In 2023, ESAAlliance submitted a complaints to Arizona Behavioral Health Licensing which prompted an investigation by AZDHS. Step Two Recovery Center was found with 19 violations during the probe. Learn more about the investigation and what's being done about it.

Control does not necessarily mean threats, demands or force. Coercion is often subtle, pervasive and coupled with love bombing. Read more about coercive control in The Group and resources for healing and recovery.

Gaslighting is a psychological manipulation tactic in which a person or group deliberately distorts or denies reality, making someone doubt their own perceptions, memories, or sanity. Gaslighting is aimed at destabilizing a person's confidence and self-trust, rendering them more susceptible to the manipulator's control.

Unethical persuasion tactics are manipulative and deceptive strategies used to influence someone's thoughts, beliefs, behaviors, or decisions without their informed consent.

Dichotomous thinking, also known as “black and white thinking”, is looking at life in absolutes or extremes, which contributes to interpersonal problems and to emotional and behavioral instability.