Pursuing Counseling after Having Been in a Psychotherapy Cult

ICSA Annual Conference: Pursuing Counseling after Having Been in a Psychotherapy Cult

Rachel Bernstein, MSed, LMFT

Friday, June 24th

12:00 PM-12:50 PM

• Conference Information
• Agenda
• Conference Registration

So many people are justifiably panicked about pursuing counseling for themselves after having been at the mercy of the leader of a psychotherapy cult or a counselor in an abusive residential treatment center. I work with many people who were terrified about getting help again and waited for years to come for therapy or participate in my support group because their last counseling experience had been so traumatizing, abusive and manipulative.

People who were controlled and manipulated by therapists and coaches who crossed boundaries, took advantage of their power and that relationship, made them dependent on them and took them away from their families and friends, need to know that their new counselor can be trusted. People who have also endured being attacked in psychotherapy group settings and also have resultant guilt from having been pushed to attack other participants in the group are often too afraid to participate in groups that could actually offer them healthy support and community.

This presentation will provide counselors with ideas about how to address the specific needs of these clients who were abused within previous therapeutic settings and will also provide guidelines for people previously abused by a counselor who are now seeking treatment for themselves to help them assess if their new counselor will provide them with a healthy and safe therapeutic environment.

Speaker

Rachel Bernstein Former Member Support Group, Facilitator

Rachel Bernstein, MSed, LMFT, has been working with former cult members for nearly 30 years. She is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, and Educator, who lives in Los Angeles, CA. She has been a member of ICSA for many years and has presented talks and moderated panels at ICSA conferences. Rachel previously ran the Maynard Bernstein Resource Center on cults, named after her father. She was the Clinician at the former Cult Clinic in Los Angeles, as well as the Cult Hotline and Clinic in Manhattan. She now treats former cult members and the families and friends of those in cults in her private practice. Rachel has facilitated numerous support groups for former cult members, for people who were in one-on-one cults, and for the families of those in cults. Rachel has published many articles, made media appearances, consulted on shows and movies about cults, and has been interviewed for podcasts and YouTube videos. Rachel is the host of her weekly Podcast, "IndoctriNation," about breaking free from systems of control. RachelBernsteinTherapy.com, bernsteinlmft@gmail.com 818-907-0036

Rachel is speaking at:

Pursuing Counseling after Having Been in a Psychotherapy Cult

June 24, 2022

12:00 pm-12:50 pm

Panel Part 1: The Evolution of Cult Intervention

June 25, 2022

11:00 am-11:50 am

Panel Part 2: The Evolution of Cult Intervention

June 25, 2022

12:00 pm-12:50 pm

Conspiracy Theories- Why They Have Recently Grown and What They Teach Us About Our Need for Answers

June 25, 2022

4:00 pm-4:50 pm

Building Bridges; Leaving and Recovering from Cultic Groups and Relationships: A Workshop for Families

June 26, 2022

2:00 pm-4:00 pm

https://whova.com/web/icsaa_202207/

Ending Cycles of Abuse in Sports and Society: See it, stop it, heal it.

Amy Saltzman M.D.
Psychology Today
September 23, 2021

"No athlete, no child, no human being should have to endure abuse in pursuit of their dreams. Yet, as the courageous Senate testimony of world-class gymnasts Simone Biles, Aly Raisman, Maggie Nichols, and McKayla Maroney recently demonstrated, abuse is all too common. Ms. Biles gave voice to the visceral agony of the victims: “The scars of this horrific abuse continue to live with all of us.

It is imperative that children and adults learn to recognize and prevent all forms of abuse in sports and society. Focusing on the egregious sexual abuse and the flagrant failures of USA Gymnastics, the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee, and the FBI are way too little and way too late.

As with other epidemics, emotional, physical, and sexual abuse can be stopped. Together, we can create comprehensive systems of prevention, so that no child has to suffer the injuries and live with the scars of abuse, reopen their wounds in front of the U.S. Senate.

Covert emotional abuse (CEA) is almost always the initial form of abuse, and it all too often leads to physical and sexual abuse. CEA is a tightly woven, almost invisible spider’s web meant to ensnare and control the victim. My intention is to make the web, patterns, and shimmering threads of CEA visible so we can see it, stop it, and heal it." [ ... ]

Amy Saltzman, M.D., is a holistic physician, mindfulness coach, athlete, devoted student of transformation, wife, mother, and occasional poet. Her passion is supporting people of all ages in enhancing health, experiencing joy, and finding flow.

Online: Still Quiet Place

'Brainwashing' life coach battle returns to court as countess continues her fight to be reunited with her 'manipulated' daughter

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·        Countess of Caledon continues her bid to be reunited with her daughter

·        Court will rule on whether Amanda Caledon can obtain police documents

·        She has accused Anne Craig of manipulating her 27-year-old daughter

·        A number of prominent families claim their daughters turned their backs on them after coaching sessions with Mrs Craig at her London home

 

By ADAM LUCK FOR THE MAIL ON SUNDAY

4 September 2016 

 

‘Harrowing’ claims that a ‘life coach’ brainwashed the daughters of wealthy families will return to the High Court this week as the Countess of Caledon continues her bid to be reunited with her daughter.

The court will rule on whether Amanda Caledon can obtain crucial police documents as she attempts to mount a private prosecution against the therapist.

She has accused Anne Craig of manipulating her daughter, who cannot be named and has now severed all links with her family.

Mrs Craig has strenuously denied the claims against her, as has the 27-year-old daughter who started seeing Mrs Craig in 2010.

At the heart of the extraordinary story, first exposed by The Mail on Sunday earlier this year, is an allegation mounted by a number of prominent families that their daughters turned their backs on them after coaching sessions with Mrs Craig at her London home. 

Among the accusations is the claim that Mrs Craig planted false memories of child abuse in the minds of her clients – again, denied.

On Friday, the Countess will learn whether her application for the documents, which relate to the 2014 arrest of Mrs Craig, will be successful.

At an earlier hearing in June, Mark Jones, barrister for the Countess, said a private investigator had discovered a ‘harrowing body of evidence’ about Craig’s methods.

He said: ‘My client’s case is that the evidence she has obtained discloses a methodology whereby memories or events are falsely and deliberately implanted in the minds of impressionable, perhaps vulnerable, young women.

‘Part of the intention is to sunder their natural relations of affection with their families.’

Several former clients had similar stories to tell, stating that Mrs Craig, who describes herself as a ‘personal development coach’, had told them she can analyse dreams and is in touch with the spirit world.

They also suggested that she focused on whether their problems had been caused by a dysfunctional upbringing.

However, despite a police investigation, the Crown Prosecution Service decided last year not to pursue a case.

Solicitor Clare Kirby, who represents Lady Caledon, declined to comment.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3772749/Brainwashing-life-coach-battle-returns-court-countess-continues-fight-reunited-manipulated-daughter.html

 

Lompoc Pair Sentenced To 5 Years Probation For Operating Psychic Scam

After repaying Lompoc victims, Gina Lee and Anthony Lee Davis ordered to stay away from clairvoyant businesses as Los Angeles couple seeks restitution for similar allegations

By Janene Scully
Noozhawk North County Editor
@JaneneScully
August 12, 2016

A husband and wife accused of defrauding customers in a Lompoc psychic scam were sentenced to five years of probation and ordered not to work in clairvoyant careers during that time as alleged victims from a Los Angeles County case watched on Friday.

Sentencing of Gina Lucyfenia Lee and Anthony Lee Davis, both 29 years old when they were arrested, occurred in Santa Barbara County Superior Court in Lompoc after the pair paid back more than $244,000 to a pair of victims linked to the Lompoc case.

Before the sentencing that came as part of an April agreement in which they pleaded guilty, Judge Rogelio Flores denied a motion to require the defendants to pay back a Los Angeles County couple who claim they fell prey to the pair’s fraudulent operation. 

“I’m really in a quandary here,” Flores said before speaking directly to Michael and Barbara Basura of Santa Clarita. 

But the judge said he had no jurisdiction over the Los Angeles County case, for which the defendants were never charged criminally..

The Basuras did receive a default judgment in a civil lawsuit after the defendants failed to show up in court.

“My heart aches for what happened to both of you,” Flores told the Basuras, adding that he would make sure their attorney had the defendants’ address, which must be on file with the Probation Department.

The Basuras' attorney, Rachel Tessa Gezerseh, said they gave the defendants money from their retirement funds in a case in which the conduct was very similar to the Santa Barbara County incidents.

Lee allegedly convinced the Basuras to give over $200,000, telling them it would be "cleansed" of evil spirits and returned, Gezerseh said.

“Suffice it to say, they never gave that money back, and my clients lost everything,” Gezerseh said. 

“We would take payments, we would take anything, just for justice here,” she added.

While restricted from requiring restitution in the Basuras case, Flores told the defendants he would not consider early termination of probation unless Lee and Davis had paid restitution to the Basuras.

After providing $137,900 in cash during a prior court hearing, the defendants provided three additional cashier’s checks totaling $93,300. They also agreed to pay $711 to one of the victims in the Lompoc case. 

Lee was represented by Alan Eisner, who also stood in during Friday’s hearing for Davis’s attorney, Jay Jaffe, who was sick.

Eisner asked the judge to drop the probation condition banning the defendants from working in careers related to clairvoyance, saying it’s broad and unrelated to psychic services.

But Supervising Deputy District Attorney Stephen Foley urged that the ban remain.

“I think if one uses their profession in order to defraud people of over $200,000, then I agree a reasonable term and condition is they not engage in that profession,” Foley said, adding the same condition would apply in real estate or other fraud cases. 

In addition to the Los Angeles and Lompoc cases, an arrest report from Utah cited similar conduct involving Lee, Foley said.

“I think it’s appropriate and I’m not going to budge that that,” Flores said ordering them not to participate in clairvoyance careers while they are on formal probation.

 

The defendants operated Life Coach Psychic in Lompoc, and both victims in the Santa Barbara County case were clients of the business that operated at 1005 E. Ocean Ave.

“If I get wind you’re doing this again, odds are I’m going to put you in prison,” he said. “You’ve got five years to straighten out in this manner.”

Before he will consider early termination of probation, the judge said, he “strongly urged” the pair to pay restitution to the Basuras.

While disappointed that full restitution wasn’t ordered, Gezerseh said she liked that the judge won’t consider early termination of probation unless the Basuras receive their money. 

She added they plan to “be very aggressive about moving forward” getting restitution for the Basuras from Lee and Davis. 

"They will come to know my name,” Gezerseh said outside the courtroom.

Michael Basura said it’s a shame people can commit fraud for income.

“It’s been a long road for us,” he added.

The defendants operated Life Coach Psychic in Lompoc, and both victims in the Santa Barbara County case were clients of the business that operated at 1005 E. Ocean Ave., Lompoc police said, adding the incidents occurred in late 2015.

Today, signs for the business are gone, but a behemoth Buddha statue sits in front, creating a dilemma, Foley said, since neither property owner nor victims want it.

“But the money used to buy that Buddha statue was stolen money, was the victim’s money,” Foley said.

“So if you know anybody who wants to buy that Buddha statue, that money could be used to recoup the (Santa Barbara County) victims’ losses.”

— Noozhawk North County editor Janene Scully can be reached at jscully@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.


https://www.noozhawk.com/article/lompoc_pair_sentenced_to_5_years_probation_for_operating_psychic_scam