The True Happiness Company: A Memoir

At 19, Dinavahi was depressed and suicidal. When conventional methods failed, her desperate parents took her to see Bob Lyon, founder of the True Happiness Company. Lyon immediately connected with Dinavahi and promised unconditional love, which made her feel heard and accepted. Eventually, she became reliant on him, and he manipulated her into doing things such as marrying her boyfriend. In her memoir, Dinavahi describes her rationalization of Lyon’s influence and his strange behavior. Additionally, she reflects on the cultural differences between herself and her immigrant parents, which led to a rift that Lyon exploited, isolating her from her friends and family. Eventually, a disturbing encounter led Dinavahi to conclude that the True Happiness Company is a cult, from which she started to reclaim her life. Dinavahi deftly describes the feeling of unknowingly sinking further into a precarious situation and uses her psychology training to explain clinically how Lyon was able to manipulate her.