Michael D. Langone

Michael D. Langone, PhD, received a doctorate in Counseling Psychology from the University of California, Santa Barbara. Since 1981, he has been Executive Director of International Cultic Studies Association (ICSA), a tax-exempt research and educational organization concerned about psychological manipulation and cultic groups.

Dr. Langone has been consulted by several hundred former cult members and/or their families. He was the founder and editor of Cultic Studies Journal (CSJ), the editor of CSJ’s successor, Cultic Studies Review, and editor of Recovery from Cults: Help for Victims of Psychological and Spiritual Abuse. He is co-author of Cults: What Parents Should Know and Satanism and Occult-Related Violence: What You Should Know.

Currently, Dr. Langone is ICSA Today’s Editor-in-Chief. He has been the chief designer and coordinator of ICSA’s international conferences. He has authored numerous articles in professional journals and books, including Psychiatric Annals, Business and Society Review, Sette e Religioni, Grupos Totalitarios y Sectarismo: Ponencias del II Congreso Internacional

(the proceedings of an international congress on cults in Barcelona, Spain), Innovations in Clinical Practice: A Sourcebook, Handbook of Psychiatric Consultation with Children and Youth, Psychiatric News, and all of ICSA’s periodicals. He is also co-editor of ICSA’s Cult Recovery: A Clinician’s Guide to Working with Former Members and Families, published in 2017.

Dr. Langone has spoken widely to dozens of lay and professional groups.