Counseling Resources 3

Connie Mitchell, MA, NCC, LPC, is a licensed and national board-certified professional counselor and the Director of Freedom’s Hope Counseling, LLC, and a member of the International Cultic Studies International. She received a Master of Arts degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from the University of Northern Colorado in 2017. Ms. Mitchell provides group and individual counseling to adults in Northern Colorado and has professional memberships with: NBCC, ACA, CCA, Psychology Today, EMDRIA, ISST-D, ASERVIC and AGSW. She has written multidimensional intensive outpatient curriculums for survivors of sex trafficking and for domestic violence, as well as a one-day workshop for sex trafficking survivors. She is also employed at Summitstone Health Partners which is a community mental health outpatient facility providing integrated substance and mental health intake interviews, DSM-5 diagnosis, group and individual therapy. Additionally, she has provided counselor continuing education development through a 90-minute presentation titled: How Abuse Produces Similar Psychological Effect in Cults and Sex Trafficking Survivors. She has also organized a professional conference for counselors, law enforcement officers, university students, community leaders, educators, probations officers and the community-at-large titled: Undue Influence: Manipulations & Exploitation in Cults, Sex Trafficking Survivors and Gangs. Further, Ms. Mitchell facilitates counseling groups of: Women’s Trauma Recovery & Empowerment and Ending the Game [of sex trafficking]. She is currently working on articles for publication in professional journals and developing a program working with survivors of spiritual abuse. LinkedIn: ; Psychology Today:; Website: https://www.FreedomsHopeCounseling.com Email: Connie@FreedomsHopeCounseling.com Phone: 1-970-829-1968. Colorado (Fort Collins, Loveland, Greeley)

Cathrine Moestue, Cand.Psychol., grew up in Oslo, Norway in an upper-middle-class family with four siblings. While attending Folkuniversity in Stockholm (1984–85), she encountered teachers who claimed to have a program to “save starving children” and lured her to participate. The group, which drew on communist teachings, isolated her from her family and made her feel guilty for her privileged upbringing. After years of working hard to “save the world,” she became disillusioned and, after several attempts, in 1992 she successfully escaped this destructive group by running away. She worked in the advertising industry and managed a radio company before earning her degree in psychology at the university of Oslo and becoming a psychologist and eventually seeking therapy to deal with her traumatic experience. She is a psychologist in private practice in Oslo and is currently working on her memoirs. Website: www.cathrinemoestue.com Email: cathrine.moestue@gmail.com. Norway

Andrea Moore-Emmett, M.A. LMFT is a psychotherapist (Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist) in Southern California in private practice. She holds a BA in sociology and an MA in psychology. Moore-Emmett has provided therapy to youth impacted by, and affiliated with, gangs. Her specialty in private practice is focused on helping adults leaving, and in healing from, the abuses of religious/cult affiliation, past and present.  Moore-Emmett's career trajectory into mental health practice grew from her work as a journalist while living in Utah and writing about polygamist cults in that state. She authored the book, 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 is the author of several articles covering polygamist cults for various national magazines and was the researcher for the A&E documentary, Inside Polygamy. 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 and the Leadership Council on Abuse and Interpersonal Violence and the Institute on Violence, Abuse and Trauma 2008 Award for Distinguished Service and Excellence in Journalism. She also served on the Salt Lake City mayor's council, 'Bridging the Religious Divide.'  Email: andreamoore4@verizon.net Phone: 909-303-0960. California, Southern (Rancho Cucamonga)

German Muller is psychologist and executive director of the Federal Office of Sect Issues in Austria. Bundesstelle für Sektenfragen, Wollzeile 12/2/19, A-1010 Wien, Telefon: +43/ 1/ 513 04 60, Telefax: +43/ 1/ 513 04 60-30, Email: bundesstelle@sektenfragen.at, Website: www.bundesstelle-sektenfragen.at. Austria

Piotr T. Nowakowski, born in 1974, Ph.D. Hab. in social sciences, Associate Professor at the John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin – Off-Campus Faculty of Law and Social Sciences in Stalowa Wola (Poland). Areas of academic activity: social prevention, social work, pedagogy of social rehabilitation, public security, pedagogy of mass media, philosophy of education; author of headings in the Universal Encyclopedia of Philosophy (published by: Polskie Towarzystwo Tomasza z Akwinu). Books written: Sekty: co kazdy powinien wiedziec (Cults: what one should know, 1999), Sekty: oblicza werbunku (Cults: faces of recruitment, 2001), Fast food dla mózgu, czyli telewizja i okolice (Fast food for mind, i.e., television and surroundings, 2002), Modele czlowieka propagowane w wybranych czasopismach mlodziezowych: analiza antropologiczno-etyczna (Models of man propagated in selected youth magazines: the anthropological and ethical analysis, 2004). Books edited: The phenomenon of cults from a scientific perspective (2007), Sekty jako problem wspólczesnosci (Cults as a problem of contemporary reality, 2008), Higher education in Nigeria: selected aspects (2010), Wokól pigulki gwaltu (Talking about date rape drugs, 2011). Dr. Nowakowski is ICSA Today’s News Correspondent for Eastern Europe. Email: nowakowski@maternus.pl Phone: +48 604 177 396. Poland

Rachel Oblak, LCMHC, is a licensed clinical mental health counselor in the state of Vermont. She has a private practice offering insight-oriented therapy to individuals, with a special focus on working with survivors of cultic groups and those recovering from trauma and PTSD. She also works with helping professionals around issues related to job burnout, compassion fatigue, and secondary traumatic stress. She has previously been published in the International Journal of Cultic Studies regarding the counseling needs of survivors of cultic abuse and has presented at various conferences on cult recovery, trauma and PTSD, and components of effective worldview change. Website: www.racheloblak.com Email: rdoblak@gmail.com Phone: 802-238-6695. Vermont 

Judy Pardon, MEd, has been a teacher and a counselor. Since 1992, she has been Associate Director of the New England Institute of Religious Research (NEIRR) and MeadowHaven, where she has worked with former cult members, including some who have experienced profound trauma. She has also spoken widely on the subject and conducted training programs for human-service personnel. . In 2014, Ms. Pardon received, with her husband, Robert, ICSA’s Herbert L. Rosedale Award.  neirr@verizon.net.  (508) 947-9571.  Massachusetts

Robert Pardon, MDiv, ThM, is the Executive Director of the New England Institute of Religious Research (NEIRR) and MeadowHaven. During the past 10 years he has specialized in Bible-based communal groups and aberrational Christian groups. He also consults with law enforcement regarding destructive groups, and gives expert witness testimony. Both he and his wife, Judy, speak nationally and internationally on cults. Much of his work involves counseling, leading support groups, working with those born or raised in groups, and helping former members rebuild their lives. To facilitate the recovery process, MeadowHaven, a long-term rehabilitation facility, was opened in 2002. MeadowHaven can accommodate individuals or families who require long-term (up to a year) care to recover from trauma and cultic abuse. In 2014, Rev. Pardon received, with his wife, Judy, ICSA’s Herbert L. Rosedale Award. neirr@verizon.net.   (508) 947-9571.    Massachusetts

Miguel Perlado, PhD, Psychologist. Psychotherapist, training and supervisor member (associated member of the Spanish Federation of Psychotherapy Associations, FEAP-EAP). Psychoanalyst  (Spanish Society of Psychoanalysis, SEP-IPA). Member of the Board of Directors of Fundació Congrés Català en Salut Mental (FCCSM). Supervisor Member of the Forensic Psychological Institute of Barcelona (IPF). Founder and current supervisor of the Iberoamerican Association for Research on Psychological Abuse (AIIAP). Coordinator of Task Force on Cultic Deviations at the Official School of Psychologists of Catalonia (COPC). Coordinator of the Task Force on Radicalization, Fundació Congrés Català de Salut Mental. Member of the Scientific Committee of the European Federation of Centres of Research and Information on Cults (FECRIS).  He has specialized since 1999 in cult-related problems, helping more than eight hundred families, current members, and former members of cults and other victims of abusive relationships. He was himself in an occultist cult group during his adolescence. His professional expertise includes undue influence in cases of destructive one-on-one relationships, high control families, small cults, religious cults, therapy and self-improvement groups, professional abuse, institutional abuse, human trafficking, and hate and violent extremism. He also functions as a forensic specialist, having participated in more than 30 trials related to cults, in both civil and criminal fields. In 2005 ICSA awarded Mr. Perlado the Herbert L. Rosedale Award in recognition of leadership in the effort to preserve and protect individual freedom. He has been a member of ICSA for many years and has presented talks and moderated panels at ICSA conferences.  He has published a number of professional articles on the subject and has organized numerous seminars for mental health professionals in Spain. He's an associated teacher of the Master's Degree on "Transcultural Spirituality" in Barcelona (Fundación Vidal Barraquer, Ramon Llull University). He coordinated the specialized book on cults, Estudios Clínicos sobre Sectas (2004), and more recently ¡Captados! Todo lo que necesitas saber sobre las sectas (Ariel, 2020).  He has participated in hundreds of journalistic interviews at national and international level, having also advised journalists and documentaries on the topic of cults. He's the creator and webmaster of EducaSectas (www.educasectas.org) and HemeroSectas (www.hemerosectas.org), two specialized Spanish websites on cults and cult-related problems. He develops his clinical practice with former members and their families from Barcelona (Spain), attending families from Spain, Latinoamérica, and other European cities.  If you want to know more about his educational and professional background, you can check his LinkedIn Profile (https://es.linkedin.com/in/miguelperlado) or his personal website (www.miguelperlado.com). You can contact via e-mail (consulta@miguelperlado.com) or via phone number (00+34 609 161 465).   Spain

Elizabeth Perry, MEd, RPC-C was associated with a new-age spirituality community from 1985 – 2001 in Canada. When she initially detached from that group, she focused on recovering by reclaiming her autonomy, exploring the causes of her susceptibility, and resetting her life path which included upgrading her education to a Master’s Degree in Education and a Diploma in Counselling. Since 2015 she has become a Registered Professional Counsellor and supports clients around the world using culturally relevant trauma informed care via video to recover from their pasts and reclaim their futures. She specializes in recovery from relational trauma including cults, coercive control, narcissism and Adverse Childhood Experiences, as well as spiritual abuse. She incorporates wisdom accumulated through her own diverse life experiences combined with psychoeducation to help clients gain insights into their experiences with the purpose of empowering them to recover and live the lives they choose for themselves. She tailors her therapeutic approach to meet each client where they are with a consistent focus on therapeutic presence, relationship, and collaborative co-creation. Elizabeth’s background in the fields of education, business, and human and social services are especially helpful in assisting previously isolated clients in re-integrating into mainstream society. Elizabeth has a wealth of knowledge and resources to share with her clients and consistently seeks opportunities to develop her professional expertise.  Elizabeth (she/they) is a White settler in the ancestral and unceded territory of the Mi’kmaq People in Mi’kma’ki which is commonly known as Nova Scotia, Canada but serves clients worldwide. She can be reached via https://interpersonalinsightscounselling.setmore.com/    Canada  Phone/Electronic Consultation Possible

Eric Ramirez is a former member of a high-control group and has navigated these waters and know the path that may be in front of you. As a Certified Trauma Care Practitioner, Eric specializes in helping current and former members heal from emotional trauma using a variety of tools, including Internal Family Systems (IFS).  Eric's approach combines IFS with trauma-informed practices to address both the emotional and physical aspects of trauma, empowering clients to rebuild resilience, self-compassion, and balance. He also engage in psycho education using the latest and best resources specifically developed for cult survivors. 

Sladja Redner, MA, LPC, Certified NARM therapist is a psychotherapist in a private practice in Austin Texas, practicing virtually throughout Texas. Sladja specializes in helping adults recover from complex trauma (CPTSD), cultic experiences, anxiety, people pleasing, burnout, and recover their sense of self-trust and identity. You can learn more about her approach and specialties on her website: www.innerbecoming.com 

Dieter Rohmann, Diplom-Psychologe (Univ.) born 1960, lives and works in Munich/Germany. In the early 80ies he was involved in setting up and managing a project for Western dropouts in Goa/India. Focus of this work was both: the rescue and counselling of drug-addicts, mentally disturbed people, and disillusioned sense seekers from various spiritual communities and cults, as well as their repatriation in closed cooperation with western embassies and consulates in India. In 1984 he returned back to Germany where he started to work as a mind control consultant. His own involvement and membership with the "Children of God (COG)" for 7 months in 1979 was a deep going experience for him and showed him finally the way to work in this complicated field of religious cults until today. From 1984 to 1987 he accompanied the then only cult-recovery center in Europe (Johanneshof e.V.) near Bonn. Between 1988 and 1990 he catched up on his high school degree in evening classes in order to study Psychology in the University of Eichstätt. In January 1999 he obtained his university degree in Psychology and completed his studies with the empirical research on: "Possible Predisposition for Cult Involvement." He works exclusively with people who left a cult in the past or currently try to struggle free, with people who were born into one of these cults and now try to walk their own ways, with people who experienced spiritual/religious abuse, and with partners and family members of people involved in cults. In all these years he developped several psychotherapeutic concepts for this very specific work with cult-members, gave numerous talks on this topic, and led seminars and workshops in Europe with and for cult-members and former cult-members. He is deeply thankful to all of the former cult-members he was able to accompany in all these years. They made him understand this difficult field better and taught him to stick to this topic. Munich, Germany. rohmann@kulte.de 

Colleen Russell, LMFT, CGP, is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) since 1992, and Certified Group Psychotherapist (CGP) since 2008. She maintains a general private practice in Marin County, SF Bay Area, working with individuals, couples, families, groups and workshops, in her office or online. Her areas of expertise are trauma, loss, cult and high demand group and relationship education and recovery, including those born and raised; and motherless daughters, women who have lost their mothers through death, illness, narcissism, separation, or estrangement in childhood, adolescence or adulthood. Colleen is a former member of two high demand groups.  After her mother’s death at 15, she lived with the founder of a Christian/Mystical group for two years and at 19, she was recruited into an Eastern/New Age group where she was a high-ranking member, leaving seven years later.  

Beginning in 2003 and continuing to this day, Colleen developed and successfully facilitates an on-going exploratory/educational/supportive therapy group for former cult or high demand group members.  She also facilitates small educational/interactive workshops for former members, face to face since 2009 and online since 2018.   Colleen has attended and presented at professional organizations including at ICSA conferences: “Disconfirming Inaccurate, Self-Limiting Beliefs Internalized Through Thought Reform with Corrective Emotional Experience”(2008) and “Behave, Believe, Become – Or Not!  Freedom From Coercive Control in High Demand Groups and Relationships” (2019).  Her article, “Touched: Disconfirming Pathogenic Beliefs of Thought Reform Through the Process of Acting” appears in the Cultic Studies Review Special Edition, The Last Draw — Cults and Creativity, 2010.  She was primary therapist at Wellspring Residential Retreat for cult survivors, founded by Paul Martin, PhD during his illness; team program developer for DV survivors and children and primary therapist with the Center for Domestic Peace in California; and on staff at various SF Bay area agencies serving adults, children, families, and those diagnosed with severe mental illness. 

 She is a member of the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists, The American Group Psychotherapy Association, The San Francisco Psychotherapy Research Group, and The Northern California Group Psychotherapy Society. Her website: www.colleenrussellmft.com; email: crussell@colleenrussellmft.com. California, Northern Phone/Electronic Consultation Possible

Patrick Ryan is a graduate of Maharishi International University. He has been a cult intervention specialist (exit counseling, mediation, religious conflict resolution, thought reform consulting) since 1984. Mr. Ryan is the co-founder of TM-EX, the organization of ex-members of Transcendental Meditation. He established ICSA's online resource (1995-2013), and has presented 50 programs about hypnosis, inner-experience, trance-induction techniques, communicating with cult members, conversion, cult intervention, exit counseling, intervention assessment, mediation, religious conflict resolution, thought reform consultation, eastern groups, transcendental meditation and workshops for educators, families, former members and mental health professionals at ICSA workshops/conferences. Mr. Ryan received the AFF Achievement Award (1997) from AFF, the Leo J. Ryan "Distinguished Service Award" (1999) from the Leo J. Ryan Foundation, and a Lifetime Achievement Award (2011) from ICSA. Websites: intervention101.com; cultmediation.com; cultrecovery101.com Email: pryan19147@gmail.com Phone: (215) 467-4939. Pennsylvania (Philadelphia)

Katherine (Kat) Schneider, LCSW is a licensed clinical social worker and high-control group survivor. She is a native New Yorker, now living in Philadelphia, and is licensed in NY, PA, UT, and AZ. She received her BA from Smith College and MSW from New York University. She is trained in several evidence-based modalities, including Exposure and Response Prevention Therapy for OCD, Cognitive Processing Therapy for PTSD, Emotionally Focused Therapy for couples therapy and Functional Family Therapy for family therapy. Kat works with individuals of all ages, with niche focuses on anxiety disorders, trauma, and cult/high control group recovery. Kat also provides consultation services to help increase understanding of cult recovery. Kat advocates for compassion, empathy, understanding and a healthy dose of irreverent humor in working with survivors of high control groups. Kat is available for in-person or remote/virtual sessions. www.KMSPsychotherapy.com 

Daniel Shaw, LCSW, is the author of Traumatic Narcissism: Relational Systems of Subjugation, published by Routledge. His affiliations include: Psychoanalyst, Private Practice, New York City and Nyack, NY; Faculty and Clinical Supervisor, The National Institute for the Psychotherapies (NIP), New York, NY; Clinical Supervisor and Faculty, Westchester Center for the Study of Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy, NY; Adjunct Clinical Supervisory, Smith College of Social Work, MA; former co-chair, Continuing Education Committee, The International Association for Relational Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy. Shaw spent thirteen years as a staff member in Siddha Yoga (SYDA Foundation). There he wore many hats, including: manager of the residential Manhattan facility, educator, spokesperson, public relations coordinator, community organizer, and writer/director of public programs. Shaw exited Siddha Yoga in 1994, published an Open Letter about Siddha Yoga on the internet in 1995, and helped create the Leaving Siddha Yoga website, one of the first internet websites for ex cult members. Shaw is the author of Traumatic Abuse in Cults: A Psychoanalytic Perspective, published in the Cultic Studies Journal, numerous psychoanalytic papers, and the editor of a special issue on the traumatizing narcissist in ICSA's International Journal of Cultic Studies.. Mr. Shaw is available through Skype and leads the monthly New York area ICSA group with Chris Carlson. This group offers support, education and interaction for all those who have been harmed by, or want to learn about high demand groups. Website: www.danielshawlcsw.com Email: danielshawlcsw@gmail.com Phone: (845) 548-2561. New York City 

Phone/Electronic Consultation Possible

Katherine Spearing MA, CTRC is the founder of Tears of Eden, a nonprofit dedicated to survivors of Spiritual Abuse and host of Tears' affiliate podcast, Uncertain. She is a cult survivor and survivor of church abuse and loves getting to be an empathetic witness and partnering with trauma survivors on their recovery journey. Her other specialties include: recovery from purity culture, recovery in the aftermath of sexual abuse, and helping women who have left the Christian Patriarchy Movement (Stay-At-Home-Daughter movement) navigate life and vocation post oppression. She also loves incorporating art into the healing process as clients are comfortable. Her debut novel, Hartfords, challenges gender roles in a patriarchal society and will appeal to fans of Jane Austen. Reach out on her website: katherinespearing.com/coaching

Heather Svoboda, MA LP, is a psychologist licensed and practicing in Minnesota, trained in counseling psychology and marriage and family therapy. Additional specialties include dialectical behavioral therapy skills groups; early childhood mental health and treatment; child centered, nondirective play therapy; and (most recently) EMDR. She practices client-centered and trauma-informed therapy in a community clinic with people (ages 2.5 and up) from many different cultures, life experiences, and needs. Heather is herself a former member of a small personality cult in the 1980s. Since exiting, she has been active with the local, national and international cult awareness and recovery networks. She attended and assisted in organizing conferences and served as president of the local CAN affiliate, Free Minds. She spoke publicly about her own experiences and undue influences to classrooms, media, conferences, legislators and callers seeking help. Email: Heathersvo@gmail.com Phone: (612) 702-4716. Minnesota (Minneapolis)

Lois Svoboda, M.D., L.M.F.T., 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. She became interested because of a family member's involvement and a subsequent successful intervention. Since retiring to Fremont, Nebraska in 2004, she opened a counseling practice and is working with people who have exited cults. 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 2007. She also worked at Wellspring Retreat and Resource Center in Ohio during Dr. Paul Martin's final illness. Dr. Svoboda is ICSA Today’s Family Editor. Email: lvsvoboda@gmail.com Phone: (402) 721-8496. Nebraska

Eric K. Sweitzer, MTS, PhD, is a licensed psychologist and has been Director of the Charis Counseling Centers since 1989. He holds degrees in Biblical Studies from Wheaton College (IL), Theology Studies from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, and Pastoral Psychology and Counseling from Boston University. Dr. Sweitzer has worked with children, adolescents, couples, and individual adults for almost 30 years. His primary passion is enabling his clients to develop a deeper experience of God’s grace in their lives, regardless of their particular concerns. Dr. Sweitzer’s 2006 book, The Perfect Alibi: Freedom from the Drive for Personal Perfection, has been used adjunctively to psychotherapy by many of his clients, and by various study groups in area churches. Main office, Charis Counseling Center: 6 Plympton Street, Middleboro, MA 02346. (508-947-1901). eksphd@gmail.com. Massachusetts

Joseph Szimhart began research into cultic influence in 1980 after ending his two-year devotion to a large New Age sect. As a cult interventionist since the early 1980s, he has assisted in over five-hundred interventions in America and abroad. He was chairman of an interdenominational, cult information organization in New Mexico for seven years. Since 1998, he has worked as a mental health professional at a psychiatric emergency hospital. He maintains a cult informational website, lectures, consults for the media, and has published articles, book reviews, and papers related to the cult problem. His novel, Mushroom Satori: The Cult Diary, was released in 2013. His memoir of how he became a cult interventionist, Santa Fe, Bill Tate, and me, appeared in 2020. He received a Lifetime Achievement Award from International Cultic Studies Assoc. in 2016. He graduated from the University of Dayton and the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. He maintains an art career in his private studio.  Website: http://jszimhart.com/ Email: jszimhart@gmail.com Phone: (484) 529-1936. Pennsylvania

Erika Van Meir, LMFT is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist practicing in both Atlanta, GA and in Birmingham, AL. She graduated from University of San Diego with her Master’s in Family Therapy in 1994 and has worked in a variety of mental  health settings in CA and GA. She currently is in private practice, and in addition to working with individuals and families with relational concerns, she has helped many individuals and families who have been involved with or raised in totalitarian groups, and families with concerns about a loved one in such a group. She has given talks on how to work with ex-members of such groups to therapists at NASW and GAMFT in Atlanta, as well as participated in a panel at a past ICSA conference discussing her former experience with Social Therapy. She has also spoken to young people and law enforcement about the common dynamics present in cultic groups. She has lived in CA and Europe and enjoys working with people of all ages and backgrounds. Erika is married with two young adult daughters. Website: ttps://www.psychologytoday.com/us/therapists/erika-van-meir-tucker-ga/41437 Email: erikastille@bellsouth.net. Georgia/Alabama

Sara B. Waters, MS, MA, is a psychotherapist and licensed mental health counselor (LMHC) and credentialed substance misuse counselor (CASAC) in New York City, with 18 years of experience in the mental health field. She was raised as a “missionary kid” in France in a high demand, fundamentalist, evangelical group and missionary boarding school. She left the group as a teenager and is intimately familiar with the trauma of religious psychological abuse, parental rejection, and loss of community. Sara specializes in treating posttraumatic stress disorder, depression, anxiety, and recovery from high-demand and abusive relationships. In addition to maintaining a private practice in Manhattan, Sara conducts empirical research in psychology and is completing a PhD in Clinical Psychology at The New School for Social Research. For individual or relationship counseling, email sarawaters@protonmail.com or call/text (347) 554-0191. sarabwaters.com. New York

Vanessa N. Weber, MSW, LCSW, has worked with victims of cults and their families, since 1980. She was one of the original founders of reFocus and the original Cult Awareness Network, NY/NJ chapter. She has a BA in Religion from Barnard College, studied at Union Theological Seminary, and received her MSW at Yeshiva University. She is currently in New Milford, CT where she sees clients who have been affected by trauma, including individuals, families, groups and children with cult, psychic and adoption related histories. In addition, she works with individuals of all ages who are having problems with depression, anxiety, Executive Function and ADHD problems. Vanessa is attachment informed. She is currently working on her first book, Hooked on Psychics. She can be reached at 860 717 4400 or info@NewMilfordCounseling.com. She accepts most insurances.  Her office is located in New Milford, CT, close to the NY border: New Milford Counseling, 5 Bennitt Street, New Milford, CT 06776.  www.NewMilfordCounseling.com 

Gerard Webster Ph.D., Psy.D. is a training and supervising psychoanalyst and a registered Counselling and Forensic Psychologist in private practice in Sydney, Australia. He has provided assessment and treatment for victims and perpetrators of child abuse for over thirty years. He also provides psychotherapy to ex-members of cults and is a member of ICSA and of Cult Information and Family Support (NSW, Australia). Gerard has lectured in child abuse prevention strategies for over a decade, and he has published articles, training packages, and practice guidelines for organizations that are responsible for the care and protection of children. Gerard is an Honorary Fellow of Australian Catholic University and is past president of the Australian and New Zealand Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abuse. Gerard was awarded the degree of Doctor of Psychoanalysis and Doctor of Philosophy (Psychoanalysis) by the Institute of Contemporary Psychoanalysis, LA (USA). He is an ex-member of Sahaja Yoga which gave him the opportunity to research the mental health of children aged 6-16 years at the International Sahaja Yoga School in India as well as in Australia. Website: www.gerardwebster.com Email: gerard@gerardwebster.com Phone: +61 (2) 8065 8237. Australia (Sydney)

Dana Wehle, LCSW, MFA., has twenty years experience as a certified psychoanalyst and licensed clinical social worker in private practice in New York City. A published author and classically trained painter, she specializes in work with trauma and creativity, with cult-related trauma of particular interest. She has presented on this theme nationally and internationally, including presentation to the Minister of Social Services and a government delegation in Israel in 2012. Ms. Wehle’s article, "Plunge into the Abyss: Psychodynamic Group on Creativity and Trauma," is the lead article in the Winter 2016 issue of the journal Group. She presented this paper at the October 2016 Pratt Institute conference: "Art of Mentalizing: Communicating the Unknown," with Peter Fonagy as the keynote speaker. She currently runs a psychodynamic group on creativity and trauma for those also in psychodynamic individual psychotherapy, where cult trauma is mainstreamed with other forms of trauma. She was clinician and administrative supervisor at the Cult Clinic of the Jewish Board of Family and Children’s Services for over a decade, and received her psychoanalytic training at the National Institute for the Psychotherapies in NYC. Her practice in part includes intensive clinical work with former members, second generation adults (SGAs), and families of adult children in cults. Ms. Wehle was invited to guest edit ICSA's special issue of Cultic Studies Review in 2010. The journal and her contribution was entitled, "The Last Draw: Cults and Creativity." Website: Danawehletherapy.com Email: dwehlelcsw@gmail.com Phone: (212) 479-7963. New York City

Jonibeth (J.B.) Whitney, PhD, is a clinical psychologist who has been doing cult awareness work for 30 years including training cult awareness volunteers, individual and group counseling for people with cult-involved family members, and presenting at local and national conferences. Her research includes examining the relationship between childhood abuse and the severity of subsequent cult experiences and co-authorship of The Individual Cult Experience Index: The Assessment of Cult Involvement and Its Relationship to Postcult Distress, published in the Cultic Studies Journal. Dr. Whitney currently works in private practice in W. Los Angeles. Website: www.jbwhitneyphd.com Email: JonibethWhitney@gmail.com Phone: (310) 446-8870. California, Southern

Doni Whitsett, PhD, LCSW, is a Clinical Professor at the USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work where she teaches various courses in practice, behavior, mental health, and human sexuality. She has been working with cult-involved clients and their families for over 20 years and gives lectures to students and professionals on this topic. She has presented at national and international conferences in Madrid, Poland, Canada, and in Australia, where she helped organize two conferences in Brisbane. Her talks have included The Psychobiology of Trauma and Child Maltreatment (2005, Madrid) and Why Cults Are Harmful: A Neurobiological View of Interpersonal Trauma (2012, Montreal). Her publications include The Psychobiology of Trauma and Child Maltreatment (Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 5, No. 3, 2006), A Self Psychological Approach to the Cult Phenomenon (Journal of Social Work, 1992), Cults and Families (Families in Society, Vol. 84, No. 4, 2003), which she coauthored with Dr. Stephen Kent, and Why cults are harmful: Neurobiological speculations on inter-personal trauma. ICSA Today, Vol. 5, No. 1, 2014. Dr. Whitsett also has a specialty in Sexuality and was awarded a Fulbright Specialist Scholarship in 2016 to study, teach, and do research on this topic in China. Email: whitsett@usc.edu Phone: (323) 907-2400. California, Southern (Los Angeles)