Experts Explain How Toxic Relationships Mirror Cults—and Why It’s So Hard to Leave Them

There’s no shortage of documentaries, podcasts and docuseries about cults these days, and audiences can’t seem to get enough.

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They can also take hold in toxic romantic relationships.

Lois Liberman, a matrimonial and family law partner at Blank Rome, pointed to behaviors like “monitoring their whereabouts, directing who they can spend time with, how they should spend their time, limiting their access to finances and even directing what they can and cannot wear” ― all of which can take place in both coercively controlling relationships and cults.

The end point of this process is often full dependence.

“By destroying the target’s confidence, financial resources and external connections, the controller creates total reliance,” Liberman said. “The victim comes to believe they cannot survive, make decisions or find safety without the partner or leader.”

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"Experts Explain How Toxic Relationships Mirror Cults—and Why It’s So Hard to Leave Them," by Caroline Bologna was published in HuffPost on October 12, 2026.