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ICSA
Conference Handbook
Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania
June 26 – June 29, 2008
Table of Contents
Talks by Title
Abstracts
Biographical Sketches
Copyright International
Cultic Studies Association,
2008
P.O. Box 2265
Bonita Springs, FL 34133
www.icsahome.com
mail@icsamail.com
Views expressed in ICSA
publications, conferences,
workshops, Web sites, and
other communication venues
are those of the author(s)
or speaker(s) and are not
necessarily shared,
endorsed, or recommended by
ICSA or any of its
directors, staff, or
advisors.
A
Causal Model of Some
Perceived
Socio-Psychological and
Academic Factors As
Determinants of Cult
Membership Among University
Students in Southwestern
Nigeria
Adesoji A. Oni, Ph.D.; Kola
Babarinde, Ph.D.
A
Survey of Legal and
Legislative Professionals in
Pennsylvania
Edward Lottick, M.D.
After the Cult: Who Am I?
Leona
Furnari, M.S.W.
[This session is for
ex-members only.]
An
Empirical Examination of
Psychological Symptomatology
Among Different Coercive
Group Types
Paul R. Martin, Ph.D.;
Nicole Gullekson; Brian
Uhlin; Lindsay Orchowski
An
Investigation into Cult
Pseudo-personality and How
it Forms
Gillie
Jenkinson, M.A.
Aum
Shinrikyo: Its Current
Situation- Are they still
dangerous? Where are they
going? Former and current
members on Death Row. What
is the government doing?
Taro Takimoto, Esq.; Masaki
Kito, Esq.
Authentic Writing and Cult
Recovery
Daniel Shaw, LCSW,
Moderator; Fred Poole; Marta
Szabo
Avoiding Legal Entanglements
When Writing
Takashi Yamaguchi, Esq.
Boundaries: Recognition and
Repair After Leaving a
Destructive Cult
Rosanne
Henry, M.A., L.P.C.
[This session is for
ex-members only.]
Charisma in Absentia:
Comparing Recruitment
Session Leadership
Strategies of Cults and New
Religious Movements
Joshua Rosenblum, M.A.
Child Sexual Abuse in Cults:
Can It Be Prevented?
Kimberlee Norris, Esq.
Coping with Triggers
Carol Giambalvo; Joseph
Kelly
[This session is for
ex-members only.]
Cults and Creativity: The
Last Draw
Dana Wehle, L.C.S.W., M.F.A.;
Gillie Jenkinson, M.A.;
Colleen Ruseell, L.M.F.T.
Cults and NRMs in Modern
Literature
Dennis King
Cults on Campus: Case of the
JMS in Japanese Universities
Yoshihide Sakurai, Ph.D.
Cults on Trial: Issues for
the Forensic Mental Health
Cult Expert
Steve K. D.
Eichel, Ph.D.
[This session is for
mental-health professionals
only.]
Cults, the Law, and
Government: A Discussion
Moderator: Michael Kropveld;
Marci Hamilton, J.D.;
Francois Bellanger, Ph.D.;
Masaki Kito, Esq.; Stephen
Mutch, Ph.D., LL.B.; Alan
Scheflin, J.D., LL.M.
Decline of the Gentle Wind
Project: How Former Members
Withstood a Lawsuit and
Secured a Victory for Free
Speech
James Bergin, M.A.; Judy
Garvey; Arthur Dole, Ph.D.;
Cathleen Mann, Ph.D.
Ill Wind: Deposition
Concerning the Gentle Wind
Project
Arthur A. Dole, Ph.D., ABPP
The Role of the Expert in
Civil Litigation Against
Cults: A Winning Case
Against the Gentle Wind
Project from Maine
Cathleen A.
Mann, Ph.D.
Deprogramming: A 24-Year
Follow-up
Gabriel Brandis; Steve K. D.
Eichel, Ph.D., ABPP
Description of
Pre-Conditions of Cultic
Personality Dependence:
Results of Ukrainian
Research into Nontraditional
Religious Activity
Olena Lischynska, Ph.D.
Disconfirming Inaccurate,
Self-Limiting Beliefs
Internalized Through Thought
Reform with Corrective
Emotional Experience
Colleen Russell, L.M.F.T.
Dissociation and Depression
in Treatment-Seeking Former
Members of Contemplative
Cults
Donna
Adams, Ph.D.
Dissociation and Self-Harm
in Cultic Groups
Sharon K. Farber, Ph.D.
Distinguished Legal Lecture:
Religion, the Truth, and the
Public Good
Marci Hamilton, M.A., J.D.
Divorce and Cults
Marybeth Ayella, Ph.D.;
Carol Diament
Educate, Communicate and
Persevere: Coping with a
Cult Experience
Walter and Julie Jacobs;
Joseph Szimhart
Elements of Harmful Cult
Activity: An Exit
Counselor’s Working Model
Joseph Szimhart
Ex-Member Debriefing
Carol Giambalvo
[This session is for
ex-members only.]
Exploring and Developing a
Model and Theory of
Totalistic Identity in
Ex-Cult Members
Rod Dubrow-Marshall, Ph.D.;
Paul Martin, Ph.D.
Four
Approaches to Helping
Families
Lois Svoboda, M.D., LMFT,
Moderator; David Clark;
Joseph Szimhart; Joseph
Kelly/Patrick Ryan; Steve
Hassan, M.Ed., LMHC, NCC
Group and Individual
Counseling with Cult
Survivors from a Long-Term
Trauma Theory Perspective
Michael
Martella, M.F.T.
Growing Up in Cults: The
Special Issues of Children
in Cults and
Second-Generation Cult
Members
Joyce
Martella, M.A., Moderator;
Juliana Buhring; Donna
Collins; Michael Martella,
MFT; Gina Catena, MS, CNM,
NP
Advocating for Children’s
Rights
Juliana Buhring
A Climate of Fear
Donna Collins
The Masks We Wore
Michael Martella, MFT
Post-Cult Identity Issues
for Second-Generation Adults
Gina Catena, MS
History of Japanese Lawyers
Against Spiritual Sales and
the Japan Society for Cult
Prevention and Recovery
Shuji
Nakamura Esq, Masaki Kito
Esq, Taro Takimoto Esq.
How
Grief Becomes
Disenfranchised When Losing
a Child
Rosanne
Henry, M.A., L.P.C.
How
to Set Up and Facilitate a
Support Group
William Goldberg, M.S.W.,
L.C.S.W.; Lorna Goldberg,
M.S.W., L.C.S.W.
Identity Construction of
Children Growing into Closed
Religious Environments
Lorraine Derocher
Informal Case Presentations
and Group Supervision—for
Psychotherapists Working
with Former Cult Members
Daniel Shaw, LCSW
Introductory Workshop for
Mental-Health Professionals
Rosanne
Henry, M.A., L.P.C.
[This session is for
mental-health professionals
only.]
Jehovah’s Witnesses: Being
Freed from Disabling Hooks
Dan Clark
Manipulating Other People’s
Marriage for Money
Randy
Kandel, Ph.D., J.D.
Mind
Control in the Cult
“Orizzonti Nuovi”: A
Schismatic Group of The
Family—A Survey of Internal
Sources
Dr. Cristina Caparesi
Myths, Misnomers, and Missed
Signals: Demystifying Cult
Research
Janja Lalich, Ph.D.,
Moderator; Miriam Boeri,
Ph.D.; Stephen A. Kent,
Ph.D.
The
Naming Game: Why Academics
Should be Concerned About
Terms
Miriam Boeri, Ph.D.
What
the Scholars Missed and Why
they Missed Them: A
Retrospective Examination of
Several Major “Cult” Stories
from the End of the
Twentieth Century
Stephen A.
Kent, Ph.D.
Novel Unsupported Therapies:
Pseudoscientific and
Cult-Like Characteristics
Monica Pignotti, MSW,
Moderator; James D. Herbert,
Ph.D.; Jean Mercer, Ph.D.
Novel Therapies and
Extraordinary Claims: Being
a Good Consumer
James D. Herbert
Children and Cult-like
Therapy Groups
Jean Mercer
Thought Field Therapy: A
Former Insider’s Experience
Monica Pignotti
Opening Keynote Address: The
Violent Outcomes of
Ideological Extremism: What
Have We Learned Since
Jonestown?
Janja Lalich, Ph.D.
Optional Discussion Session:
Born or Raised
Michael
Martella, M.A.; Joyce
Martella
[This session is for people
born or raised in
high-demand groups only.]
Parental Alienation Syndrome
and the Cult of Parenthood
Amy J. L. Baker, Ph.D.;
Discussants: William
Goldberg, M.S.W.; Lorna
Goldberg, M.S.W.
Phoenix Project: Ex-Member
Art and Literary Works
Diana Pletts
Polygamy and Government:
Policies, Powers, and
Limitations of State and
Local Governments
Livia Bardin, M.S.W.; Jane
Irvine, ACSW, LCSW; Paul
Murphy
Polygamy: Recent
Developments
Andrea Moore Emmett; Laura
Chapman; Sylvia Mahr
Problems with Justification:
How to Critique Cults
Without Asking "How Abusive
Was Your Experience?”
Alicia Juskewycz
Psychological Violence
Strategies of the ETA
Terrorist Network in the
Basque Country: An
Exploratory Study
Javier
Martín-Peña; Álvaro
Rodríguez-Carballeira; Jordi
Escartín; Clara Porrúa;
Federico Javaloy
Psychotherapy Facades and
Legal Charades: My
Adventures in the Land of
Undue Influence
Sheila Rae Bradley
Public Policy and Cults in
Europe
Francois Bellanger, Ph.D.
Religious Conflict
Resolution for Families
Michael D. Langone, Ph.D.;
Patrick Ryan
Resiliency and Post
Traumatic Growth in the
Healing Journey Toward
Recovery
Doni Whitsett, Ph.D.,
L.C.S.W.
Risk
Factors for Therapists
Working with Individuals and
Families Who Have Been
Affected by Destructive
Cults
Linda J. Dubrow-Marshall,
Ph.D.
Roundtable on Theoretical
Developments in the Field of
Undue Influence and Cults
Rod Dubrow-Marshall, Ph.D.,
Facilitator; Janja Lalich,
Ph.D.; Paul Martin, Ph.D.;
Alan Scheflin, J.D., LL.M.;
Benjamin Zablocki, Ph.D.
Secular vs. Religious:
Identity Issues for
Individuals Exiting
Bible-based Cults
Wendy and Doug Duncan
Self-Report Measures of
Psychological Abuse
Carmen Almendros, Ph.D.,
Moderator; José Antonio
Carrobles, Ph.D.; Rod
Dubrow-Marshall, Ph.D.;
Kimiaki
Nishida, Ph.D.; Álvaro
Rodríguez-Carballeira,
Ph.D.
Significant Cult Legal Cases
in Japan
Masaki Kito, Esq.; Takashi
Yamaguchi, Esq.; Yukari
Yamamoto
Since You've Been Gone: A
reading of a new play about
the cult experience, to be
followed by audience
discussion
D. W. Gregory
Sociological Analysis of
Former Adherents and
Families of Former
Adherents: Discourse About
Leaving New Religious
Movements in Spain
María del
Mar Ramos-Lorente, Ph.D.;
Pedro Castón-Boyer, Ph.D.
Special Lunch Discussion
Session: On Going to College
or Graduate School After a
Cult Experience
Moderator: Janja Lalich,
Ph.D.
Special Session for Born or
Raised (Second Generation)
Michael Martella, MFT; Joyce
Martella
[This session is for
second-generation ex-members
only.]
Starting Out: A Discussion
of Key Practical Issues
People Face When They Leave
Cults—Housing, Employment,
Education, Social Skills,
And So On
Livia
Bardin, M.S.W.
Steve Hassan Reflects on 30
Years of Activism
Steven A. Hassan, M.Ed.,
LMHC, NCC
Terrorism and Cultic
Studies: A Brief Overview
Michael D.
Langone, Ph.D.
The
Anti-Cult Cult
Ginger Zyskowski; Carol
Giambalvo
The
Boundary between Cultic and
Benign in Spiritual Groups
Elliot Benjamin, Ph.D.
The
Continuum of Influence in
Addictions Treatment: From
Therapeutic Alliance to
Undue Influence
Linda J.
Dubrow-Marshall, Ph.D.;
Roberta Eisenberg, M.S.W.;
Steven Eisenberg
The
Development and Empirical
Examination of the Lifton
Scale
Paul R. Martin, Ph.D.;
Nicole Gullekson
The
Marginals: People on the
Boundary of a New Religious
Movement
Eileen Barker, Ph.D.
The
Problem of “Sectarian
Mentality” Within Church
Communities
Piotr Tomasz Nowakowski,
Ph.D.
The
Puzzle of Brainwashing
Janja Lalich, Ph.D.;
Benjamin Zablocki, Ph.D.
Pruning the Brainwashing
Concept in Order to Save It
Benjamin Zablocki, Ph.D.
Now You See It, Now You
Don't: Why We Need to
Recognize Brainwashing and
Its Close and Distant
Cousins
Janja Lalich, Ph.D.
The Red
Mosque: A Case Study of How
Religion Can Evolve into a
Terrorist Cult
Ana
Ballesteros Peiró; M. Jesus
Martin Lopez; Jose Manuel
Martinez
The
Socialization of Women into
a Polygamous Lifestyle: The
Experience of Canadian
Fundamentalist Mormons
Marie-Andrée
Pelland, Ph.D.; Dianne
Casoni, Ph.D.
The
Use of Coercive Influence by
the Tough Love Industry
Philip Elberg, Esq.; Maia
Szalavitz
The
Wellspring Treatment Model
for Victims of Cults and
Cultic Relationships
Paul R. Martin, Ph.D.; Donna
Adams, Ph.D.
Thirty Years of Treatment
for Individuals and Families
Affected by Psychologically
Manipulative Groups (GMP):
An Epidemiological
Perspective
Núria Ribas;
Josep Maria Jansà; Luca
Basile; Inma Sánchez; Vega
González; Miguel Perlado;
Esther Maté; Marga Cano;
Teresa Fernández
Update on Cult Legal Cases
and Issues in Japan
Masaki Kito, Esq.; Shuji
Nakamura, Esq.; Takashi
Yamaguchi, Esq.; Reiko
Higashi, Esq.
Update on the International
Churches of Christ and the
Reemergence of Kip McKean
David Clark
Workshop for Family Members
Michael D. Langone, Ph.D.;
Ron Loomis; Patrick Ryan
Workshop for Former Group
Members
Carol Giambalvo; Joseph
Kelly
[This session is for former
members of cultic groups
only.]
Workshop for Mental Health
Professionals
Clinical Issues: Working
with Families
Facilitators: Linda Dubrow-Marshall,
Ph.D.; Roberta Eisenberg,
M.S.W.
Clinical Issues: Working
with First-Generation Former
Cultists
Rachel
Bernstein, MS.Ed., LMFT;
Discussant: Lorna Goldberg,
M.S.W.
Clinical Issues: Working
with Second-Generation
Former Cultists
Leona
Furnari, M.S.W.; Michael
Martella, M.F.T.
Clinical Roundtable for
Mental Health Practitioners
Gillie Jenkinson, M.A.,
Facilitator
Testifying in Court
William
Goldberg, M.S.W.
Writing As a Tool for
Healing from the Trauma of a
Cult Experience
Kristen
Skedgell, M.Div., L.C.S.W.
Writing Case Studies
Sharon Farber, Ph.D.
A Causal Model of Some
Perceived
Socio-Psychological and
Academic Factors As
Determinants of Cult
Membership Among University
Students in Southwestern
Nigeria
Adesoji A. Oni, Ph.D.; Kola
Babarinde, Ph.D.
One of
the challenges facing
Nigerian higher education is
cultism. Secret cults have
developed into a
socio-cultural menace and
assumed a disturbing
dimension in recent times on
Nigerian university
campuses. Cultism breeds
gruesome acts of
destruction, deviance,
violence, and homicide. This
study constructed and tested
a model for providing a
causal explanation of cult
membership in terms of
socio-psychological and
academic factors among
university students in
Southwestern Nigeria, with a
view to developing an
empirical approach that
would further add to an
informed understanding of
the problem and its
solutions. An ex post facto
research method using
correlational design was
adopted for the study. Four
research questions were
generated and answered.
Since cult-related crises
have a regional significance
and are pronounced in
southern Nigerian campuses,
seven hundred and ninety
(790) subjects using a
stratified quota sampling
technique were randomly
drawn from the 10 federal
and state universities in
Southwestern Nigeria. A
multipurpose cult membership
scale with six validated sub
scales were used; namely,
“Student Information sub
scale (r=0.80),” “University
Staff sub scale (r=0.83),”
“University Senior
Counseling Officers’ sub
scale (r=0.81),” “University
Chief Security Officers’ sub
scale (r=0.74),” “Divisional
Police Officers’ sub scale
(r=0.69)” and “Dean of
Students’ Affairs’ sub scale
(r=0.86).” Data collected
were subjected to
confirmatory causal modeling
using multiple regression
and path analysis at .05
alpha level. The findings
showed that 44.6% of the
variability in cult
membership (X10)
was accounted for by all the
nine predictor variables
taken together. Only four of
the variables—gender
involvement (X1),
social status (X2),
aggression (X8),
and academic performance (X9)
had significant direct
causal effect on cult
membership (X10).
Gender involvement has the
highest contribution ß
=-.321, (12.73%), followed
by Academic Performance
ß=.287, (11.38%), Aggression
ß=-.109, (4.32%), and lastly
Social Status ß=-.099,
(3.92%). The other five
variables—Family background
(X3), Suppression
of organized students’ union
(X4), Peers’
motivation (X5),
Spiritual Power (X6),
and Self concept (X7)—do
not have significant direct
effect on the dependent
measure. In all, there were
22 significant pathways
through which the perceived
socio-psychological and
academic factors showed
variations in cult
membership. The influence of
gender involvement and
social status underscores
the need for parents to pay
attention to their wards and
also monitor their progress
in schools through visits
and regular demands for
their moral and academic
reports. The reported direct
and indirect influence of
aggression and academic
performance on cult
membership underscores the
need for academic programs
in the universities to be
strengthened with the view
to keeping students
intellectually engaged and
avoiding victimization,
intimidation, and
suppression of any form. The
school curriculum from
primary to post-secondary
schools should be reviewed
and revamped to embrace
civic, religious, and moral
education that will reflect
belief systems, norms, and
values of the society.
A Survey of Legal and
Legislative Professionals in
Pennsylvania
Edward Lottick, M.D.
Having
done surveys of health
professionals in 1992 and in
2004, and having presented
results in subsequent
forums, it seemed logical to
broaden perspectives by
surveying an entirely
different occupational
configuration; in summer
2007, I turned to law
professionals. Again, for my
sample population, I focused
on my home state,
Pennsylvania, and surveyed
law professionals throughout
the commonwealth. I choose
those concerned with writing
laws, those concerned with
enforcing laws, and those
concerned with adjudicating
laws. All Pennsylvania State
legislators, both house and
senate, all 67 county
district attorneys and half
of Pennsylvania assistant
district attorneys (those
listed), and all
Pennsylvania courts of
common pleas judges were
surveyed. The survey
population totaled about
1,000 professionals, 254
legislators, 250 district
attorneys, and 500 judges.
Results, implications, and
opportunities will be
discussed.
After the Cult: Who Am
I?
Leona
Furnari, M.S.W.
[This session is for
ex-members only.]
According to Judith Herman
in Trauma and Recovery:
Psychological trauma is an
affliction of the powerless.
At the moment of trauma, the
victim is rendered helpless
by overwhelming force. When
the force is that of nature,
we speak of disasters. When
the force is that of other
human beings, we speak of
atrocities. Traumatic events
overwhelm the ordinary
systems of care that give
people a sense of
control, connection, and
meaning.
Disconnection
Traumatic events call into
question basic human
relationships. They breach
the attachments of family,
friendship, love, and
community. They shatter the
construction of the self
that is formed and sustained
in relation to others. They
undermine the belief systems
that give meaning to human
experience. They violate the
victim’s faith in a natural
or divine order and cast the
victim into a state of
existential crisis....
A
secure sense of connection
with caring people is the
foundation of personality
development. When this
connection is shattered, the
traumatized person loses
his/her basic sense of self.
Developmental conflicts of
childhood and adolescence,
long since resolved, are
suddenly reopened. Trauma
forces the survivor to
relive all of his/her
earlier struggles over
autonomy, initiative,
competence, identity, and
intimacy.
From
Childhood and Society by
Eric Erikson:
Erickson’s Psychosocial
Stages:
Each
stage is characterized by a
conflict that has two
opposing possible outcomes.
If the emotional and
physical needs of the
child/survivor are
adequately met, he/she
resolves the conflict—i.e.,
learning to trust … and can
move on to the next stage.
·
Trust vs.
Mistrust
·
Autonomy vs.
Shame and Doubt
·
Initiative vs.
Guilt
·
Industry vs.
Inferiority
·
Identity vs.
Role Confusion
·
Intimacy vs.
Isolation
·
Generativity
vs. Stagnation
·
Ego Integrity
vs. Despair
The
core concept of Erikson’s
Eight Stages of Man is the
acquisition of a strong and
healthy ego-identity through
consistent and meaningful
recognition of one’s
achievements and
accomplishments.
In
Identity, Youth, and Crisis
Erikson describes
Identity:
1.
a feeling of being at
home in one’s body,
2.
a sense of knowing
where one is going, and
3.
an inner assuredness
of anticipated recognition
from those who count.
Identity is a conscious
sense of individual
uniqueness.
Identity can be an
unconscious striving for a
continuity of experience.
Identity is created from
solidarity with a group’s
ideals.
From
Trauma and Recovery by
Judith Herman:
Recovery
Having
come to terms with the
traumatic past, the survivor
faces the task of creating a
future. She has mourned the
old self that the trauma
destroyed; now she must
develop a new self. Her
relationships have been
tested and forever changed
by the trauma; she must
develop new relationships.
The old beliefs that gave
meaning to her life have
been challenged; now she
must find a new sustaining
faith.
Reconciling with Oneself
(Once)
The survivor no longer feels
possessed by her traumatic
past, she is in possession
of herself. She has some
understanding of the person
she used to be and of the
damage done to that person
by the traumatic event. Her
task now is to become the
person she wants to be. In
the process she draws upon
those aspects of herself
that she most values:
·
from the time
before the trauma,
·
from the
experience of the trauma
itself, and
·
from the
period of recovery.
·
Integrating
all of these elements, she
creates a new self, both
ideally, and in actuality.
The
re-creation of an ideal self
involves the active exercise
of imagination and fantasy,
capacities that have now
been liberated. In earlier
stages, the survivor’s
fantasy life was dominated
by repetitions of the
trauma, and her imagination
was limited by a sense of
helplessness and futility.
Now she has the capacity to
revisit old hopes and
dreams. The survivor may
initially resist doing so,
fearing the pain of
disappointment. It takes
courage to move out of the
constricted stance of the
victim. But just as the
survivor must dare to
confront her fears, she must
also dare to define her
wishes.
An Empirical Examination
of Psychological
Symptomatology Among
Different Coercive Group
Types
Paul R. Martin, Ph.D.;
Nicole Gullekson; Brian
Uhlin; Lindsay Orchowski
The
current presentation
examines data collected at
Wellspring Retreat and
Resource Center, a
residential rehabilitation
center for ex-cult members
that has treated nearly 900
clients over the past two
decades. Results of intake
evaluations suggest that
respondents were involved in
a variety of different
coercive groups, with the
largest percentage of
respondents being
characterized in
Pseudo-Christian and
totalist groups. Differences
in psychological
symptomatology and life
events between cultic group
types have not been
extensively studied. Rather,
many previous studies have
focused on such variables in
members of a specific cult
(e.g., Church Universal and
Triumphant; Gasde & Block,
1998). Our data suggest
that, while age of intake at
Wellspring differed among
the seven group types, no
differences in
hospitalization or
counseling services before,
during, or after cult
involvement were found
between the groups.
Moreover, no significant
differences between the
groups were found in total
levels of depression, total
problem checklist, years in
group, or time from exit to
treatment. However, the data
do suggest that differences
exist between cultic groups
on the impact of events and
certain psychological
symptomatology. For example,
differences between the
groups were found in anxious
dependency and phobic
anxiety, as well as in the
amount of personal growth,
independence, conflict,
cohesion, and intrusion in
one’s life. Thus, the aim of
the current presentation is
to empirically examine data,
comparing cultic and
coercive group types. How
the result of this
examination compares to
current theory in cultic
influence will be discussed,
as well as how this data can
be utilized in clinical
practice.
An Investigation into
Cult Pseudo-personality and
How it Forms
Gillie
Jenkinson, M.A.
This
paper, which develops issues
discussed in a paper
presented by Ms. Jenkinson
at the ICSA Conference in
Brussels in 2007,
investigates some of the
possible explanations for
the cult pseudo-personality,
including Dissociation,
Dissociative Identity
Disorder, Doubling, False
Self, and Adjustment. Ms.
Jenkinson proposes that none
of these provides a clear
and satisfactory
explanation, and she puts
forward an analysis based on
Introjection. The latter
section of the paper
explores some basic ideas
from neuroscience and
creatively applies them to
the development of the cult
pseudo-personality.
Aum Shinrikyo: Its
Current Situation- Are they
still dangerous? Where are
they going? Former and
current members on Death
Row. What is the government
doing?
Taro Takimoto, Esq.; Masaki
Kito, Esq.
Two leading Japanese lawyers
who are specialists on Aum
Shinrikyo will provide an
update on legal cases and
the current situation of the
group involving Aum leader,
Shoko Asahara, and his
followers.
Authentic Writing and
Cult Recovery
Daniel Shaw, LCSW,
Moderator; Fred Poole; Marta
Szabo
This
panel will be introduced by
Daniel Shaw, LCSW, a
psychoanalyst in private
practice in New York City,
and a former member of
Siddha Yoga who exited in
1994.
Daniel
will introduce Fred Poole,
founder of the Authentic
Writing workshops. Mr.
Poole, who himself is an
author, will introduce the
basic concepts and format of
Authentic Writing. These
workshops are designed to
help people get at their
most true versions of
reality, which are always to
some degree in deadly
conflict with triumphal
versions imposed by
institutions and individuals
in some cult of family, work
place, nation state, or
religious/spiritual
community. Authentic Writing
is based on the idea that
the most important thing a
person can ever do—in life
as well as in art—is to get
that person’s story right.
It is almost impossible to
tell a story verbally
without knowing where it
will go. But when a story
moves from the head to
paper—when the writer is
open to recreating actual
scenes from life rather than
starting with general
conclusions about that
life—surprising elements
unfold. And a common result
is that false versions of
reality crumble.
Marta
Szabo, editor and memoir
author, Fred’s partner in
life and art, is co-director
of Authentic Writing. She
works with people who want
to write the truest versions
of the stories of their
lives. Marta exited Siddha
Yoga in 2001 as a direct
consequence of her
experience of memoir
writing. Marta will share
her process, and excerpts
from her book about her
years in an ashram—The
Guru Looked Good.
Daniel
Shaw will join Fred and
Marta in a discussion of the
events that ensued from
Marta’s publication of her
book about her Siddha Yoga
experience. Marta published
the book by placing several
chapters a week on her
Internet blog, and allowed
readers to comment. The
result was the
to-be-expected, often vile
attacks from Siddha Yoga
against Marta; but
unexpectedly, hundreds of
readers responded across
many different cultic
groups, many of whom were
inspired to begin writing
their own cult experiences.
In response to many
requests, Marta now runs an
online Authentic Writing
course especially for people
who have been involved in
cults and want to process
and expose their
experiences.
Participants who so desire
may then join Fred and Marta
for a brief experience of
on-the-spot memoir writing,
followed by readings from
those who would like to
share, which will give
everyone a taste of the
Authentic Writing
experience.
Avoiding Legal
Entanglements When Writing
Takashi Yamaguchi, Esq.
An
attorney familiar with
cultic dynamics will discuss
some relevant legal
principles common to
democratic societies and
applicable to people
speaking or writing about
cultic groups. The presenter
has just won an acquittal on
Feb 29, 2008 of a criminal
libel case in which the
defendant was indicted for
creating a webpage exposing
a relation between a Noodle
Shop Franchise and a
right-wing racist cult group
“Nihon Heiwa Shingun”
(translated as “Divine Japan
Peace Army”).
Boundaries: Recognition
and Repair After Leaving a
Destructive Cult
Rosanne
Henry, M.A., L.P.C.
[This session is for
ex-members only.]
People
exit cults confused about
their own identities and how
to relate to others in the
mainstream culture. Identity
issues stem from the diffuse
or excessively blurred
boundaries within cult
systems. Just like enmeshed
families, cultists and their
leadership become
over-concerned and
over-involved in each
others’ lives. This
pressures members to quickly
adapt to the cult
environment and promotes
cohesiveness at the expense
of autonomy.
Connection to the larger
culture is limited because
of the rigid boundaries
legislated by cult
leadership. Separating
cultists from the world, as
well as their families,
helps leaders remold
recruits more efficiently
and control most of their
relationships.
Once
recruits become committed
members, cult leaders often
use shame to ensure members’
obedience and loyalty. Cults
operate like shame-bound
families with rules that
demand control,
perfectionism, blame, and
denial. During the workshop,
abusive cult interactions
are plotted on a shame
control model to contrast
and compare cults with
abusive families.
Family
rules are discussed, and the
alternative to shame-bound
systems—i.e., respectful
systems—is introduced. The
zipper metaphor is used to
describe how boundaries
protect the intellectual,
emotional, and physical
self. Participants learn
that once boundaries are
established, an identity is
formed and self-trust
increases.
Charisma in Absentia:
Comparing Recruitment
Session Leadership
Strategies of Cults and New
Religious Movements
Joshua Rosenblum, M.A.
Despite
emphasis on the crucial role
of charismatic authority in
cult studies and the
sociology of religion, most
members of large cults and
new religious movements
(NRMs) have never met their
founding figures (Lalich
2004). Indeed, a broad
literature review reveals
that criteria for many
seminal models of cult
recruitment and brainwashing
present charismatic leaders
in only a marginal role,
sometimes lacking influence
altogether. While existing
studies on NRM conversion
have focused mainly on the
self-selected few who become
full-time members, this
study investigates lecture
styles and outsider-oriented
content used by recruitment
group leaders to address a
diverse audience of
newcomers. Over the course
of 7 months, 60 hours of
ethnographic research in the
outreach activities of three
NRMs of differing worldviews
was conducted to describe
this process. Additionally,
one interview with a group
leader or recruit was
performed per group, and
telephone consultations with
two cult studies specialists
complemented the research
design. Each NRM is
classified into a mutually
exclusive category according
to criteria designed by
Wallis (1984). In
combination with an
inductive approach to coding
results, analysis of
qualitative findings was
guided by a theoretical
framework. Althusser’s
(1986) concept of
interpellation and
Goffman’s (1963) symbolic
interactionism were used
to evaluate how cult
recruitment session leaders
cultivate an audience of
engaged listeners. The major
finding in this report was
that, to convey the personal
relevance of cult beliefs,
prospective recruits of all
three movements were
encouraged to see within
themselves a latent
potential only leaders are
able to bring out.
Individual differences among
prospects were glossed over
and their accustomed
self-concepts challenged by
programs and ideas that
questioned the ability to
perceive hidden truths.
Recruitment programming and
routine lecture strategies
analyzed in the current
study operate in the absence
of charismatic authorities,
implicating the techniques
used by recruiters to
communicate their values as
vital to the longevity of
cults and NRMs.
Child Sexual Abuse in
Cults: Can It Be Prevented?
Kimberlee Norris, Esq.
Sexual
abuse should never occur in
the context of spiritual
authority or guidance; but,
all too often, the same
“high control” elements that
define a cult result in the
victimization of children.
Kimberlee Norris is a
partner at the law firm of
Love & Norris, based in Fort
Worth, Texas. The attorneys
at Love & Norris have
developed a national
sexual-abuse litigation
practice, representing
hundreds of victims of child
sexual abuse. In this
discussion, Norris discusses
why sexual abuse occurs in
cults, how protective safety
principals can create a safe
environment for children in
organizational programs, and
specific cases in which
these principals were
applied by religious
entities.
On
November 21, 2007, NBC
Nightly News discussed one
of the firm’s recent case
resolutions involving the
Watchtower Society
(‘Jehovah’s Witnesses’),
involving a predator (and
congregation leader) who
remains on the FBI’s Top 10
‘most wanted’ list.
Norris
serves as a director of
MinistrySafe, a consulting
organization designed to
help churches and religious
organizations understand and
address child safety risks
related to sexual abuse. For
additional information, see
www.MinistrySafe
Coping with Triggers
Carol Giambalvo; Joseph
Kelly
[This session is for
ex-members only.]
Dissociation is a
disturbance in the normally
integrative functions of
identity, memory, or
consciousness. It is also
known as a trance state. It
is a very normal defense
mechanism. You’ve all
probably heard of how a
child being abused—or
persons in the midst of
traumatic
experiences—dissociate.
Those are natural
occurrences to an unnatural
event.
What
are some of the events in
the life of a cult member
that may bring on
dissociation?
·
Stress of
maintaining beliefs.
·
Stress of
constant activities.
·
Diet/sleep
deprivation.
·
Discordant
noises—conflicts.
·
Never knowing
what’s next.
There
are many, many ways to
produce a dissociative or
trance state:
·
Drugs.
·
Alcohol.
·
Physical
stress (long-distance
running).
·
Hyperventilation.
·
Rhythmic voice
patterns or noises
(drumming).
·
Chanting.
·
Empty-minded
meditation.
·
Speaking in
tongues.
·
Long prayers.
·
Guided
visualizations.
·
“Imagine…”
·
Confrontational sessions
(hot seat, auditing,
struggle sessions).
·
Decreeing.
·
Hypnotism or
“processes.”
·
Hyper
arousal—usually into a
negative state so the
leaders can rescue you (ICC
confessions).
·
Ericksonian
hypnosis (Milton Erickson)
hypnotic trance without a
formal trance induction.
Why are
we so concerned about trance
states?
·
Individuals
don’t process information
normally in trance states.
·
Critical
thinking—the arguing self—is
turned off.
·
Also turned
off are reflection,
independent judgment, and
decision-making.
·
In trance you
are dealing with the
subconscious mind, which has
no way to tell the
difference between something
imagined or reality—it
becomes a real experience
which is interpreted for you
by the group ideology.
·
Once in a
trance, people have visions
or may “hear” sounds that
are later interpreted for
you in the context of the
cult mindset—the
“magic”—while, in reality,
they are purposely
manufactured physiological
reactions to the trance
state.
·
While in
trance you are more
suggestible—not just during
trance, but for a period of
time up to two hours after.
·
When a person
dissociates, it becomes
easier and easier to enter
into a dissociative state—it
can become a habit—and it
can become uncontrollable.
You may
have heard it said that not
everyone can be hypnotized …
that you need to be able to
trust the hypnotist’s
authority. While it’s true
that there are degrees of
hypnotizability,
dissociative states may be
induced indirectly. What if
instead of telling you that
“now we’re going to
hypnotize you,” the leaders
just say, “Let’s do a fun
process—close your eyes and
imagine …”? Are you told to
trust your leaders? Do they
have your best interest at
heart? And what if they are
using Ericksonian hypnosis,
in which there is no formal
trance induction?
What is
Ericksonian Hypnosis? It’s
an interchange between two
people in which the
hypnotist must
·
Gain
cooperation.
·
Deal with
resistant behavior.
·
Receive
acknowledgement that
something is happening.
Ericksonian hypnosis
involves techniques of
expectation, pacing and
leading, positive
transference, indirect
suggestion, the use of “yes
sets,” deliberate confusion,
the embedding of messages,
and suggestive metaphor.
Cults and Creativity:
The Last Draw
Dana Wehle, L.C.S.W., M.F.A.;
Gillie Jenkinson, M.A.;
Colleen Ruseell, L.M.F.T.
I
propose that the
dehumanization of cult
member by cult leader
through suppression of
creativity is central to
cultic studies, and further
that cult recovery treatment
involves "re-humanization"
through re-emergence of
former member's/sga’s
creativity. I build upon
Lifton's ideas that
imagination atrophies in
cults and that
psychoanalytically oriented
treatment is one suggested
mode of treatment for cult
recovery. I contrast
psychoanalytically defined
criteria for creativity in
open environments to the
absence of these criteria in
cults (1961). 1) There will
be a difference in
individual creativity
between open environments
that value the mourning of
loss and the subsequent
capacity for symbol
formation, and cults wherein
leaders disallow members to
experience and mourn loss.
2) There will be a
difference in individual
creativity between open
environments that allow
opposition and tolerance for
ambivalence as characterized
by the dynamic tension
between opposites, and cults
wherein leaders disallow
opposition. 3) There will be
a difference in individual
creativity between open
environments in which
unfilled emotional,
psychological, physical, and
other space is assumed as a
given with which the subject
is free to create subjective
meaning, and cults in which
the leader assigns
emotional,
psychological, and physical
experience to the member by
claiming s/he is holder of
absolute truth and solely
able to fill the member with
what s/he lacks. 4) There
will be a difference in
individual creativity
between open environments in
which predictability and
unpredictability of a leader
is unrelated to reward and
punishment, thus
allowing for the spontaneity
that is intrinsic to
creativity, and in cults
characterized by
unpredictability of rewards
and punishments by leader,
resulting in member's lack
of spontaneity.
A focus
on use of expressive
language is particularly
important in the
re-emergence of creativity.
Cult leaders' imposition of
"loaded language" as a
weapon to yield conformity
has global implications,
while conversely, subjective
use of language signals
recovery. Native Americans
struggle to reclaim hundreds
of nearly extinct languages
as part of their recovery as
a people, while
controversies surrounding
Ebonics again suggests
language as central to
recovery from mass
destruction. Such examples
of dehumanization and the
transformation of identity
linked to the co-opting of
language—of subjectively
created meaning—highlight
the salience of cult
recovery treatment, which
focuses on subjective
creation of meaning.
I will
present an overview of the
upcoming special issue of
the CSR on Cults and
Creativity, including
results of a survey on this
theme distributed to the
ICSA community, excellent
theoretical analyses and
experiential entries, as
well as powerful visual and
poetic works from the
Phoenix Project. I will
relate my views on
suppression of creativity in
cults to Miguel Perlado's
important clinical case
involving the exiting and
counseling of members of a
music cult, which he
presented in Belgium last
year, in addition to Diana
Pletts' presentation of the
Phoenix Project.
Cults and NRMs in Modern
Literature
Dennis King
Much
can be learned from (a) both
popular and "serious" novels
depicting real or fictional
cults, (b) the memoirs of
ex-cult members (including
so-called "cult captivity"
books), and (c) the literary
productions of cult or NRM
founders, ranging from
Joseph Smith through
Alistair Crowley through L.
Ron Hubbard. Also noted will
be the "tract" literature
produced by such founders,
and the offbeat work of
individuals such as
Blavatsky, Gurdjieff, and
Jane Roberts, whose ideas
and vision have influenced
various cults and NRMs
today. This brief survey
will attempt to classify the
vast wealth of cult-related
literature and to inspire
the audience to rush to the
public library and enjoy for
themselves some of the most
entertaining and insightful
texts.
Cults on Campus: Case of
the JMS in Japanese
Universities
Yoshihide Sakurai, Ph.D.
Japanese universities have
been concerned about masked
recruitment by cults since
last year because of
allegations that dozens of
female students of a Korean
Christian cult, JMS, were
sexually molested by the
founder, Jung Myung-seok,
and because the group’s
members still recruit
aggressively on campus. This
paper examines this recent
cult controversy in Japanese
universities and
sociologically analyzes
several factors that attract
students. First, cult groups
provide students with
significant others and role
models. Second, they
proselytize and indoctrinate
students by low-tech
education, such as tutorial
programs and observation of
traditional rituals, such as
the tea ceremony. Third,
their beliefs are
strengthened not by studying
religious principles and
rituals, but by recruiting
and nurturing new members.
Their quasi-family intimacy
and arrangement might be
attractive to students who
have been nurtured by
parents but are then
suddenly left on campus.
Cults on Trial: Issues
for the Forensic Mental
Health Cult Expert
Steve K. D.
Eichel, Ph.D.
[This session is for
mental-health professionals
only.]
Introducing the “cult issue”
into the courtroom has
yielded mixed results and
can be especially
challenging to the
mental-health expert. In
addition to conflicting
interpretations of the
science of coercive
persuasion and “thought
reform,” the forensic expert
must be familiar with
potential First Amendment
issues. The expert might
even have concerns about
potential retaliation from
groups that have a vested
interest in keeping these
issues out of the courtroom.
Dr. Eichel will examine the
kinds of credentials and
experience needed for
forensic evaluations, how to
discern the "good" cases
from the ones that will go
nowhere or are dangerous,
and how to maintain
objectivity in such
emotionally charged
situations. How do
differences in evidentiary
standards between criminal
and civil (including
domestic and custody) cases
affect the expert’s handling
of the “cult issue”? When
should the expert use terms
such as “cult” or “thought
reform,” and when is it best
to limit discussion to less
controversial and more
understood social
psychological processes?
Finally, Dr. Eichel will
provide guidance on what
kinds of tests and
techniques one might use,
how to counter the
"brainwashing-doesn't-exist"
argument, how to write a
report, and how to ensure
payment.
Cults, the Law, and
Government: A Discussion
Moderator: Michael Kropveld;
Marci Hamilton, J.D.;
Francois Bellanger, Ph.D.;
Masaki Kito, Esq.; Stephen
Mutch, Ph.D., LL.B.; Alan
Scheflin, J.D., LL.M.
A
distinguished panel of legal
experts will discuss
cross-cultural similarities
and differences in
governmental and legal
responses to the challenges
posed by cultic groups.
Decline of the Gentle
Wind Project: How Former
Members Withstood a Lawsuit
and Secured a Victory for
Free Speech
James Bergin, M.A.; Judy
Garvey; Arthur Dole, Ph.D.;
Cathleen Mann, Ph.D.
The
panel will discuss the
successful legal process
experienced by former
members of Gentle Wind
Project (GWP), Jim Bergin
and Judy Garvey, when they
were sued by GWP over a
2½-year period in U.S.
District and Maine state
courts. GWP sought to
suppress their personal
stories, “A Husband’s
Perspective” and “Insiders’
Stories,” which describe
their experiences over 17
years with the group. How
cults may predictably
attempt to use the law to
silence and possibly destroy
former members and their
supporters will be examined.
The roles of the courts,
attorneys, expert witnesses,
cult education
organizations, the Internet,
the legal costs, and,
ultimately, the involvement
of Maine’s Attorney General,
will be described. Bringing
the GWP up to present-day,
the panel will discuss how a
cult responds to legal
sanctions and exposure by
morphing to another guise,
in GWP’s case, to Family
Systems Research Group.
As a
result of their successful
defense, Bergin and Garvey’s
Website Wind of Changes (www.windofchanges.org)
remains online as an
in-depth resource and
watchdog for former members
of GWP and other cults. The
site also symbolizes a
strong victory for free
speech on the Internet—a
right that is all too often
threatened when an
individual or organization
with deep pockets and a
willing law firm attempts to
use the civil legal process
to silence whistle blowers.
Background: Bergin and
Garvey will also describe
how they were slowly
immersed in this new-age
psychotherapeutic cult, even
as successful academic book
publishers. The resulting
disastrous 17-year saga
included separation from
each other; great
difficulties for their
children; estrangement from
extended families, friends,
and community; large losses
of money through
contributions and
no-interest loans to the GWP
leaders; and, most serious,
the dependency on John
“Tubby” and Mary “Moe”
Miller as self-proclaimed
authorities on and
intermediaries between the
so-called “spirit world” and
many life decisions. How
Bergin and Garvey finally
ended their dependency on
this mind control, repaired
their relationship, and
rebuilt their lives will
encourage former members and
their families, and provide
a model for therapists
and other professionals.
Matthew Bergin, son of
Bergin and Garvey, will
discuss “The Effects of This
Type of Litigation on Family
Members.”
Ill Wind: Deposition
Concerning the Gentle Wind
Project
Arthur A. Dole, Ph.D., ABPP
I will
share my experience as an
expert witness for the
defense in GWP vs. Garvey,
Bergin, and others. A young
lawyer, Daniel Rosenthal of
Verrill Dana, one of two
lawyers representing the
plaintiffs, deposed me from
9
a.m. to 4
p.m. in the offices
of the defendants'
attorneys, Drummond Woodsum
& MacMahon, in Portland,
Maine.
Present
were defense counsel Jerrol
Crouter, defendants Jim
Bergin and Judy Garvey, two
representatives of GWP
(Shelly Miller and Pam
Ranheim), plus a legal
stenographer.
Over
several months I had
prepared by reading
self-descriptions of GWP, a
dozen or so thick, bound
folders of documents, and
accumulated depositions.
Finally, the day before my
deposition, Mr. Crouter met
with me in his office to
discuss procedures and the
information submitted in my
expert-witness statement to
the Court.
My
professional opinion, as an
expert witness, related to
the case can be summarized
as follows:
1.
GWP's claim that its
products and procedures were
scientifically based did not
meet acceptable research
standards. Accumulated
testimonials by GWP
participants and followers
were not "double-blind
studies." In short, GWP, in
my view, was unethical and
possibly in violation of
Maine law.
2.
Judging by the
experiences of Garvey and
Bergin and some of GWP's own
descriptions, GWP resembled
a harmful cultic group.
Specifically, they applied
covert hypnotic methods
(e.g., "healing
instruments”) to entrap
members and to obtain
donations of their funds and
time under false pretenses.
In the
later Motion for Summary
Judgment to the Federal
Court Judge, Mr. Crouter
brought in some of these
aspects of my deposition.
Taken together with the
other expert’s deposition,
these facts introduced by
experts seemingly helped the
Judge’s decision to dismiss
the Federal charges in the
case. A victory for free
speech!
And the
defense team may have
contributed to the case for
Steven Rowe, the Maine
Attorney General, to sue GWP
for violating the state Fair
Practices Act. Rowe won. In
restitution, GWP must
redress the financial harm
done to some of its
unwitting victims.
It's an
ill wind that blows nobody
good.
The Role of the Expert in
Civil Litigation Against
Cults: A Winning Case
Against the Gentle Wind
Project from Maine
Cathleen A.
Mann, Ph.D.
The
expert functions as an
educator to the finder of
fact (either a judge or a
jury). The word "expert
witness" is often
misleading, because only
sometimes does the expert
actually get to be a witness
in a court proceeding.
The
expert works in conjunction
with the attorney as a
consultant helping to
establish the strategy of
the case.
The
expert assists the attorney
in developing questions for
active cult members and for
opposing experts (if any).
The
expert often submits to a
deposition, which is an
activity designed to test
the credibility, knowledge,
and stamina of the expert.
Discussion will be held on
how the expert prepares for
deposition, and common
lawyer techniques designed
to frustrate or impeach the
expert before trial.
Sometimes the expert gets to
testify in court, but most
cases settle before that. I
will discuss how settlement
is often a desired outcome.
However, getting the case
decided in the legal system
means that new case law may
be developed. Going to court
is often more risky for a
multitude of reasons.
I will
also discuss some specifics
of how I prepared for
deposition in the Gentle
Wind case, and will provide
some strategies used by
GWP's attorneys to attempt
to remove me as an expert.
Deprogramming: A 24-Year
Follow-up
Gabriel Brandis; Steve K. D.
Eichel, Ph.D., ABPP
This
unique presentation will
bring together both the
researcher and the subject
of Steve Eichel’s
award-winning doctoral
dissertation,
Deprogramming: An
investigation of Change
Process and Shifts in
Attention and Verbal
Interactions. In 1984,
ISKCON devotee Gabriel
Brandis (né Steve Arnold)
was intercepted during a
family visit and taken to a
house where he met with a
team of experienced
deprogrammers. After
agreeing to listen to the
information they wanted to
convey, Brandis met with and
agreed to allow doctoral
student Steve Eichel to
record the entire process,
analyze the data, and use
that data in his doctoral
dissertation. The
deprogramming lasted 5 days,
during which Brandis decided
to repudiate his involvement
with ISKCON. Following the
conclusion of this event,
Eichel and Brandis parted
ways.
Twenty
years later, a fortuitous
meeting between Eichel and
Brandis’ brother paved the
way for a reuniting of
subject and researcher.
Brandis had just completed
the first draft of his
personal account of his
involvement with, and exit
from, ISKCON. His book
contains a first-hand
account of the same
deprogramming examined by
Eichel. However, since
Brandis never read Eichel’s
dissertation, it was written
without being influenced by
it. Thus, in the two written
works we have two
perspectives on the same
change event, in a manner
somewhat analogous to the
acclaimed classic about
psychotherapy, Every Day
Gets a Little Closer: A
Twice-Told Therapy, by
Irving Yalom and his
patient, Ginny Elkin.
In this
presentation, Brandis will
describe his experience of
his deprogramming and how
that event impacted on the
subsequent 24 years of his
adult life. He will also
touch on his experience of
ISKCON as an example of
totalism as described by
Lifton. Eichel will consider
the similarities and
differences between their
two accounts and will tie
these into a broader
discussion of naturalistic
investigation, narrative
construction and identity,
and the confluence between
subjective experience and
objective assessment of the
interpersonal dynamics in a
cult case.
Description of
Pre-Conditions of Cultic
Personality Dependence:
Results of Ukrainian
Research into Nontraditional
Religious Activity
Olena Lischynska, Ph.D.
Cultic
psychological dependence is
a complex, multidimensional,
destructive
(self-destructive)
phenomenon of psyche
manifesting on a cognitive,
affective, and behavioral
level as the denigration of
critical thinking, addictive
reactions, and the
disruption of social
adaptation while maintaining
a feeling of subjective
well-being.
The aim
of the research reported on
in this talk was to explore
the social-psychological
preconditions and mechanisms
of personality involvement
in a destructive
totalitarian cultic group.
The research has been
conducted over 5 years and
consisted of two stages:
work with experts and an
All-Ukrainian survey.
We used
the psycho-semantic
questionnaire that had been
repeatedly used in
political-psychological
studies by a group of Moscow
psychologists and
researchers with the
Institute of Social and
Political Psychology of APS
Ukraine.
Between
May 19th and 31st
2006, 2,000 respondents in
all
administrative-territorial
regions of Ukraine were
surveyed. The sample was
representative of the adult
population of the country in
regard to age, sex,
nationality, occupation, and
residence. The margin of
error of the sample is less
than 2%.
We
examined the following
dimensions:
Psychological:
Individual-psychological
types of personality;
subjective interpretation in
the process of social
cognition; individual
features of subjective
reality of a person
(identity, mythical
consciousness,
eschatological mechanism of
cultic dependence, legal
self-consciousness,
totalitarian consciousness).
Personal: Childhood
experience of psychological
violence; breach of
personality; social
adaptation.
Organizational:
Destructive mind control in
cult groups.
Social: Quality of
the psycho-social
environment.
Conclusions: At the
given investigation stage of
the problem, we came to a
conclusion that for
preventing and overcoming
total mental dependence
phenomena, it is necessary
to make some changes to the
family education and school
training systems. The
formation of information
tolerance of adolescents and
youth on the interpersonal
level will take the central
place here. According to the
data of our research, the
preconditions of such
features are cultural
identity, social maturity,
self-confidence, and
free-will capacity. On the
national level, it is
important to initiate the
process of social policy
transformation aimed at the
reduction of a fraction of
weed and virus information
in the information space of
Ukraine.
Disconfirming
Inaccurate, Self-Limiting
Beliefs Internalized Through
Thought Reform with
Corrective Emotional
Experience
Colleen Russell, L.M.F.T.
Those
of us who have been
subjected to thought reform
in high-demand groups or
cults typically internalize
inaccurate, self-limiting,
self-sabotaging
(“pathogenic”) beliefs that
result from the process of
thought reform. These
beliefs can be disconfirmed
through “corrective
emotional experience”
supplied by new experiences
in life, by the relationship
with the therapist, or by
both. These concepts were
first articulated by
Alexander and French (1946)
and further developed over
45 years by Weiss and
Sampson (1986) in their
Control-Mastery theory.
Control-Mastery theory comes
from two concepts that have
been extensively empirically
validated: “Control” refers
to the observation that
people exercise considerable
control over their
conscious and unconscious
mental life (e.g., thoughts,
feelings, defenses, wishes),
and this control is
regulated by unconscious
appraisals of safety and
danger. “Mastery” refers to
the observation that people
are highly motivated to
master psychological
conflicts and trauma.
As a
psychotherapist with a
specialty in cult recovery
and education, I will draw
from the Control-Mastery
theoretical perspective to
provide clinical and
personal examples of typical
pathogenic beliefs
internalized through thought
reform that obstruct normal,
healthy developmental
goals. I’ll follow with how
these beliefs are
disconfirmed with corrective
emotional experience in
individual therapy, the Cult
Recovery Support Group I
facilitate, and in life
situations.
Dissociation and
Depression in
Treatment-Seeking Former
Members of Contemplative
Cults
Donna
Adams, Ph.D.
Little
research has been done
overall to explore the
effects that cults have on
individuals. Clinical
observations noted in the
literature have included a
connection between
contemplative techniques
such as prolonged chanting
and meditation and speaking
in tongues that are used by
some cults to disrupt
critical thought processes,
and symptoms such as
trance-like dissociation and
depression (Singer and
Ofshe, 1990; West & Martin,
1994). Duration in a cult is
thought to lead to transient
and longer-lasting effects
(Singer & Ofshe). Using a
two-way factorial MANOVA
design and a two-way ANOVA
design, pre-existing data
from 477 former
treatment-seeking cultists
was studied to examine the
levels of depression and
dissociation in former
members of those who have
been in contemplative-type
cults compared to those who
have been in cults in which
such techniques were not
used. The variable of time
spent in the group was also
examined. Results of this
study will be presented.
Dissociation and
Self-Harm in Cultic Groups
Sharon K. Farber, Ph.D.
When
one cannot express feelings
in words, those feelings can
be dissociated from thoughts
and expressed through the
body. It is not unusual for
people involved in cults to
harm themselves through
disordered eating or
self-mutilation. Harming
oneself in these ways can
serve numerous functions,
which will be described, but
always the act is a
dissociated expression of
anger or rage that is
inflicted on the self. In
fact, harming oneself can
provide the cult member with
a disguised way of
expressing anger at the
leader(s) while appearing to
be compliant with his
wishes. In cases of ritual
abuse, the individual may
also be deliberately
programmed to harm himself.
Distinguished Legal
Lecture: Religion, the
Truth, and the Public Good
Marci Hamilton, M.A., J.D.
Marci
A. Hamilton, M.A., J.D., is
one of the United States’
leading church/state
scholars, as well as an
expert on federalism and
representation. During the
academic year 2007-08, she
is a Visiting Professor of
Public Affairs and the
Kathleen and Martin Crane
Senior Research Fellow in
the Program in Law and
Public Affairs at Princeton
University.
Professor Hamilton holds the
Paul R. Verkuil Chair in
Public Law at the Benjamin
N. Cardozo School of Law,
Yeshiva University, and is
the author of Justice
Denied: What America Must Do
to Protect Its Children
(Cambridge 2008) and God
vs. the Gavel: Religion and
the Rule of Law
(Cambridge University Press
2005, 2007). She is also a
columnist on constitutional
issues for www.findlaw.com,
where her column appears
every other Thursday.
Professor Hamilton is
frequently asked to advise
Congress and state
legislatures on the
constitutionality of pending
legislation and to consult
in cases involving important
constitutional issues. She
is the First Amendment
advisor for victims in many
clergy abuse cases that
involve many religious
institutions, including the
federal bankruptcies filed
by the Portland Archdiocese,
Spokane Diocese, and San
Diego Diocese. She also
advises cities and
neighborhoods dealing with
the Religious Land Use and
Institutionalized Persons
Act. She was lead counsel
for the City of Boerne,
Texas, in Boerne v. Flores,
521 U.S. 507 (1997), before
the Supreme Court in its
seminal federalism and
church/state case holding
the Religious Freedom
Restoration Act
unconstitutional.
Professor Hamilton clerked
for Associate Justice Sandra
Day O’Connor of the United
States Supreme Court and
Judge Edward R. Becker of
the United States Court of
Appeals for the Third
Circuit. She received her
J.D., magna cum laude, from
the University of
Pennsylvania Law School,
where she served as
Editor-in-Chief of the
University of Pennsylvania
Law Review. She also
received her M.A. in
Philosophy and M.A., high
honors, in English from
Pennsylvania State
University, and her B.A.,
summa cum laude, from
Vanderbilt University.
Divorce and Cults
Marybeth Ayella, Ph.D.;
Carol Diament
Because
cultic groups tend to
subordinate members' needs
to those of the
leader/group, cult members
and former members often
experience conflict with
family and loved ones,
including spouses. Indeed,
in some groups, leaders have
gone so far as to arrange
marriages and/or dictate
when spouses should have
sex. Not surprisingly, then,
divorce among cult members
and former members is
sometimes directly related
to, if not caused by, the
practices and psychological
manipulations of group
leaders. In this session,
former members will describe
how a manipulative group
environment interfered with
their marital relationships.
Educate, Communicate and
Persevere: Coping with a
Cult Experience
Walter and Julie Jacobs;
Joseph Szimhart
In this
panel, two parents of a
former group member and an
exit counselor will discuss
how families can cope with a
loved one’s cult
involvement, using their own
experiences as points of
reference. They will discuss
what families have to do to
educate themselves, how they
can improve their capacity
to communicate effectively
with their loved one, and
why patience and
perseverance are vital to a
desired outcome.
Elements of Harmful Cult
Activity: An Exit
Counselor’s Working Model
Joseph Szimhart
The
model I propose here borrows
heavily from many earlier
approaches that I encourage
the reader to use as
references. Some of these
are Bounded Choice by
Janja Lalich, Them and Us
by Arthur Deikman,
Thought Reform and the
Psychology of Totalism
by Robert J. Lifton,
Cults in Our Midst by
Margaret Singer and Janja
Lalich, Releasing the
Bonds by Steve Hassan,
Brainwashing by
Kathleen Taylor, and
Benjamin Zablocki’s work on
exit costs and brainwashing
as included in
Misunderstanding Cults,
edited by Benjamin Zablocki
and Thomas Robbins. In
borrowing from the named
authors, I lay no claim to
representing their ideas
with mine. Each approach
stands or falls on its own
merits. My perspective comes
from direct observation and
intervention experience more
than any model proposed by
the social science academy.
With my approach I do not
mean to impugn any group
that has one or all of these
aspects. The model’s four
elements are indicators that
some degree of potentially
harmful cult activity is
possible. Each element is a
red flag, so to speak. If
all four appear as
described, then the red
flags should be waving. If
there is harm, the degree of
harm can be subjective
and/or objective. The former
occurs when a member has
exited and reflects on how
much he or she has been
duped into wasting years of
time and effort. Objective
harm relates to financial
investments, health,
relationships, and
employment. Although some
former cult members have to
basically start over, others
have careers and families
intact. In every case, what
I look for as a
“deprogrammer” before I
deign to cut short a true
believer’s cult membership
is in the model I discuss.
Ex-Member Debriefing
Carol Giambalvo
[This session is for
ex-members only.]
The
purpose of this session is:
·
to give
ex-members an opportunity to
share what was the most
positive and/or negative
aspect of the conference for
them;
·
to provide a
way to stay in touch, if so
desired;
·
to provide
information about other
places they can get support
(e.g., reFOCUS);
·
to allow a
time and place for
participants to share
whatever they wish to share
about their experience of
the conference;
·
to allow each
participant to speak
briefly.
Exploring and Developing
a Model and Theory of
Totalistic Identity in
Ex-Cult Members
Rod Dubrow-Marshall, Ph.D.;
Paul Martin, Ph.D.
Research
previously presented using
the Extent of Group Identity
Scale (EGIS)
(Dubrow-Marshall, Martin and
Burks 2003) has pointed to
the possibility of a model
of totalistic identity in
cultic groups whereby it is
posited that members’
identity structures become
dominated or fixed on the
cult identity to the expense
of many or all other levels
and categories of identity,
and in a polarized or
differentiated position in
relation to other groups and
society at large. This
analysis has led to the
articulation of a Totalistic
Identity Theory
(Dubrow-Marshall 2007) that
extends social psychological
theory on group identity
[e.g., Turner’s (1987)
Self-Categorization Theory].
Previous work presented on a
small sample of ex-members
of cultic groups who
undertook the residential
treatment program at the
Wellspring Retreat and
Resource Center in Ohio
(Dubrow-Marshall, Martin,
Almendros, Dubrow-Marshall
and Carrobles 2006) also
pointed to two possible
factors in the EGIS of Group
Importance and Group
Differentiation.
This
paper reports on a much
larger sample from
Wellspring with analysis
suggesting an intelligible
pattern of relationships
between EGIS and measures of
undue influence in the group
environment [Group
Psychological Abuse Scale
(Chambers, Langone, Dole &
Grice 1994)] and measures of
psychopathology such as
depression, dissociation,
and anxiety. Initial
interpretation of results
indicates that extent of
identity relates, perhaps
particularly in extremity or
polarity, toward elevated
symptoms on key clinical
symptom measures and
indicates further a
relationship between extent
of identity,
psychopathology, and group
differentiation. This
interpretation provides a
potential basis to extend
the Totalistic Identity
Theory as an explanation of
the psychological processes
that underlie dominant and
polarized self-identities
and the potential for
psychological harm that can
result from them.
Format
for talk: Presentation by
both speakers lasting 30
minutes in total, with 15
minutes for questions and
discussion.
Four Approaches to
Helping Families
Lois Svoboda, M.D., LMFT,
Moderator; David Clark;
Joseph Szimhart; Joseph
Kelly/Patrick Ryan; Steve
Hassan, M.Ed., LMHC, NCC
Each
presenter has spent at least
20 years helping families
concerned about a loved one
involved in a cultic group.
Yet they represent four
distinct approaches to
working with families (Kelly
and Ryan work as a team). In
this session, each of the
four approaches will be
briefly described, and then
the presenters will answer
questions from the audience.
Group and Individual
Counseling with Cult
Survivors from a Long-Term
Trauma Theory Perspective
Michael
Martella, M.F.T.
New
research and treatment
models in trauma theory have
significant application in
working with first- and
second-generation cult
survivors. The problems are
conceptualized and addressed
from the perspective of the
brain’s reaction to extended
trauma, and unique treatment
methods and goals that are
particularly sensitive to
the wounds and needs of many
cult survivors are offered.
I.
Traumatic
Disorders—An affliction of
the powerless. A brief
discussion of the unique
characteristics of “trauma
memories.”
At the
moment of trauma, the victim
is rendered helpless by
overwhelming force.
Traumatic events overwhelm
the ordinary system of care
that gives a person a sense
of control, connection, and
meaning.
Traumatic events are
extraordinary, not because
they occur rarely, but
because they overwhelm the
ordinary human adaptations
to life. They [the persons
involved] are confronted
with the extremities of
helplessness and terror and
catastrophe (Trauma and
Recovery, p. 33, Judith
Herman, 1997).
Traumatic reactions occur
when action is of no avail,
when neither resistance nor
escape is possible, the
human system becomes
overwhelmed and disorganized
(Trauma and Recovery,
p. 34, Judith Herman, 1997).
II.
Thinking of the cult
survivor as a victim of
trauma.
A.
Symptoms
1.
Hyper arousal
2.
Constriction
3.
Dissociation
4.
Disempowerment
B.
Beginning Work: Trust
and Safety Issues
1.
Stabilization
2.
Stress management
3.
Trust
4.
Identify and educate
about the mechanisms of
trauma
C.
Next Stage:
Remembrance and Mourning
1.
Remastering through
tale-ing
2.
Witnessing
3.
Grieving (authentic
without collusion)
D.
Next Stage:
Reconnection
1.
Dialectic—reflective
dialogue—
2.
Time-flow
orientation
3.
Connection with other
traumatized peers
4.
Focus on self-care
5.
Boundaries
6.
Cohesion
7.
Control
8.
Tolerance
9.
Structure
E.
Later Stage:
Commonality
1.
Coming to terms with
the trauma
2.
Resistance and
trigger control in the
future
3.
Reconciling with
myself, my essential
alone-ness, my own role as
my own rescuer
4.
Deciding on
appropriate reconnecting
with loved one’s and with
others
Herman,
J. (1992/1997).
Trauma and Recovery.
New York: Basic
Books.
Growing Up in Cults: The
Special Issues of Children
in Cults and
Second-Generation Cult
Members
Joyce
Martella, M.A., Moderator;
Juliana Buhring; Donna
Collins; Michael Martella,
MFT; Gina Catena, MS, CNM,
NP
Advocating for Children’s
Rights
Juliana Buhring
Juliana
Buhring, Executive Director
and Secretary of RISE
International, will discuss
the issues of child abuse
and lack of children’s
rights within cults. She
will discuss the aims and
goals of RISE International,
an organization that works
to protect children from
abuse in cults.
A
Climate of Fear
Donna Collins
Donna
Collins will speak about
what she calls the "climate
of fear" and how hard it is
to leave a group when one’s
peers are unable to stand
with you. The focus will be
mainly on the Unification
Church (Moonies) and her own
experience, but she will
cite similarities and
differences that she sees
between the different
high-demand groups. She will
discuss the creation of a
"Hitler Youth" style second
generation in the UC, and
describe how violence and
intimidation were an
integral part of keeping
second-generation members
toeing the line.
The Masks We Wore
Michael Martella, MFT
Michael
Martella, MFT, will discuss
the development of
pseudo-personas inside the
no-win cult environment,
where children find that no
sustained fight-or-flight
tactics are viable. Examples
are drawn from his own
experiences while growing up
in a cult.
Post-Cult Identity Issues
for Second-Generation Adults
Gina Catena, MS
Gina
Catena, MS, will discuss
identity issues for adults
who were raised in closed
groups. She will discuss the
inner challenges that a
second- or third-generation
cult member must overcome to
integrate into contemporary
society, while lacking both
cultural literacy and a
clear sense of self.
Examples are drawn from her
lifetime experience of three
generations of family in the
Transcendental Meditation
Movement, and other SGAs in
her life.
History of Japanese
Lawyers Against Spiritual
Sales and the Japan Society
for Cult Prevention and
Recovery
Shuji
Nakamura Esq, Masaki Kito
Esq, Taro Takimoto Esq.
Lawyers
have been in the frontline
fighting cults and
controversial groups in
Japan. The National Network
of Lawyers Against Spiritual
Sales was initially
established to counter
abuses associated with
“spiritual sales" (monetary
exploitation by cults or
controversial groups) in May
of 1987. Since that time the
network has sought justice
for thousands of victims in
and out of court, winning
many historical judgments in
favor of the victims. The
network also offers advice
and assistance to central
and municipal government
agencies, private
corporations, schools,
concerned citizens, etc. The
Network now includes
approximately 300 lawyers
from across the country. The
main scope of this session
is to make clear as to why
lawyers got concerned and
chose to get involved in
this field.
JSCPR
was established in Nov.
1995, in part as a reaction
to the effect Aum Shinrikyo
had on Japanese society. The
purpose of this research
council is to study cult
activities, to exchange
information concerning
cults, and to pursue more
effective techniques for
exit counseling. It can be
said that the JSCPR is the
counterpart of the ICSA in
Japan. This session will
review the history of these
two organizations, their
current activities, and
future plans.
How Grief Becomes
Disenfranchised When Losing
a Child
Rosanne
Henry, M.A., L.P.C.
This
workshop discusses how grief
is a normal response to
loss, why grief work is
important, and how people
respond to loss, as defined
by Bowlby’s phases of
mourning. Important factors
that help mourning proceed
normally when dealing with
the loss of a child will
also be addressed. The
absence of several of the
factors that support
normal mourning creates
an unusual type of grief
called disenfranchised
grief. This is the grief
that persons experience when
they incur a loss that is
not or cannot be openly
acknowledged, publicly
mourned, or socially
accepted.
We will
discuss the consequences of
disenfranchised grief
and the reasons that it
occurs; how loss through
death differs from loss of
connection with a child who
is alive, and how to deal
with unresolvable grief.
Losing a child to a cult is
a psychosocial loss that can
be viewed along a continuum
of reversibility to
irreversibility.
The
workshop concludes with a
list of effective ways to
cope with the loss of a
child.
How to Set Up and
Facilitate a Support Group
William Goldberg, M.S.W.,
L.C.S.W.; Lorna Goldberg,
M.S.W., L.C.S.W.
Bill
and Lorna Goldberg are
clinical social workers who
have been co-leading a
support group for former
cult members for the past 31
years. In this workshop,
they will discuss the
process of establishing a
former-member group, rules
and policies that will
facilitate the healthy
functioning of the group,
and the best ways to avoid
problems that could be
detrimental to the group.
Among the issues that will
be discussed are the
following: Is it necessary
to pre-screen potential
group members? How do you
advertise the group? Does
the group need a formal
leader? How do you get the
group meeting started? How
do you handle a group member
who tends to dominate the
discussion? How do you
handle arguments in the
group? Are there any topics
that should be considered
off limits? After the
Goldbergs’ presentation,
questions will be welcomed.
Identity Construction of
Children Growing into Closed
Religious Environments
Lorraine Derocher
Research on children raised
or born into sectarian
groups reveals many issues.
These include challenges on
the path of integration into
mainstream society in
adulthood, religious
socialization, spirituality
and belief systems of
children, religious freedom
versus the well-being of
children, and so on. Based
on constructivism theories
(Mead, Berger, and
Luckmann), this paper
focuses on the process of
identity construction of
those children and
teenagers. We believe that
our findings can help
professionals to understand
better the difficulty faced
by second-generation adults
after they have left their
group.
Contemporary sociologists
(Luca, Johnson, Wilson)
generally agree on the fact
that a religious sect can be
defined (among other things)
as a social group that is in
tension—at different
levels—with the world,
the mainstream society.
This rupture becomes a
dramatic conflict for the
sectarian groups. It lies
within their doctrine and,
consequently, takes a
preeminent place in the
process of transmission of
faith to their children.
What is the impact of this
dynamic on the development
of identity among their
children?
There
is a difference between the
construction of
individuality in a closed
religious group and in the
mainstream society. In fact,
the individual positions
himself in the group in
relation to his vocation,
which is an ideological role
placed in a spiritual
hierarchy. This role itself
becomes the object of
self-actualization. The
adept, in those conditions,
does not insist on the
concrete forms of his
functions or his actual work
within the group. Those
activities are serving the
ultimate goal of spiritual
achievement and, finally,
have almost no value in and
of themselves. In the
outside world, it is the
opposite: An individual’s
profession is often more
important than spirituality,
and no significant link
exists between the two.
The
identification to
“significant others” is also
very important in the
process of identity
construction. In these
groups, the spiritual leader
often becomes that person
who has the most influence
on the child. Some
children/teenagers identify
themselves very strongly
with the leader.
Finally, the fact that the
children of religious sects
are often considered by the
adults as saints,
perfects, or already
elected by God provides
an unbearable social
pressure during the teenage
years. In this context, the
vocational role that the
children/teenagers have to
play is substantially
increased by the adults.
Consequently, some of the
teenagers become very
attached to their role,
while others thoroughly
reject it.
This
paper aims to highlight the
components of the
construction of identity
into closed religious
groups. We will discuss the
impact of this process on
the decision to leave and
the difficulties encountered
after the actual departure.
Our research concludes that
a redefinition of identity
needs to be done for those
who were profoundly attached
to their symbolic identity
and who would like to
integrate more easily into
the mainstream society.
Informal Case
Presentations and Group
Supervision—for
Psychotherapists Working
with Former Cult Members
Daniel Shaw, LCSW
Mental-health practitioners
who work with former cult
members have been trained in
a wide variety of
therapeutic modalities, and
use a myriad of technical
and theoretical approaches
to psychotherapy. Our work
often overlaps with the work
of those from other fields
who work with this
population, but is
distinguished by the body of
knowledge and
technical theories specific
to the mental-health
profession. This workshop
invites mental-health
clinicians to learn more
about each other's
experiences and perspectives
in doing therapeutic work
with those recovering from
cult abuse.
Daniel
Shaw, LCSW, is a
psychoanalyst in private
practice in New York City
and Nyack, New York, and is
faculty and clinical
supervisor at The National
Institute for the
Psychotherapies in New York
City. Daniel will invite
volunteers from the audience
to briefly describe a case,
past or present, and the
audience will be invited to
comment, creating a group
supervision experience.
Because
of professional
confidentiality concerns,
and to keep the discussion
focused on the clinical
concerns of mental-health
professionals working
with former cult members,
the workshop is open only
to those trained as
professional mental-health
clinicians.
Introductory Workshop
for Mental-Health
Professionals
Rosanne
Henry, M.A., L.P.C.
[This session is for
mental-health professionals
only.]
Many
mental-health professionals
are often unaware of their
clients’ cult involvement or
are ill prepared to help
them deal with it. Even
former group members lack
understanding of the harmful
effects of destructive
cults, and they often fail
to see the connection
between their presenting
symptoms of depression or
relationship problems and
their group experience.
Examining their group
experience and understanding
how they were deceived,
manipulated, and exploited
can be vital to their
recovery. Therapists should
keep in mind that clients
who look anxious and
dependent, or sound
psychotic, might in fact be
demonstrating a normal
reaction to a cultic
environment.
This
workshop will define
destructive cults in a way
that places them toward the
end of a continuum of
influence and persuasion.
The workshop will present
three cross-sectional models
of thought reform and
manipulative environments,
and will suggest tools to
help screen clients for cult
involvement. The most
typical cult-induced
psychopathologies will also
be discussed within the
context of cult trauma and
abuse.
Participants will see that
treatment of former group
members follows a somewhat
predictable course, usually
beginning with consultation
and cult education. Six
problem areas for ex-members
will be discussed, along
with recommendations for
therapists. In addition to
individual therapy, other
useful treatment modalities
will be discussed.
The
workshop is designed for
mental-health professionals
who are new to the cultic
studies field or for
professionals seeking a
review. Others may observe,
but may not participate.
Discussion time is for
mental-health professionals
only.
Jehovah’s Witnesses:
Being Freed from Disabling
Hooks
Dan Clark
During
the 5.5 years that I have
been out of the Jehovah’s
Witnesses, I have talked
with many JWs who were
physically out of the group,
but mentally still under its
influence. I believe that
these people remain under
the influence of the JW
because of what I call
“hooks,” certain basic
beliefs that they have not
challenged, even though they
may be out of the group. In
this presentation, I will
discuss these deep-seated
beliefs that I call “hooks,”
how I freed myself from
their influence, and how
counselors and others can
help former JWs free
themselves from the hooks
that bind them.
Mind Control in the Cult
“Orizzonti Nuovi”: A
Schismatic Group of The
Family—A Survey of Internal
Sources
Dr. Cristina Caparesi
This
study analyzed original
sources of the group
Orizzonti Nuovi. The
analysis of documents offers
many advantages; most
notably, it is less reactive
than observations and allows
a spontaneous attitude in
relating specific arguments
and censured actions.
The
association Orizzonti Nuovi
[it died out in 1998 after
its founder was involved in
judicial events for crimes
committed in the group, such
as pedophilia and
“circumvention of an
incapable” (1)] was a
schismatic group of the
Children of God/The Family.
The group was founded in
1980-81 in Italy by Domenico
Di Maio, as the result of
the dispersion of the
Children of God’s
leadership, which occurred
in 1978/1979. The first
structure of Orizzonti Nuovi
followed that of the
Children of God; the
ideology, practices, roles,
and relations with the
outside world of the two
groups were practically the
same. The MO letters
[Berg’s writings, founder of
the Children of God] were
still fundamental and kept
guiding and motivating the
group’s organizational life.
The activities of the group
included giving spiritual
teaching to new converts,
providing for the care of
the children born in the
group, witnessing and
economical activities (which
included provisioning,
witnessing, FFing and
busking), and
administration and control.
After a
first reading of the
documents, it is necessary
to determine the exclusive
and exhaustive categories
through which to analyze the
organization, with the
decision that the unit of
analysis must be the
paragraph. The research
proceeds with the inclusion
of the single paragraphs
fitting in one of the chosen
categories. The objective is
the identification of
attitudes thought to be
responsible for mental
manipulation. To achieve
this goal, we made a grid
based on the four different
areas of control described
by Steven Hassan (2):
thought, emotions, behavior,
and information. The same
were already pointed out by
Leon Festinger in
Cognitive Dissonance Theory.
The
survey gives evidence of the
presence of all the
behaviors described by
Hassan and, therefore, it is
possible to state that
Orizzonti Nuovi was a
destructive cult. The
behaviors identified in the
analysis suggest that mental
manipulation isn’t a magic
procedure, but a set of
techniques that leaders of
destructive cults use to
manipulate and indoctrinate
adepts. Single behaviors
could fit into a grid to
assess and identify the most
dangerous groups and
determine in which
conditions mental
manipulation could occur.
The procedure could even
allow researchers to test
(as a sort of triangulation)
the results they get through
other types of instruments,
such as questionnaires or
even participant
observation, especially in
those cases in which the
group would try to distort
the results by misguiding
researchers.
(1)
This is an Italian law
usually applied to
handicapped people and
minors. In this specific
case, members of the group
were considered incapable
because of the influence
exercised by the leader. The
law has the objective of
protecting the material
properties of the incapable.
(2) Steven
Hassan, Mentalmente
liberi, come uscire da una
setta, Avverbi Edizioni,
1999 Roma.
Myths, Misnomers, and
Missed Signals: Demystifying
Cult Research
Janja Lalich, Ph.D.,
Moderator; Miriam Boeri,
Ph.D.; Stephen A. Kent,
Ph.D.
The Naming Game: Why Academics
Should be Concerned About
Terms
Miriam Boeri, Ph.D.
In this
presentation, I review the
controversy in academic
literature over terms
employed when one refers to
cults, cult activities, and
cult (ex)members. For
example, the words “cult”
and “brainwashing” are
viewed as derogatory terms
and eschewed in much
academic writing, to the
extent that those who use
these terms are not
published in many journals.
In contrast, the term
“apostate” is used to demean
ex-members who become the
researched or the
researchers in academic
studies on cults.
Ironically, we do not find
such blatant term
discrimination in other
areas of research. For
example, a former member of
a drug culture who
enlightens others as a drug
counselor is called a
“professional ex,” a
complimentary term.
Likewise, the methodology of
academics who study groups
in which they hold
membership or formerly held
membership is called
“auto-ethnography.” Such
research is respected for
improving our understanding
of hidden populations. Here
I examine how the dispute
over cult terminology is
decided by the gatekeepers
of sociology of religion
journals, and I explore the
consequences of our
surrender in the power to
name. I begin by briefly
addressing how the naming
game in cult research has
affected not only cult
researchers, but also
college students who are
entering this field of
study, those who leave
cults, and the public view
of cults as interpreted by
popular media. I will lead
the discussion into what can
be done to successfully
challenge those who have
seized control of naming the
terms to be used in academic
literature, and how
academics should be held
accountable for passively
allowing this to occur.
What the Scholars Missed and
Why they Missed Them: A
Retrospective Examination of
Several Major “Cult” Stories
from the End of the
Twentieth Century
Stephen A.
Kent, Ph.D.
In this
presentation, I identify
several of the major ‘cult’
events from the latter part
of the twentieth century,
and then compare those
stories to much of the
scholarship that took place
around them. These events
include the child-abuse
allegations around the
Northeast Kingdom in
Vermont; the Jonestown
massacre; and child abuse in
the Children of God, the
Branch Davidians, and the
Krishnas. Around each event
or topic, most academic
analyses either failed to
predict what eventually
occurred or downplayed the
importance of what had taken
place. I argue that these
failures in scholarship are
attributable to several
factors, including many
scholars’ avoidance of
information widely
circulated within
countercult or anti-cult
circles, the refusal to
utilize information from
former members, and
political decisions to avoid
critical scholarship that
might have validated the
oppositional positions of
critics.
Novel Unsupported
Therapies: Pseudoscientific
and Cult-Like
Characteristics
Monica Pignotti, MSW,
Moderator; James D. Herbert,
Ph.D.; Jean Mercer, Ph.D.
Novel Therapies and
Extraordinary Claims: Being
a Good Consumer
James D. Herbert
Over
the past decade, novel
therapies that make
extraordinary claims of fast
cures for psychological and
physical problems in the
absence of scientific
evidence have become
increasingly popular.
Although the promotion of
such therapies is not a new
phenomenon, the advent of
the Internet has fueled the
widespread promotion of
dubious intervention
methods. In some cases,
cult-like organizations have
been built up around such
therapies, developing trade
secrets and offering
expensive, proprietary
trainings and certification
programs. There are many
ways in which consumers who
are in an emotionally
vulnerable position, seeking
help for mental problems,
can be misled by
extraordinary claims and
thereby deprived of
appropriate, effective
treatment. Therapists
themselves can also be
deceived by such claims,
largely because of a failure
to appreciate the limits of
anecdotal experience as
evidence of effectiveness.
Some of these approaches are
anti-scientific and
denigrate the need for
empirical support, whereas
others are pseudoscientific,
offering a veneer of being
scientific but without any
solid empirical support.
Hallmark indicators of
pseudoscientific approaches
will be discussed, as well
as other signs consumers and
therapists should consider
in evaluating the claims
made by mental-health
professionals.
Children and Cult-like
Therapy Groups
Jean Mercer
Although most child abuse is
a matter of impulsive
aggression on the part of
parents, some abusive
treatment is systematic and
is based on parent belief
systems fostered by
cult-like groups of
self-styled parent educators
and therapists. Systematic
treatments of these types
(for example, holding
therapy) are often directed
toward adopted and foster
children because the belief
systems include the claim
that these children will
become killers.
Disturbingly, treatment
based on such belief systems
has resulted in a number of
child deaths and injuries,
as well as in such treatment
as caging children and other
methods that have potential
long-term ill effects.
Several such cases will be
discussed and common factors
described. Suggestions for
identification of
potentially harmful
treatments for children will
be presented, with an
emphasis on the need for
examination of evidence
presented in support of the
treatment.
Thought Field Therapy: A
Former Insider’s Experience
Monica Pignotti
Thought
Field Therapy (TFT) is a
novel therapy, developed by
psychologist Roger Callahan
during the 1980s, which,
along with several of its
offshoots, has become more
widespread over the past
decade through promotion on
the Internet. Monica
Pignotti will discuss her
7-year experience as a
former insider in the TFT
organization, which has
become a movement with
cult-like characteristics
and a grand vision that
includes spreading TFT
throughout the world.
Changes in the organization
over time resulting in a
more closed system, as well
as defections, the formation
of offshoots, and a court
case involving a trade
secret will be discussed.
Hallmark indicators of
pseudoscience as applied to
TFT will be presented,
including emphasis on how
TFT proponents: explain away
evidence that fails to
support their claims; use a
specialized jargon; make
spurious associations
between TFT and natural
sciences, such as physics
and chemistry; make
unsupported assertions that
claim TFT can treat a wide
variety of mental and
physical ailments; and
misrepresent publications.
Efforts to minimize
cognitive dissonance created
by recent contradictory
evidence appear to have
strengthened conviction and
increased solidarity among
believers.
Opening Keynote Address:
The Violent Outcomes of
Ideological Extremism: What
Have We Learned Since
Jonestown?
Janja Lalich, Ph.D.
On
November 18, 1978, one of
the most tragic events
associated with cults
occurred—the deaths of 913
followers of the Rev. Jim
Jones. Disturbing images of
bloated bodies of women,
men, and children dead in
their jungle community
flashed across the airwaves
—images that recur with some
regularity when a
cult-related notorious
“incident” occurs. Cults
were not unknown to us in
1978, nor was their
potential for harm. A decade
earlier, for example, cult
leader Charles Manson had
orchestrated the brutal
murders of innocent folks in
Hollywood, California. But
the scope of the loss of
life at Jonestown in Guyana
gave us pause. And with some
solemnity and sobriety, we
have tried to make sense out
of what sometimes appears to
be incomprehensible. While
the life trajectory of a
cultic group is not
entirely—or even
moderately—predictable, it
has become clear over time
that ideological extremism
holds within it the
potential for violent
outcomes. This address will
look at some of the events
that have taken place in the
past 30 years, offer a
framework of understanding,
and elicit points of
interest for future
discussion and research.
Optional Discussion
Session: Born or Raised
Michael
Martella, M.A.; Joyce
Martella
[This session is for people
born or raised in
high-demand groups only.]
This
workshop is for people,
often referred to as
second-generation adults or
SGAs, who were born and/or
raised in high-demand
communities.
Unlike
the case with people who are
enticed or persuaded to join
cults, recovering SGAs do
not have a “pre-cult
personality” to return to.
They develop survival-based
personality profiles, often
accompanied by difficulties
in real-world functioning,
including extreme reactions
to authority, extensive
deficits in social,
educational, or practical
functioning, and symptoms
related to inadequate
self-esteem, disturbed
interpersonal relationships,
and other trauma-based
consequences of involuntary
immersion in cultic living.
This
workshop is designed to
provide a forum for SGAs to
identify and discuss their
unique issues and dynamics.
Topics
covered may include:
1.
The Dynamics of
Tyranny
2.
Domination, Acting,
and Fantasy
3.
Humiliation and the
Theft of Dignity
4.
Dissidence and
Dissident Subcultures
5.
Internalizing the
Oppression
6.
Identifying
Institutional and Personal
Abuse
7.
The Aftermath of
Abuse
8.
Trauma and Recovery
Bibliography
Freire,
P. (1970/2000). Pedagogy
of the oppressed.
Continuum: NY.
Guest,
T. (2004). My life in
orange. Harcourt:
Orlando, FL.
Hamilton-Byrne, S. (1995).
Unseen, unheard, unknown.
Penguin Books Australia:
Victoria, Australia.
Herman,
J. (1997). Trauma and
recovery. Basic Books:
NY.
Krakauer, J. (2001/2004).
Under the banner of heaven.
Banner Books: NY.
Memmi,
A. (1965). The colonizer
and the colonized.
Beacon Press: Boston, MA.
Moore-Emmett, A. (2004).
God’s brothel.
Prince-Nez Press: San
Francisco.
Nandy,
A. (1999). Traditions,
tyranny, and utopia.
Oxford University Press: New
Delhi, India.
Scott,
J. (1990). Domination and
the arts of resistance.
Edward
Bros.: Ann Arbor, MI.
Wooden,
K. (1981). The children
of Jonestown.
McGraw-Hill: San Francisco.
Parental Alienation
Syndrome and the Cult of
Parenthood
Amy J. L. Baker, Ph.D.;
Discussants: William
Goldberg, M.S.W.; Lorna
Goldberg, M.S.W.
This
paper will present a brief
overview of parental
alienation, defined as the
strategies that parents use
to turn a child against the
other parent, and parental
alienation syndrome (PAS),
defined as the response in
the child to such parental
attitudes and behaviors, and
will provide a comparison
between parental alienation
syndrome and cults. The talk
will be based on a paper
entitled “The Cult of
Parenthood,” which is also a
chapter in the author’s book
published by W.W. Norton,
April 2007. This material is
based on interviews with 40
“adult children of parental
alienation syndrome,”
individuals who were turned
against one parent by the
other parent. The voices of
these “adult children” will
be incorporated into the
presentation in order to
bring the material to life
and honor their contribution
to this research. In
addition, the author’s data
from survey studies of
targeted parents (parents
who believe that the other
parent of their child is
trying to turn their child
against them) will also be
referenced when relevant.
Research on adult children
of parental alienation
syndrome has found that
parents who alienate a child
from his or her other parent
use many of the same
emotional manipulation and
thought-reform techniques
that leaders use to
cultivate dependency in cult
members, including
black-white thinking,
creation of totalistic
environments, and
badmouthing the outside
world. These strategies will
be described in the context
of PAS.
When
children exposed to these
behaviors in the context of
a family ultimately succumb
to the intense parental
influence and ally with one
parent against the other,
the child can be said to
have parental alienation
syndrome (PAS). The eight
behavioral manifestations of
PAS will be described to
provide the audience with a
detailed clinical picture of
the syndrome.
Some of
the long-term effects of PAS
will be presented, as
experienced by the adult
children who participated in
the research. Not
surprisingly, the same types
of negative long-term
outcomes associated with
cult involvement are also
associated with parental
alienation syndrome,
including low self-esteem,
depression, and lack of
trust in the self and
others. This talk should be
of interest to the diverse
audience at the ICSA
conference because the core
areas of concern of ICSA
members, including
psychological manipulation,
emotional abuse,
brainwashing, thought
reform, and totalistic
environments, will be
explored.
Phoenix Project:
Ex-Member Art and Literary
Works
Diana Pletts
The
Phoenix Project is an
exhibit of cult-related
artwork, created by
ex-members of cults, or
high-demand organizations,
to promote greater
understanding of the cult
condition by showcasing
artwork created by cult
survivors. The project’s
name is derived from the
mythological bird, the
Phoenix, which rose from the
ashes of destruction, a
hopeful prospect for cult
survivors.
The
artworks exhibited
illustrate some aspect of
the cult or high-demand
experience: the world of
ex-members, their healing or
recovery, or their time of
transition from their cult
or high-demand organization.
Creations range among the
art forms and include visual
artworks in two and three
dimensions, literary art
presentations, drama, video
works, and compositions of
music.
Not
only does this exhibit shed
light on the reality of life
in a high-demand
organization, and of its
effects on individuals, but
it also offers an experience
of empowerment for
participating artists,
providing them with the
opportunity to tell their
own stories in their own
ways.
We hope
that you will enjoy this
presentation of artworks
created to enlighten others
on cult and post-cult life.
The Project consists of both
an exhibit room for works of
visual art, and a specific
presentation time for works
of drama, short story,
poetry, video and music.
Polygamy and Government:
Policies, Powers, and
Limitations of State and
Local Governments
Livia Bardin, M.S.W.; Jane
Irvine, ACSW, LCSW; Paul
Murphy
An
unprecedented partnership
between the Arizona and Utah
Attorney Generals' Offices,
the Safety Net Program found
its beginnings in a 2003
meeting between Arizona and
Utah law enforcement and
Attorneys General. Arizona
Attorney General Terry
Goddard and Utah Attorney
General Mark Shurtleff
determined that there exists
in Colorado City and Hildale
an intense need for not only
increased law enforcement
but also improved access to
social services and
community resources. Since
that time, representatives
from law enforcement, state
and local social-service
agencies, advocacy groups,
and members of the community
have convened monthly
meetings to discuss the
special needs and concerns
of those living in
polygamous communities.
Outreach and support to
victims must address the
barriers unique to the
polygamous communities, such
as geographic isolation,
historical disputes with
government, transportation
barriers, lack of access to
victim services and legal
and other resources, and
lack of awareness of
services. Panel members will
describe and discuss this
innovative approach, as well
as other initiatives and
policies directed at
diminishing hostility and
increasing protection for
victims within polygamous
communities.
Polygamy: Recent
Developments
Andrea Moore Emmett; Laura
Chapman; Sylvia Mahr
In less
than 12 years, the issue of
polygamous cults went from
an embarrassing,
well-protected secret to a
focus of international media
frenzy. With pressure from
this new and unprecedented
spotlight, law enforcement
began prosecuting selective
individuals while numerous
others continue to operate
under the radar. Laura
Chapmen grew up in the FLDS
polygamous cult. Warren
Jeffs, the recently
convicted leader of that
group, was her former
brother-in-law and sang at
her arranged marriage.
Sylvia Mahr was a polygamous
wife among the Montana
faction of the Apostolic
United Brethren polygamous
group and is an advisory
board member of Tapestry
Against Polygamy. Sylvia was
the second of three wives
and escaped polygamy with
her six children. Andrea
Moore-Emmett was the first
journalist to report on
crimes against women and
children in polygamist cults
and is the author of
God's Brothel. Together
they will provide a 12-year
retrospective, discussing
the changes in attitudes
about polygamy, what law
enforcement has accomplished
with cases such as Jeffs,
and what more can be done.
Problems with
Justification: How to
Critique Cults Without
Asking "How Abusive Was Your
Experience?”
Alicia Juskewycz
Marginal groups are not the
only form of “religion” for
which there are strong
social norms against
criticism. In contrast,
groups that can be
demonstrated to be “not
religious,” “abusive,” or
those in which some form of
“innocence” (brainwashing,
childhood, privacy) has been
violated become socially
acceptable targets of
criticism. Thus, to
legitimate the criticism of
groups with extreme
practices and separatist
cultures, ex-members are
subject to a unique form of
scrutiny so that people can
continue to talk about
“religion” in the ways they
normally do. How “abusive”
was an experience? How much
“choice” did we have?
Should
ex-members provide “proof”
of how “pathological,”
“normal,” or “discontent” we
are, to justify what we have
to say about our marginal,
extreme, and unusual groups?
Javier
Martín-Peña; Álvaro
Rodríguez-Carballeira; Jordi
Escartín; Clara Porrúa;
Federico Javaloy
The
violence of persecution
perpetrated by ETA in the
Basque Country reflects
another way to terrify.
Researchers have not given
much attention to this
phenomenon, focusing more on
the victims of terrorist
attacks or kidnapping than
the victims of threat,
social humiliation, or other
psychological attacks. This
study has two goals: First,
to build a categorization
scheme for ETA’s
psychological violence
strategies in the Basque
Country, particularly in one
sector of the population.
Second, to relate this
categorization model to the
testimonies of a sample of
victims who have suffered
these abusive behaviours. A
content analysis was
conducted from several
testimonies. The strategies
of psychological violence to
which such testimonies
referred were identified and
then grouped according to
the categorization model.
The results show that
the strategies of
psychological violence
mentioned with higher
frequency are those of
emotional and cognitive
types, emphasizing emotional
abuse, stigmatization, and
exclusion. The results are
discussed and parallels
drawn to other areas in
which psychological violence
is applied. The implications
of these findings are also
discussed.
Psychotherapy Facades
and Legal Charades: My
Adventures in the Land of
Undue Influence
Sheila Rae Bradley
This
paper presents my experience
of subtle persuasion through
the stages of psychotherapy
cult induction, ethical
neglect, cult unification
tactics, professional
misconduct, malpractice
defense strategies, and the
not-so-civil settlement
tactics employed during my
lawsuit against a former
therapist / cult leader. At
each stage, undue influence
and mental-health risks will
be examined. Cult control
characteristics inherent in
the Alice Bailey books will
also be highlighted.
Public Policy and Cults
in Europe
Francois Bellanger, Ph.D.
Public
policies on cults in Europe
often changed radically at
the end of the 1990s,
following the tragedy of the
Solar Temple. Ten years
after those events, it is
interesting to analyze what
polices were finally adopted
and to assess their results,
as well as to define the
future trends. The paper
will address the existing
legal situation in the
following European
countries: France, United
Kingdom, Germany, Belgium,
Switzerland, and Austria, as
well as at the level of the
Council of Europe.
Religious Conflict
Resolution for Families
Michael D. Langone, Ph.D.;
Patrick Ryan
Research suggests that, in
the West, hundreds of
thousands of individuals
join and leave cultic groups
each year. Research studies
also suggest that at least a
sizeable minority of those
who join cultic groups are
adversely affected. The
families of these group
members, and probably many
other families, tend to
become concerned about their
loved one’s group
involvement.
Roughly
80 percent of the groups
that cause concern are
religious. The
psychological, political,
and occasionally commercial
groups that aren’t overtly
religious often influence
members’ lives as though
they were religions because
they typically bring about a
major shift in members’
views of self, world, and
other—i.e., a conversion
experience.
During
the past 25 years, most
professionals who work with
these families have
emphasized helping them
persuade their loved ones to
leave cultic groups. Exit
counseling, a process aimed
at helping families create
conditions under which their
loved one will reevaluate a
group involvement, has been
very valuable to thousands
of grateful families and
group members. (Exit
counseling is also often
referred to as “thought
reform consultation.”)
Nevertheless, only a very
small percentage of families
are able to proceed to an
exit-counseling
intervention. In many cases,
an intervention is not
possible or even appropriate
because the loved one’s
relationship to a group does
not fit the typical pattern
of exploitative manipulation
associated with the subjects
of exit-counseling
interventions, even though
the family may have valid
concerns. In other cases,
the loved one may be so
attached to the group (e.g.,
because of family ties
within the group, decades of
commitment, fear of
adjusting to the mainstream
world) that his or her
departure is unlikely, even
with an intervention.
Very
little attention has been
paid to this large majority
of families for whom an exit
counseling is not feasible
or appropriate. Livia
Bardin’s book, Coping
with Cult Involvement: A
Handbook for Families and
Friends, offers some
guidance. Ms. Bardin says
that a cult involvement is
often “a situation to
manage, not a problem to
solve.”
This
talk will explore ways in
which families can more
effectively “manage” a loved
one’s involvement in a group
that causes concern, at
least in part because of the
nature of the conversion
that it tends to bring
about. The talk will
approach the situation as a
family conflict over what at
least overtly are religious
issues. Through lecture and
discussion, the speakers, a
counseling psychologist, an
educational/organizational
consultant, and an exit
counselor (thought-reform
consultant), will examine
·
How families
and group members can come
to better understand and
appreciate each other’s
perspectives on the conflict
that divides them.
·
How they can
improve communication so as
to reduce the level of
conflict.
·
How they can
negotiate mutual behavioral
changes that will reduce the
level of conflict.
·
How they can
come to terms with the need
to compromise so as to
protect the love between
them while respecting
differences that divide
them.
Resiliency and Post
Traumatic Growth in the
Healing Journey Toward
Recovery
Doni Whitsett, Ph.D.,
L.C.S.W.
In the
1980s, few people had heard
of Post Traumatic Stress
Disorder (PTSD).
Twenty-seven years later,
according to the Harvard
Mental Health Letter (2007),
PTSD has become the default
diagnosis, often overused as
a catch-all when no other
category seems to fit. The
diagnosis requires three
components: Hyperarousal,
Re-experiencing (e.g.,
intrusive thoughts), and
Avoidance (which includes
emotional numbing). Thus, by
definition, PTSD means that
the trauma continues to
influence the victim in ways
that interfere with daily
functioning. He/she is stuck
in the trauma and cannot
move on.
Although almost everyone who
is exposed to a traumatic
event (whether Type 1 or
Type 2 trauma) experiences
some of the above symptoms
initially, not everyone
develops the longer-term
PTSD. One of the most
reliable findings to come
out of trauma research is
that only approximately 10%
to 15% of those so exposed
will experience the
long-term consequences.
While most of the research
has focused on this
minority, much less
attention has been given to
the other approximately 85%.
What makes some people more
vulnerable than others? What
enables other people to be
more resilient to the
devastating events they’ve
endured? Shifting the focus
just a bit, from the
vulnerable to the more
robust segment of the trauma
population, might give
clinicians important data
that point toward effective
intervention strategies.
In more
recent years, psychologists
have begun to look in this
direction by asking certain
salient questions: Who are
the people who successfully
manage to negotiate the
effects of traumatic events?
Do they have certain
qualities or characteristics
that distinguish them from
others? What are the factors
that make them more
resilient than their
counterparts? And, very
importantly, what can they
tell us about coping with
trauma that might help
clinicians in treating cult
survivors and other people
who comprise the more
vulnerable fifteen percent?
A
second aspect of this
inquiry has to do with
unexpected “beneficial” side
effects that accrue from the
trauma, in the spirit of the
cliché, “what doesn’t kill
you makes you stronger.”
Resilience
“Successful copers,” as they
are referred to, are known
to have certain personality
traits and skills (Tedeschi,
R. and Calhoun, L. 1995).
One group of researchers has
identified twelve factors
important in trauma
resilience (Southwick, S.,
2006). They are having:
1.
Role models of
resilience
2.
Realistic optimism
3.
Humor
4.
Moral guide
5.
Altruism
6.
Religion/spirituality
7.
Social support
8.
Personal strengths
(leadership, a challenge
mentality, etc.)
9.
Active (vs. passive)
coping
10.
Courage to face fear
11.
Cognitive flexibility
12.
Meaning, purpose, or
mission
This
paper will examine these
variables of “successful
copers,” people who are able
to come through trauma,
perhaps not completely
unscathed, but not fixated,
either.
Post Traumatic Growth
Additionally, the paper will
explore what has been termed
“Post Traumatic Growth”;
that is, the personal growth
that may be the beneficial
side effects of having gone
through trauma. This
phenomenon has been known
since at least Biblical
times. For example, in the
Old Testament, Job went
through an ordeal in order
to get closer to God. In the
New Testament, suffering is
often considered necessary,
as well, to keep a person
humble. The symbol of
martyrdom, Jesus on the
cross, suffered so that the
sins of humankind could be
forgiven.
The
theme of suffering for a
higher purpose is not
confined to the
Judeo-Christian tradition.
Buddhists, for example,
believe that traumatic
events befall a person
because of transgressions
from previous lives and, by
recycling back into the
sentient world, persons can
undo their mistakes and move
on to enlightenment. In more
recent times, Viktor Frankl,
a survivor of the Holocaust,
founded a school of
psychology known as
Logotherapy, in which he
explored the meaning of
suffering (Frankl, 1945).
Even when imprisoned in the
Nazi concentration camps,
Frankl believed that there
was a higher purpose for the
torment he saw and
experienced. “When facing a
fate that cannot be
changed…,” he says, “…what
then matters is to bear
witness to the uniquely
human potential at its best,
which is to turn a personal
tragedy into a triumph…”
(Frankl, 1992, 116).
Psychologists Richard
Tedeschi and Lawrence
Calhoum (1995) have
identified types of growth
that can result from
experiencing traumatic
events. These include
positive changes in
perception of self, others,
and the world. A deepened
knowledge of oneself, a kind
of wisdom, and more
compassion for the suffering
of others are among these
notable “side effects” of
trauma. A change in one’s
philosophy of life can also
occur—i.e., having more of
an appreciation of life,
putting things into
perspective, and not wanting
to waste time on petty
things.
Clinical Implications
A focus
on positive aspects of
having endured perhaps years
of neglect and abuse is
risky. It can have the
unintended effect of
minimizing real suffering
and the terrible losses
people have incurred. Timing
of such a discussion in
clinical practice is
essential. As Carol
Giambalvo has pointed out
(personal communication)
this line of clinical
intervention would be
inappropriate in the
beginning phases of therapy
when people first need to
come to terms with what
happened to them. Judith
Herman’s model of trauma
recovery is instructive in
this regard (1992). Her
first two phases, Safety
and Remembering,
set the stage for such a
discussion. In the first
phase, the clinician
establishes an empathic,
holding environment within
which the client can
safely explore the
trauma experience. In the
second phase, overlapping
with the first, the client
is helped to consciously
remember previously
repressed and dissociated
material. An integral part
of these phases has always
been the clinician pointing
out client strengths and
positive coping mechanisms.
However, by knowing what
resiliency factors have been
identified as essential
tools for successful coping,
the clinician can emphasize
these factors and assist the
client in acquiring them.
A focus
on the growth aspects of
trauma could easily be
integrated into Herman’s
last phase of
Reconnection, wherein
the client moves from a
state of social isolation
where s/he may have resided
for many years, to a state
of connection with others.
In this way, the person who
experienced trauma sheds
his/her identity as “victim”
and begins to self-identify
as “survivor.” In this
latter stage of treatment,
clients may be ready to
acknowledge the personal
growth that might have come
out of living a nightmare.
This
paper, then, will focus both
on issues of resilience
and of growth. It
takes a strengths
perspective, which is all
too often lost in our desire
to be compassionate and
understanding in our work
with former cult members and
other trauma survivors.
References
Frankl,
V. (1946, 1st
printing in German; 1967, in
English). Man’s search
for meaning. New York:
Washington Square Press.
Harvard
Mental Health Letter.
(2007). Rethinking
posttraumatic stress
disorder. 24. (2).
1-4.
Herman,
J. (1992). Trauma and
recovery. New York:
Basic Books.
Southwick, S. (2006)
Resiliency factors in trauma
recovery. Paper
presented at the
International Society for
Traumatic Stress Studies.
Los Angeles, CA.
Tedeschi, R. and Calhoun, L.
(1995). Trauma and
transformation. Thousand
Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Risk Factors for
Therapists Working with
Individuals and Families Who
Have Been Affected by
Destructive Cults
Linda J. Dubrow-Marshall,
Ph.D.
Former
members and families of
current members of
destructive cults/extremist
groups/high-demand
groups/abusive relationships
are often highly concerned
about safety issues when
they seek help from
psychotherapists. For
example, they might seek
help anonymously or
pseudonymously, or they may
initially seek extensive
information from the
psychotherapist before
revealing any of the
presenting problem. Former
cultists might call numerous
times and ask extensive
questions before scheduling
an initial evaluation
session.
Perhaps
less attention has been paid
to safety issues for
psychotherapists who work
with current and former
members of destructive cults
and their families. What
types of guidelines protect
the safety and integrity of
the psychotherapeutic
relationship? Should
psychotherapists be expected
to reveal information about
their backgrounds and manner
of working without knowing
to whom they are speaking?
What about risk factors for
psychotherapists with a
reputation for working in
the field of cults, who
might be approached
anonymously or
pseudonymously by current
cult members who are trying
to trick them into revealing
personal details about their
professional work, or
personal details such as
their address, in order to
harass them or make them
legally liable in some ways?
Sometimes there are
difficult financial issues
to negotiate with clients
who have given a great deal
of money to their cult, or
who have unrealistic
expectations about
professional boundaries.
This
workshop will provide an
opportunity for
psychotherapists to share
their concerns about risk
factors in working with this
population, and to develop
possible guidelines to
minimize these risks. In
addition to the initial
kinds of concerns that
develop during the intake
and evaluation phase of
psychotherapy listed above,
issues pertaining to the
development and maintenance
of the psychotherapeutic
relationship, and to
termination will be explored
from the perspective of
decreasing risks to the
psychotherapist.
Transference and
counter-transference issues
will be addressed.
The value
of consultation and
supervision will be
highlighted, as well as
self-care issues. Ways to
reduce burnout and manage
compassion fatigue will be
addressed. The challenge of
setting and maintaining
appropriate boundaries with
clients whose boundaries
have been violated in the
cult will be explored.
The
importance of considering
cult-related research to
inform psychotherapeutic
practice will also be
addressed, along with a
consideration of how
psychotherapists might
become increasingly involved
in research about
psychological influence,
coercion, group pressure,
and other aspects of the
cult involvement for
individuals and families.
Roundtable on
Theoretical Developments in
the Field of Undue Influence
and Cults
Rod Dubrow-Marshall, Ph.D.,
Facilitator; Janja Lalich,
Ph.D.; Paul Martin, Ph.D.;
Alan Scheflin, J.D., LL.M.;
Benjamin Zablocki, Ph.D.
This
roundtable discussion will
allow some key contributors
toward theories and
explanations of cults and
undue influence to summarize
both their own work in this
field and to explore how
this work relates to other
theoretical developments,
including across disciplines
and professions. The session
will involve theories from
psychological, sociological,
and legal disciplines to be
compared and contrasted so
as to allow further
syntheses to emerge between
them. It is hoped that a
greater understanding of the
phenomenon of cultic
influence will develop in
the context of this mutual
appreciation and
understanding of
epistemological and
ontological similarities and
differences between these
bodies of work. Put another
way, the question is whether
we have theories that relate
well enough to the reality
of experience, psychological
change, and recovery—i.e.,
are these theories useful
for the populations and
phenomena they purport to
observe and explain? What
are the prospects for
theoretical developments in
the immediate period ahead
that can add explanatory
power to this area and
create a wider understanding
of undue influence in these
disciplines and fields and
beyond in society at large?
Format
for talk: Each speaker
(including the facilitator)
will speak for 10 minutes,
followed by a 10-minute talk
by the discussant. This will
then leave 30 minutes for
further discussion and
questions.
Secular vs. Religious:
Identity Issues for
Individuals Exiting
Bible-based Cults
Wendy and Doug Duncan
One of
the most significant
questions individuals
leaving Bible-based cults
struggle with as they form
their post-cult identities
is what to do regarding
their faith. There are
unique complications for
people in Bible-based cults,
because some were Christians
before being drawn into the
cult, and they would like to
reclaim the positive aspects
of their Christianity that
were valuable pieces of
their pre-cult identity.
However, some elements of
the cult they are leaving
have been mixed in with the
faith that was once such a
comfort to them, and it is
challenging to separate the
good from the bad. Moreover,
they may be faced with some
persons in their families
and support systems who are
well-meaning but skeptical
about the former member’s
involvement with any
religion, who fail to
distinguish healthy ways for
people to access their
spirituality from that which
is toxic. Doug and Wendy
Duncan have been through
this maze themselves, and
they offer suggestions for
people leaving Bible-based
cults who want to preserve
for themselves what is
helpful and life-affirming
in Christianity while
leaving behind those
expressions that are cultic.
Self-Report Measures of
Psychological Abuse
Carmen Almendros, Ph.D.,
Moderator; José Antonio
Carrobles, Ph.D.; Rod
Dubrow-Marshall, Ph.D.;
Kimiaki
Nishida, Ph.D.; Álvaro
Rodríguez-Carballeira,
Ph.D.
The
assessment of psychological
abuse in group contexts from
a scientific perspective and
based on empirical measures
is a relatively recent line
of research. A review of the
instruments that have been
developed to address
features related to
psychological abuse in group
contexts will be presented,
as well as efforts and steps
given in the development of
new self-report measures.
Also, a theoretical
comparison will be made
among psychologically
abusive behaviors directed
toward the submission, and
those directed toward the
exclusion, of the person.
Significant Cult Legal
Cases in Japan
Masaki Kito, Esq.; Takashi
Yamaguchi, Esq.; Yukari
Yamamoto
This
panel will first focus its
discussion on the judgment
handed down by the Tokyo
District Court on Feb 26,
2007, which explicitly
denounced the abuse of mind
control by the group, “Home
of Heart,” as an illegal
act, with the help and
cooperation of Yukari
Yamamoto, who is an
ex-member of the said group
and has testified in the
afore-mentioned case. This
is the first court judgment
that has directly referred
to the word mind-control and
is a significant court
decision concerning the
illegality of the deceptive
recruiting and undue
influence focused on the
exploitation of group
followers. The presenters
are attorneys who have
represented the victim in
this case. The case has been
appealed, and the appellate
case is now pending at the
Tokyo High Court, and
updates will also be given
concerning the appeal. The
presenters are also
representing victims of the
“Home of Heart” in seven
other cases. Other cases may
be discussed if time allows.
Since You've Been Gone:
A reading of a new play
about the cult experience,
to be followed by audience
discussion
D. W. Gregory
The
story: A musical prodigy's
disappearance into a
religious cult forces a
crisis of conscience for her
brother and her friends.
Where do you draw the line
between faith and
fanaticism?
Come to
a reading of a new play
intended for the high-school
market, written by the
author of Radium Girls,
a popular title among
high-school performing
groups. Radium Girls
has received nearly 100
productions in high schools
and universities nationwide.
In Since You've Been Gone,
the author uses a fictional
scenario to dramatize the
manipulative techniques
employed in cult recruitment
and to demonstrate the
devastating impact that an
individual's involvement in
a cult can have for family
and friends. The intention
is to present a compelling
story that will be
attractive to producing
groups simply as good drama.
In the process, however, the
play can stimulate thought
and awareness about cults
among the students who work
on producing it and among
those who attend any
productions. This reading
will be the first time the
play has been presented
anywhere publicly. The
reading will be followed by
a discussion with the
audience, whose comments and
insights will assist the
author in subsequent
revisions of the script. The
intention is to find a
production outlet for the
script first, then to make
it available, royalty-free,
to any high school or
university performing group
that wishes to stage it.
Sociological Analysis of
Former Adherents and
Families of Former
Adherents: Discourse About
Leaving New Religious
Movements in Spain
María del
Mar Ramos-Lorente, Ph.D.;
Pedro Castón-Boyer, Ph.D.
One of
the most complex and
controversial issues related
to new religious movements
is the process of
disaffiliation. Through the
use of semi-structured
interviews, this paper
examines the speech of
former adherents and family
members of former adherents
concerning disaffiliation
from new religious movements
(NRMs) in Spain. Subjects’
responses concerning
departure from NRMs are
analyzed according to
sociological concepts such
as identity and the need for
former members to integrate
group and post-group social
networks.
Special Lunch Discussion
Session: On Going to College
or Graduate School After a
Cult Experience
Moderator: Janja Lalich,
Ph.D.
Janja
Lalich, Ph.D., Associate
Professor of Sociology at
California State University,
Chico, has offered to do a
special informal session for current
graduate students or those
thinking of going to grad
school or college after a
cult experience. From
experience, Janja knows that
making the decision to go to
school can be a difficult
one for many former cult
members. Also, once you are
in school, there are many
potential stressors and
confusing situations, as
well as a lack of
understanding among faculty
and fellow students,
especially if you want to
focus on cult-related
research, which is often
discouraged.
Just a
little background: Janja was
in a political cult for more
than 10 years in the 1970s
and 1980s. She already had
an undergraduate degree from
the University of Wisconsin
when she joined the group.
Afterward, after much
mulling back and forth, lots
of talking to others, and
independent
research, and not quite 10
years out of the cult, Janja
decided to go to grad
school and is now a tenured
professor. Some of you may
be familiar with her books:
Take Back Your Life:
Recovering from Cults and
Abusive Relationships
(2006, a revised edition of
her first book, Captive
Hearts, Captive Minds); Bounded
Choice: True Believers and
Charismatic Cults (2004,
a comparative study of the
cult she was in and the
Heaven's Gate cult),
and two books co-authored
with Margaret Singer,
Cults in Our Midst and
"Crazy" Therapies.
If you
are interested in attending
such a session, email Janja
at
jlalich@csuchico.edu.
If there is enough interest,
a session will be organized.
Please reply by June 10.
Meet at the conference
bookstore at 12:30
p.m. Friday and
you'll be told where to go.
Special Session for Born
or Raised (Second
Generation)
Michael Martella, MFT; Joyce
Martella
[This session is for
second-generation ex-members
only.]
This
workshop is for people who
were born and/or raised in
high-demand communities,
often referred to as
second-generation adults or
SGAs.
Unlike
the case with people who are
enticed or persuaded to join
cults, recovering SGAs do
not have a “pre-cult
personality” to return to.
They develop survival-based
personality profiles, often
accompanied by difficulties
in real-world functioning,
including extreme reactions
to authority, extensive
deficits in social,
educational, or practical
functioning, and symptoms
related to inadequate
self-esteem, disturbed
interpersonal relationships,
and other trauma-based
consequences of involuntary
immersion in cultic living.
This
workshop is designed to
provide a forum for SGAs to
identify and discuss their
unique issues and dynamics.
Topics
covered may include:
·
The Dynamics
of Tyranny
·
Domination,
Acting, and Fantasy
·
Humiliation
and the Theft of Dignity
·
Dissidence and
Dissident Subcultures
·
Internalizing
the Oppression
·
Identifying
Institutional and Personal
Abuse
·
The Aftermath
of Abuse
·
Trauma and
Recovery
Bibliography
Freire,
P. (1970/2000). Pedagogy
of the oppressed.
Continuum: NY.
Guest,
T. (2004). My life in
orange. Harcourt:
Orlando, FL.
Hamilton-Byrne, S. (1995).
Unseen, unheard, unknown.
Penguin Books Australia:
Victoria, Australia.
Herman,
J. (1997). Trauma and
recovery. Basic Books:
NY.
Krakauer, J. (2001/2004).
Under the banner of heaven.
Banner Books: NY.
Starting Out: A
Discussion of Key Practical
Issues People Face When They
Leave Cults—Housing,
Employment, Education,
Social Skills, And So On
Livia
Bardin, M.S.W.
What
are the most pressing
practical needs of people
leaving cults—both those
born and raised in cults,
and those leaving after long
involvement as adults? What
are the most difficult
problems for people to
manage on their own? How
have ex-members coped with
these problems? If you are a
second-generation adult or
long-term ex-member, please
come to comment on plans and
share your ideas for a guide
book that we would like to
develop and post on ICSA’s
Website with free access for
all who want to consult it.
(This session is open to
all, but those with personal
experience will have
priority during the
discussion.)
Steve Hassan Reflects on
30 Years of Activism
Steven A. Hassan, M.Ed.,
LMHC, NCC
Long-time activist Steve
Hassan will discuss some of
the major shifts away from
forcible deprogramming to
exit-counseling to the
Strategic Interaction
Approach. Some of the major
groups have disintegrated or
splintered. Others have
mainstreamed. The Cult
Awareness Network was sued
into bankruptcy and its name
is now used by people
associated with Scientology.
The Internet has become a
huge resource for
information collection and
dissemination. Is it being
used to recruit people? Many
activists have retired or
passed away. What is the
future for educating the
public? Training
professionals? Helping to
counsel people who have been
hurt by undue influence? Now
that the media is willing to
do more shows about
destructive cults, what can
we do to insure this trend?
What is the future of
effective activism? How can
individuals make the biggest
impact to make a positive
contribution?
Terrorism and Cultic
Studies: A Brief Overview
Michael D.
Langone, Ph.D.
Many
observers have commented on
the similarities and
differences between
terrorist and cultic groups,
including recruitment,
conversion, indoctrination,
deconversion, and preventive
strategies. This talk will
briefly discuss these issues
and possible areas of future
collaborative work between
cultic studies and terrorism
experts.
The Anti-Cult Cult
Ginger Zyskowski; Carol
Giambalvo
A very
narrow boundary exists
between the desire to help
and the desire to control.
Sometimes organizations and
individuals can blur this
boundary with good
intentions, exhibiting the
same totalistic control and
ideology that exists on the
other side of the line. When
this happens, the former
cult member experiences
revictimization by the same
controlling influences that
occurred within the cult,
suffers additional trauma
and confusion, and can
become a mirror image of his
or her cult-self.
This
panel discussion will
present concrete examples of
how such organizations and
individuals have moved from
a “helping” position to a
controlling force.
Ms.
Zyskowski will discuss her
experience of a Ted Patrick
Deprogramming (kidnapping),
showing the destructiveness
of this method and the
long-term damage she
suffered as a result.
Topics
included in the discussion
are “taking the law into
your own hands,” the
Stockholm Syndrome, and
PTSD. Examples from these
experiences will show some
of the extremes that can be
reached by power exerted in
the guise of “good
intentions.”
In
addition, former members
will discuss their
experiences with the
original Cult Awareness
Network (CAN), Former
Members Group (FOCUS), and
the suggestion from exit
counselors that there be a
clear distinction made
between “exit counseling”
and “deprogramming.” Dissent
over this issue had
devastating results,
including the demise of CAN.
The discussion will include
a description of how CAN, in
a stated attempt to protect
FOCUS from law suits brought
by Scientology, was able to
ultimately disband its FOCUS
elected board.
A third
part of the discussion uses
examples from a former
member’s “after
deprogramming” experience
that will show how the
family of origin, and even
some mental-health
professionals crossed
boundaries and journeyed
into the area of Sacred
Science and Doctrine Over
Person. The potential
addiction to “being right”
can surface in helping
organizations, the family of
origin, and in the fields of
psychology and psychiatry,
which can result in even
more abuse, trauma, and
revictimization of former
cult members.
This
presentation will show the
importance of ethics in a
community, group, or
organization, and how those
who place themselves in a
“helping” position must
maintain integrity and
balance. They must define
and keep redefining that
boundary to stay on the side
of helpfulness, support, and
education, rather than
crossing the line and
becoming their own anti-cult
cult.
The Boundary between
Cultic and Benign in
Spiritual Groups
Elliot Benjamin, Ph.D.
In this
talk, I will discuss the
ambiguous and broad
boundaries that exist
between some highly
publicized dangerous cultic
spiritual groups and groups
that are less well known and
are considered to be
relatively benign regarding
cult dangers. The groups
that I will consider are
ones with which I have had
some degree of personal
experience. They include Ken
Wilber’s Integral Institute,
Conversations With God,
Self-Realization Fellowship,
and A Course in Miracles. I
have rated these four groups
in the Neutral category
regarding significant cult
dangers vs. favorable
beneficial characteristics,
utilizing three different
experiential cult danger
scales as described in my
book, Modern Religions:
An Experiential Analysis And
Expose. I will discuss
in detail the most useful of
my three rating scales, the
Bonewits Cult Danger
Evaluation Frame. I will
then give my ratings of the
above four groups on this
scale in comparison to the
two groups that I gave the
highest cult danger ratings
to, The Unification Church
and Scientology, and the two
groups that I gave the most
favorable and lowest cult
danger ratings to,
Neopaganism and Omega
Retreat Center. Lastly, I
will discuss some of the
cult danger concerns that
have been voiced in books,
articles, and cult-awareness
Internet sites regarding
these four groups. I will
conclude that although my
experience of these four
groups has not been one of
significant cult dangers,
there are other people who
have reported alarming
control, betrayal,
dogmatism, and/or high costs
in these groups. It is a
matter of degree and
comparison when it comes to
evaluating the cult dangers
of spiritual groups, and it
is important to proceed with
awareness and caution when
exploring any spiritual
group, whether one is a
novice spiritual aspirant,
ex-cult member, family
member of one who is in a
cult, or professional cult
expert.
The
Continuum of Influence in
Addictions Treatment: From
Therapeutic Alliance to
Undue Influence
Linda J.
Dubrow-Marshall, Ph.D.;
Roberta Eisenberg, M.S.W.;
Steven Eisenberg
Addictions are a significant
mental-health problem, and
treatment has been offered
by licensed mental-health
professionals who are bound
to an ethical code, as well
as by noncredentialed
providers. Some of the
noncredentialed treatment
programs have included those
offered by destructive cults
that have sometimes used
addictions programs as a
recruitment technique,
without overtly publicizing
the link between the
treatment program and the
group. There are also
recovering addicts who
provide counselling, some of
whom are accredited as
substance-abuse counsellors
and some who are not.
Clients do not always
realize that a nonaccredited
counsellor is not bound to a
code of ethics, and that
they would not have any
legal recourse in cases of
malpractice; and yet some
clients prefer to be treated
by a recovering person
rather than a professional
without personal experience
of addiction. The role of
self-help programs, and in
particular the twelve-step
programs based on Alcoholics
Anonymous, have sparked
considerable controversy,
with some experts arguing
that they are an essential
adjunct to psychotherapy and
others arguing that undue
influence and religious
pressures are exerted in
these groups.
The
presenters are licensed
mental-health professionals
and an exit counsellor who
have offered specialized
services both to individuals
and families who have been
affected by destructive
cults, as well as to
individuals and families who
have been affected by a wide
range of addictions,
including substance abuse,
gambling, compulsive eating,
sex and love addictions, and
co-dependency. They will
offer their unique
perspective from their
experience on the continuum
of influence in addictions
treatment that they have
observed within
mental-health settings,
addictions treatment
facilities, cults, and
self-help groups.
A case
study will be presented of a
psychotherapy cult in which
the leaders were
credentialed addictions
counsellors and
mental-health professionals,
and yet they conducted their
practice in a manner that
met the characteristics for
a psychotherapy cult. Abuses
of power and influence were
rampant within this group,
and there were many
documented cases of
psychological harm caused to
the clients. Addictions were
incorrectly diagnosed, and
clients were unduly
influenced to perceive
themselves as addicts
without corroborating
evidence. Dependency upon
the leaders was actively
fostered, and
confidentiality was violated
within the group treatment.
Special twelve-step meetings
were organized to exclude
anyone who was not receiving
treatment by the
psychotherapists. Increasing
amounts of control were
placed on the clients in
terms of increasing the
number and type of therapy
sessions, excluding contacts
with anyone outside the
group, restricting decisions
about where clients could
live and work, and pressures
to donate money to the group
or invest with other clients
and the therapists.
Guidelines for ethical
treatment of addictions will
be discussed, including
deriving lessons from the
abuse of power and unethical
influence displayed in
cultic treatment of
addictions. Ethical dilemmas
that psychotherapists face
in the treatment of
addictions will be
addressed, such as
confidentiality issues when
the addictive behaviours
might lead to harm to other
individuals, such as family
members, and how to exert
appropriate influence over
destructive behaviours
without becoming unduly
coercive. Models of
psychotherapeutic treatment
for addictions will be
examined according to these
dimensions of influence,
including abstinence-based
treatments, wherein the
therapists will not accept
clients who are currently
abusing substances or
actively expressing “process
addictions” (such as food,
gambling, and sex and love
addictions), and
harm-reduction models of
treatment involving
processes of
change/motivational
interviewing types of
approaches.
The Development and
Empirical Examination of the
Lifton Scale
Paul R. Martin, Ph.D.;
Nicole Gullekson
Robert J.
Lifton’s Thought Reform
concepts were placed into an
empirical scale to quantify
measurable aspects of a
group’s function and
structure. The Lifton Scale
was measured on clients who
received treatment at
Wellspring Retreat and
Resource Center. Preliminary
data show highly significant
correlations between the
Lifton Scale and the Group
Psychological Abuse Scale as
well as with the Extent of
Group Identity Scale.
Further empirical and
measurable psychometric
properties of this
instrument will be presented
in this workshop.
The Marginals: People on
the Boundary of a New
Religious Movement
Eileen Barker, Ph.D.
One of
the common characteristics
of new new religious
movements is that they have
a dichotomous worldview.
Their theology may be seen
in terms of the Godly and
the Satanic; their ethics
may clearly distinguish
between good and bad and
right and wrong; and they
frequently divide time into
(their misspent,
pre-conversion) past and
(their saved,
post-conversion) present, or
between the sinful present
age and an apocalyptic
future. They are also likely
to draw a sharp distinction
between ‘us’ (the True
Believers) and ‘them’ (the
rest of humanity). The
movement may encourage
converts to cut off all ties
with family and previous
friends, and the barrier may
be cemented even further by
societal reactions to the
movement. There is little
room for manoeuvre; sitting
on the fence is not an
option—you are either with
us or against us. Converts
who decide to leave the
movement might believe they
have to steal away under
cover of darkness; they know
that they will be ostracised
by their former
fellow-believers; they know
they will be spoken of as
evil or satanic—or that
their erstwhile friends
within the movement will be
forbidden to speak of them
at all.
In some
cases, this sharp separation
continues for generations,
and children born into such
groups who leave (of their
own volition or because they
are expelled) will find
themselves
‘disfellowshipped’ or
‘shunned’, not knowing a
soul in the outside world in
which they find themselves.
More frequently, however,
the dichotomous world view
becomes less sharp with the
passage of time, especially
with the death of a founder
who wielded charismatic
authority, and the arrival
of second and subsequent
generations. Enthusiastic
converts may loose their
initial enthusiasms with the
advancement of age. Some,
probably the vast majority,
will leave and move on to
new beliefs, new interests,
and new lives. But others
who have invested much of
their lives in the movement
move to the margins, perhaps
half believing the
movement’s belief system in
a watered-down form; perhaps
anxious to keep in touch
with the friends they have
made and whose basic values
they share. Such people may
live and work independently
of the movement; yet, more
or less regularly, they will
attend the movement’s
gatherings and rituals and,
possibly, contribute to its
finances. If asked what
their religion is, they
might hesitate, not knowing
whether or not to identify
themselves with ‘them’ or
with ‘us’. The movement
itself may or may not have
them on their membership
list—it may develop a
special vocabulary to
describe such people.
This
paper examines some of the
processes that can lead to
the development of a sizable
number of ‘marginals’ and
considers some of the
consequences that the
undermining of a sharp
membership distinction can
have for the people
concerned, the movement as a
whole, and its relations
with the rest of society.
The Problem of
“Sectarian Mentality” Within
Church Communities
Piotr Tomasz Nowakowski,
Ph.D.
Each
movement existing within a
church is a potential
support, not only for the
spiritual, but also for the
personal and social
development of an
individual. However, in this
field, there can appear
highly controversial
phenomena one should pay
attention to. They concern
particular ways of thinking
that result in specific
attitudes analogous to what
we perceive in cults. This
is why the author defines
these threats as “sectarian
mentality.” The problem is
so wide and ambiguous that
it is possible to
distinguish at least four
aspects: doctrinal, social,
psychological, and ethical.
A church community or/and
its members following
peculiar ways of thinking
and behavior that may be
described as “sectarian” or
“cultic” should serve as a
warning signal to church
members and authorities, and
should motivate them to
reflect on the possibility
that a “sectarian mentality”
affects their church and, as
a consequence, might be
responsible for spiritual,
mental, or social confusion
among its members.
Sectarian mentality in
churches poses a challenge.
It indicates that the church
that has not been successful
in diagnosing and overcoming
sectarianism among certain
groups or individuals within
its structures. As a
response to this problem,
the author proposes some
solutions, especially of an
educational and preventive
character. Moreover, in the
context of “sectarian
mentality,” the phenomenon
of cults itself can be
treated not only as a
threat, but also as a mirror
that church communities can
look at to catch sight of
worrying aspects of their
own attitudes. The author
refers particularly to
groups within the Catholic
Church, but the
above-mentioned problem
analogously applies to other
churches, as well.
The Puzzle of
Brainwashing
Janja Lalich, Ph.D.;
Benjamin Zablocki, Ph.D.
Pruning the Brainwashing
Concept in Order to Save It
Benjamin Zablocki, Ph.D.
Much of
the controversy and
confusion that surround the
term brainwashing comes from
the fact that the term has
been used to cover too wide
a range of the manipulative
persuasion practices used by
cults. Many groups and
organizations in our society
practice a variety of
manipulative forms of
persuasion, mostly relying
upon inducements based on
various combinations of the
carrot and the stick. Only
one particularly traumatic
form of manipulative
persuasion, for conceptual
clarity’s sake, ought to be
called “brainwashing” or
(synonymously) “thought
reform.” I argue that an
overly broad use of this
term has impeded research,
invited cheap-shot counter
attacks upon it, and thus
has held back for too long
precise understanding of
this very important concept.
Social
psychologists have long
recognized that persuasive
techniques fall along a
continuum of intensity from
mild to severe. Brainwashing
is nothing more than a form
of persuasion falling at the
most extreme end of this
continuum. Why then invent a
special term for it rather
than simply calling it a
very extreme form of
manipulative persuasion? The
reason is that sometimes
along a continuum a
substance or a process can
exhibit qualitative as well
as quantitative differences
from its co-occupants on
said continuum. A homely but
instructive example is the
cooling of water. Water
might cool along a continuum
from boiling to hot to tepid
to cold. At each successive
stage on this continuum, the
molecules of the water have
a lower average velocity.
The same thing happens when
cold water becomes ice.
However, at this point, not
only does the molecular
velocity decrease, but the
liquid also becomes a solid.
There is a change in kind
accompanying the change in
degree. Those of us who have
studied brainwashing in its
various manifestations,
starting with Robert Jay
Lifton and Edgar Schein,
have become convinced by our
observations that something
similar happens when the
level of persuasive
intensity is ratcheted up to
the point that we call
brainwashing. Furthermore, I
have become more and more
convinced that this
qualitatively distinct form
of persuasion, although not
very common, is dangerous
and well worth the attempt
to understand it
scientifically.
Brainwashing is a form of
ideological persuasion that
uses carefully orchestrated
group and individual
manipulative techniques to
transmute belief into
fanatical “true belief” and
transmute ordinary
commitment to a group or
person into an addictive
need for this group or
person’s approval. In this
way, brainwashing makes the
person, for a time, into a
deployable agent capable of
carrying out the most
extreme and horrendous
actions even when away from
the direct control of the
group or leader. Although
the deployability of the
agent will fade over time if
the brainwashing is not
reinforced, the
mental-health consequences
of having been brainwashed
may last much longer,
possibly a lifetime. The
term ‘brainwashing’ is not
simply a metaphor. The
process really changes the
structure of the brain,
leaving traces that can be
studied as evidence that
this process has occurred
and as data that might help
us to better understand how
it occurs.
Brainwashing, as so defined,
is difficult to administer.
It is not a common
occurrence. Evidence for it
can be found in some but not
all religious cults, in some
but not all psychotherapies,
in some but not all radical
political movements, in some
but not all prolonged
hostage situations, in some
but not all terrorist cells,
and in some but not all
abusive marriages. Because
of the danger that
brainwashed deployable
agents pose for themselves
and for others, it is
extremely important to try
to understand this
phenomenon despite the fact
that it is not very
prevalent in society.
Now You See It, Now You
Don't: Why We Need to
Recognize Brainwashing and
Its Close and Distant
Cousins
Janja Lalich, Ph.D.
Despite
some scholarly efforts to
deny the existence of
brainwashing—both
its processes and its
consequences—the
need to understand this
phenomenon is perhaps more
pressing today than it was
in the past. This paper will
explore the many different
areas of contemporary life
in which there has been
evidence of brainwashing,
ultimately illustrating how
a clearer understanding of
this complex and intense
social-psychological process
could be of benefit to us
socially and culturally.
By
having a clearer
understanding of when
brainwashing actually
occurs, we will be able to
distinguish it from lesser
attempts at extreme
persuasion. This will help
us to tease out the
interrelated features of
social-psychological
influence in its many forms,
as well as to better
understand the effects.
Sometimes the entire process
of brainwashing occurs and
sometimes we see merely the
application of a selection
of hyper-persuasive efforts
aimed at similar conclusions
(that is, single-mindedness,
blind loyalty, and
deployability). In addition
to groups that we commonly
identify as cults, some of
the other areas of
contemporary life in which
efforts at brainwashing
occur include the following:
·
Abusive
interpersonal relationships
and small “family” cults
·
The
socialization of children in
existing cults (i.e.,
socialization of second and
third generations to adapt
to the group norms and
values)
·
Terrorist
indoctrination camps and
units (often referred to as
terrorist cells)
·
Extreme
in-group rituals (such as
“hazing” in Greek and sports
organizations and “loyalty
tests” in gangs and
organized crime)
·
Hostage and
kidnap situations
·
Unethical
therapeutic relationships
(medical or psychological)
·
Various
relationships in which there
is a power imbalance (e.g.,
teacher/pupil,
pastor/parishioner,
attorney/client,
doctor/patient,
jailer/prisoner)
·
Situations of
undue influence involving
fiduciary abuses (such as
with the elderly, the
infirm, or other vulnerable
populations)
·
Rehabilitation
centers, in particular those
known as “boot camps”
·
Incidents of
human trafficking, where
people are lured and/or
coerced into various forms
of labor
·
The
indoctrination of “child
soldiers” in various
war-torn areas
·
Extreme
techniques in direct-sales
organizations (also known as
multilevel marketing
schemes)
·
Life-coaching
and other New Age programs
aimed at self-awareness and
self-improvement
Several
important social needs flow
from this. One is to be
better able to identify what
kinds of societal resources
are needed to help educate
about these phenomena and
their consequences. Another
is to better equip social
service agencies,
policymakers, and other
helping professionals to
create viable and effective
resources for individuals
who have experienced this
kind of persuasion. And
finally, it will enable us
to better assess the
treatment needs of survivors
of brainwashing and related
psychological manipulations,
including those who suffer
from PTSD or PTSD-related
symptoms.
The
Red Mosque: A Case Study of
How Religion Can Evolve into
a Terrorist Cult
Ana
Ballesteros Peiró; M. Jesus
Martin Lopez; Jose Manuel
Martinez
This
presentation will be a case
study showing how Islam can
produce, within a specific
context, a cult’ namely, The
Red Mosque or the Lal
Masjid (in Urdu
language), which received
front-page attention in
international newspapers. A
school for children to study
in and one of the most
important places of worship,
the Red Mosque turned upside
down one of the most
peaceful cities in Pakistan
and its capital, Islamabad.
Seeking
to have their children
religiously educated, many
parents trustingly placed
their children in the hands
of the Red Mosque, because
it was a historic mosque
right in the heart of the
nation’s capital where
members of Parliament and
the High Court went to pray.
The sons of a well-known
Islamic scholar ran the
respective religious schools
for boys and girls, and they
even had higher education.
Thus, the trust of some
families, both from
Islamabad and the Frontier
province, made them believe
their children would become
righteous and pious or even
scholars themselves.
When, on
March 2007, members of the
female high school attached
to the mosque started
raiding the capital stick in
hand as a “decency” brigade,
they drew some attention.
When they kidnapped a woman
and her daughter, allegedly
for running a brothel,
threatened video and music
shops (for having un-Islamic
businesses and promoting
vice and immorality), and
started a campaign to impose
their version of Islamic Law
in the whole country, things
started to look much worse.
These and other steps made
them gain attention.
Furthermore, when the State
itself challenged their
leader and tried to get part
of the Masque complex
demolished under the
accusation that it had been
illegally built upon public
land, its pupils,
stick-in-hand once more,
defended it with their own
lives.
The
students’ last step was the
threat of launching massive
suicide bombers if Islamic
Law was not implemented
within a month. The Mosque’s
own students were the ones
willing to die for their
cause. And so they did. No
official account is
reliable, but estimates run
up to 200 dead.
How did
this situation occur? Can we
call this group a cult? How
many factors are familiar to
us, and how many others are
specific to the Islamic or
Pakistani context?
Through
this case, we will examine
how sects or cults can be
recognised within Islam, and
what parallelisms and
differences can be drawn
from it.
The
Socialization of Women into
a Polygamous Lifestyle: The
Experience of Canadian
Fundamentalist Mormons
Marie-Andrée
Pelland, Ph.D.; Dianne
Casoni, Ph.D.
The
goal of this presentation is
to describe and analyze the
way women are socialized
into a polygamous lifestyle.
We will specifically
describe the process of
socialization of women born,
raised, and married into an
independent Mormon
Fundamentalist group based
in Canada. Socialization may
be described as the process
by which a person learns the
"language" of the culture
she is born into, as well as
the role she is expected to
play in life. Throughout
this process, a person
learns about the rules,
norms, and practices
inherent in her culture. In
attempting to understand how
women learn to become
polygamous wives, we will
explore how they learn to
behave in ways that respect
the general expectations
coherent with fundamentalist
precepts. We will
furthermore explore how this
process influences the
construction of their social
identity. Since
socialization is an ongoing
process, particular
attention will be focused on
how habitual adolescent
preoccupations are taped
into the integration of
polygamous values for women.
This presentation is based
on the analysis of data from
research—funded by Social
Sciences and Humanities
Research of
Canada—concerning an
independent Mormon
Fundamentalist group based
in Canada, notably
interviews with 12 members
of the group, Internet
discussions between members,
group publications, and
newspapers articles
concerning the group.
The Use of Coercive
Influence by the Tough Love
Industry
Philip Elberg, Esq.; Maia
Szalavitz
There
has been increasing
attention in the last year
to the growth of boot camps,
wilderness programs, and
“therapeutic boarding
schools” to treat troubled
teenagers. Some of these
programs have exerted
cult-like control over
parents, using Large Group
Awareness Training sessions.
Others have relied on
charismatic leaders to
promote fraudulent and
dangerous programs. ICSA
President Phil Elberg and
Maia Szalavitz, the author
of Help At Any Cost,
have been among the leading
critics of the tough-love
industry and aggressive in
their efforts to educate the
public about the dangers.
They will speak about the
harm that such programs do,
the brainwashing techniques
they use, and the current
state of the efforts to
regulate these programs.
The Wellspring Treatment
Model for Victims of Cults
and Cultic Relationships
Paul R. Martin, Ph.D.; Donna
Adams, Ph.D.
Wellspring is a residential
counseling center
specializing in the
treatment of individuals who
have suffered in abusive
religious groups,
organizations, and cults.
The program is also
especially effective for
those who have been born
into cults, those physically
and/or sexually abused,
those coming from one-on-one
coercive situations, and
those who have experienced
professional abuse and/or
sexual exploitation from
therapists, doctors, clergy,
and teachers. The Wellspring
Treatment Model includes
elements of the coercive
persuasion model articulated
in the early 1960s by Dr.
Robert J. Lifton in his work
Thought Reform and the
Psychology of Totalism,
as well as other elements.
Multifaceted in its
approach, the Wellspring
Treatment Model consists of
counseling, workshops, and
exposure to a plethora of
written as well as video
resources to enhance growth
and recovery from a coercive
relationship or group. What
distinguishes the Wellspring
Treatment Model is its
evidence-based approach.
Several outcome studies have
been presented at
professional conferences
(ISCA, OPA) and one article
published in a peer-reviewed
journal that attest to the
effectiveness of this
approach to treatment.
Additional articles on
treatment are forthcoming.
Empirical data will be
presented on this particular
approach to treatment.
Thirty Years of
Treatment for Individuals
and Families Affected by
Psychologically Manipulative
Groups (GMP): An
Epidemiological Perspective
Núria Ribas;
Josep Maria Jansà; Luca
Basile; Inma Sánchez; Vega
González; Miguel Perlado;
Esther Maté; Marga Cano;
Teresa Fernández
AIS (Atenció
i Investigació de
Socioaddiccions) is an
independent, nonprofit
organization set up in 1977.
Its activities concentrate
on prevention, treatment,
and advice for individuals
and families affected by
psychologically manipulative
groups (GMP) or coercive
cults. In 2000, AIS also
began to deal with cases
involving gangs and social
addictions. Since 1986, AIS
has systematically collected
information on
socioeconomics and general
characteristics and
background of those it has
attended to.
Of
1,544 received
consultations, 917 (59.4%)
became therapeutic cases.
Most of the therapeutic
cases have been described as
cases of psychologically
manipulative groups (n=769;
83.9%), either from
identified cults or from
groups with unclear
intentions that deserve
further follow-up.
Thirty-six (3.9%) of the
cases have been related to
gangs. Sixty-eight (7.4%)
have been cases of social
addictions (emotional
dependency and
nonpharmacological
addictions, such as the
Internet, gambling, and
shopping). Forty-four (4.8%)
cases were given other
psychiatric diagnoses. The
number of consultations was
as follows: 515 for
psychological manipulation,
16 for gangs, 13 for social
addictions, and 48 for other
psychiatric diagnoses.
Although not linear, there
was a general increase of
attended cases per year [a
mean increase of 2.3 total
cases per year and 1.4
therapeutic cases per year
(p<0.05)].
The
most prevalent therapeutic
cases of psychologically
manipulative groups have
been related to healing
therapies (16.78%),
Esotericism (16.4%), and
Religious-Christian (14.2%).
However, in 2006 the most
frequent attended cases were
linked to one-on-one cults
(12 out of 48—i.e., 25.0% of
therapeutic cases of
psychological manipulation
in 2006). By specific
groups, those with a high
number of cases have been:
Jehovah’s Witness (n=56),
Gnosticism (n=53),
Scientology (n=49), and Opus
Dei (n=40). Regarding social
addictions, the most
numerous visits have been
related to emotional
dependency (47.1%),
pathological gambling
(13.2%), and compulsive
buying (11.8%). The most
frequent attended cases of
involvement in gangs have
been related to Latin Kings
(47.2%) and Racist groups
(27.8%).
GMP
cases were equally
distributed by gender (54.6%
females), had a median age
of 27 years (interquartile
range: 22-35 years), had a
mid-high education level
(38% had completed high
school and 25.8% had a
university degree), were
mostly single (60.6%), were
resident in the Barcelona
area (59.6%), and lived with
their own family (22.9%) or
with their parents (35%),
although 10% of the cases
lived in community with the
group. When we performed the
analyses by type of group,
we found some differences in
gender (women were more
likely to be in a one-on-one
cult than men (80.3% versus
19.7%), while 100% of the
cases related to political
groups were men. With regard
to age, the youngest cases
were related to
philosophical groups (median
age: 23 years), political
(23 years),
religious-Christian (22
years), and Satanic (16
years). The groups with the
highest percentage of people
living within a community
group were the
religious-Christian (22.6%).
Most of
the therapeutic demands were
made by the parents (51% of
the cases), after a median
period of 2 years (1 year to
4 years, interquartile
range) since the first
contact with the GMP. The
initial contacts were
promoted by friends or
colleagues at work (32.5%),
propaganda in the streets
(16.4%), and other sources
such as door-to-door,
university, and Internet
(29.9%). A total of 9.4% of
cases reported working for
the group (with or without
remuneration); this
percentage was higher among
the cases in commercial
(50%), Afro-Brazilian (60%),
and political (33%) groups.
Medical
records showed that one
quarter (25%) of the cases
had a previous history of
psychological or psychiatric
treatment. This percentage
was higher among the
one-on-one cults (42.8%),
Satanic (50%), and New Age
cases (39.1%). Drug abuse
was present in 8.7% of the
cases, being higher among
those patients in Satanic
(50%), Shamanic (50%), and
New Age (26.1%) cults.
Emotional dependence was
present in 17.9% of cases in
one-on-one cult situations,
while the percentage in the
total amount of cases was
3.2.
This
overall epidemiological
perspective of 20 years of
treatment and advice for
individuals involved in
psychologically manipulative
groups will allow us to
identify the evolution of
the groups and the
characteristics of the
vulnerable population at
risk. The identification of
vulnerable populations will
result in appropriate
prevention programs and
policy recommendations.
Update on Cult Legal
Cases and Issues in Japan
Masaki Kito, Esq.; Shuji
Nakamura, Esq.; Takashi
Yamaguchi, Esq.; Reiko
Higashi, Esq.
This
panel will discuss the most
significant cult-related
legal cases in Japan having
to do with a variety of
groups. The presentation
will be given by the lawyers
who have actually handled
the case. The panel will
also discuss influential
judicial judgments and their
impact on current and future
cases and on Japanese
society. Significant cases
relating to cultic groups in
Japan will be discussed, as
will certain activities of
Japan's National Network of
Lawyers Against Spiritual
Sales.
Update on the
International Churches of
Christ and the Reemergence
of Kip McKean
David Clark
This
presentation will include
the history of the
Restoration Movement, Church
of Christ, Crossroads, and
the International Churches
of Christ, formerly headed
by founder Kip McKean of the
Boston Church of Christ.
Extensive worldwide coverage
claims this organization was
the fastest growing “only
true” church in recent
times, and mind-control
allegations increased with
its spread. The methods and
teachings of this movement
have encountered new
developments and
controversy. Leadership
changes saw the resignation
of Kip McKean from the
church/movement he founded,
but recent information shows
a reemergence of his
leadership and growth among
the churches he mobilized.
In more recent times McKean
featured his “Portland
Story,” in which he
expresses his intent to
repeat the process of
“church reconstructions.”
Kip
McKean also returned to Los
Angeles, leading a “missions
team” in 2007 to found the
new City of Angels
International Christian
Church. Many wonder, what
has really changed? McKean
claims that he and the
leaders of his new movement
have learned from the past.
Is history repeating itself?
Leaders of the current ICC
are having difficulty with
lack of progress on
outstanding issues of this
founding father of their
church.
Church
splitting in these two
movements is causing growing
concerns about a closer look
at what is really at work
and drawing attention to
recurring issues when things
are examined more closely.
Mind-control and
leadership-abuse issues are
festering in the minds of
those troubled by their
implications.
It is
important to compare former
and current methods and
techniques used by the
earlier and newer movements,
to discern and assist those
not familiar with the
history of harm that
preceded them.
After
we compare the International
Churches of Christ’s updated
information with Kip McKean
and his new movement,
education and awareness can
provide helping resources
about recovery and healing
that can equip those who
need to re–evaluate their
relationship surrounding the
controversy that these
groups entail.
Workshop for Family
Members
Michael D. Langone, Ph.D.;
Ron Loomis; Patrick Ryan
This
workshop will help family
members concerned about a
loved one’s cult involvement
or its aftereffects learn
how to assess their
situations more effectively
and how to evaluate
strategic options. Among the
topics to be discussed are:
·
Why people
join and leave high-control,
abusive groups
·
How to assess
your situation
·
How to
communicate more effectively
with your loved one
·
Identifying
and coping with your own
problems
·
Ethical issues
·
Formulating a
helping strategy
·
When exit
counseling might be
appropriate and how to
prepare
Workshop for Former
Group Members
Carol Giambalvo; Joseph
Kelly
[This session is for former
members of cultic groups
only.]
Topics
discussed include:
·
Nature of
psychological manipulation
and abuse
·
Conditions of thought-reform
programs
·
General
recovery needs of former
members
·
Coping
with depression and guilt
·
Effects
of hypnosis and trance
techniques
·
Coping
with feelings of anger
·
Coping
with anxiety
·
Decision-making
·
Re-establishing trust in
yourself and others
·
Dependency issues
·
The
grieving process
·
Reintegration/identity
issues
·
Spiritual
and philosophical concerns
Workshop for Mental
Health Professionals
Clinical Issues: Working
with Families
Facilitators: Linda
Dubrow-Marshall, Ph.D.;
Roberta Eisenberg, M.S.W.
This
segment of the Workshop for
Mental Health Professionals
will be a
discussion-oriented
presentation of issues
clinicians encounter when
working with families and
friends of people involved
or formerly involved in
cultic groups. Presuming at
least a basic familiarity
with the relevant clinical
literature and at least
minimal experience in the
field, the presentation and
discussion will focus
immediately on common
clinical concerns and ways
of addressing them.
Clinical Issues: Working
with First-Generation Former
Cultists
Rachel
Bernstein, MS.Ed., LMFT;
Discussant: Lorna Goldberg,
M.S.W.
This
segment off the Workshop for
Mental Health Professionals
will be a
discussion-oriented
presentation of issues
clinicians encounter when
working with people who
joined cultic groups after
their childhood years—i.e.,
“first-generation former
cultists.” Presuming at
least a basic familiarity
with the relevant clinical
literature and at least
minimal experience in the
field, the presentation and
discussion will focus
immediately on common
clinical concerns and ways
of addressing them.
Clinical Issues: Working
with Second-Generation
Former Cultists
Leona
Furnari, M.S.W.; Michael
Martella, M.F.T.
This
segment of the Workshop for
Mental Health Professionals
will be a
discussion-oriented
presentation of issues
clinicians encounter when
working with people who were
born and/or raised in cultic
groups—i.e.,
“second-generation former
cultists.” Presuming at
least a basic familiarity
with the relevant clinical
literature and at least
minimal experience in the
field, the presentation and
discussion will focus
immediately on common
clinical concerns and ways
of addressing them.
Clinical Roundtable for
Mental Health Practitioners
Gillie Jenkinson, M.A.,
Facilitator
This
90-minute session will be an
interesting opportunity for
clinicians to discuss
(highly disguised) clinical
vignettes to illustrate a
specific clinical problem
and to highlight their
questions regarding certain
circumstances that occur
within therapy with cult
leavers—both first and
second generation—and family
members concerned about a
loved one.
This
session may cover issues of,
for example: How to apply
the psycho-educational
approach, floating and
grounding, cult
pseudo-personality,
confidentiality, trust,
identity, problems with
relationships, effective
therapeutic approaches for
these client groups,
assessment, communication
skills, and so on.
The
Clinical Roundtable will be
facilitated but structured
so that mental-health
professionals have an
opportunity to participate
in the discussion.
This
discussion is open only to
those who are mental-health
professionals with an
advanced degree in one of
the mental-health fields
only.
Nonclinicians may observe
but may not participate in
the discussions.
Discussion preference will
be given to clinicians who
submit their clinical
vignettes and discussion
issues in advance to Ms.
Jenkinson at
info@hopevalleycounselling.com
Testifying in Court
William
Goldberg, M.S.W.
Presenting testimony about
cults and cultic processes
in court is not as simple as
merely telling the truth.
During cross-examination,
opposing attorneys will
often use tricks and
manipulations to make it
appear that the individual
who is testifying is
uninformed, illogical,
biased, or has ulterior
motives. In this section of
the workshop, Mr. Goldberg
will present some of the
common tricks that attorneys
use to discredit witnesses,
and counter-strategies that
can be employed to keep
testimony from being
distorted. Although the
workshop will primarily
concern itself with the
experience of being an
expert witness, fact
witnesses will also find it
helpful.
Writing As a Tool for
Healing from the Trauma of a
Cult Experience
Kristen
Skedgell, M.Div., L.C.S.W.
Research has shown that
writing can be a powerful
tool in recovering from
trauma (Pennebaker, 1997).
Writing is especially
helpful in healing survivors
of cults who have
experienced physical,
sexual, psychological, and
spiritual abuse. Writing
gives the survivor a means
to process feelings and
develop self-understanding
that was denied in the
group. Journaling, poetry,
and personal narrative
provide a readily available
tool and a beneficial
supplement to the
therapeutic process.
As a
survivor of physical,
sexual, psychological, and
spiritual abuse, I have
found writing invaluable in
my personal recovery. First
of all, it provided a
platform on which I could
tell my story. Bearing
witness to one’s suffering
is an essential step in
breaking through the
isolation of trauma (Herman
1992). Second, writing gave
me an opportunity to
identify and express
emotions that had been
buried for years. Third, the
process of writing empowered
me to recognize the abuse
for what it was and distance
myself from my abusers.
Fourth, written expression
enabled me to develop
self-compassion by promoting
self-understanding and
integrate a positive
identity, free from the
self-hatred incurred from
the abuse. Finally, writing
provided closure and allows
me to separate my past from
my present and dream of a
new future.
Upon
leaving the cult, I
desperately sought a way to
make sense of my traumatic
experiences. I began
psychotherapy, attended
self-help groups, talked
with new-found friends, and
even participated in
exit-counseling. But I
needed something that could
be self-generated and always
available. I turned to
journaling, wherein I could
begin to make sense of my
story. This evolved into a
published memoir. In this
paper, I will share examples
from my book that
contributed to my recovery.
Writing Case Studies
Sharon Farber, Ph.D.
Writing
has many different meanings,
conscious and unconscious,
for the therapist
considering writing and for
the patient who may (or may
not) read about himself in a
publication. There is little
in the literature about how
to write clinical material,
yet the publication,
presentation, and discussion
of case studies are
essential to further our
knowledge. Moreover, only a
small number of therapists
write for publication. There
are several reasons for
this. For many therapists,
there are inhibitions and
conflicts about actually
sitting down to write, and
related to exposing their
work to the scrutiny of
others. For me, numerous
conflicts stood in my way,
which I will speak about
because some of them might
be typical. A common fear is
that of inadvertently
causing pain to patients who
may read about themselves,
and so the process and
ethics of writing case
material will be explored.
Donna L. Adams, Ph.D., a
former member of University
Bible Fellowship, is a
licensed clinical counselor
and Clinical Director of the
Wellspring Retreat and
Resource Center in Albany,
Ohio, a residential
rehabilitation center for
ex-cult members. While an
instructor at Xavier
University in the Counseling
program, Donna taught a
class on cults and cult
treatment and served as a
media consultant regarding
cult-related issues and has
been interviewed by numerous
newspapers, radio, and TV
stations concerning cults.
She is currently working on
articles for publication in
professional journals.
Carmen Almendros, Ph.D.,
is Assistant Professor in
the Biological and Health
Psychology Department at the
Universidad Autónoma de
Madrid. Her doctoral
dissertation included four
theoretical and four
empirical sections devoted
to psychological abuse in
group contexts; cult
involvement; leaving cults;
and psychological
consequences of abusive
group membership. She is
currently principal
researcher of a project
entitled “Psychological
abuse, influence and
adaptation to violence in
partner relationships”
financed by the Comunidad de
Madrid and Universidad
Autónoma de Madrid
(CCG07-UAM/HUM-1942). She
was the 2005 recipient of
ICSA's Margaret Singer
Award, given in honor of her
research into the
development of measures
relevant to cultic studies.
(carmen.almendros@uam.es)
Marybeth Ayella, Ph.D.,
teaches sociology at St.
Joseph's University in
Philadelphia. She is the
author of Insane Therapy:
Portrait of a Psychotherapy
Cult, published by
Temple University Press. She
is presently researching a
book on sex and gender in
cults.
(mayella@mailhost.sju.edu)
Sikiru Adekola Babarinde,
Ph.D., is a Senior
Lecturer in Philosophy and
Sociology of Education. He
has been Editor and 2nd
Vice-President of the
Philosophy of Education
Association of Nigeria. He
has published widely in the
areas of theory and practice
of education, effects of
cultism on education, and
indigenous education in
Africa. He is currently Ag.
Head of the Department of
Teacher Education,
University of Ibadan,
Nigeria.
Amy
J. L. Baker has a Ph.D.
in developmental psychology
from Teachers College of
Columbia University. She has
expertise in parental
alienation, attachment
theory, parent involvement
in their children's
education, and child
welfare. She is the author
or co-author of three books
and over 45 scholarly
articles. She is the
director of research at the
Vincent J. Fontana Center
for Child Protection of the
New York Foundling. She can
be reached at
amyb@nyfoundling.org. Website:
http://www.amyjlbaker.com
Ana
Ballesteros Peiró
is a Ph.D. candidate in the
Arab and Islamic Studies
Department at Universidad
Autónoma de Madrid and
member of a research team on
electoral processes in Arab
and Islamic countries. She
has also been a research
scholar at the South Asian
Division of International
Studies at Jawaharlal Nehru
University (New Delhi,
India), where she studied
terrorism, communalism, and
sectarianism among Muslims
in Pakistan. Her work
focuses on sects in Islam
and South Asia.
(ballesterosp@yahoo.com)
Livia Bardin, M.S.W, is
a licensed independent
clinical social worker in
the Washington, D.C. area.
She experienced child
welfare firsthand as a
foster care case manager in
Washington’s child welfare
system. Her current research
focuses on children in cults
and the needs of people born
and raised in cults who
leave as adults. Ms. Bardin
holds a Certificate in
Family Therapy from the
Family Therapy Practice
Center in Washington and
recently retired from the
private practice of
psychotherapy. She currently
chairs ICSA's
Social Work Committee, which
is exploring the potential
of case management services
for people who have left
cults. Previously, as chair
of ICSA’s
Family Workshop
Advisory Board,
she presented
ICSA-sponsored workshops for
family and friends of cult
members. Ms. Bardin has
provided trainings on
cult-related issues for
mental-health professionals
in the Washington area and
is the author of Coping
with Cult Involvement, a
handbook for families and
friends of cult members. In
2007, she conducted a
training in St. George,
Utah, Breaking Down
Barriers and Empowering
People in Isolated
Communities, for
professionals working with
members of polygamous
communities and other
interested persons.
(liviabardin@verizon.net)
Eileen Barker, Ph.D., OBE,
FBA,
is Professor Emeritus of
Sociology with Special
Reference to the Study of
Religion at the London
School of Economics and
Political Science,
University of London. A
former President of the
Society for the Scientific
Study of Religion, Dr.
Barker has written or edited
eleven books and written
over 250 articles and book
chapters. Her books include
New Religious Movements:
A Practical Introduction
and The Making of a
Moonie: Brainwashing or
Choice? She is the
Founder and Chair of INFORM,
a charity supported by the
British Government and
Mainline Churches, which
helps enquirers with
information about new
religions that is as
objective and up-to-date as
possible.
François Bellanger, Ph.D.,
Professor of Law (University
of Geneva), Attorney at Law,
has been a legal expert on
cults for the Department of
Justice of the Canton of
Geneva (Switzerland) and is
one of the authors of the
official report on illegal
sectarian practices
published in Geneva in 1997
("Audit sur les dérives
sectaires"). He has
published several articles
on cults and religious
freedom. He is the President
of the Information Center on
Beliefs in Geneva.
(fbellanger@avocats.ch)
Elliot Benjamin, Ph.D., is a
mathematician and
philosopher, with a Ph.D. in
mathematics and a master's
degree in counseling. He is
the author of Numberama:
Recreational Number Theory
in the School System, Modern
Religions: An Experiential
Analysis And Exposé, Art and
Mental Illness, and a
number of articles in the
fields of pure mathematics,
mathematics education,
spirituality & cults, and
art and mental
disturbance. He lives in
Swanville, Maine and offers
discussion/support groups
and counseling for
ex-members and family and
friends of members of
spiritual cults. His
Modern Religions book
describes his experiences
with Scientology, est,
Unification Church, Divine
Light Mission, Gurdjieff,
Eckankar, Self-Realization
Fellowship, Course in
Miracles, Reiki, Avatar,
Conversations With God,
Neopaganism, and
more. (ben496@prexar.com)
James Bergin, M.A., is
an anthropologist,
co-founder of Volunteers for
Hancock Jail Residents
(www.jailvolunteers.org),
creative writing teacher,
owner of J. F. Bergin
Company, father, and former
Publisher of Bergin & Garvey
Publishers, Inc. Contact:
www.windofchanges.org.
Rachel Bernstein, MS.Ed.,
L.M.F.T., is a marriage
and family therapist in
private practice in Los
Angeles, where she runs a
monthly support group for
former cult members. She is
the former coordinator of
the Cult Clinic in Los
Angeles, and The Maynard
Bernstein Resource Center on
Cults. She counseled
families and former members
at the Cult Hotline and
Clinic in New York,
developed their Speaker's
Bureau, and facilitated the
support group for families
of those in cults.
Miriam Williams Boeri,
Ph.D., is an assistant
professor at Kennesaw State
University in Georgia. Her
research focuses on
ethnographic data collection
and analysis of deviant
behaviors, including drug
subcultures and new
religious movements. She has
written one book on a new
religious movement and
currently is working on a
book covering her
dissertation work on heroin
and methamphetamine users.
Her papers have been
accepted in Journal of
Contemporary Ethnography
and Human Organization.
She is interested in
finding ways to apply
sociological insights to the
everyday practices of those
who work with society’s
marginal groups.
(mboeri@kennesaw.edu)
Sheila Rae Bradley is an
ex-member and former church
board member of a new-age
psychotherapy cult-church
based upon the books of
Theosophist, Alice Bailey.
Prior to Sheila’s
participation in the church,
she held vice-president
positions with publicly
traded global software
companies and began her
career in the ‘70s as a
programmer and systems
designer. Sheila is
developing a Website to
assist people in writing
complaints to (or about)
professionals who have
neglected their professional
responsibilities.
www.ComplaintWriter.com
offers resources and
communication templates to
help others with their plans
to restore personal dignity
and requests for legal,
ethical, or moral
consideration. Sheila is
also developing a Website
that explores the
complexities of professional
relationships, located at
www.TheClientsCorner.com.
Sheila Rae Bradley is
completing her first book,
entitled Power and Honor:
Respecting Our Courage To
Confront (see
www.powerandhonor.com).
Gabriel Brandis is an
ex-member of the Hare
Krishna cult from 1980 to
1984. He wrote a memoir of
his experiences with the
cult titled Servant of
the Lotus Feet: A Hare
Krishna Odyssey. Gabriel
has done presentations and
book signings at main
libraries in Philadelphia,
Temple University, and
Denver, CO coffee shops, and
has been heard as a guest on
local and international
radio
programs. (ServantoftheLotusFeet.com)
Juliana Buhring was born
and raised in the religious
cult, Children of God/The
Family. After leaving the
group, she worked with the
Tae Okono charity, helping
the child soldiers and
children directly affected
by the rebel warfare in
Northern Uganda. She is
co-author of Not Without
My Sister, a bestselling
book detailing her unique
experiences growing up as a
second-generation cult
child. Miss Buhring is an
Executive Director of RISE
International, a nonprofit
organisation that works to
protect children from abuse
in cults, and works closely
with Safe Passage
Foundation.
Margarita
Cano.
Psicóloga clínica en la
Unidad Asistencial
Drogodependencias, Hospital
de Mataró. Psicóloga
clínica, especialista en
juego patológico de AIS.
Cristina
Caparesi
is a doctor in pedagogy who
develops and coordinates
educational and professional
services. Her
academic concentration was
in applied pedagogy,
criminology and
criminological
administration. She is the
coordinator of two public
centers accredited by Region
Friuli Venetia Giulia
(Italy), which offer
professional help to workers
who are victims of mobbing.
Her thesis was entitled,
“Education and Socialization
in the Family: A Modern
Cult.” Since 2004 she has
been a consultant to
voluntary association in
Northern Italy, giving
assistance and information
to the victims of religious
and non-religious cults.
José
Antonio Carrobles, Ph.D.,
is Full Professor of
Clinical and Health
Psychology and past Head of
the Department of Biological
and Health Psychology at the
Autonomous University of
Madrid. His work focuses in
the areas of Psychopathology
and Clinical and Health
Psychology. He is President
of the
European Association for
Behavioural & Cognitive
Therapies (EABCT). He
has directed numerous
doctoral theses and is
author of an important
number and variety of
articles and books in his
areas of specialization. He
has organized and
participated in numerous
national and international
psychology congresses, among
which stands out his
participation as President
of the Scientific Committee
at the 23rd International
Congress of Applied
Psychology held in Madrid in
1994. He is member of the
Editorial Boards of several
national and international
journals.
Dianne Casoni, Ph.D.,
Full Professor, School of
Criminology, University of
Montreal.
Associate Professor,
Department of Psychology,
Université du Québec a
Montréal.
Psychologist. Psychoanalyst,
member of the Canadian
Psychoanalytical Society,
and the International
Psychoanalytic Association.
Dr. Casoni is the author of
over 70 articles and book
chapters on psychology and
the law, sexual abuse of
children, treatment of
victims, wife assault, and
the psychodynamic
understanding of cults. She
has just published a book on
the psychoanalytical
understanding of the
criminal mind and edited a
book on terrorism, both in
French, co-authored and
co-edited with Louis
Brunet. (dianne.casoni@umontreal.ca)
Pedro Castón Boyer, Ph.D.,
is
Professor and Director of
the Department of Sociology
at the University of
Granada, Spain. He received
the Doctor of Sociology from
the École des Hautes Études
en Sciences Sociales in
Paris. He has been a
visiting scholar at Oxford
University and a visiting
professor at the Gregorian
University in Rome and at
the Metropolitan University
of Technology (UTEM) in
Santiago, Chile. He has
directed numerous research
projects and has over a
hundred publications and
many conference
presentations.
Gina
Catena, M.S., was raised
in the Transcendental
Meditation group, as an
early “Child of the Age of
Enlightenment.” She married
and was a parent in the
group until the age of 30.
After twenty-two years of
childhood and young
adulthood enmeshed in the TM
culture, she left the group
with three children, and
obtained an education and
career while integrating
into mainstream culture. She
lives with ongoing cult
influence through three
generations of her immediate
family. Ms. Catena
contributed to the
collection, Betrayal of
the Children: Seven
Autobiographical Essays by
Women Raised in Cults,
edited by Nori Muster. Ms.
Catena is also working on
several projects about
family influence in cults.
She obtained a Masters of
Science from the University
of California at San
Francisco, a BA in Art
History, and a BS in
Nursing, with a minor in
psychology. She is now a
Certified Nurse-Midwife and
Nurse Practitioner.
(ginacatena@sbcglobal.net)
Laura Chapman is a Child
Protection Worker in
Colorado. She was born and
raised in the (FLDS)
Fundamentalist Latter-Day
Saints polygamist group.
Laura escaped with five
children 17 years ago. Since
then she has earned two
college degrees. In 2002 she
brought the brutal truth of
the Human Rights violations
of women and children in
polygamy to the attention of
the United Nations. She was
nominated for the Robert F.
Kennedy award for her
efforts in rescuing two
teens from arranged
marriages, and assisting
women leaving polygamy in
Utah.
Dan
Clark is an ex-lifetime
member of Jehovah's
Witnesses (40 years) and has
recently released his first
book, I WITNESS, The
Shocking Insider's Story of
Jehovah's Witnesses. In
his book, Clark shares his
life story living with his
dysfunctional JW family and
church organization and the
hooks that kept him in
there. To learn more or
order Dan's book—you can go
to Dan Clark's Website:
www.villapress.com, or
contact him at
info@villapress.com, or
write: Dan Clark, Villa
Press, LLC, P.O. Box 4841,
Englewood, CO 80155-4841.
David Clark is a
thought-reform consultant
from Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania. Mr. Clark has
been active in this field
for more than 20 years and
is the chair of ICSA’s Video
Education Committee. Mr.
Clark has been on the Board
of the Leo J. Ryan Education
Foundation and reFOCUS. He
was a contributing author
for the “Practical
Guidelines for Exit
Counseling” chapter in the
W.W. Norton book,
Recovery from Cults. In
1985 he received the Hall of
Fame Award from the
"original" Cult Awareness
Network. He was a founding
member of the "original"
Focus and reFOCUS, a
national support network for
former cult members. He has
been a national and
international conference
speaker on the topic of
cults and has been
interviewed by newspapers,
radio, and TV stations on
the topic of mind control
and cults for over two
decades. David Clark was the
2004 American plenary
speaker at Academy of
Pedagogical Sciences of the
Ukraine for the F.P.P.S.
International
Scientific-Practical
Conference, with the
presentation title of
"Thought Reform
Consultation, Youth Cult
Education Preparation and
Sect Family Intervention
Work." He was also the April
21, 2006, United States of
America plenary speaker for
the International Scientific
Conference of Cardinal
August Hlond Upper Silesian
School of Pedagogy in
Mysolwice, Poland. The topic
was "Thought Reform
Consultation, Family Youth
Cult Education Preparation
and Sect Intervention Work."
Mr. Clark also contributed
to a May 16, 2006, History
Channel special on Opus Dei
and was featured in John
Allen's important book,
Opus Dei: An Objective Look
Behind the Myths and Reality
of the Most Controversial
Force in the Catholic Church.
He spoke on exit
counseling/thought reform
consultation at an
international conference,
"Myth and Reality of
Psychological Abuse and
Practical Ways to Resist
It," at the Russian State
University of Humanities in
Moscow (March 13-14, 2008).
He spoke on life in a cult
and leaving a cult at a
conference on cults and
gangs, sponsored by
Creighton University's
Department of Psychiatry and
the Douglas County (NB)
Sheriff's Department (April
18, 2008).
(cultspecs2@comcast.net)
Donna Collins was the
first "Blessed Child" of the
Unification Church in the
West. Her parents founded
the UC in England. Her story
is told in detail in the
ICSA video, Blessed
Child. Currently,
she is a writer who lives
with her family in Las
Vegas, Nevada.
Lorraine Derocher works
at the University of
Sherbrooke’s research group
Société, Droit et Religions
de l'Université de
Sherbrooke (SoDRUS) in
Quebec, Canada. She also
teaches Sociology of
Religion at that university.
She has just published the
results of her master's
thesis, Vivre son enfance
au sein d'une secte
religieuse: Comprendre pour
mieux intervenir
(Presses de l’Université du
Québec, 2008), which
explores the challenges
faced by those who were born
or raised in apocalyptic
groups when they leave their
groups. She is presently
pursuing her Ph.D. and is
interested in finding new
ways to intervene in
problematic situations
involving neglected or
abused children in
authoritarian groups. She
also gives lectures on the
topic and training to
professionals who work with
second-generation adults.
Carol Diament. Once the
victim of a psychotherapy
cult, Carol Diament speaks
and writes on the subject.
Before her group
involvement, she was a
realtor, a horse business
owner, and a full-time
mother. She has returned to
being a realtor and has
written an as yet
unpublished memoir about her
cultic
experience. (cdwins1@aol.com)
Arthur A. Dole, Ph.D.,
A.B.P.P., Professor
Emeritus, Psychology in
Education Division,
University of Pennsylvania.
Dr. Dole is a member of the
ICSA Board of Directors and
the Editorial Advisory Board
of Cultic Studies Review. He
has published studies and
presented papers at
professional meetings about
the Unification Church and
other abusive groups. He
recently contributed a
chapter on terrorists and
cultists to C. E. Stout's
four-volume The
Psychology of Terrorism.
Linda Dubrow-Marshall, Ph.D.,
is a counseling psychologist
in private practice and a
Visiting Fellow at the
University of Glamorgan,
Wales. She co-founded RETIRN
(the Reentry Therapy,
Information and Referral
Network) in the United
States in 1983 and RETIRN/UK
in the United Kingdom in
2004. RETIRN is a private
practice comprising mental
health professionals who
specialize in helping
individuals and families who
have been adversely affected
by destructive cults and
other extremist and high
demand/manipulative groups.
Linda Dubrow-Marshall, Ph.D.
Licensed Psychologist
(practicing in the United
Kingdom), 70 Merthyr Road,
Pontypridd,, Wales CF37 4DD
- United Kingdom,
Telephone: (+44) (0)
1443-400456, e-Mail:
(LJDMarshall@aol.com)
Roderick Dubrow-Marshall,
Ph.D. (Nottm) is Dean of
Humanities and Social
Sciences, University of
Glamorgan, RCT, Wales. His
principal research is on
social influence, including
the psychological effects of
cultic group membership,
influence in organizational
settings, and the
psychological processes
involved in social group
identity and prejudice. He
is also a contributor to
FAIR (Family Action
Information Resource) News
in the UK and a UK
representative to the
General Assembly of the
European
Federation of Centres for
Research and Education on
Sects (FECRIS). He
co-founded RETIRN/UK in 2004
where he is a consultant. (rdubrowm@glam.ac.uk)
Wendy Duncan, MA, LBSW,
has a master’s degree from
Southwestern Baptist
Theological Seminary and is
a licensed social worker in
the state of Texas. She has
spent most of her career in
the public mental health
field, and she is the author
of I Can’t Hear God
Anymore: Life in a Dallas
Cult. Doug Duncan, MS,
LPC, has a master’s degree
in counseling and is a
licensed professional
counselor. Doug and Wendy
make their home in Rowlett,
Texas (a suburb of Dallas).
Steve K. D. Eichel, Ph.D.,
ABPP, Clinical
Associate, Re-Entry Therapy,
Information & Referral
Network, Newark, DE;
Past-President, American
Academy of Counseling
Psychology; Chair,
Psychology & Law Committee,
Delaware Psychological
Association. Dr. Eichel is a
licensed and Board-certified
counseling psychologist
whose involvement in cultic
studies began with a
participant-observation
study of Moonist training in
the group’s Eastern seminary
(in Barrytown, NY) in the
spring of 1975. His
first-hand account of
indoctrination in Barrytown
changed his personal and
professional life forever.
As one of Art Dole's
graduate students at the
University of Pennsylvania,
he completed his doctoral
dissertation, which to date
remains the only intensive,
quantified observation of a
deprogramming. He was
honored with AFF's 1990 John
G. Clark Award for
Distinguished Scholarship in
Cultic Studies for this
study, which was published
as a special issue of the
Cultic Studies Journal
and has been translated into
several foreign languages.
In 1983, along with Dr.
Linda Dubrow-Marshall and
clinical social worker
Roberta Eisenberg, Dr.
Eichel founded RETIRN, the
Re-Entry Therapy,
Information & Referral
Network, one of the field's
oldest continuing private
providers of psychological
services to families and
individuals harmed by cultic
practices. RETIRN currently
has offices in Newark,
Delaware, Lansdowne,
Pennsylvania, and
Pontypridd, Wales (U.K.).
Presently, in addition to
his psychology practice, Dr.
Eichel is on the Executive
Advisory Board of ICSA and
the Editorial Board of
Cultic Studies Review.
He has co-authored several
articles and book reviews on
cult-related topics for the
CSJ/CSR.
(steve@DrEichel.com),
http://www.dreichel.com
Roberta Cobrin Eisenberg,
M.S.W., is a licensed
clinical social worker in
private practice and a
cofounder (1983) and
clinical associate of
RETIRN. With a broad range
of professional experience,
she has served at community
mental-health centers,
medical centers, and the
Jewish Family & Children
Service. She is a Board
Certified Diplomate (BCD) of
the American Board of
Examiners in Clinical Social
Work. Ms. Eisenberg has
served as Unit Director of
the Geriatric Partial
Hospitalization Program for
the Albert Einstein Medical
Center, and completed child
psychoanalytic psychotherapy
training, as well as Gestalt
therapy training. She is a
Fellow and founding member
(1972) of the Pennsylvania
Society for Clinical Social
Work. She provides
individual and family
counseling and offers
positive solutions for such
care problems as:
depression, anxiety,
loneliness, grieving losses,
acceptance of limitations,
long-term illness decisions
regarding living
arrangements, and
stress-related and family
support for caregivers
requiring assistance in
resolving conflicts. Ms.
Eisenberg works with
adolescents and adults,
specializing in care for the
older adult, the disabled,
and those with chronic
illness (mental and
physical).
Steven Eisenberg is a
former member of the
International Society for
Krishna Consciousness, known
to many as “The Hare Krishna
Movement.” He was a
full-time member from
February 1975 until his exit
counseling in October of
1979. After a 30-day stay at
a rehab for former cult
members, he began working
with other Hare Krishna
members to help them escape
the influence of the group.
Philip Elberg, Esq.,
President of ICSA, is
a partner in the Newark, New
Jersey law firm of Medvin
and Elberg. He represented
several plaintiffs in a
lawsuit against Kids of
North Jersey, a treatment
center for adolescents with
"behavior disorders." The
case was initiated as a
medical malpractice action
but evolved into a claim
that the treatment center
operated as a destructive
cult for the benefit
of its founder, Miller
Newton. The case was settled
on the eve of trial for
$4,500,000. A reported New
Jersey Court decision
describes Mr. Elberg's work
on the case as "heroic." He
currently represents another
patient of the same facility
who was treated at Kids for
thirteen years and has
become committed to
obtaining public awareness
of the potentially dangerous
practices of some adolescent
treatment facilities.
Andrea Moore-Emmett is
the author of God's
Brothel, The Extortion of
Sex For Salvation in
Contemporary Mormon and
Christian Fundamentalist
Polygamy and the Stories of
18 Women Who Escaped.
She was the researcher for
the A&E documentary,
Inside Polygamy, which
also aired on the BBC. As a
journalist, she has been the
recipient of five awards
from the Society of
Professional Journalists,
Utah Headliners Chapter,
including the Don Baker
investigative Journalism
Award. She was also awarded
a Women in Communications
Leading Changes Award.
Moore-Emmett served as Utah
NOW President, a member of
the Salt Lake Mayor's
Commission: Bridging the
Religious Divide, and is a
Tapestry Against Polygamy
Board Member.
Jordi Escartín is an
Associate Professor in the
Social Psychology Department
at the University of
Barcelona. He is a Ph.D.
candidate in the Work and
Organizational Psychology
Interuniversity Program of
the same department.
(jordiescartin@ub.edu)
Sharon K. Farber, Ph.D.,
is in private practice in
Hastings-on-Hudson, New
York, a New York City
suburb. She has taught at
the Cape Cod Institute,
schools of social work,
medical schools, and
training institutes. She has
been elected to the National
Academies of Practice as a
Distinguished Practitioner.
She is the author of When
the Body Is the Target:
Self-Harm, Pain, and
Traumatic Attachments,
in which she wrote of
self-harm in members of
cults. She is the author of
several journal articles and
a book in progress, and has
received a writing
award. Her interest in cults
began thirty-five years ago.
when she realized that her
brother's mind had been
taken over by Transcendental
Meditation. She has treated
a number of people for
cult-related problems.
Leona Furnari, M.S.W.,
is a licensed clinical
social worker in Boulder
Colorado. She is a
psychotherapist specializing
in recovery from trauma,
including recovery from
abusive groups and
relationships. Ms. Furnari
is a former member of an
Eastern/New Age group, and
it was that experience that
led to her commitment to
help others recover from
abusive groups. She has been
a facilitator/presenter at
former member workshops for
many years. She also works
as a school social worker at
the middle school level, and
facilitates support groups
for adolescents dealing with
grief, family change, and
peer relationships.
Judy
Garvey is a jail and
prison residents’ advocate,
co-founder of Bergin &
Garvey Publishers, and
director of Volunteers for
Hancock Jail Residents
(www.jailvolunteers.org). She
has a degree in psychology
and is the mother of two
adult sons. Contact:
www.windofchanges.org
Carol Giambalvo is an
ex-cult member who has been
a Thought Reform Consultant
since 1984 and a cofounder
of reFOCUS, a national
support network for former
cult members. She is on
ICSA’s Board of Directors,
Director of ICSA’s Recovery
Programs, and is responsible
for its Project Outreach.
Author of Exit
Counseling: A Family
Intervention, co-editor
of The Boston Movement:
Critical Perspectives on the
International Churches of
Christ, and co-author of
“Ethical Standards for
Thought Reform Consultants,”
Ms. Giambalvo has written
and lectured extensively on
cult-related topics.
Lorna Goldberg, M.S.W.,
L.C.S.W., a
psychoanalyst in private
practice with children,
adolescents, and adults. She
has co-led a support group
for ex-cult members with her
husband, William, for over
30 years. She is on the
Board of Directors of ICSA
and is Dean of Faculty,
Institute for Psychoanalytic
Studies, Teaneck, New
Jersey. She has written
extensively for social work
and ICSA publications.
(Lorna@blgoldberg.com),
http://www.blgoldberg.com/
William Goldberg, M.S.W.,
L.C.S.W., a therapist in
private practice, has co-led
a support group for ex-cult
members with his wife,
Lorna, for over 30 years. He
is the Director of Training
and Education for the
Rockland County (NY)
Department of Mental
Health. Mr. Goldberg is a
Adjunct Instructor in the
Social Work Department of
Dominican College.
Vega
González Bueso, is a
nurse and psychologist
specialized in language
disorders, drug addictions,
and social addictions. Since
2004 she has been a member
of Attention and Research on
Social Addictions (AIS),
where she develops her work
as a recognized expert on
the treatment of social
addictions. In 2007 Mrs.
González was appointed AIS
Assistant Medical Director.
D.
W. Gregory writes
comedies and dramas that
draw on her working-class
roots. Often set in rural
America, her plays explore
the disconnect between the
dream and reality of
American blue-collar
experience. Whether a dark,
expressionistic comedy such
as The Good Girl is Gone,
or a Brechtian drama, such
as Radium Girls, her
plays frequently present an
unseen offstage character as
well—the economic and
political forces that shape
the individuals on stage. A
resident playwright at New
Jersey Repertory Co.,
Gregory is also a National
Core Member of the
Playwrights Center in
Minneapolis and a member of
Playground, the playwrights'
development unit of Woolly
Mammoth Theatre Co., in
Washington, D.C. Her work
has been presented
throughout the United States
and abroad, including
productions in Singapore,
London, Madrid, and Lima,
Peru. In addition to writing
plays, Ms. Gregory has
worked as a theater
critic—most recently for
The Washington Post—and
as a teaching artist. She
makes her home outside
Washington, D.C., with her
husband Paul, a bluegrass
musician.
Nicole Gullekson is a
doctoral candidate in
psychology at Ohio
University. Her research
interests include
sustainability in
organizations and
cross-cultural differences
in behavior. She is
currently working with Dr.
Paul Martin of Wellspring
Retreat and Resource Center
as a statistics and research
associate for several
projects.
Marci A. Hamilton, M.A.,
J.D., is one of the
United States’ leading
church/state scholars, as
well as an expert on
federalism and
representation. During the
academic year 2007-08, she
is a Visiting Professor of
Public Affairs and the
Kathleen and Martin Crane
Senior Research Fellow in
the Program in Law and
Public Affairs at Princeton
University. Professor
Hamilton holds the Paul R.
Verkuil Chair in Public Law
at the Benjamin N. Cardozo
School of Law, Yeshiva
University, and is the
author of Justice Denied:
What America Must Do to
Protect Its Children
(Cambridge 2008) and God
vs. the Gavel: Religion and
the Rule of Law
(Cambridge University Press
2005, 2007). She is also a
columnist on constitutional
issues for www.findlaw.com,
where her column appears
every other Thursday.
Professor Hamilton is
frequently asked to advise
Congress and state
legislatures on the
constitutionality of pending
legislation and to consult
in cases involving important
constitutional issues. She
is the First Amendment
advisor for victims in many
clergy abuse cases involving
many religious institutions,
including the federal
bankruptcies filed by the
Portland Archdiocese,
Spokane Diocese, and San
Diego Diocese. She also
advises cities and
neighborhoods dealing with
the Religious Land Use and
Institutionalized Persons
Act. She was lead counsel
for the City of Boerne,
Texas, in Boerne v. Flores,
521 U.S. 507 (1997), before
the Supreme Court in its
seminal federalism and
church/state case holding
the Religious Freedom
Restoration Act
unconstitutional. Professor
Hamilton clerked for
Associate Justice Sandra Day
O’Connor of the United
States Supreme Court and
Judge Edward R. Becker of
the United States Court of
Appeals for the Third
Circuit. She received her
J.D., magna cum laude, from
the University of
Pennsylvania Law School,
where she served as
Editor-in-Chief of the
University of Pennsylvania
Law Review. She also
received her M.A. in
philosophy and M.A., high
honors, in English from
Pennsylvania State
University, and her B.A.,
summa cum laude, from
Vanderbilt University.
Steven Hassan, M.Ed., LMHC,
NCC, has been involved
in educating the public
about mind control and
destructive cults since
1976. He actively counsels
mind-control victims and
their families and is a
licensed mental health
counselor, holding a
master’s degree in
counseling psychology from
Cambridge College. He is the
author of Releasing the
Bonds: Empowering People to
Think for Themselves
(Freedom of Mind Press,
2000). In 1988, he authored
the critically acclaimed
book Combating Cult Mind
Control: The #1 Best-selling
Guide to Protection, Rescue
and Recovery from
Destructive Cults (Park
Street Press). He is
Director of the Freedom of
Mind Resource Center.
(center@freedomofmind.com)
Rosanne Henry, M.A., L.P.C.,
is a psychotherapist
practicing in Littleton,
Colorado. For the past
fifteen years she has been
active in the counter-cult
movement, working closely
with the original CAN and
ICSA. Her private practice
specializes in the treatment
of cult survivors and their
families. She is a former
member of Kashi Ranch.
(rosanne@cultrecover.com),
www.cultrecover.com
James D. Herbert, Ph.D.,
is a clinical psychologist
specializing in
cognitive-behavior therapy
(including newer mindfulness
and acceptance-based models
of behavior therapy), mood
and anxiety disorders, the
distinction between science
and pseudoscience in
psychology and related
fields, and the promotion of
evidence-based practice in
mental health. He is
Professor of Psychology and
Director of the Anxiety
Treatment and Research
Program at Drexel
University, where he also
serves as Associate Dean of
the College of Arts and
Sciences. He also served for
several years as Director of
Clinical Training of
Drexel’s Ph.D. Program in
Clinical Psychology. He has
received numerous
professional honors and
awards. He is a Fellow of
the Academy of Cognitive
Therapy as well as the
Commission for Scientific
Medicine and Mental Health,
and is active in several
professional organizations.
He currently serves as
Associate Editor of two
professional psychology
journals.
Reiko Higashi, Esq., has
been an associate at the
Tokyo Liberte Law Office
since Oct 2006. Her
apprenticeship under Masaki
Kito has led her to join the
National Network of Lawyers
Against Spiritual Sales.
Jane
Irvine, ACSW, LCSW,
Director, Community Outreach
and Education, Arizona
Attorney General's Office.
Since 2003, Ms. Irvine has
served as a Senior Policy
Advisor for Arizona’s
Attorney General responsible
for policy initiatives,
grants, conferences, and
community outreach and
education for the Attorney
General’s Office, with a
specific focus on protecting
children from Internet
predators, consumer
protection, domestic
violence, Safety Net
outreach to polygamous
communities of Colorado City
and Hildale, and
methamphetamine
prevention. During the
course of the past five
years, Ms. Irvine has made
more than 75 trips to
Colorado City to work with
Arizona and Utah law
enforcement and human
services agencies as well as
advocates to implement the
Safety Net Initiative. Prior
to joining the Attorney
General’s Office, Ms. Irvine
headed the Program
Consultation Consortium,
providing consultation on
program development,
administration, and
evaluation to human-service
agencies in the areas of
maternal and child health,
child welfare, and juvenile
justice. In addition to Ms.
Irvine's consulting
experience, she held several
administrative positions
with Arizona Human Service
organizations, including the
Arizona Department of
Economic Security,
Administration for Children
Youth and Families,
Governor's Office for
Children, and Children's
Action Alliance. Work in
these positions focused on
foster care policy,
development of an
independent living program
for older youth in foster
care, legislation to enable
families involved with
children in foster care to
receive housing assistance,
services for runaway and
homeless youth, and
establishment of the Child
Fatality Review Teams. Ms
Irvine holds a
master’s degree in social
work from Arizona State
University.
(jane.irvine@azag.gov)
Juliet J. Jacobs is a
retired educator who taught
at the pre-school,
elementary, and university
levels. She obtained her BSE
from Miami University and
Masters in Educational
Counseling from California
State University, Hayward.
Walter I. Jacobs (BSE in
English from Miami
University) is a retired
management consultant.
Josep Maria Jansà, M.D.,
is a medical doctor
specializing in public
health and preventive
medicine. Since interning at
ICSA in 1985, he has worked
with AIS (Assistance and
Investigation on Social
Addictions), where he has
assisted families, group
members, and former group
members. At present he is
the medical director of AIS,
a cult clinic specialized in
the treatment of
cult-related effects, which
has dealt with more than
2,000 patients since January
1986. Dr. Jansà has
participated in research
initiatives and issued
various publications on this
topic. He also works as the
head of the Addictions
Department at the Public
Health Agency of Barcelona.
http://www.ais-sectas.org
Federico Javaloy, Ph.D.,
has been a Professor of
Social Psychology at the
University of Barcelona
since 1990. His doctoral
thesis (1983) was on the
Psychology of Fanaticism.
From that emerged a book (Introduction
to the Study of Fanaticism,
1984) and diverse articles.
He has been particularly
interested in cults and
fundamentalist fanaticism, a
subject to which he has
devoted himself in different
articles in magazines. He
obtained research assistance
to study cults at the
University of California,
Berkeley, in 1988. The study
of fanaticism and cultism
has led him to analyze these
phenomena in terms of social
movements, on which he has
published a book,
Collective Behavior and
Social Movements (2001).
(fjavaloy@ub.edu)
Gillie Jenkinson is a
Director of Hope Valley
Counselling Limited and
specializes in offering
counseling and psychotherapy
to those who have left cults
or coercive
relationships/groups and
those who have been abused.
Ms. Jenkinson is a trained
Counselor (Advanced Diploma
in Pastoral Counselling) and
an MA Gestalt Psychotherapy.
She is accredited and
registered with United
Kingdom Council for
Psychotherapy (UKCP) and a
member of British
Association for Counselling
and Psychotherapy (MBACP).
In 1999 she did a month-long
internship at Wellspring,
Ohio and is returning summer
2008. Ms. Jenkinson was a
member of The Love of God
Community, a Bible-based
cult, in the 1970s. She has
15 years’ experience working
with survivors of rape and
sexual abuse, and ex-cult
members, as well as with
clients with other issues.
She is currently training as
a supervisor and supervises
a number of individuals who
work with rape, sexual
abuse, and ex-cult members.
She is listed as a
supervisor with Safe Passage
Foundation. Ms. Jenkinson
runs an ex-member support
and education group in
London She has presented her
research, “What Helps
Ex-cult Members Recover from
an Abusive Cult Experience,"
at ICSA Conferences in
Madrid (2005) and Denver
(2006), and presented a
paper in Brussels 2007. Her
Website is
www.hopevalleycounselling.com.
Alicia Juskewycz is a
Ph.D. student in sociology
at Princeton University,
where she studies the social
construction and everyday
uses of the knowledge
category of religion. She is
currently working on a
number of projects in which
the case of culturally
marginal and separatist
groups can help inform
understanding of the broader
social use of the idea of
“religion,” while sharpened
attention to the latter can
likewise reshape
understandings of concrete
extreme cases and political
problems. She was raised in
the Transcendental
Meditation movement in Iowa.
Randy Kandel, Ph.D., J.D.,
is an attorney practicing in
New York, an anthropologist,
and Adjunct Professor at
John Jay College of Criminal
Justice of the City
University of New York. Her
numerous publications
include the new book
Family Law: Essential Terms
and Concepts (Aspen Law
& Business 2000), and
“Litigating the Cult-Related
Child Custody Case”
(originally published in
Cultic Studies Journal,
4(2)/5(1) and
republished in Cults &
Consequences: The Definitive
Handbook (Commission on
Cults and Missionaries of
the Jewish Federation
Council of Greater Los
Angeles, 1987). Her
current research focuses on
the human rights of
children, youths, and
families in Europe and the
United States.
(rkandel@jjay.cuny.edu)
Joseph F. Kelly,
a thought-reform consultant
since 1988, spent 14 years
in two different Eastern
meditation groups. He has
lectured extensively on
cult-related topics, and is
a co-author of “Ethical
Standards for Thought Reform
Consultants,” published in
ICSA’s Cultic Studies
Journal.
Stephen A. Kent, Ph.D.,
Professor of Sociology,
University of Alberta,
teaches undergraduate and
graduate courses on the
sociology of religion and
the sociology of sectarian
groups. He has published
articles in numerous
sociology and religious
study journals. His 2001
book, From Slogans to
Mantras: Social Protest and
Religious Conversion in the
Late Vietnam War Era,
was selected by Choice:
Current Reviews for Academic
Libraries as an "Outstanding
Academic Title for 2002."
Dennis King is an author
and journalist who has
studied cults for over 30
years, with a specialty in
political cults. He is the
author of the critically
acclaimed Lyndon LaRouche
and the New American Fascism
and runs the Website
http://lyndonlarouchewatch.org.
Masaki Kito, Esq., is a
founding partner of LINK LAW
OFFICE Kito and Partners in
Tokyo, established in 2001.
He is one of the leading
public commentators on cults
in Japan, making frequent
appearances in the various
media, including TV and
radio programs on NHK
(Japan’s national public
station) and commercial
stations, major newspapers,
and magazines. He has been
an advocate for the victims
of various cultic groups for
over 17 years in Tokyo. He
is the former vice
chairperson of Consumer
Affairs Committee of the
Japan Federation of Bar
Associations (JFBA). He is a
member of the National
Network of Lawyers against
Spiritual Sales, Legal Team
Representing Victims of Aum
Shinrikyo, and the Japan
Society for Cult Prevention
and Recovery (JSCPR).
He is
also renowned as a
specialist of the broader
range of consumer affairs
and also a specialist of
issues concerning the
Internet. As an expert, he
is frequently invited to
meetings and study sessions
hosted by Diet members of
both majority and minority
parties (Liberal Democratic
Party and The Democratic
Party of Japan). He is a
member of the meeting on
e-consumer issues hosted by
the current Cabinet Office,
and also has been appointed
as Consumer Education
Specialist by the Cabinet
Office since FY 2005.
Currently, he serves as the
lead lawyer and the vice
lead lawyer in major
consumer cases: Lead
Lawyer, Legal Team for
Consumer Damages on the
Internet. Lead Lawyer, Legal
Team for the Victims of
Kinmirai-tsushin Ltd. (a
case of over $360 million
consumer investment scam).
Vice Lead Lawyer, Legal Team
for the Victims of L&G (a
case of over $910 million
consumer investment scam in
the form of quasi MLM
scheme). Lead Lawyer, Legal
Team for the Victims of the
Shinsekai Group (a case of
around $90 million spiritual
sales by a cultic group that
runs faith healing salons in
major cities in Japan). Vice
Lead Lawyer, Legal Team for
Victims of Hounohana
Sampogyo (total damage of
$770 million spiritual sales
by a religious cultic
group). With all of his
expertise and from the
citizens’ perspective, he
has been actively working on
very broad issues of
consumer damages in general,
including and not limited to
cults, religion, the
Internet, human rights of
victims, and child abuse.
Michael
Kropveld
is Executive Director
and Founder of Info-Cult,
the largest resource centre
of its kind in Canada.
Since 1980 Mike has assisted
thousands of former members
and members of "cults," "new
religious movements," and
other groups, and their
families. He has spoken, in
Canada and internationally,
to hundreds of professional
and community groups on
cultic phenomena. He is also
involved in counselling and
is consulted on the issue
by, among others, mental
health professionals, law
enforcement agencies, and
media. He has served as an
expert witness on
cult-related criminal and
civil cases. He has appeared
on hundreds of radio and
television programs locally,
nationally, and
internationally. In 1992 he
was awarded the 125
Commemorative Medal
"in recognition of
significant contribution to
compatriots, community and
to Canada" by the Government
of Canada. He co-authored
the book The Cult
Phenomenon: How Groups
Function (March 2006),
and its French version (Le
phénomène des sectes:
L'étude du fonctionnement
des groupes). Both
versions are downloadable at
no charge from
www.infocult.org, or can be
purchased in print format.
In 2007 he received the
Herbert L. Rosedale Award
from the International
Cultic Studies Association
(ICSA) “in
recognition of leadership in
the effort to preserve and
protect individual freedom.”
Tel.: (514)
274-2333;
infosecte@qc.aibn.com
Janja Lalich, Ph.D. is
Professor of Sociology at
California State University,
Chico, where in 2007 she was
awarded the Professional
Achievement Honor. Her
research and writing is on
cults and controversial
authoritarian groups, with a
focus on charismatic
authority, power relations,
ideology and social control,
and issues related to
family, gender, and
sexuality. Dr. Lalich is
consulted regularly by
former cult members and
their families; legal,
educational, and
mental-health professionals;
government agencies; and the
media. Her most recent book,
Take Back Your Life:
Recovering from Cults and
Abusive Relationships
(2006), is a general
introduction to cults with a
focus on recovery.
Bounded Choice: True
Believers and Charismatic
Cults (2004) presents a
new theoretical framework
for understanding cult
commitment and behavior, and
is based on a comparative
study of Heaven’s Gate,
which committed collective
suicide in 1997, and the
Democratic Workers Party, a
radical left-wing political
cult (of which Lalich was a
leading member for more than
10 years). Other works
include being guest editor
of Women Under the
Influence: A Study of
Women’s Lives in Totalist
Groups (special issue of
the Cultic Studies
Journal 14(1),
1997); coauthor with
Margaret Thaler Singer of
“Crazy” Therapies: What Are
They? Do They Work?
(1996) and Cults in Our
Midst (1995); and
coauthor with M. Tobias of
Captive Hearts, Captive
Minds: Freedom and Recovery
from Cults and Abusive
Relationships (1994).
(JLalich@csuchico.edu;
http://www.cultresearch.org)
Michael D. Langone, Ph.D.,
a counseling psychologist,
is ICSA’s Executive
Director. He was the founder
editor of Cultic Studies
Journal (CSJ), the
editor of CSJ’s
successor, Cultic Studies
Review, and editor of
Recovery from Cults. He
is co-author of Cults:
What Parents Should Know
and Satanism and
Occult-Related Violence:
What You Should Know.
Dr. Langone has spoken and
written widely about cults.
In 1995, he received the Leo
J. Ryan Award from the
"original" Cult Awareness
Network and was honored as
the Albert V. Danielsen
visiting Scholar at Boston
University.
(mail@icsamail.com)
Olena Lishchynska,
candidate of psychological
sciences, is a Docent Senior
Research Worker of the
Institute of Social and
Political Psychology of APN
Ukraine. She does research
on cultic personality
dependency and organizes and
participates in round tables
and seminars devoted to
providing psychological help
to people harmed by cultic
dependency.
Ronald N. Loomis has
been educating others about
cults for some 25 years at
over 100 colleges and
universities throughout the
United States and Canada. He
is a Past President of the
original Cult Awareness
Network (CAN), was a
founding member of the
Steering Committee of the
International Cult Education
Program (ICEP), was Chair of
the Interim Planning
Committee (IPC), which
created the Leo J. Ryan
Education Foundation
(LJREF), and the Cult
Information and Resource
Center (CIRC), (CULTINFO).
In 1999, he served as a
principle expert witness for
the Legislative Task Force
on Cults in Maryland. He has
been cited in such
publications as The New
York Times, The Chronicle of
Higher Education, The
Congressional Quarterly, The
Christian Science Monitor,
The Toronto Sun and
Newsweek Magazine. He
has been interviewed by the
Canadian Broadcasting
Company (CBC), The Today
Show at the request of NBC
News, The Discovery Channel,
ABC Productions, and Current
Affair. He is featured in
the educational video,
Cults, Saying No Under
Pressure, and he
authored a chapter in the
book Cults on Campus.
He has been an expert
advisor to The Roberts Group
Parents Network (TRGPN)
since it was founded in
1997. (rloomis07@SNET.NET)
Edward Antrim Lottick, M.D.,
has been a cultic studies
student for 18 years. He
retired from 35 years of
active medical practice in
2000. Since then he has
completed four years of
advanced French at King’s
College in Wilkes-Barre, PA,
and has taught an advanced
psychology elective on
American Cults at the
college every other year for
the past eight years. In
1992, he surveyed 5,400
Pennsylvania physicians
about their personal and
professional experience with
cults; in 2004, he surveyed
3,000 Pennsylvania
psychologists regarding
similar experience; and in
2007, he surveyed over 1,000
Pennsylvania legislators,
district attorneys, and
judges regarding similar
experience. Two years ago,
he published “The Forgotten
Freedom,” The Torch,
79(3), 26-30, 2006, and
is working on a book on a
related topic. He recently
translated, from French to
English, the legislation on
fraudulent abuse of
vulnerable persons
introduced in 2006 to the
Belgian Parliament. He is
also active on a number of
boards. He recently
discovered he is listed
fairly accurately when last
checked on Wikipedia under
“Edward Lottick.”
Sylvia Mahr, LCSW, is
currently living and working
in western Montana. She was
born and raised in the LDS
church until the age of ten,
when her parents joined the
fundamentalist polygamist
group known as the AUB,
Apostolic United Brethren.
She became a second wife
after the death of her first
husband. After twelve years
of living polygamy, she left
this marriage. She went back
to school and graduated form
the University of Montana
with a bachelor’s degree in
social work. She then went
on to get her master’s
degree at Walla Walla
College. She has been a LCSW
since 2002, as well as a
Mental Health Professional,
implementing community
mental-health commitments.
She has extensive experience
in working with children and
families. She is currently
working with children,
families, adolescents,
adults, veterans,
relationship issues and
grief, loss, trauma, and
anger management classes,
and so on. She works for the
community mental health
center in her area and has a
successful part-time private
practice in Stevensville and
Hamilton Montana. None of
her children is living
polygamy, and her children
have good relationships with
their polygamist relatives.
Sylvia’s primary concerns
regarding polygamy are the
complexities of families and
women who try to leave
polygamy, and the
difficulties encountered in
trying to integrate into
mainstream society. She has
been a board member to
Tapestry Against Polygamy
since 2000.
Cathleen A. Mann, Ph.D.,
has extensive legal
experience consulting and
testifying in cult-related
matters, working with
attorneys on all related
aspects of legal cases. She
has been qualified as an
expert in a court of law in
seven states in the areas of
child custody and cults,
cult characteristics, short-
and long-term effects of
cult involvement, fraud and
deception in cults,
psychological
research involving
cults, undue influence, and
related issues. Dr.
Mann worked on her
first cult-related legal
case in 1999, and has also
worked with former cult
members and their families
in counseling since
1995. Dr. Mann also conducts
investigations into
high-interest groups and has
written numerous
investigative reports.
Joyce Martella, M.A.,
was raised in
a pseudo-Christian cultic
group in Northern
California. The estranged
daughter of the group's
prophet-leader, she left
after 24 years in 1984 and
has been cut off from her
many siblings and relatives
there. She is currently a
counselor and
administrator at a
Batterer's Intervention
Program and pursuing
a doctorate in depth
psychology. She is also an
active speaker and
facilitator in trauma and
cult recovery.
Michael Martella, MFT,
is a licensed family
therapist. He was raised in
a Bible-based cult for 24
years, and left in 1984. He
has lectured, written, and
facilitated in cult survivor
recovery. He also provides
counseling and expert
training in domestic
violence treatment in San
Diego, California.
Paul
R. Martin, Ph.D., a
former member of Great
Commission International
(currently called Great
Commission Association of
Churches), is a psychologist
and Director of the
Wellspring Retreat and
Resource Center in Albany,
Ohio, a residential
rehabilitation center for
ex-cult members that has
treated well over 900
clients. Dr. Martin is
author of Cult-Proofing
Your Kids. He has
written numerous articles on
cults, including several
contributions to Cultic
Studies Journal, such as
“Pseudo Identity and the
Treatment of Personality
Change in Victims of
Captivity and Cults” (Vol.
13. No. 2). He has been
interviewed by many
newspapers and radio and TV
stations concerning cults.
He has served as an expert
witness in cult cases around
the world, and was most
recently the lead expert
witness for the Lee Boyd
Malvo trial (the Virginia
sniper case) and testified
in the Zacarious Moussoui
case (the 20th hijacker) on
the process of terrorist
recruitment). He was the
2006 ICSA recipient of the
Herbert L. Rosedale Award
for leadership in preserving
and protecting individual
freedom. He is currently
working on a book about cult
recovery, and doing research
on the nature and extent of
cult harm.
http://wellspringretreat.org,
Paul@Wellspringretreat.org
Javier Martín-Peña, is a
graduate of psychology and
Ph.D. candidate in the
Social Psychology Department
at the University of
Barcelona (Spain). He is
currently working on the
harassment and
psychological violence of
the ETA Terrorist Network in
the Basque Country.
He is a researcher in the
project “analysis and
assessment of the control
strategies, manipulation and
psychological violence used
to the exclusion or
subjection to one's will”
(SEJ2004-01299-PSIC)
coordinated by Dr. Álvaro
Rodríguez-Carballeira.
(javier_martin@ub.edu)
Jose
Manuel Martinez Garcia
has a Ph.D. in psychology
and is a lecturer in the
Social Psychology and
Methodology Department at
Universidad Autónoma de
Madrid. He has obtained the
following: 2nd Award of the
8th Edition of Research
Awards of the Economic and
Social Council of Madrid
Community from the Autonomic
Community of Madrid (2006);
1st Award “Virgilio Palacio”
(2004). He is the author of
national and international
publications about risk
behaviors, juvenile
violence, and organ
donation, including
co-author of “Risk
behaviors: violence, sexual
risk behavior and illegal
drug consumption among
youth” (1998) and “Organ
donation and family
decision-taking within the
Spanish donation system”
(2001), among others.
Maria Jesus Martin Lopez
has a Ph.D. in psychology
and is a Researcher at the
Social Psychology and
Methodology Department of
Universidad Autónoma de
Madrid. She has obtained the
following awards: 2nd
Award of the 8th
Edition of Research Awards
of the Economic and Social
Council of Madrid Community
(2006); 1st Award
“Virgilio Palacio” (2004); 2nd
National Award of Educative
Research (Modality: Ph.D.
thesis), from the Education
and Science Ministry (2003).
She is author of national
and international
publications about risk
behavior, juvenile violence,
and organ donation. She is
author of “Juvenile
extra-group violence” (2005)
and co-author of “Risk
behaviors: violence, sexual
risk behavior and illegal
drug consumption among the
youth” (1998), along with
others.
Jean
Mercer is a
developmental psychologist
with a Ph.D. from Brandeis
University. She is Professor
Emerita at Richard Stockton
College of New Jersey. She
is the author or co-author
of a number of books and
articles discussing a
cult-like "child
psychotherapy" (Attachment
Therapy) that has caused
child deaths and injuries.
Recently, she served as an
expert witness in the trial
of a California woman who
had kept three adopted
children in cages and who
attributed her actions to
advice from a caseworker who
provided her with Attachment
Therapy materials. Dr.
Mercer is a member of the
boards of two nonprofit
groups, Advocates for
Children in Therapy and the
New Jersey Association for
Infant Mental Health.
Paul
Murphy has been the
Director of Communications
and Policy for the Utah
Attorney General’s Office
since February 2001. He is
also the coordinator for the
Safety Net Committee, a
coalition of government
agencies, nonprofit
organizations, and
interested individuals who
are working to open up
communication, break down
barriers, and coordinate
efforts to give people
associated with the practice
of polygamy equal access to
justice, safety, and
services. He helped develop
the AMBER Alert and
Endangered Person Advisory
for Utah and is currently
the state coordinator for
the Utah AMBER Alert Plan.
In 2007, the U.S. Department
of Justice honored him with
the AMBER Alert Coordinator
Award. Murphy has 16 years’
experience reporting on the
legal system for television
stations in Utah and Texas.
He is the past president of
the Utah Chapter of the
Society of Professional
Journalists. He has been
honored many times by the
Society of Professional
Journalists and the Utah
Broadcasters Association.
Murphy is also a frequent
speaker and panelist about
the law, media, polygamy,
and child abduction issues.
He has a bachelor’s degree
from Utah State University
and did post-graduate work
at the University of Utah.
Stephen Bruce Mutch PhD,
LLB, (UNSW) is a lawyer
of the Supreme Court of New
South Wales and Honorary
Associate and Lecturer in
the Department of Politics
and International Relations,
Macquarie University,
Sydney, where he convenes or
teaches in courses on public
policy, Australian foreign
policy, international
political violence, and the
international system. He
also conducts a colloquium
on Religion, Secularism and
the State for the Macquarie
Global Leadership Program. A
former member of the NSW
Legislative Council (State
Senate) and then the
Australian House of
Representatives, Stephen
served in parliament from
1988 to 1998. His doctoral
thesis is entitled Cults,
Religion and Public Policy.
Dr Mutch is also the Patron
of Cult Information and
Family Support Inc..(CIFS),
a Sydney-based support and
information network for
those with family members
and friends in high demand
groups.
Shuji Nakamura, Esq., is
a partner of the Niigata
Godo Law Office. He has
practiced law for over 35
years and is the former
president of the Niigata Bar
Association and the former
vice president of the Japan
Federation of Bar
Associations. He is a member
of the National Network of
Lawyers against Spiritual
Sales and has won several
significant judgments
concerning illegal
proselytizing by the
Moonies, which is only a
part of his actual
achievements.
Kimiaki Nishida, Ph.D.,
a social psychologist in
Japan, is Associate
Professor at the University
of Shizuoka and a Director
of the Japan Cult Recovery
Council. He is a leading
Japanese cultic studies
scholar and the editor of
Japanese Journal of Social
Psychology. His studies
on psychological
manipulation by cults were
awarded prizes by several
academic societies in Japan.
And he has been summoned to
some courts for explaining
"cult mind control."
(nishidak@u-shizuoka-ken.ac.jp)
Kimberlee D. Norris, J.D.,
is an attorney from the firm
of Love & Norris in Fort
Worth, Texas whose practice
is limited to sexual
molestation litigation
nationwide. She presently
represents men, women, and
children who were sexually
molested while attending
Jehovah’s Witnesses
congregations throughout the
United States. Additionally,
her firm represents abuse
survivors victimized in
cults, children’s
organizations, and
children’s homes. Ms. Norris
has lectured extensively
concerning the impact and
effect of sexual molestation
on children. She also serves
as a child safety consultant
for churches and
organizations whose
activities involve children.
She can be reached by email
at:
kdnorris@lovenorris.com.,
www.lovenorris.com, or
www.MinistrySafe.com.
Piotr Tomasz Nowakowski,
Ph.D., born in 1974,
doctor of pedagogy;
Assistant Professor at The
John Paul II Catholic
University of Lublin –
Off-Campus Faculty of Social
Sciences in Stalowa Wola
(Poland). Areas of
scientific activity:
philosophy of education,
aretology, pedagogy of mass
media, pedagogy of
resocialization; author of
headings in the Universal
Encyclopedia of Philosophy
(published by: Polskie
Towarzystwo Tomasza z
Akwinu). Books include:
Sekty – co każdy powinien
wiedzieć (1999), in
English: Sects – what one
should know; Sekty –
oblicza werbunku (2001),
in English: Sects – faces
of recruitment; Fast
food dla mózgu, czyli
telewizja i okolice
(2002), in English: Fast
food for mind, i.e.,
television and surroundings;
Modele człowieka
propagowane w czasopismach
młodzieżowych. Analiza
antropologiczno-etyczna
(2004), in English: The
models of a man propagated
in magazines for young
people. Anthropological and
ethical analysis; The
phenomenon of cults from a
scientific perspective
(editor, 2007).
nowakowski@maternus.pl
Dr.
Adesoji Oni,
a Nigerian, was a Fulbright
Junior Visiting Scholar
to
Southern Illinois
University, Carbondale,
U.S.A. from 2003-2004. Dr.
Oni is a member of several
professional associations at
national and international
levels. He is the current
Public Relation Officer of
the Fulbright Alumni
Association of Nigeria, the
Secretary of Higher
Education Research and
Policy Network (HERPNET)
Nigeria. and currently the
associate editor of the
National Association of
Sociologists of Education
(Nigeria). His area of
research focus includes:
social problems in
education, social change and
education, and
social
deviances/social
disorganizations in
education with a
particular focus on
students’ secret cults
in Nigeria,
and democracy in education.
Dr. Oni
has published widely.
His academic papers appeared
in reputable journals based
in USA, India, South Africa
UNESCO, Botswana,
Turkey, and
Zimbabwe, while some are
still undergoing review
across the globe. Dr. Oni
presently lectures in the
Department of Educational
Foundations, University of
Lagos, Nigeria, where he
teaches Sociology of
Education and Foundational
studies in Education.
Lindsay M. Orchowski, M.S.,
is a doctoral candidate at
Ohio University. Her
research interests include
risk factors and correlates
of verbal, physical, and
sexual violence, as well as
the development and
evaluation of violence
prevention and
risk-reduction programming.
Currently, Ms. Orchowski is
working with Dr. Paul Martin
of Wellsprings Retreat and
Resource center to examine
predictors of treatment
outcome among previous
members of coercive groups,
as well as the prevalence
and correlates of childhood
trauma among individuals in
1-to-1 coercive
relationships and coercive
groups.
Marie-Andrée Pelland, Ph.D.,
received her doctorate from
the School of Criminology of
the Université de Montréal.
Her dissertation is entitled
Allegations of Illegal
Conduct: Effect on Social
Reality of a Community of
Canadian Polygamous Mormons.
Miguel Perlado, Ph.D.,
Psychologist.
Psychotherapist (associated
member of FEAP). Candidate
of the Institute of
Psychoanalysis of Barcelona
(SEP-IPA). Member of
iPsi—Psychoanalytic Training
Center. Member of Attention
and Research on Social
Addictions (AIS). Mr.
Perlado has specialized in
cult-related problems,
helping families, current
members, and ex-members of
cults. He published
different professional
articles on the subject and
organized numerous seminars
for mental-health
professionals.
Monica Pignotti received
her master’s in social work
(MSW) from Fordham
University and is currently
working on her Ph.D. in
social work at Florida State
University. She has been
working with people in cults
and their loved ones since
1989 and has an interest in
both clinical practice and
research. Additionally, she
has worked on research teams
at Saint Vincents Hospital
and the National Multiple
Sclerosis Society in New
York City, and has clinical
experience working with
adults and children with
anxiety disorders, PTSD, and
learning and developmental
disabilities. She also has a
strong interest in critical
thinking and analysis of
claims made by proponents of
novel unvalidated therapies
and the authoritarian,
cult-like structure of some
of their organizations. She
has numerous publications on
such therapies, including a
controlled study on a
therapy, Thought Field
Therapy.
Diana Pletts, M.A.,
directs and coordinates The
Phoenix Project, which
provides a time, space, and
place for cult survivors to
present their cult- and
recovery-related artwork.
Diana is working, herself,
to regain and work out her
own artistic vision, which
was abandoned when she
became a member of the Path,
a charismatic Christian
End-Times group. Currently
working on the production of
artwork for a one-woman show
to express her own group
involvement, Diana has
spoken on cults at colleges
and churches, on the radio,
and at Chautauqua
Institution in New York
State. Those interested in
participating in the Phoenix
Project, or in obtaining
more information about the
Project, are invited to
e-mail her at
exmemberartwork@yahoo.com.
Fred
Poole is the founder and
co-director of the Authentic
Writing Workshops. For over
thirty years Fred Poole was
a writer and journalist
traveling throughout the
world into dangerous
territories —from Haiti to
Laos, from Beirut to Angola,
from Bangkok to Cuba —and
writing about it. During
these years he published
over a dozen books,
including a novel Where
Dragons Dwell (Harper)
and the exposé,
Revolution in the
Philippines: The U.S. in a
Hall of Cracked Mirrors
(McGraw-Hill). In the
mid-eighties, responding to
a persistent sense of
dissatisfaction, Poole
allowed his life to take a
more spontaneous and
introspective turn. His
explorations led him into
years as an art student in
New York City, followed by
progressive theological
studies and a master’s
degree at Boston College.
Drawing from his most
meaningful experiences as a
writer, teacher, artist, and
seeker, Fred Poole created
the Authentic Writing
Workshops in 1993. Since
that time he has led
workshops every week both in
Woodstock and New York City,
offered programs in colleges
and retreat centers
throughout the Northeast,
performed his work on
stage—and writes almost
daily about writing and life
at
FredPooleOnWriting.blogspot.com.
Clara Porrúa, is a
professor and Ph.D.
candidate in the Social
Psychology Department at the
University of Barcelona
(Spain). She is a researcher
in the project “Analysis and
assessment of the control
strategies, manipulation and
psychological violence used
to the exclusion or
subjection of one's will”
(SEJ2004-01299-PSIC),
coordinated by Dr. Álvaro
Rodríguez Carballeira. Her
research is about the
psychological abuse in
couple violence.
(claraporrua@ub.edu)
María del Mar Ramos-Lorente
, Ph.D., is
Assistant Professor of the
Department of Sociology at
the University of Granada,
Spain. She received a
Special European Mention for
her Ph.D. thesis, “New
Religious Movements in
Spain: Context and Analysis
of the Affiliation and
Disaffiliation Process of
their Adherents” [“Nuevos
Movimientos Religiosos en
España: contexto y análisis
del proceso de afiliación y
desvinculación de sus
miembros”]. She has been a
visiting research fellow in
Germany at the Inst. für
Systematische Theology,
Arbeitsbereich
Religiongeschichte,
Albert-Ludwigs Universität
Freiburg, Friburgo de
Brisgobia and at the
Religionsvetenska in the
Swedish University, Åbo
Akademi University. She has
participated in numerous
research projects and has
approximately thirty
publications and numerous
conference presentations.
Núria Ribas Fitó, M.D.,
Ph.D., is a medical
doctor specializing in
public health and
epidemiology. She is
currently developing her
work as an epidemiologist at
AIS (Attention and Research
on Social Addictions) and is
a postgraduate student of a
Master of Arts in Dance
Movement Therapy
(Universitat Autònoma de
Barcelona).
(nribasf@hotmail.com)
Álvaro
Rodríguez-Carballeira, Ph.D.,
is Professor
of Social Psychology, Social
Movements, and Legal
Psychology at the University
of Barcelona (Spain). Since
1999 he has been Director of
the Social Psychology
Department. During the
1980s, before and after a
1985 internship at ICSA, he
worked with families and
victims affected by cult
membership. He then worked
as a professor at the
University of Barcelona,
where he completed a
doctoral dissertation in
1991 on psychology of
coercive persuasion. During
recent years he has extended
this line of research,
linking it to other contexts
(e.g., domestic, work,
school) where manipulation
and psychological violence
may occur.
His
publications include the
book,
El Lavado de
Cerebro: Psicología de la
Persuasión Coercitiva.
(Brainwashing: Psychology
of Coercive Persuasion).
Joshua Rosenblum, M.A.,
completed a master of arts
degree (2007) in sociology
from McGill University in
Montreal and is currently
working in marketing
communications as a Research
Executive at Millward Brown
Canada. While earning his
honours bachelor of arts at
the University of Toronto
(2002-2006), Josh studied in
the sociology specialist
program, which offered more
intensive courses in theory
and quantitative and
qualitative research methods
than would have been
available in a standard
major. Graduating on the
Dean’s List (top 10%) with
high distinction, he also
won a number of other
academic awards, including
highest grade point average
in the sociology specialist
program for both 2005 and
2006. Last year Josh
dedicated the Canada
Graduate Scholarship awarded
from the Social Science and
Humanities Research Council
of Canada toward his
master's degree. For his
graduate research project,
Josh performed a qualitative
study analyzing how
recruitment leaders from
three cult and
conspiracy-theory movements
convey the value of their
beliefs to diverse audiences
of potential recruits.
Throughout his university
education, Josh has taken a
leadership role in political
activism on campus, becoming
president of a student group
at the University of Toronto
and then founding and
presiding over its new
chapter at McGill the
following year. Inspired by
his own experiences as a
young adult leader,
observing the discursive
strategies people use to
communicate persuasively,
Josh discusses techniques
employed by cult recruiters
to cultivate a sense of
identification among
newcomers.
Colleen Russell, LMFT, CGP,
is a licensed marriage and
family therapist and a
certified group
psychotherapist. She
specializes in cult (or
high-demand group) recovery
and education in addition to
providing general
counseling, psychotherapy,
and consultations for
individuals, couples,
families, and groups in
office and by phone. She is
also a former member of an
“Eastern”/ “New Age” high
demand group. She
facilitates an ongoing
psychodynamic/educational
Cult Recovery Support Group
for former members and an
8-week Support Group for
SGAs (second-generation
adults, those born and/or
raised in cults or
high-demand groups). As a
Certified Group
Psychotherapist (CGP) she
has met nationally accepted
criteria of education,
training and experience in
group psychotherapy. In
addition to her involvement
with the International
Cultic Studies Association,
she is a clinical member of
the California Association
of Marriage and Family
Therapists, the San
Francisco Psychotherapy
Research Group, the American
Group Psychotherapy
Association, and the
Northern California Group
Psychotherapy Society.
Further information may be
obtained by phone
(415.383.7721) or toll free
(1.800.619.5705) or through
her websites at:
http://www.colleenrussellmft.com
and
http://therapist.psychologytoday.com/35727.
Patrick Ryan, a former
member of Transcendental
Meditation, has been a
thought-reform consultant
since 1984. He designs and
implements ICSA's Internet
Website. Mr. Ryan is the
founder and former head of
TM-ex, the organization of
ex-members of TM. He has
contributed to ICSA’s book,
Recovery From Cults,
is co-author of "Ethical
Standards for Thought Reform
Consultants," and has
presented programs about
hypnosis, trance-induction
techniques, intervention
assessment, family
workshops, and religious
conflict resolution at
several ICSA workshops and
conferences.
Yoshihide Sakurai, Ph.D.,
is Professor of
Sociology, Graduate School
of Letters, Hokkaido
University, Hokkaido, Japan.
He is also an executive
board member of the Japan
Cult Recovery Council. He
has been conducting research
on the cult controversy in
Japan, especially the
Unification Church of Japan.
(http://www.hucc.hokudai.ac.jp/~n16260/eng/index.html),
(saku@let.hokudai.ac.jp)
Alan
W. Scheflin, J.D., LL.M.,
is Professor of Law at
Santa Clara University
School of Law in
California. Among his
several dozen publications
is Memory, Trauma
Treatment, and the Law
(co-authored with Daniel
Brown and D. Corydon
Hammond), for which he
received the 1999 Guttmacher
Award from the American
Psychiatric Association, one
of 11 awards he has
received. Professor Scheflin
is also the 1991 recipient
of the Guttmacher Award for
Trance on Trial (with
Jerrold Shapiro). A member
of the Editorial Advisory
Board of ICSA’s Cultic
Studies Review,
Professor Scheflin received
the 2001 American
Psychological Association,
Division 30 (Hypnosis),
Distinguished Contribution
to Professional Hypnosis
Award. This is the "highest
award that Division 30 can
bestow." He was also awarded
in 2001 The American Board
of Psychological Hypnosis,
Professional Recognition
Award. This Award was
created to honor his
achievements in promoting
the legal and ethical use of
hypnosis. Professor Scheflin
has delivered over 100
invited addresses at
professional conferences.
Daniel Shaw, LCSW, is a
psychoanalyst in private
practice in New York City
and Nyack, New York. A
former member of Siddha Yoga
from 1982 to 1994, Daniel
first attended an ICSA
conference in 1995. He has
published his
essay, "Traumatic Abuse in
Cults, A Psychoanalytic
Perspective"; and a Book
Review of The
Sullivanian/Fourth Wall
Community in the
Cultic Studies Review.
For more information, see:
www.danielshawlcsw.com;
E-mail: shawdan@aol.com
Kristen Skedgell is a
licensed clinical social
worker with a master’s of
divinity degree from Yale
Divinity School. She was a
member of The Way
International for fifteen
years (from ages fourteen
through twenty-nine.) She
has two grown children who
were half-raised in the cult
after she divorced her
husband, who was still a
member. She has recently
written a book about her
experiences, called
Losing the Way, which is
forthcoming for publication
in June, 2008. She currently
works as a psychiatric
social worker with mentally
ill male inmates in a
maximum security prison in
CT.
Lois
Svoboda, MD, is a former
family medicine physician
who has been trained in
Marriage & Family Therapy
and worked as a medical
family therapist for 23
years in Wichita, Kansas.
Since retiring to Fremont,
Nebraska four years ago, she
opened a counseling practice
and is working almost
exclusively with people who
have exited cults. In the
past year she has planned
and been responsible for a
full-day workshop for former
cult members in Omaha,
Nebraska, as well as a
one-day symposium for
medical, law enforcement,
clergy, mental-health
professionals, and the
public on Cults and Gangs in
Omaha in April of this year.
Marta Szabo, Co-Director
of the Authentic Writing
Workshops, has been a writer
and editor all her life. She
was an editor in mass-market
paperbacks, then in
magazines, interspersing
these early careers with a
serious pursuit of yoga and
meditation. She lived in an
ashram—a yogic monastery—for
over ten years, spending a
year and a half in India.
Since leaving the ashram in
2000, Marta has pursued her
own art, picking up an MFA
in creative writing from
Goddard College and
completing two book-length
memoirs as well as hundreds
of short pieces. Her on-line
book, The Guru Looked
Good, receives
over one
hundred visits a day
(the-guru-looked-good.blogspot.com),
and she is much sought after
as a skilled and
sensitive editor. In
addition to regular
Authentic Writing workshops,
Marta has brought the
program to young people,
teaching in colleges and
schools throughout the
Hudson Valley. She has
offered writing groups to
cancer survivors, young
leaders, at-risk teens, and
young men in correctional
facilities. She created "Ink
in the Air," a creative
writing radio show for WJFF,
a public radio station in
the Catskills, and
FRICTION, a biannual
journal of writing from the
Authentic Writing workshops.
She edits
AuthenticWritingStories.blogspot.com
and posts her writing
regularly at
MartaSzaboStories.blogspot.com.
Maia
Szalavitz is an
award-winning journalist who
covers health, science, and
public policy. She is the
author of Help at Any
Cost: How the
Troubled-Teen Industry Cons
Parents and Hurts Kids
(Riverhead Books, 2006) and
co-author, with Bruce Perry,
M.D., Ph.D., of The Boy
Who Was Raised as a Dog and
Other Stories from a Child
Psychiatrist’s Notebook
(Basic Books, 2007). She is
also co-author, with Dr.
Joseph Volpicelli, M.D.,
Ph.D., of the University of
Pennsylvania, of Recovery
Options: The Complete Guide:
How You and Your Loved Ones
Can Understand and Treat
Alcohol and Other Drug
Problems (John S. Wiley,
2000). She is a Senior
Fellow at Stats.org, a media
watchdog that investigates
coverage of science and
statistics. She has written
for The New York Times;
the Washington Post; Elle,
New York Magazine; New
Scientist; Newsweek; Salon,
Redbook; O, the Oprah
Magazine; and other
major publications.
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