Profile: Ashlen Hilliard

Ashlen Hilliard (she/her) is Director of Events for the International Cultic Studies Association (ICSA) and a volunteer co-organizer of SAFE, the Spiritual Abuse Forum for Education (SAFE) in Portland, Oregon. She also serves as a thought reform consultant helping families with loved ones in cultic or high-control groups or relationships.

Ashlen recently completed her MSc in the Psychology of Coercive Control and conducted research on the relationship between reproductive coercion, psychologically abusive environments, and the extent of group identity in a sample of those who have left cultic groups.

Prior to ICSA, Ashlen helped individuals leaving diverse polygamist communities gain independence while working as a case manager in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Ashlen is featured in Season 3 of the BET+ Original Series: American Gangster: Trap Queens. She has presented at multiple ICSA conferences and webinars on a variety of topics, interviewed on several podcasts, as well as published an article for ICSA Today 10.2 / 2019 on, "The Genesis, Text, and Implications of Utah House Bill 214: Office for Victims of Crime Amendments".

Ashlen can be contacted at ashlen.hilliard.wordpress@gmail.com or via Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/ashlen-hilliard/