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, 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
anthology, Children of Cults: On Healing
Spiritual Abuse, 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)
