Healing from Emotional, Anger, and Relational Trauma

The Healing from Emotional, Anger, and Relational Trauma educational support group is resuming on Wednesdays on September 10 at 7:30 pm EDT and Mondays, September 15 at 12:30 PM EDT on Zoom. 

 

The focus is on coping more effectively with anger, other emotions, coercive control, traumatic narcissism and gaslighting.  

Grief, forgiveness and releasing ourselves from pain are also part of the ongoing discussion offered by the Queens Long Island Community Services & FamilyKind, facilitated by Dr. Paul Engel DHL, LCSW.  

 

Gather with others to find support and learn to develop strength and strategies for coping while integrating change in your lives. 

This group is for former cult members and others.  Please contact 516-547-4318 or paul.engel@flushingjcc.net with any questions and to get the link to register and join.

CultNEWS101 Articles: 8/12/2025

Event, Clergy Sexual Abuse, Peru, Legal

Doomsday Comedy: The End is near - Come and laugh with us!

"Doomsday Comedy is a unique stand-up comedy show featuring comedians who grew up in religious fundamentalist communities — and now use humor to process their experiences.

These comedians share personal stories about growing up with doomsday warnings, strict religious rules, and the journey of leaving fundamentalism behind. Through laughter, they transform trauma into comedy and create a space for healing and connection. The shows also feature other types of comic material beyond religious themes."

 

RNS: Survivor of clergy sex abuse in Peru visits pope's hometown to call for more reforms

"A Peruvian survivor of clergy sex abuse brought her public campaign for reforms to the American hometown of Pope Leo XIV on Thursday, saying he failed in investigating her case when he was a bishop in her home country and needs to step up now as leader of the world's Catholics.

"I've been quiet since the pope has been elected," Ana María Quispe Díaz said in Spanish at a news conference in downtown Chicago. "But I'm not planning to be quiet forever."

She appeared with members of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. The advocacy group sent a letter to the pope on Thursday renewing demands for more accountability on clergy sex abuse complaints and released documents related to Díaz's case."

Carol Merchasin: Head of Sexual Misconduct in Spiritual Communities Practice and Of Counsel

Carol Merchasin has been called "the Cult Assassin," the "Wonder Woman of taking down cults," "one of the United States' most feared legal eagles," and a "magnificent legal warrior."

Carol Merchasin brings her deep legal experience to McAllister Olivarius, heading up cases involving sexual misconduct in religious, faith-based and spiritual communities. As an investigator, she has worked to uncover sexual misconduct within the Shambhala International lineage of Buddhism, the Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centers, and is currently assisting other spiritual communities in bringing allegations of sexual misconduct to light. She has worked with survivors of abuse and misconduct across a number of global spiritual and religious movements and has extensive experience as both a litigator and an investigator.

Before joining McAllister Olivarius, Carol was a partner in the Philadelphia office of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius where she was a member of the firm's employment law practice and the director of Morgan Lewis Resources, providing training on harassment and discrimination as well as investigation services for clients. She has conducted dozens of workplace investigations and taught investigative techniques to human resource professionals at many Fortune 50 companies. She is based in New Jersey and is registered as an attorney with the Massachusetts Bar.

News, Education, Intervention, Recovery

CultNEWS101 Articles: 6/9/2025 (Conference, Interventions, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi Ramayana University, India, Transcendental Meditation)

Conference, Interventions, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi Ramayana University, India, Transcendental Meditation

Info-Secte / Info-Cult and International Cultic Studies Association (ICSA) will host the next upcoming annual conference in Montreal, Canada: July 2-5, 2025

A Collaborative Approach to Addressing a Loved One's Cult-related Involvement (Patrick Ryan, Joseph Kelly, Doni Whitsett, Rosanne Henry)
Abstract: This presentation reflects the growing awareness in the anti-cult community that it often "takes a village"to respond appropriately and effectively to cult involvement and that each discipline brings different and essential expertise to bear on the issue. This talk will explore the vital elements of our collaborative approach (mental health professionals, former members, and exit counselors) using examples to illustrate these elements.A case presentation with a round table discussion from various perspectives, including interventionists,mental health professionals, research, and sociology.

Mr. Kelly has also facilitated ICSA workshops for ex-members and families (1996-2018),  has lectured extensively on cult-related topics and has been a cult intervention specialist (thought reform consultant/exit counselor, mediator) since 1989. He is the co-author of "Ethical Standards for Thought Reform Consultants," 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, easter ngroups, transcendental meditation and workshops for educators, families, former members and mental health professionals at ICSA workshops/conferences. Mr Kelly received the Lifetime Achievement Award (2023) from ICSA.

Mr Patrick Ryan is a graduate of Maharishi International University (Interdisciplinary Studies with a focus on Eastern religious systems) and has been a cult intervention specialist (thought reform consultant/exit counselor, mediator) since 1984. He was the founder and former head of TM-EX, the organization of ex-members of Transcendental Meditation. He was the editor of AFF News, a news publication for former cult members (1995-1998), has contributed to the Cult Observer, AFF's book, Recovery From Cults, is co-author of "Ethical Standards for Thought Reform Consultants," 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, easter ngroups, transcendental meditation and workshops for educators, families, former members and mentalhealth 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.

Rosanne Henry, MA, LPC, emeritus director of ICSA, is a psychotherapist practicing in Littleton, Colorado.For more than thirty years she has been active in the cult-education movement, working closely with the former Cult Awareness Network and ICSA. She served on the Board of Directors of ICSA from 2004 to2018 and was Chair of ICSA's Mental Health Committee. She cofacilitated ICSA's recovery workshops for25 years. In her private practice, Rosanne specializes in the treatment of cult survivors and their families.She is a former member of Kashi Ranch. In 2010, Ms. Henry received ICSA's Margaret T. Singer Award(shared with the other Colorado workshop facilitators). She is also coauthor (with Carol Giambalvo) of "The Colorado Model" (ICSA Today, 1[1], 2010); coauthor (with Leona Furnari) of "Lessons Learned FromSGAs About Recovery and Resiliency" (ICSA Today, 2[3], 2011); and co-editor (with Lorna Goldberg, WilliamGoldberg, and Michael Langone) of ICSA's Cult Recovery: A Clinician's Guide to Working With Former Members and Their Families, published in 2017.

Doni Whitsett, PhD, LCSW, is a Clinical Professor at the USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Workwhere 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 SelfPsychological 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 interpersonal 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.

Hindustan Times Haryana: The Uttar Pradesh Cabinet on Tuesday gave its nod to the proposal for setting up Maharishi Mahesh Yogi Ramayana University

LUCKNOW: The Uttar Pradesh Cabinet on Tuesday gave its nod to the proposal for setting up Maharishi Mahesh Yogi Ramayana University, Ayodhya, and two other private universities in the state, including Bhakti Vedanta University, Mathura, and Ajay Kumar Garg University, Ghaziabad. The establishment of the university in Ayodhya is proposed by the sponsoring institution Maharishi Ramayan Vidyapeeth Trust, Delhi on 20.2569 acres of land in Ayodhya Nagar area. In Continuation of this proposal, a letter of intent has already been issued on May 18, 2023. Now for the establishment of the university, the name of the university will be included in the schedule of the Act by bringing the Uttar Pradesh Private University (Amendment) Ordinance 2025.The establishment of the university in Mathura is proposed by the International Society forKrishna Consciousness (ISKCON) on 50.8870 acres of land in village Azhai Khurd in Chhata tehsil. A high-level panel had recommended the issuance of a letter of intent in October 2024.

The establishment of the university in Ghaziabad is proposed by the Indian Institute of Society on 26.2656 acres of land in Dasna village. The high-level committee found the proposal suitable for the letter of intent on November 10, 2023. Higher education minister Yogendra Upadhyay said these decisions have been taken in full compliance with the procedures prescribed under the Uttar Pradesh Private University Act, 2019 and its related Rules-2021. Through these universities, diversity, innovation and global level educational facilities will be developed in the field of higher education in the state.

Global Peace Initiative: Celebrating our Royal and Divine Raj Rajeshwari Ma on Vimeo

News, Education, Intervention, Recovery

CultMediation.com   

Intervention101.com to help families and friends understand and effectively respond to the complexity of a loved one's cult involvement.

CultRecovery101.com assists group members and their families make the sometimes difficult transition from coercion to renewed individual choice.

CultNEWS101.com news, links, resources about: cults, cultic groups, abusive relationships, movements, religions, political organizations, and related topics.

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The selection of articles for CultNEWS101 does not imply that Patrick Ryan or Joseph Kelly endorse the content. We provide information from multiple perspectives to foster dialogue.

Please forward articles that you think we should add to cultintervention@gmail.com.

Neurospirituality Symposium

The Neurospirituality Symposium is approaching! 

Neurospirituality Symposium

Mass General Brigham Assembly Row headquarters in Somerville, Massachusetts, 399 Revolution Dr, Somerville, Massachusetts, 02145

Friday, February 28th, in person and streaming. 

9:30 AM - 4:30 PM (7h)

About This Event

The inaugural Neurospirituality Symposium will be held on Friday, February 28th, 2025, from 9:30 AM to 4:30 PM at the Mass General Brigham Assembly Row headquarters in Somerville, Massachusetts. An after-symposium reception will be held immediately following the closing keynote address.

The event is hosted and organized by Dr. Michael Ferguson, PhD, Instructor in Neurology at Harvard Medical School and director of the Neurospirituality Lab at the Center for Brain Circuit Therapeutics, with generous support from the Center for Emergence.  

Three main topical categories will be addressed at the symposium:

Prayer Science

Empirical studies about the effects of prayer on behavior, physiology, psychology, or spirituality, exploring its impact through scientific methods.

Mystical-type experiences

Studies relating to spiritual experiences and insights gained through the use of psychedelic substances, often involving altered states of consciousness, profound personal revelations, and a sense of connection to nature, humanity as a whole, or the divine.

Spiritual therapeutics

Studies that explore belief in miracles, or which use of spiritual practices and beliefs, such as meditation, prayer, sacraments, blessings, or other rituals to promote emotional, mental, and physical well-being in a therapeutic context.

 

Featured talks include:

Foundations of Neurospirituality

Dr. Michael Ferguson, PhD

Instructor in Neurology, Harvard Medical School

Neurospirituality Lab at the Center for Brain Circuit Therapeutics

Foundations of Neurotheology

Dr. Andrew Newberg, PhD

Professor and Director of Research, Marcus Institute of Integrative Health

Thomas Jefferson University and Hospital

Religious Motor Behaviors and Movement Disorders

Dr. Christos Ganos, MD

Associate Professor of Neurology, University of Toronto

Staff Physician, Toronto Western Hospital Movement Disorders Centre

Speaking in Tongues

Dr. Josh Brahinsky, PhD

Postdoctoral Fellow, Cultural Anthropology

University of California, Berkeley

Mystical Experiences and Psychedelics Trips

Agathe Fauchille

PhD Candidate in Neuroscience at UCL Brain Sciences Faculty

Harvard Bogue Research Fellow at the Neurospirituality Lab

Existential Neurology: Cotard Delusions and the Sense of Life

Dr. Mengyuan Ding, MD

Senior Research Associate

Neurospirituality Lab at the Center for Brain Circuit Therapeutics

Compassion Therapeutics

Morgan Healey

Lab Manager

Neurospirituality Lab at the Center for Brain Circuit Therapeutics

Big Data Prayer Science

Dr. C. Estelle Smith, PhD

Assistant Professor, Department of Computer Science

Director of the #HappyPlace research lab, Colorado School of Mines

Frontiers in the Cognitive Neuroscience of Religion

Dr. Jordan Grafman, PhD

Professor, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences

Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine

Spiritual Care in Ketamine Therapeutics

Tara Deonauth, MDiv

Spiritual Care Coordinator

Brigham and Women's Faulkner Hospital

Dark Night of the Soul: Depression & Spirituality

Dr. Jenae Nelson, PhD

Assistant Professor, Psychology

Brigham Young University

Advanced Meditation and the Third Wave of Meditation Research

Dr. Matthew Sacchet, PhD

Associate Professor, Harvard Medical School

Director of the Meditation Research Program, Massachusetts General Hospital

Scrupulosity: When Faith Becomes Fear

Dr. Jared Nielsen, PhD

Assistant Professor, Psychology

Brigham Young University

The Value of Doubt

Dr. Erik Asp, PhD

Assistant Professor in Psychology, Hamline University

Director of Wesley and Lorene Artz Cognitive Neuroscience Research Center

Varieties of Spiritual Experiences

Dr. David Yaden, PhD

Associate Professor, Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research

The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

Neuroscience & Mysticism

Brother Vlad Theo

Orthodox Christian Monk, New Skete Monastery

For more information about the symposium, visit: https://neuromichael.com/symposium/

Booking will end on February 28 at 4:30 PM

Register for free at:  http://neurospirituality.io

DECULT 2024

Purchase Tickets

All sessions are recorded and will be released to online ticket holders and attendees later.

DAY ONE – 19 October 2024

08:00 – 09:00: ARRIVAL & REGISTRATION

Tūranga – Christchurch Central Library, Cathedral Square (Gloucester St entry)

09:00 – 09:35:
WELCOME CEREMONY – WITH HON DR DUNCAN WEBB
Main Room – TSB, live-streamed (NZDT)

09:35 – 10:30
KEYNOTE: DR JANJA LALICH

Cults 101: Influence and harm of high control groups
Main Room – TSB, live-streamed (NZDT)

10:30 – 10:50: COFFEE BREAK

10:50 – 12:00

Kids in Cults: From damage and silence to justice and repair

Adam Dudding, Dr Janja Lalich, Maria Esguerra, Luke Hollis, Dr Caroline Ansley 
Main Room – TSB, live-streamed (NZDT)

10:50 – 11:25
Bible study with a hook: Shincheonji’s recruitment
Laura Muir
Spark Room (ground floor)

11:25 – 12:00
Toxic tantra: Surviving and suing MISA’s yoga guru
Bec Sonkkila
Spark Room (ground floor)

12:00 – 13:00: LUNCH & BOOK SIGNING

13:00 – 14:10

Rabbit Hole Resistance: Cults, disinformation, and online radicalization
Stephen Judd, Prof Ekant Veer, Ulrike Schiesser, Adam Elmasri, Dr Nicole Matejic 
Main Room – TSB, live-streamed (NZDT)

13:00 – 13:30
The Truth about The Truth: Secrets and cover-ups of the 2x2s
Laura McConnell Conti
Spark Room (ground floor)

13:35 – 14:05
Groomed by Bill Gothard: Taking IBLP’s leader to court
Rachel Lees
Spark Room (ground floor)

14:10 – 14:15: 5 MIN TRANSITION

14:15 – 15:25

Rock the Watchtower: Former Jehovah’s Witnesses speak up
Anusha Bradley, Lara Kaput, Scott Homan, Shayne Mechen, Micki McAllen (Apostate Barbie)
Main Room – TSB, live-streamed (NZDT)

Intrusive Brethren: Intergenerational harm within the PBCC
Craig Hoyle (“Excommunicated”) 
with Lindy Jacomb
Spark Room (ground floor)

15:25 – 15:50: AFTERNOON TEA & BOOK SIGNING

15:50 – 16:30

Insights from a federal cult information agency
Ulrike Schiesser
Main Room – TSB, live-streamed (NZDT)

16:30 – 17:10

Cult Survivor Story Jam
Lindy Jacomb and others
Main Room – TSB, live-streamed (NZDT)

17:10 – 18:00: GUEST DEPARTURE Library closes at 18.00

18:00 – 21:00: CONFERENCE DINNER Ticketed event

___

DAY TWO – 20 October 2024

08:30 – 09:00: ARRIVAL & REGISTRATION
Tūranga – Christchurch Central Library, Cathedral Square (Gloucester St entry)

09:00 – 09:10

WELCOME – WITH DAME SUE BAGSHAW
Main Room – TSB, live-streamed (NZDT)

09:10 – 10:00

KEYNOTE: DR GILLIE JENKINSON
Walking Free from trauma and abuse: A model for cult recovery
Main Room – TSB, live-streamed (NZDT)

10:00 – 10:05: 5 MIN TRANSITION

10:05 – 11:15

Courage and action: What to do about Gloriavale?
Liz Gregory, Virginia Courage, Pearl Valor, Dennis Gates
Main Room – TSB, live-streamed (NZDT)

Issues with ISTA, high on Highden: From LGAT to mystery school
Bronwyn Rideout + Dave Booda
Shany Kedar + Mordechai Braunstein (virtual)
Spark Room (ground floor)

11:15 – 11:40: MORNING TEA & BOOK SIGNING

11:40 – 12:50

A new media narrative: Survivor-focussed cult reporting
Sarah Steel, Prof Ursula Cheer, Bec Sonkkila, Natalie Malcon, Anusha Bradley, Dhyana Levey
Main Room – TSB, live-streamed (NZDT)

11:40 – 12:00
Human experiment: The lasting shadow of Centrepoint
Adam Dudding
Spark Room (ground floor)

12:00 – 12:50
Health neglect in cults: Medical needs of survivors
Dr Caroline Ansley
Spark Room (ground floor)

12:50 – 14:00: LUNCH

14:00 – 15:00

Invisible rainbow youth: Purity, conversion and coming out in cults
Andre Afamasaga, Craig Hoyle, Luke Hollis, Dr Janja Lalich
Main Room – TSB, live-streamed (NZDT)

Reflection & connection 1: Debriefing for all attendees
Jim Goodwin
Activities Room (next to Main Room – TSB)

Reflection & connection 2: Debriefing for former cult members
Dr. Gillie Jenkinson
Spark Room (ground floor)

15:00 – 15:10: 10 MIN TRANSITION

15:10 – 16:00

Care and Collaboration: Cult victim support organizations
Lindy Jacomb & Tore Klevjer
Main Room – TSB, live-streamed (NZDT)

16:00 – 16:10

Where to from here? Our Vision for Decult 2025
Anke Richter & Dennis Parker
Main Room – TSB, live-streamed (NZDT)

16:10 – 16:20
Closing and waiata with Lisa Tui Aroha

Purchase Tickets

Apostasy Conference 2024 – The Systemic Nature of Religious Abuse | Faith to Faithless

October 9th, 2024 10:00 -- 16:00

An online conference for academics and practitioners who care about the needs of apostates. The theme of the Apostasy Conference 2024 is 'The Systemic Nature of Religious Abuse.'

Register Now.

The theme for the Apostasy Conference 2024 will be 'The Systemic Nature of Religious Abuse'. Abuse happens in all areas of society, not just within religious contexts. However, the use of religious texts and doctrines, enforced by religious leaders and followers, and the religious patriarchy, means some religious systems create a culture for abuse to happen, they create the abuse itself, they promote the abuse as morally right, and they cover up abuse where they want to avoid blame, shame, or accountability.

The conference will have two halves. The first half will have the theme of how some religions create rape culture and how this impacts apostates. And the second half will talk about how some UK state policies facilitate or obscure religious abuses (all forms of religious abuse, not just sexual) and how this impacts apostates.

Keynote speaker
Pragna Patel, Co-founder and co-director of Project Resist
Religious abuse in South Asian contexts

Dr Kristin Aune, Professor of Sociology of Religion at Coventry University
Christianity and Domestic Abuse

Dr James Murphy, The Open University
Leaving a High-Control Religion: Legacies of Trauma

Alexander Barnes-Ross
From Apostate to Activist: How Scientology gets away with abuse in the UK

Rachael Reign
Abuses within the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God (UCKG)

Zara Kay
Addressing Religious Trauma and Apostasy Laws Impacting ex-Muslims

Yehudis Fletcher
Replicating and Reiterating Harm: how UK state policies enable abuse within high-control religions.

We will be announcing more names very shortly.

Understanding and Using the Traumatic Narcissism Theory

September 20 @ 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm

Since the publication of his 2014 book, Traumatic Narcissism: Relational Systems of Subjugation, Daniel Shaw has been refining and updating the psychological profile of the traumatizing narcissist, specifically for the purpose of helping victims of narcissistic abuse inflicted by parents, romantic partners or others. Many patients have difficulty articulating what happens to them in these relationships, and clinicians often miss the important clues that indicate this type of relational abuse. In this presentation, Shaw outlines the most prominent controlling behaviors of the traumatizing narcissist, how they impact his or her victims, and the specific ways that these patients can be helped to restore their critical thinking, their self-esteem, and their freedom from subjugation.

Presenter

Daniel Shaw, LCSW, is an author, teacher and psychotherapist in private practice in New York City and Nyack, NY. Integrating contemporary trauma theories with psychoanalytic work, Shaw works internationally with survivors of narcissistic abuse as well as cult survivors, and consults to other mental health professionals individually and in groups. www.danielshawlcsw.com.

2 CE HOURS available for:
NY Practitioners – LCSWs, LMSWs, LPs, LMFTs, LMHCs, LCATs, PHDs, PSYDs
CT Practitioners – LCSWs, LMSWs, LMFTs, LPCs and Licensed Psychologists

Teaching Method: Lecture, Discussion and Q & A.

Learning Objectives:

Participants will be able to:
1. identify the most prominent behaviors of the traumatizing narcissist.
2. formulate treatment goals for victims of narcissistic abuse suffering from Complex-PTSD.
3. utilize psychoeducation about the traumatic narcissism theory to help patients consolidate therapeutic gains.

A completed survey must be submitted after the meeting for 2 CE hours.

Who should attend: Psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, psychoanalysts, other mental health professionals, nurses, graduate students.

  

Details

Date:

September 20

Time:

7:00 pm - 9:00 pm

Website:

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/understanding-and-using-the-traumatic-narcissism-theory-tickets-938072248347?aff=oddtdtcreator

 Start of the Fall Trimester
How, When, Why and If to Consider Retirement (WCSPP only) 

Mailing Address:
1889 Palmer Avenue, Suite 6
Larchmont, NY 10538

914-997-7500
info@wcspp.org

DECULT online!

Can’t make it to Christchurch but don’t want to miss out on New Zealand’s first cult conference (19 - 20 Oct, NZST)? Then join DECULT (tag) online!

Over 30 speakers will share their insights and concerns about Gloriavale, Jehovah's Witnesses, Destiny Church, The Truth/2x2s, IBLP, Children of God, Centrepoint, MISA, Shincheonji, ISTA, Exclusive Brethren (PBCC) and others. It’s a pioneering effort for mental health and human rights.

Decult will be live streamed and all sessions recorded. You get live access to 10 main sessions, including a 'survivor story jam', and receive access to re-watch all main sessions and 12 breakout room sessions - all available online one week after the event.

Full programme out soon. Check out the speakers (still more to come): https://decult.net/speakers/

Check out the media coverage (also more to come!): https://decult.net/news/

Purchase tickets here: https://events.humanitix.com/decult-cult-awareness-conference-tickets

Subjugation, Mind Control, and Cultural Betrayal: Attachment Healing through Relational Connection

Subjugation, Mind Control, and Cultural Betrayal: Attachment Healing through Relational Connection

International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation
Friday, October 25, 2024
Saturday, October 26, 2024

ISSTD Washington, DC Regional Conference Registration Link

" ... I am excited to share information about our upcoming ISSTD regional conference. This in-person conference is on Friday, October 25, 2024 and Saturday, October 26, 2024 in Arlington, Virginia. This conference is open to everyone! If you feel comfortable doing so, then please share information about our conference with your networks. I sincerely believe this will be an incredible learning opportunity.

Daniel Shaw, LCSW, Jennifer Gómez, PhD, and Richard Loewenstein, MD, will present on the multifaceted impact of narcissistic abuse, complex relational trauma, cultural betrayal trauma, and dissociative identity adaptations on attachment and healing. Although these ISSTD members need no introduction, I have shared their bios and a brief synopsis of their presentations below.

Daniel Shaw, LCSW is a New York based psychoanalyst who is an activist in support of individuals and families traumatically abused in cults. Additionally, he is a faculty member and supervisor at The National Institute for the Psychotherapies in New York. Daniel has published papers in Psychoanalytic Inquiry, Contemporary Psychoanalysis, and Psychoanalytic Dialogues. Daniel's book, Traumatic Narcissism: Relational Systems of Subjugation, was nominated for the distinguished Gradiva Award, and in 2018, the International Cultic Studies Association awarded Daniel the Margaret Thaler Singer Award for advancing the understanding of coercive persuasion and undue influence. In 2022, Daniel's book entitled Traumatic Narcissism and Recovery: Leaving the Prison of Shame and Fear was published and continues to receive much acclaim.

Daniel's presentation will provide a theoretical understanding of the traumatizing narcissist while highlighting the subjugation and recovery process for survivors. He will discuss his clinical frame when working with those who have survived traumatizing narcissists by comparing and contrasting his work with Kernberg's and Kohut's traditional theoretical conceptualizations of narcissism. Finally, Daniel will focus on the delusional omnipotence of the traumatizing narcissist and its impact on survivors.

Walking Free from Coercive, Cultic and Spiritual Abuse

Walking Free from Coercive, Cultic and Spiritual Abuse

This ‘weekend workshop’ is for ex-group members only, and not family or friends. If you have left an abusive group or religion, this weekend is for you! The weekend is non-religious and accepting of all belief systems.

A UNIQUE OPPORTUNITY NOT TO BE MISSED!

A WEEKEND WITH GILLIE JENKINSON PhD

Download the flyer (PDF)

Gillie Jenkinson, PhD is a psychotherapist accredited in UK. Gillie has studied cults at Masters and PhD level and asked the question of former members ‘what helped you recover from an abusive cult experience?’. Her book ‘Walking Free from the Trauma of Coercive, Cultic and Spiritual Abuse: A Workbook for Recovery and Growth’ published by Routledge in 2023 is based on all her research and years of working with first second and multi-generational former members. Gillie was a member of a cult herself a long time ago. Gillie has worked with former members for more than 25 years and has facilitated many former member recovery groups and is very much looking forward to coming to Brisbane and meeting whoever attends.

Read more about Gillie here: https://www.hopevalleycounselling.com

TOPICS DISCUSSED WILL INCLUDE:

A roadmap to recovery-introducing Gillie’s book ‘Walking Free.”

• Who are you?
• Introjects-beliefs and behaviours that we have swallowed whole without chewing them over (resulting in a cultic instead of authentic identity)
• Healthy boundary setting ‘Assertive Anger’
• The difference between anger and rage
• Healthy Self-Love
• Understanding Post Traumatic Stress
• Grounding

WHEN: Sat 5th Sun 6th October 2024.

WHERE: Corner of Rossiter Parade and Racecourse Road, Hamilton, Brisbane QLD, 4110

REGISTRATION COSTS: Registration $200 ($180 Early bird booking before 16th August)

Registration includes lunch and morning and afternoon tea.

HOW TO REGISTER:

Email: info@cifs.org.au stating your intention to attend the seminar. If you are not currently known to CIFS

Please include your name, phone, and any other relevant information such as the name of the group you were in and how long since you left etc. We may require a short phone call if you are not known to us to verify your identity and to maintain a safe space for all.

Bank transfer via our website: www.cifs.org.au

0r Westpac:

BSB 032069

A/C No. 215882.

Use your first name and ‘workshop’ as reference identifier.

Please Note: Due to the nature of the group process we regret that we cannot have people attend for one day only and dependent children cannot attend. We will email further details closer to the event time.

https://www.cifs.org.au/walking-free-from-coercive-cultic-and-spiritual-abuse/

Cults and control: Why do people fall for the tricks of cult recruiters?

Philip Matthews
June 21, 2024

Janja Lalich lives in northern California, across the bay from San Francisco. An ideal spot, you might think, for a specialist on cults. This is where some of the worst flourished. There was Jim Jones’ Peoples Temple and, further down the coast, Charles Manson’s Family and David Berg’s Children of God.


California: the cradle of kookiness and darkness in equal measure.


“That’s a huge generalisation,” Lalich says by phone from her home state. “Sometimes cult leaders like to go where there are nice climates. But there are cults everywhere, for sure.

“I think what happened, especially in the 1970s, during the hippie era, California became known as the place with all these crazy groups. It has nothing to do with California.”

That era produced the right conditions. There was social turbulence and crowds of idealistic young people looking for someone or something to believe in or follow. They were easily exploited. As Lalich says, idealism is a key ingredient.

She has more than just academic expertise. She has personal experience.

When she is asked how smart people are lured into cults, she points out that two-thirds are introduced to a cult by a friend, family member or co-worker, and it’s not always easy to say no.

“Also, the message must resonate. I couldn’t have joined a meditation cult as I can’t sit still, but I joined a political cult.”

It was called the Democratic Workers Party and she joined it in the volatile 1970s. The cult was led by Marlene Dixon, a sociologist who, in an echo of today, was fired from the University of Chicago for getting involved in political demonstrations. Dixon moved to the San Francisco area and formed a radical party along Leninist lines, with study groups acting as a front. Lalich was involved in recruiting.

Members were given new names. Lalich was Comrade Emma. Former members say Dixon grew increasingly narcissistic and paranoid and they finally expelled her and dissolved the party in 1986.

After her cult experience ended, Lalich tried to make sense of what happened. In the 1980s, the cult studies field was dominated by religious cults.

“They had Jesus, we had Karl Marx,” she remembers. “They had the Bible, we had the cadre training manual. There were parallels, they were just called something different.

“I was really concerned. I was in a left-wing cult. I didn’t want to become a right-wing maniac, which is what happens a lot. When people leave religious groups, they struggle with ‘Was it God that betrayed me? I’ll never be religious again.’ There is that gut reaction.

“So I did a lot of research and study. I didn’t go to grad school for 10 years afterwards. I had to figure myself out. I had to get my brain back together, my life back together. I was in my 40s already. But then at 50, I signed on for grad school and then got more and more involved in this work.”

Her doctoral dissertation covered both the Democratic Workers Group and the Heaven’s Gate cult, which was notorious when 39 members committed mass suicide in San Diego, California, in 1997 in the hope of ascending to a passing comet. She coined the phrase “bounded choice” to describe the way people belong to these groups, and that became the title of a book.

Another book, Escaping Utopia, covers how children are raised in cults. That will be a focus of Lalich’s appearance in Christchurch in October as a keynote speaker at the first Decult conference, organised by author and journalist Anke Richter, whose own journey into the ever-fascinating subject is covered in her book, Cult Trip.

Richter met Lalich in the US two years ago and describes her as one of the world’s top five cult experts. Getting her to Christchurch is a real coup. And although Lalich, who is now 79, has retired from university teaching, she continues to run the Lalich Center to help survivors, appears as an expert witness in court cases and as an informed specialist in the growing area of cult documentaries. If you spend much time on Netflix, you might recognise her.

The three kinds of cults

As Lalich says, cults are everywhere. But they are also nowhere. That is, they exist and flourish online.

The US “spiritual community” called Twin Flames Universe is a good example. Founders Jeff and Shaleia Ayan claim to help people find their soul mate, or twin flame, and they assign “flames” to followers. This led to accusations of coercion and psychological manipulation. Some women followers even claimed they were pressured to undergo gender transitioning to become a “Divine Masculine”.

Lalich appeared as an expert in Escaping Twin Flames, which was one of two high-profile documentaries about the group in 2023. But despite the attention, it is still going.

“Yes and they have 50,000 followers,” Lalich says. “It’s shocking. There are now investigations going on, both criminal and financial and all of that, but these things always take so much time.”

The Twin Flames gimmick was that indoctrination courses were done over YouTube and Facebook rather than in physical meetings. Lalich says that both cults and terror groups did some recruiting online before Covid, but it took off during the pandemic.

“For a lot of them they’re much harder to get a grasp on than what I now call the run of the mill brick-and-mortar cults, where you always know who the leader is, you know where they are and you know where their satellites are. For example, who were the leaders of QAnon?”

The conspiracy movement QAnon had cult-like elements, as did the anti-vax communities that emerged during the pandemic and lockdowns. One other thing Lalich noticed is that these groups, “who found support online but also found each other physically”, acted outward towards society, which is unusual.

“Most cults only act inward. The only way they go outward is either to recruit or to do financial finagling or maybe to get praise by having the Dalai Lama come. But they typically don’t attack the outside world. They just go after their own members.”

By contrast, there was much more public activity from QAnon and even the anti-vaxxers, including attacks on mask-wearers. That was heightened by the social atmosphere in the US as “we had a president who at the time was giving voice to those same ideas and encouraging that us-versus-them mentality”.

Yet that also points to a looser definition of cults. An article posted on Lalich’s website describes three kinds of cults. They are spiritual, psychological or political.

In New Zealand terms, Gloriavale is clearly spiritual. But Centrepoint was probably psychological, as it emerged from the consciousness-raising “encounter group” philosophies of the 1970s, as adopted by vacuum cleaner salesman-turned-cult leader, Bert Potter.

The Commune is a podcast about the free‑love commune, Centrepoint.
“Again, that was a product of the time,” Lalich says. “The same thing happened with the Rajneesh ashram movement. That was all about free love, free sex, being who you want to be, blah blah blah. No boundaries, no restrictions. And of course child sexual abuse happened in those ashrams as well.”

QAnon and anti-vax movements could be called political, but the charismatic leaders and enforcement of behaviour common in cults are not present. There are similar problems when defining churches as cults.

Destiny Church and Arise Church will be discussed at Decult. Both are pentecostal churches that expect loyalty and commitment, and have left some former followers emotionally bruised, but are they cults?

What complicates the question is that when churches are defined as cults, it often comes from other churches over doctrinal issues, such as when Destiny was called a cult in 2010 over leader Brian Tamaki’s reported denial of the physical resurrection of Jesus.

Richter says it is not her job to slap the label “cult” onto such groups, “but I think we can give enough information from people who have come out of those groups, and let the attendees decide for themselves”.

Parallel to “deculting” is the idea of deconstruction, a term used by Christians to describe the process of getting out of a controlling megachurch. While Lalich is not an expert, she has concerns about people simply leaving one church for another.

“If somebody’s been in an abusive relationship with a church or a guru, they need to go through a period of recovery, dealing with what happened and figuring out how and why it happened. If people too quickly get involved in something else, the same patterns can happen. We call them cult-hoppers, people who go from one cult to the next because they never quite undid all the indoctrination and how it really traumatized them and affected them.

“But I’m not saying the deconstruction movement is bad. It seems like it has a positive point of view, a positive approach.”

Compassion and titillation

This will be Lalich’s first trip to New Zealand. While here, she will meet with Gloriavale leavers in Timaru, deliver a psychology lecture at the University of Canterbury, meet MPs in Wellington and maybe manage a few moments of sightseeing.

She is one of three international speakers Decult has lined up so far. The others are Ulrike Schiesser, who heads the Federal Office for Cult Affairs in Austria, and British psychotherapist Gillie Jenkinson, who will take workshops on cult recovery. Christchurch Central MP Duncan Webb, a critic of Gloriavale, will open the conference.

The ever-growing number of cult documentaries and podcasts shows there is certainly an appetite. Richter, an avid consumer, reckons two New Zealand-made documentaries, Heaven and Hell: The Centrepoint Story and Escaping Utopia, which is about Gloriavale, are as good as any she has seen from anywhere. She values their victim-focused approach.

It is important to balance compassion and titillation, Richter says. In her view, the documentaries The Vow and Seduced, which cover the NXIVM cult, and Escaping Twin Flames also do a good job of showing why ordinary people get entangled in “something that’s potentially bad for them and bad for others and looks bats... crazy”.

With all this attention on cults, surely people are becoming wised-up to the tricks and techniques. We know how grooming happens. How recruitment happens. There was even a Netflix series called How to Become a Cult Leader.

Richter hopes that is the case, “but we are living in times when people are more susceptible to cult influence, because of the geopolitical situation”. People remain vulnerable. The disinformation that flourished during the pandemic hasn’t gone away.

“People are wising up,” Lalich says from California, “although I don’t think recruitment is slowing down, at least not from how many emails I get every day and how many people come to me for help. I think there is more general public awareness. I don’t think everybody just watches those documentaries for the scandalous thrill attractions. I think people are learning. Hopefully young people are learning.”

As for pushback, Lalich says she has been sued twice. Once was over a book she co-wrote that mentioned a particular group. They didn’t call it a cult, but the word “cults” was in the title. The other time was over an article about “a big lawsuit that happened because of sexual abuse”. She and the other experts who were interviewed were targeted.

“Neither of those suits went anywhere but it was really a pain in the ass at the time,” she says. “I sometimes get nasty emails from followers, or someone will say ‘I’m a lawyer representing such and such a group and you have to retract your statements’. I mostly just ignore all that.

“I do have a policy that there are some groups I just will not talk about because they are extremely litigious. I don’t typically like to come right out and say ‘Yes that’s a cult’. That isn’t the point. The point is what is the structure of the organisation, what are the behaviours, what are the practices, what are the expectations on members and what kind of pressure is being put on them.

“You can call it a high-demand group or whatever you want. But what I look for is the social structure. How people are being coerced and controlled.”

The Decult conference is in Christchurch on October 19 and 20. More information can be found online at decult.net.

New Zealand cults hit the world stage

Philip Matthews

The Press

June 11, 2024

Is New Zealand a little bit culty? That question will be asked at the International Cultic Studies Association conference in Barcelona, Spain, next month.

That may not be how New Zealand likes to see itself on the world stage. Yet it indicates how interested the world’s cult experts are in the ongoing story of the Gloriavale Christian Community.

The community must seem like an anthropological experiment, a cult operating in real time, rather than something historical.

“It’s like a perfect microcosm of a cult you can study,” Christchurch journalist and author Anke Richter said.

Three New Zealanders will be explaining our cults in Barcelona. There is Liz Gregory, manager of the Gloriavale Leavers’ Support Trust. There is Caroline Ansley, a doctor who founded the Centrepoint Restoration Project. And there is Richter, whose journey into the cult world has gone from covering the fallout from Auckland’s notorious Centrepoint community to writing the book Cult Trip, which has just been published in the US, to organising a “decult” conference in Christchurch in October.

Tickets to Decult 2024 go on sale on Wednesday. International experts include US author Dr Janja Lalich, who appeared as an expert in the recent Netflix series Escaping Twin Flames. Journalists Adam Dudding and David Farrier will present their work on Centrepoint and Arise Church respectively. Dudding hosted the Stuff podcast series, The Commune.

Many of the other presenters have lived experience of groups such as Centrepoint, Gloriavale, Shincheonji, Children of God, the Truth who are also known as the 2x2s, the Exclusive Brethren, Jehovah’s Witnesses and Destiny Church.

But that raises a fundamental question. Some of those churches will not exactly welcome being put under the “cult” umbrella.

“It’s not up to me to slap the label onto groups but I think we can provide enough information from people who have come out of those groups, and let the attendees decide for themselves,” Richter said.

Her hope is that some of those groups will take a hard look at themselves and “be more aware of the dynamics that make people speak up about them”.

While there will be tears and emotion, Richter doesn’t want the conference to be “trauma porn”.

The Olive Leaf Network, which supports survivors and leavers of religious groups, and the Gloriavale Leavers’ Support Trust estimate that dozens of “problematic” groups are operating in New Zealand, from evangelical churches to new-age movements. They believe more than 10,000 people are affected.

The problems faced by children who were raised in cults was a focus of the conference, Richter said.

“Their risk for unemployment, addiction, depression and suicide is huge,” she said. “We don’t have trained cult counsellors who know how to help those who left or were shunned. There is so much untreated trauma, grief, confusion and shame.”

Tickets and more information is available at www.decult.net.

https://www.thepress.co.nz/nz-news/350306415/new-zealand-cults-hit-world-stage/

CultNEWS101 Weekend Edition: Not Alone: a Conference for Survivors and Helping Professionals

News, Education, Intervention, Recovery

Not Alone: a Conference for Survivors and Helping Professionals

Have you Ever Been A Part of a Cult, High-Control Group, or Relationship? You are not alone. Join us for a One-Day Conference on May 11th, 2024 in Portland, Oregon for Education, Healing, and Community. 

This event is sponsored by the Spiritual Abuse Forum for Education (SAFE), which is a regular meetup in Portland, Oregon. This will be our second SAFE sponsored conference in Portland. Conference Co-Sponsors include People Leave Cults, Empathy Paradigm Consulting, CultNews101, and Cult Mediation.

Presenters include a range of professionals with specializations in coercive control, cult recovery education, and religious trauma therapy. Conference presentations and speaker line-up:

• Spiritual Abuse & Adult Clergy Sexual Abuse: How Does it Happen and How Are They Connected - Presented by Anna Tolf
  
• Healing After Cults…Spirituality, Self-Help & Cult Hopping - Presented by Jennifer French Tomasic, MSc
  
• Complex Trauma After Cult Involvement: Approaches to Recovery - Presented by Erin Falconer, PhD, MSc, LMSW
  
• Using Art to Build Self Connection - Presented by Natalee Bigger Stockdale, MA, ATR-BC, LPCC, NCC
  
• Creating Psychologically Safe Communities - Presented by Josh Miller, MCPC and Ashlen Hilliard, MSc
• Re-establishing Faith After Spiritual Abuse - Presented by Kent Burtner, M.Div., M.A
• Navigating Scientology: Perspectives From Generational Differences - Moderated by Ashlen Hilliard, MSc
  
• Understanding Power & Control Dynamics - Presented by Josh Miller, MCPC and Anna Clark Miller, NCC, LPC-S, LMHC-S
  
• When to Leave your Church - Presented by Rev. Kenneth Garrett, MDiv. DMin.
  
• Cult Recovery: The Basics - Presented by Chris Shelton, MSc
  
• Cult Media Messaging: Feeling Comfortable with Sharing Your Story - Presented by Dhyana Levey, MSc
  
• Tools and Skills to Help and Advocate for Other Survivors - Presented by Connie Baker, MA, LPC
  

We hope you can join us! Together we can overcome the trauma of cults and high-control groups or relationships, and strengthen our network in the Pacific Northwest.

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