February 2011

Trauma, Cults, and Combat PTSD: Applying a Cognitive Processing Therapy Program for Soldiers to Cult Recovery. On Saturday, May 14, 2011 from 3:00 – 5:30 p.m., Madeleine Tobias, APRN, will speak on this subject at an ICSA Special Event in New York City. Her talk will take place at the Church of St. Peter and St. Paul (site of coming ICSA local meetings – see below). For many years Madeleine Tobias, co-author ofCaptive Hearts, Captive Minds, and Take Back Your Life, was a counselor to former cult members. In 1994 she began to work at the Vet Center (Readjustment Counseling Services) a division of the Veteran’s Administration, where she applied her experience dealing with trauma in former cult members to the needs of combat veterans and those with military sexual trauma. Now, Ms. Tobias would like to discuss how what she has learned in her trauma work with veterans can apply to the recovery needs of ex-cult members. In this special ICSA event, Ms. Tobias will present her ideas and lead an extended discussion on the subject of trauma and cults. All who are interested in this subject are welcome to attend and participate in the discussion, including mental health professionals, former group members, families of the cult involved, researchers, and students. Flyers and e-mail announcements will go out soon. If you want to make sure you receive announcements on this event, New York local meetings, and future New York events, please add your e-mail to the New York sign-up box on our local meetings page:http://icsahome.com/infoserv_respond/event_localmeetings.asp

ICSA Annual Conference in Barcelona. All ICSA members should have received Barcelona conference flyers in the post and via e-mail. If you did not receive a flyer, make sure we have your up-to-date street and e-mail addresses. Conference information: http://icsahome.com/infoserv_respond/event_conferences_work shops.asp

ICSA’s History and Future. New York Local Meetings. On January 22, 2011 Michael Langone talked about ICSA’s 32-year history at the Church of St. Peter and St. Paul in New York City. This church will be the site of ICSA local meetings in New York, which will begin on Friday, March 25th (7:00 – 9:00 pm). The facilitators of the NY local meetings spoke briefly and described their plans for the meetings: Chris Carlson, Shelly Rosen, and Dan Shaw. Dr. Langone’s Power Point presentation is now on the Web:

https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B7wsUBpBPDH5OGIzNjIzM2UtMmFlMC00MDg4LTliZWQtZDZhNzJmYTU3OTBj&hl=en If you want to make sure you receive announcements on New York local meetings and future New York events, please add your e-mail to the New York sign-up box on our local meetings page: http://icsahome.com/infoserv_respond/event_localmeetings.asp

HELP FOR LOS ANGELES RESIDENTS WHO HAVE LEFT CULTS OR HIGH DEMAND GROUPS

If you have left a cult or other high demand group, live in Los Angeles , and need help with things like

· education and career planning

· medical and mental health care

· employment

· housing resources

· general adjustment to mainstream living

the International Cultic Studies Association (ICSA) invites you to work with a case manager educated on issues of cult involvement, who can both help with practical problems and offer support as you adjust to your new life.

The service, at Venice Family Clinic, is free for low-income residents of the West Side of Los Angeles. The program operates during the academic year and will resume September 9, 2009.

Give it a try! Call a clinician at Venice Family Clinic:

310-664-7522

to check your eligibility or make an appointment.

(Note: This is not a line to a receptionist. You will not have to make awkward explanations. A clinician will get your message and return the call.)

Please send this message to people in West Los Angeles who might benefit from the service. ICSA thanks the Venice Family Clinic for renewing this project, which began in 2008. We also thank Dr. Doni Whitsett of the University of Southern California , the project’s Clinical Director, and Livia Bardin , M.S.W., who initiated and chairs the project.

Cults Can Have a Terrible Effect on You and Your Family

Cults are close-knit groups that center around a self-appointed leader, who claims to have special knowledge and who dictates control over its members’ lives.

There are thousands of groups that mislead and victimize those who are seeking to include religion in their lives. These groups aim to convert members of a particular religion by mis-representation of that religion’s core beliefs.

Destructive cults can be religious or political, push a new age philosophy, or practice aberrant forms of therapy. But they all engage in some form of control and exploit their members financially, physically, and psychologically. Members experience loss of free will, a return to childlike behavior, an inability to form friendships outside the group, and even abuse.

Cults prey on everyone. Those who may be most vulnerable include:

* teenagers, who are moving from parental supervision to autonomy;
* emigres, who are struggling to establish themselves in a new culture;
* young adults who work in the stressful corporate world;
* college-age youth, who are at a transitional point in their lives;
* the elderly who are coping with profound losses in their lives.

If you become involved with a group, or even an individual, who you feel is “taking much more of YOU than at first was discussed,” the experience can become cultlike.

* Domestic violence
* Religious cults
* Therapist abuse
* Psychological abuse
* Abusive groups
* Clergy abuse
* Mental abuse
* Spiritual abuse
* Emotional abuse
* Cult abuse

They do not get involved in cult deprogramming, nor in reprogramming. They do help people re-integrate into mainstream society and come to terms with who they are and what happened to them. Clients come to Wellspring once they have made the decision to leave a situation of mental, emotional, and spiritual abuse on their own.

It is key to note that this is a strictly voluntary program. Only after a person has chosen to leave the psychological or spiritual abuse and seek treatment can they come to Wellspring Retreat & Resource Center for help.

Their treatment is not limited just to coercive persuasion and domestic violence. They have treated survivors of sexual abuse by clergy and therapists and victims of manipulation by multi-level marketing scams. Some of their clients have come from abusive 12 –Step programs and drug and alcohol treatment centers. They have also worked with former gang members and victims of torture. Whenever someone feels he or she has been deceived, manipulated, exploited, or subjected to brainwashing or emotional or mental abuse, Wellspring offers offer hope and help.

The purpose of their web site is to provide a forum for open and frank discussion on the unique experience of being raised in The Family, on life after the group and how they have adjusted (or not). This site benefits all people who have been born and/or raised in any similar totalistic group, such as the Alamo Foundation.