Lois Bernard, LCSW, Therapist, Clinical Social Worker. Ms. Bernard has
specialized in the treatment of child and adolescent survivors of sexual abuse
and trauma for the past fifteen years. She will share her experience of
involvement in a one-on-one cultic relationship even as she observed the gradual
erosion of her identity from a clinical distance. She will expand upon the
similarities between the methods of mind control used in standard cult
involvement and the methods used within the more intimate setting of a one on
one cultic relationship. Implications for recovery from abusive relationships
using the principles of Steve Hassan's Strategic Interaction Approach will be
explored.
