"When families observe a later, deeper stage of cult involvement they may find it necessary to consider the involvement of a professional such as myself in an intervention effort"
About this Quote
The subtext is triage. “Families” are positioned as overwhelmed caregivers, emotionally compromised and therefore in need of an outside fixer. Ross doesn’t say “hire me,” but “such as myself” nudges the reader toward a specific solution while maintaining a veneer of professional detachment. It’s a rhetorical two-step: he validates your fear, then offers himself as the credible bridge between fear and action.
Context matters because Ross is a celebrity largely for being a public anti-cult figure, not a neutral clinician. The quote borrows the language of therapeutic professionalism (“professional,” “intervention effort”) to launder a controversial practice history in which “intervention” can mean coercive deprogramming as much as supportive counseling. The sentence’s passive construction - “may find it necessary” - is doing reputational work, too: it softens agency and blurs responsibility. If things go badly, necessity, not Ross, is the driver.
What makes it effective is its emotional math: it turns uncertainty into a staged crisis, then turns crisis into credentialed dependency.
Quote Details
| Topic | Family |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Ross, Rick. (2026, January 16). When families observe a later, deeper stage of cult involvement they may find it necessary to consider the involvement of a professional such as myself in an intervention effort. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/when-families-observe-a-later-deeper-stage-of-90783/
Chicago Style
Ross, Rick. "When families observe a later, deeper stage of cult involvement they may find it necessary to consider the involvement of a professional such as myself in an intervention effort." FixQuotes. January 16, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/when-families-observe-a-later-deeper-stage-of-90783/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"When families observe a later, deeper stage of cult involvement they may find it necessary to consider the involvement of a professional such as myself in an intervention effort." FixQuotes, 16 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/when-families-observe-a-later-deeper-stage-of-90783/. Accessed 12 Feb. 2026.


