Siders ‘a single-family cult’: psychologist

August 6, 2026 - 17:09

A psychologist is raising concerns about what she calls a growing pattern of control and isolation inside some families, describing the dynamic as a "single-family cult." Sarah Mestyanek Young, who studies high-control groups and has written about her own experience growing up in a cult, says the warning signs are often hidden behind a normal-looking front door.

"The motivation can often just be power. Cults are always about exploitation," Mestyanek Young said in a recent interview. She argues that the same mechanisms used by larger religious or political groups can appear in a single household, where one parent or a dominant figure demands absolute loyalty, controls information, and punishes independent thinking.

According to the psychologist, these families often cut themselves off from extended relatives and friends. Children may be discouraged from forming outside relationships or questioning the family's rules. What makes it tricky, she notes, is that outsiders often see a close-knit unit rather than a system of fear and manipulation.

Mestyanek Young points out that the drive behind such behavior is rarely about love or protection. It is about maintaining control. She says the most effective way to break the pattern is for someone outside the family to step in, whether that is a teacher, a neighbor, or a mental health professional. Early intervention, she adds, can make the difference between a child growing up with a healthy sense of self or spending years unlearning the damage.

Her comments come as more adults who left restrictive families are speaking publicly about their experiences, pushing back against the idea that strict parenting is always harmless.