Recovering from Mormonism Workshop Pt. 1 - John Dehlin & Steven Hassan

Recovering from Mormonism: Understanding the Workshop Framework of Dehlin and Hassan

When thousands of people leave high-demand religions each year, many struggle not just with loss of faith, but with identity reconstruction, family estrangement, and the psychological aftermath of institutional control. The "Recovering from Mormonism Workshop" featuring John Dehlin and cult expert Steven Hassan represents one of the largest organized efforts to address this phenomenon within the Mormon context. Understanding what these workshops propose, and the framework they employ, matters for anyone researching religious trauma, studying departures from the LDS Church, or seeking to comprehend the growing infrastructure of post-Mormon community support.

The workshop, documented in podcast form through Mormon Stories, brings together two figures with substantially different backgrounds but aligned missions: Dehlin, a former Mormon fundamentalist who founded Mormon Stories and the Thrive community-building initiative, and Hassan, an internationally recognized consultant on undue influence and coercive control who developed the BITE model. Their collaboration raises important questions about how contemporary ex-religious communities are conceptualizing their experiences and what therapeutic frameworks they're adopting.

Background: The Rise of Structured Recovery Programs

The Thrive initiative emerged several years before this workshop as a direct response to what Dehlin and others perceived as inadequate mental health support for people leaving Mormonism or other high-demand religions. Rather than operating as a replacement religion or ideology, Thrive positioned itself as providing "communities of healing and growth" for those struggling with or departing from such organizations.

Hassan's involvement marked a significant pivot. While Hassan has spent decades studying groups like the Watchtower (Jehovah's Witnesses) and FLDS, earning credentials as an expert witness in legal cases, his direct engagement with mainstream Mormonism had been limited. By Hassan's own account in the workshop, his last visit to Utah occurred roughly 20 years prior, following an appearance on Dr. Phil discussing FLDS runaways. The workshop represented an intentional effort to educate Hassan more deeply about LDS-specific dynamics while simultaneously bringing his established expertise to bear