding these matters. In fact, if I agree with someone's criticism, it means that I consider this person as an "expert" and a higher "expert" than Hassan. But really I do not know.

So, I have to admit that I was not objective and fair to Hassan. I want to make clear that I have never considered him as my friend. I just want to be fair to him as well as to anyone else.

Update. I removed my critical posts regarding Steven Hassan from this blog and from my site.