Second and Multigenerational Adult Former Cult Member Recovery Series
October 10, 2021 @ 1:00PM — March 27, 2022 @ 2:15PM Eastern Time (US & Canada)
2022 presentation schedule details below! Previous presentation(s) are now available on the ICSA Youtube Channel (link below)!
Free ICSA Webinar Series | OPEN TO ALL!
Presentations will be recorded and available for later viewing. Question and Answer sessions will not be recorded.
Please watch the video below for more information on this series.
This series is specifically for second and multi-generational adult former cult members, however, this is the first program for S/MGAs that is open to all. In the past, ICSA workshops for this population have been limited to those who were themselves born or raised in cults. But we see the increasing need for those outside of this population to learn about the unique recovery issues relevant to S/MGAs.
2022 Presentation Schedule:
Upcoming presentations in the ICSA S/MGA Recovery Series in 2022:
- Sunday, March 6, 1:00 pm - 2:15 pm Eastern Time (US and Canada)
- Sunday, March 13, 1:00 pm - 2:15 pm Eastern Time (US and Canada)
- Sunday, March 20, 1:00 pm - 2:15 pm Eastern Time (US and Canada)
- Sunday, March 27, 1:00 pm - 2:15 pm Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Sunday, March 6th, 2022, 1:00 - 2:15 pm EST: Overcoming Barriers to Healthy Sexuality for S/MGAs, Presented by Doni Whitsett and Katharina Meredith
- • In Part 1 of this series we discussed some general sexual issues of S/MGAs. In Part 2 we will address more specific issues with which this populations often struggles. The life of a cult child is highly controlled and their personality shaped to conform to the expectations of the leadership. These expectations carry severe consequences when not adhered to. While some groups suppress erotic development others foster indiscriminate sexual activity creating an atmosphere that is inappropriately sexually charged and overstimulating. Anxiety surrounding sexuality may result in the sexual self becoming alienated. A critical/judgmental and shaming voice is often the result when a former member throws off the constricting cult norms and seeks to explore their own sexual potential. Learning to quiet this demoralizing voice will be addressed in our talk. We begin with the over-arching issue of the “push-pull” of intimacy, the desire to be close and the fear of that closeness. Early childhood experiences of betrayal of trust influence this ambivalent pattern and the person continues to suffer in the present. Based in attachment theory we will discuss ways to change these patterns into healthy relationships. Additionally, we will discuss certain sexual phenomena which may be of concern or interest for former members, namely fantasies, and the erotic practice of BDSM. We will also address some specific sexual difficulties in the various phases of sexual response (i.e. desire, arousal and orgasmic phases) and offer suggestions for overcoming them.
Doni Whitsett, PhD, LCSW, LMFT, is a Fulbright scholar and Clinical Professor Emerita at the USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work where she taught courses focused on neurobiology, trauma, mental health, and sexuality. As a trauma-focused psychotherapist in private practice she has been working with cult-involved clients and their families for over 25 years. She is also AASECT certified as a sex therapist. Her specialties of cultic studies and sexuality often overlap due to the exploitation of human sexuality by high demand abusive groups. Dr. Whitsett has presented to professional audiences both nationally and internationally in Australia, Canada, France, Poland, and Spain. Her research activities include women’s sexuality in China, sexual dysfunction in the military, and sexual issues of S/MGAs. Her latest publications include chapters on: “A modern psychodynamic approach with first-generation former cult members” and “Global violence of women in cults.”
Katharina Meredith is currently working towards a Ph.D. in Community Psychology, studying the psychology of extremism and terrorism. Her research interests include inter-group and intra-group violence, right-wing extremism, online extremist propaganda and radicalization, group processes, exit, and identity. She is a published author with a focus on outreach and education, and the executive director of Stronger After. From age 10 to age 20, she grew up in a small New Age cult, where she was separated from her parents, cut off from the outside world, taken to three different countries, and asked to build a time machine. The time machine never worked. She lives in Atlanta with her husband, two children, two cats, her therapy pug, and a fish. Her hobbies include eating, traveling, foraging for mushrooms, and reading fantasy novels.
Sunday, March 13th, 2022, 1:00 - 2:15 pm EST: After the Cult: Exploring Healthy Relationships for LGBQA+ Individuals, Presented by Cyndi Matthews and Ashlen Hilliard
- Lesbian,
gay, bisexual, queer, and asexual (LGBQA+) individuals who were born or
raised in cults may have dealt with a litany of constructs regarding what
a healthy relationship looks like and how they were to live their lives
while in their respective cults. These constructs could include mandates
such as "Only heterosexual relationships are allowed," "Sex
is only for marriage," "Sex is only for procreation,"
"Masturbation will turn you gay," and "Wives, submit to
your husbands including whenever they want sex," along with a myriad
of other constructs and beliefs. They may have been punished/rewarded by
leaders/members requiring reparative therapy, public and private
confessions, doctrinal lessons, marrying a person of the other gender,
etc. This discussion will focus on how these constructs and mandates
may have led to unhealthy expectations and outcomes in current and past
relationships. Presenters will also discuss how healing can occur by
re-evaluating and redefining what constitutes a healthy relationship, and
ways LGBQA+ can re-imagine, explore, and reconstruct their present and
future relationships.
Cyndi Matthews, PhD, LPC-S, NCC, is an experienced Counseling Clinician (15+ yrs.) working in Private Practice and as an Associate Professor in the Counseling (CMHC) program at The Chicago School of Professional Psychology (Dallas). She has earned a Ph.D. in Counseling and Counselor Education, a Masters in Counseling, and a Masters in Business - Organizational Behavior. Her passion for social justice and advocacy is exemplified in her counseling practice and research, both of which focus on effective counseling interventions for marginalized populations, such as cult survivors, domestic violence survivors, and LGBTQ+ populations. Based on her scholarship and clinical expertise she has researched and developed theory for counseling with second and multi-generation adult cult survivors.
Ashlen Hilliard (she/her), MSc, is the Director of Events for the International Cultic Studies Association (ICSA). Her MSc research focused 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. Before ICSA, she worked as a case manager in Salt Lake City, Utah helping individuals leaving polygamist groups out west. Ashlen relocated to Portland, Oregon in 2020 and is a co-organizer for the local Spiritual Abuse Forum for Education (SAFE) Meetups for survivors of cultic and spiritual abuse. She has presented at multiple ICSA conferences on a variety of topics and has been interviewed on podcasts and media programs. She published an article in ICSA Today 10.2 / 2019 on, “The Genesis, Text, and Implications of Utah House Bill 214: Office for Victims of Crime Amendments.” Ashlen enjoys living in Portland, Oregon with her partner Ryan, their blind dog Hamilton, and their cat Ferguson.
Sunday, March 20th, 2022, 1:00 - 2:15 pm EST: The Impact of Yesterday on Today, Presented by Lorna Goldberg and Ck Rardin
- To a large extent, the cult
environment has shaped many of the beliefs and character traits of S/MGAs.
After they leave the cult, they may bring these beliefs and
character traits with them. S/MGAs can discover that attitudes shaped
within the cult might be impeding their present life. For example, in the
cult, they were expected to reach perfection. This belief causes them to
struggle with internalized pressure to be perfect after they
leave. When S/MGAs fail at perfection, they typically might feel depressed
or filled with shame. S/MGAs also might experience symptoms of C-PTSD,
such as hypervigilant or hypovigilent (dissociative) behavior.
Additionally, S/MGAs typically struggle with complicated emotions about
their parents in the cult, and they might be uncertain about how to deal
with their feelings after they leave the cult. Finally, the presenters
will explore how post-cult relationships and therapy might aid former cult
members.
Lorna Goldberg, LCSW, PsyA, Board Member and Past President of ICSA, is a clinical social worker and psychoanalyst in private practice and Director at the Institute of Psychoanalytic Studies. In 1976, she and her husband, William Goldberg, began facilitating a support group for former cult members that continues to meet monthly in their home in Englewood, New Jersey. She has cochaired ICSA’s Mental Health Committee, published numerous articles in professional journals about her therapeutic work with former cult members, and contributed chapters to several important texts on psychotherapy and cults. Most recently Lorna coedited (along with William Goldberg, Rosanne Henry, and Michael Langone) Cult Recovery: A Clinician’s Guide to Working With Former Members and Families (2017). Lorna and Bill are founding facilitators of the CT Workshop for Those Born or Raised in Cultic Groups.
Ck Rardin, facilitator, ICSA CT Workshop for Those Born or Raised in Cultic Groups, was born in California. His parents raised him in a cultic Catholic group and when he reached adolescence, they signed over their parental rights to the group. Ck was then sent to the cult’s headquarters in Itaquera, Sao Paulo, Brazil. He stayed in the group till age 26 when he gathered the courage and strength to leave the organization on his own. After leaving he became a certified EMT, then was certified and joined the American Society of Clinical Pathologists (ASCP ), with which he maintains his certification. He now runs his own IT consulting firm in upstate New York and spends much of his time involved in recovery from his experience, working to expose these groups (for example, assisting in research for MTV’s production of The Cult Question) as well as helping others in their recovery.
Sunday, March 27th, 2022, 1:00 - 2:15 pm EST: Destigmatizing Medical Care Post-Cult, Presented by Eva Mackey and Ck Rardin
- Those
who have exited cults are likely to have many psychological barriers to
accessing the medical care they need. Individuals raised in cults may have
never received appropriate medical care and may have many misconceptions
about illness, doctors and medicine. This talk will explore how two second
generation adult (SGA) former cult members overcame those barriers. You
will hear from one SGA who become his own medical advocate and was able to
form healing, therapeutic relationships with his medical team and doctors.
The other speaker is an SGA who went to medical school after exiting the
cult and has been a practicing family physician for 20 years. She will
explore the issue from both perspectives and will specifically address stigmas attached to
mental illness and psychiatric medicines.
Eva Mackey Meyrat, MD, is a second-generation adult former cult member and a facilitator of the ICSA CT Workshop for Those Born or Raised in Cultic Groups. Her mother became a devotee of an Indian guru in 1975 when she was one year old. He taught a branch of Hinduism called Advaita Vedanta, a non-dualistic philosophy which teaches that the self is one with the ultimate truth or reality. Half of Eva’s childhood was spent in the ashram in India, where she and the other children were unsupervised much of the time. Despite the upheavals and instability that characterized her childhood, Eva managed to get out of the cult at the age of 16 and eventually earned her MD degree from the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston. Dr. Mackey has a busy family practice, and she lives near Dallas with her husband and four children.
Ck Rardin, facilitator, ICSA CT Workshop for Those Born or Raised in Cultic Groups, was born in California. His parents raised him in a cultic Catholic group and when he reached adolescence, they signed over their parental rights to the group. Ck was then sent to the cult’s headquarters in Itaquera, Sao Paulo, Brazil. He stayed in the group till age 26 when he gathered the courage and strength to leave the organization on his own. After leaving he became a certified EMT, then was certified and joined the American Society of Clinical Pathologists (ASCP ), with which he maintains his certification. He now runs his own IT consulting firm in upstate New York and spends much of his time involved in recovery from his experience, working to expose these groups (for example, assisting in research for MTV’s production of The Cult Question) as well as helping others in their recovery.