Progress Report: 2014

  ICSA's mission is to apply research and professional perspectives to � Help those who have been spiritually abused or otherwise harmed by psychological manipulation and high-demand groups � Educate the public � Promote research and writing projects � Support helping professionals interested in cults, related groups, and psychological manipulation This report will discuss ICSA programs and projects that have advanced this mission during the past year.

Assistance ICSA continued to address the needs of former group members and families through ICSA’s events, periodicals, website, and information service. Workshops � August weekend recovery workshop in Colorado � April weekend workshop for SGAs (second-generation adults – people born or raised in cultic groups) in Connecticut. (Left: volunteer facilitators for this workshop) � ICSA volunteers also facilitated workshops for former members and families during the pre-conference day of the ICSA international conference in Washington, DC in July � Bill and Lorna Goldberg hosted a special half-day event for parents of SGAs to “focus on the complex relationships resulting from multi-generational cult involvement Annual Conference ICSA’s annual international conference, this year held in July in Washington, DC, is THE conference to attend in the cultic studies field. The annual conference reflects ICSA’s unique capacity to address and integrate the needs of its four main constituencies: former group members, families, helping professionals, and researchers. Like other recent conferences, the DC annual conference had about 100 speakers who covered topics relevant to each of these groups.

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The 2014 annual conference demonstrated that former members and SGAs are the dominant ICSA constituency in terms of numbers. A survey of 114 attendees (about half of the total) found that 72 were former group members, and that 21 of these were SGAs. 55 people, most of whom were SGAs or former members, were concerned about one or more family members in a cultic group. This year’s conference also had a very successful Phoenix Project Art & Literary exhibit, as well as an evening of poetry readings and music by former cultic group members. The artistic dimension of ICSA’s work, coordinated by Diana Pletts, is important because artistic expressions related to the feelings of former cultic group members can sometimes capture or reveal subtleties that elude analytic writing. Local Meetings and Support Groups The monthly New York local meeting, facilitated by Dan Shaw and Chris Carlson, will soon enter its third year. This meeting has been very helpful to dozens of former members and families seeking information and support. Bob and Judy Pardon also run an ICSA/MeadowHaven support group for former cultic group members. This group builds discussions around topics and runs for about 8 weeks. Several 8-week segments have been completed thus far. A number of ICSA members conduct support groups for former group members, including: � � � �

New York/New Jersey – Bill and Lorna Goldberg Dallas/Fort Worth – Wendy and Doug Duncan San Francisco – Colleen Russell Washington, DC – Mary Moore and Marita La Palm

ICSA Today ICSA’s four-color magazine, ICSA Today, overseen by volunteer Associate Editor Ann Stamler, is a valuable resource for all ICSA members, but especially for former members and families seeking to understand the practical implications of psychological manipulation and abuse. During the past year, the following articles have been especially pertinent to those seeking assistance: � � � � �

Peace at Last – Gina Catena A Personal Experience of TM – Stephen Coleman Reclaiming Life Stories After Cult Immersion – Greg Jemsek Autobiographical Writing as Therapy – Nori Muster Forty Years in the Wilderness – Kristen Skedgell DeVoe

Each issue of ICSA Today also includes artistic contributions (art and/or poetry) that reflect on the experience of psychological abuse victims, as well as (in most issues) a Q&A essay that addresses a practical question from readers. (Left: “There is Beauty in My Mind Now” by Ava Lynn Williams) Information Service Although ICSA’s information service has been dominated by e-mail messages for 15 years, we still get several hundred phone calls per year from people seeking help. Our office sends about 8000 e-mail messages a year, a large percentage of which are sent to former members or families seeking information or assistance. 2

Website The ICSA website was rebuilt from scratch in early 2014. A number of sections and pages in the website advance ICSA’s assistance mission. A major top navigation link is “Support.” This page provides an overview of all the support resources ICSA offers, including: � � � � � � � �

The former group member study guide/collection: The family study guide/collection Free e-books relevant to the needs of former members and families Workshops for former group members and SGAs Conferences, special events, and local meetings The resources of ICSA’s Spiritual Safe Haven Program The handbook, Starting Out in Mainstream America A growing number of free videos on ICSA’s YouTube channel, including ICSA’s recovery video, “After the Cult” � Ways in which people seeking assistance can contact ICSA: e-mail, phone, fax, post

Education During the past 15 years ICSA’s public educational work consisted primarily of the publication of its periodicals, the dissemination of website resources, and ICSA volunteers speaking with journalists, giving public talks, and writing books and articles that the public might see. Many of the educational activities of ICSA volunteers are reported on briefly in Member Update issues. Now, however, ICSA is pursuing two interrelated projects. One is the Spiritual Safe Haven Network, which, as it is developed, will become a resource facilitating outreach to churches and synagogues. The second is the New York Educational Committee. Chaired by Maureen Griffo, this committee has had monthly meetings for more than a year. Through these meetings committee members have been developing standardized public educational talks that have been reviewed by a group of experts. The next stage will be to pilot test these talks on selected churches, synagogues, and schools. After the testing stage is complete, ICSA will create and promote a speakers’ referral service so that we can connect churches, synagogues, and schools with expert speakers. Over time this outreach is expected to make ICSA’s services known to more victims of psychological manipulation and to increase ICSA’s membership. The New York committee will serve as a model for other cities. (Left: Maureen Griffo speaking about the work of the New York Committee at ICSA’s 2014 annual conference in Washington, DC) In addition, some of the video resources on ICSA’s YouTube channel are relevant to public and youth education, especially “Cults: Saying NO Under Pressure.” 3

Promote Research and Writing Projects Because of ICSA Today and International Journal of Cultic Studies, ICSA probably publishes more original articles in the cultic studies field than any other organization. The complete list of hundreds of articles published in ICSA journals back to 1985 can be found on our website. During the past year ICSA has collected data and reported on two surveys created by ICSA executive director, Michael Langone. The first sought to collect information on people who use ICSA’s website. The second collected information on the suppression of cult critics’ free speech. ICSA researcher members also continue to press ahead. Colleagues from the Autonomous University of Madrid and the University of Barcelona have been in the forefront of this research, most recently with their IJCS article, “Preliminary Taxonomy of Psychological Abuse Strategies: Within Partner Relationships, at the Workplace, and in Manipulative Groups.” ICSA member Professor Stephen Kent in the sociology department of the University of Alberta has also been a productive center of sociological research. Dr. Kent has probably mentored more graduate students in this field than any other person within our network. Indeed, four of his students have published in one of the last 5 issues of International Journal of Cultic Studies. ICSA volunteers also regularly publish books and memoirs pertinent to this field. These are often reported on briefly in Member Update issues.

Support Helping Professionals One of ICSA’s long-range goals is to ensure that every major metropolitan area has at least one mental health professional knowledgeable about cults and psychological manipulation. Although we still have much work ahead of us, we have made considerable progress in assisting mental health professionals (most of whom are former members of cultic groups) hone their skills and gain experience in this field. Recent annual conferences, for example, have included a pre-conference mental health workshop (approximately 40 professionals attended the Washington, DC mental health pre-conference workshop), as well as a full track of conference sessions for mental health professionals. The website also has much information to help mental health professionals, including ICSA’s periodicals and the special mental health study guide/collection. In the fall of 2013 ICSA conducted a small assistancefocused conference at Santa Fe’s historic La Fonda Inn (left). We plan to conduct a similar fall conference in years when the annual conference is in Europe. This conference included a special seminar for mental health professionals, including a time for discussion of cases and mentoring. The Santa Fe conference laid the groundwork for an ICSA book on the clinical state of the art in the cultic studies field. Experienced mental health professionals from around the world are writing chapters on important aspects of treatment. We aim to have draft chapters completed by the end of 2014 and have the book ready for publication sometime in 2015. 4