The Cult I Left Behind Amanda & Kyle Briggs

Send us a Text Message.Thanks to some help from a listener, Amanda and Kyle finally tackle their long-awaited topic: Bill Gothard's teachings on sex rules in marriage! To absolutely nobody's surprise, the IBLP cult has a lot to say (ahem, dictate) about how married people go about their sexual relationship -- including days they should not have sex. Amanda and Kyle also answer a listener question about how to be authentic and true to yourself as a non-Christian with many friends and family me...

Send us a Text Message.In an angsty and emotional conversation, Amanda tells Kyle about the complexity of Mother's Day with an abusive mother. Amanda shares how the IBLP cult enabled parental abuse and what it’s like to cut ties with abusive parents. Support the Show.

Send us a Text Message.Amanda tells Kyle about Bill Gothard's teachings on adoption. It turns out adoption is considered a medical situation. It also turns out couples who can't have biological children shouldn't adopt because, according to Bill, God doesn't think they should be parents. Amanda explains the concept of "sins of the father" and how Bill taught adopted kids brought the sins of their lineage into their adoptive families. Amanda and Kyle discuss how Bill found every conceivable wa...

Send us a Text Message.Amanda and Kyle discuss what it's like to leave a cult and be that "weird" person trying to navigate the real world. Amanda shares the hurdles she faced as a weird person after leaving the IBLP cult, the process of recognizing she was different than those around her, and how she made non-cult friends. Amanda and Kyle talk through the challenges of assimilating to society after leaving a repressive environment, and Amanda shares lessons learned along the way to embracing...

Send us a Text Message.Amanda and Kyle respond to many listener questions about reaching a healthy sex life after experiencing sexual trauma in or outside a cult. They discuss different therapy modalities that helped Amanda heal, why females in the IBLP cult dissociated from their bodies, and why distance from harmful people helps the healing process. Amanda mentions Rosen therapy for somatic healing. If you are interested, you can check out the Rosen Institute’s website to learn more and see...

Send us a Text Message.Amanda tells Kyle about Bill Gothard's made up "Law of Crying Out" which - surprise, surprise - places equal blame on victims and perpetrators. Amanda grew up being taught this ideology as part of ATI's educational curriculum and bought into it for much of her life until adulthood. She tells Kyle about the different responses humans have to crisis and assault and considers that Bill used his publications to groom his next generation of victims. Together, Amanda and Kyle...