Steven Alan Hassan is a licensed mental health counselor who has written extensively on the subject of cults. He is the author of three books on the subject of destructive cults, and what he describes as their use of mind control, thought reform, and the psychology of influence in order to recruit and retain members. Hassan is a former member of the Unification Church. He founded Ex-Moon Inc. in 1979 before assisting with involuntary deprogrammings in association with the Cult Awareness Network, developing in 1999 what he describes as his own non-coercive methods for helping members of alleged cults to leave their groups, through his Freedom of Mind company. He has also developed therapeutic approaches for counseling former members in order to help them overcome the purported effects of cult membership. 

January 1st, 1954 in United States of America (Age 70)