Paul R. Martin (1946–2009) was a

psychotherapist Psychotherapy (also psychological therapy, talk therapy, or talking therapy) is the use of Psychology, psychological methods, particularly when based on regular Conversation, personal interaction, to help a person change behavior, increase hap ...

, licensed clinical

psychologist A psychologist is a professional who practices psychology and studies mental states, perceptual, cognitive, emotional, and social processes and behavior. Their work often involves the experimentation, observation, and explanation, interpretatio ...

author In legal discourse, an author is the creator of an original work that has been published, whether that work exists in written, graphic, visual, or recorded form. The act of creating such a work is referred to as authorship. Therefore, a sculpt ...

pastor A pastor (abbreviated to "Ps","Pr", "Pstr.", "Ptr." or "Psa" (both singular), or "Ps" (plural)) is the leader of a Christianity, Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutherani ...

, and director of the

Wellspring Retreat and Resource Center Wellspring Retreat and Resource Center is a Christian countercult movement-affiliated residential counseling center claiming to specialize in the treatment of individuals who they evaluate as "having been abused in relationships, cults, situat ...

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

. He also worked in private practice in

Athens, Ohio Athens is a city in Athens County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. The population was 23,849 at the 2020 United States census. Located along the Hocking River within Appalachian Ohio about southeast of Columbus, Ohio, Columbus, Athe ...

. Martin taught psychology,

psychopharmacology Psychopharmacology (from Greek ; ; and ) is the scientific study of the effects drugs have on mood, sensation, thinking, behavior, judgment and evaluation, and memory. It is distinguished from neuropsychopharmacology, which emphasizes ...

, and the Biblical basis of behavior for five years at

Geneva College Geneva College is a private Christian college in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1848 in Northwood, Ohio, the college moved to its present location in 1880. It enrolls about 1,400 undergraduates in over 30 majors, as wel ...

, where he was a member of the department of psychology. In his 1994 book ''Cult-Proofing Your Kids'', Martin wrote about his former membership and leadership in the Great Commission International (currently called Great Commission Association of Churches). In 1971, he dropped out of graduate school to join the group, when it was known as "The Blitz". He later explained that he left the group when he did not receive an adequate response, after questioning its more controversial methods and tactics.

Career

Martin served as an

expert witness An expert witness, particularly in common law countries such as the United Kingdom, Australia, and the United States, is a person whose opinion by virtue of education, training, certification, skills or experience, is accepted by the judge as ...

in court cases including the

Lee Boyd Malvo Lee Boyd Malvo (born February 18, 1985), also known as John Lee Malvo, is a Jamaican convicted mass murderer who, along with John Allen Muhammad, committed a series of murders dubbed the D.C. sniper attacks over a three-week period in October 20 ...

sniper A sniper is a military or paramilitary marksman who engages targets from positions of concealment or at distances exceeding the target's detection capabilities. Snipers generally have specialized training and are equipped with telescopic si ...

trial and the trial of

Zacarias Moussaoui Zacarias Moussaoui (, '; born 30 May 1968) is a French member of al-Qaeda who pleaded guilty in a U.S. federal court to conspiring to kill citizens of the United States as part of the 9/11 attacks. He is serving life imprisonment without the ...

. Having neither interviewed the defendants nor studied their cases, Martin nonetheless testified in general terms about the mindset of people who have been "indoctrinated".

Published works

Books

* *

Articles and Book chapters

* *"Post-cult Recovery: Assessment and Rehabilitation". (1993). Langone, Michael D. (ed.). '' Recovery from Cults: Help for Victims of Psychological and Spiritual Abuse''. New York: W.W. Norton. ISBN 9780393701647.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Martin, Paul R. American evangelicals 20th-century American psychologists People of the Christian countercult movement Former evangelicals Former members of Evangelical parachurch organizations Former members of the Great Commission church movement Great Commission church movement people American psychotherapists Researchers of new religious movements and cults 2009 deaths 1946 births Former members of new religious movements