Biographies: Psychological Manipulation: The Abuse of Women Conference Women and Cults

Biographies of all Psychological Manipulation: The Abuse of Women Conference and Workshop Speakers, Participants, and Moderators , May 30 and May 31, 1997 - Philadelphia

Linda J. Arkin, CSW is a psychotherapist who is former Regional Coordinator of the Prevention of Family Violence program for the Jewish Board of Family and Childrens’ Services. She has a private practice specializing in the trauma of cult abuse, domestic violence, sexual abuse, eating problems, addictions, and lesbian and gay issues. Ms. Arkin is a graduate of the Women’s Therapy Centre Institute and of the Advanced Group Training Program at the Jewish Board of Family and Childrens’ Services.

1. Friday, 3:30-4:30 Panel – Counseling of Cult and Abuse Victims: Practical Suggestions

Livia Bardin, M.S.W. is a social worker in private practice in Washington, DC. She serves on the Social Work Committee of AFF and is editor of the Newsletter of the Greater Washington Society of Clinical Social Workers. Ms. Bardin has consulted with the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism’s Commission on Social Action and Public Policy regarding the production of a resource guide on cults.

1. Friday, 11:15-12:30 Panel Discussion: The Effects of Abusive Experience on Families

2. Saturday, 8:45-9 Welcome and Introduction to Workshop: How to Help a Loved One Affected by a Cult – Workshop Coordinator *

3. Saturday, 10:45-12:30 Assessment and Planning *

4. Saturday, 1:30-3:15 Recovery Issues *

5. Saturday, 3:30-5:15 Problem Solving *

6. Saturday, 9:15-9:30 pm Closing*

Nancy Berkowitz is a special education teacher for emotionally disturbed middle-school students. The mother of an ex-cult member, she speaks frequently about cults.

1. Friday, 11:15-12:30 Panel Discussion: The Effects of Abusive Experience on Families

Howard Berkowitz, the father of an ex-cult member, is First Vice President, Assistant Branch Manager, and an investment counselor for a Wall Street securities firm.

1. Friday, 11:15-12:30 Panel Discussion: The Effects of Abusive Experience on Families

Rachel Bernstein, M.S.W. is a psychotherapist at the Cult Hot Line and Clinic of the Jewish Board of Family and Children’s Services, where she coordinates a community education and speakers’ bureau and facilitates a parent support group. She is former coordinator of the Maynard Bernstein Resource Center on Cults of the Cult Clinic at Jewish Family Services in Los Angeles. While in Los Angeles she was in general private practice and facilitated a recovery group for ex-cult members.

1. Friday, 3:30-4:30 Moderator of Panel – Counseling of Cult and Abuse Victims: Practical Suggestions

Sandra Lynn Bloom, MD is a Board-certified psychiatrist and fellow of the college of Physicians of Philadelphia. She is founder and executive director of The Sanctuary, a specialized inpatient hospital program for the treatment of adults traumatized as children, and founder and president of the Alliance for Creative Development, a multidisciplinary private practice and psychiatric management company. Dr. Bloom is president-elect of the International Society for Traumatic-Stress Studies, president of the Philadelphia chapter of Physicians for Social Responsibility and Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry in the School of Medicine at Temple University. She lectures nationally and internationally and is author of a manual entitled Bearing Witness: Trauma and Social Responsibility and the book Creating Sanctuary: Towards the Evolution of Sane Communities.

1. Friday, 3:30-4:30 Panel – Counseling of Cult and Abuse Victims: Practical Suggestions

Robin A. Boyle, Esq. presently teaches legal research and writing at St. John’s University School of Law and lectures frequently on women and the law. She has held adjunct teaching positions at Fordham University, New School for Social Research, and Briarcliffe College. Her legal experience includes the firms of Butler, Fitzgerald & Potter; Patterson, Belnap, Webb & Tyler; Dewey Ballantine; and Wolf Haldenstein Adler Freeman & Herz, as well as clerking for The Honorable Tina L. Brozman. Ms. Boyle is author of Studies in Community Action.

1. Friday, 12:30-2 Women and the Law: Where do Abuse Victims Stand?

Ron Burks, M.Div., M.A., is a staff member of Wellspring Retreat and Resource Center. He and his wife and their four children were involved in a Shepherding/Discipleship movement for seventeen years. He is co-author, with his wife, Vicky, of the book Damaged Disciples: Casualties of Authoritarian Churches and the Shepherding Movement, published by Zondervan.

1. Friday, 3:30-4:30 Panel – Counseling of Cult and Abuse Victims: Practical Suggestions

William Chambers, Ph.D. is a statistical and research consultant in Lindale, Georgia and former psychology professor at Wright State University, Shorter College, and the University of South Florida. His specialty area is personality theory. He is a member of the editorial advisory board of Cultic Studies Journal.

1. Saturday, 1:30-5 Symposium - Theory and Cults: In search of the Perfect Explanation, Discussant

Joel L. Chinitz, MD, MPH practiced nephrology in Philadelphia for twenty years before persuing an interest in community health. He is Clinical Director in the Philadelphia Chapter of Physicians for Social Responsibility and also volunteers in the Catholic Workers Free Clinic and the Allegheny University of the Health Sciences Homeless Outreach Project. He is currently Medical Director of the Physicians Assistant Program of the Philadelphia College of Textiles and Science and the Medical Director of the Visiting Nurse Association of Greater Philadelphia. Dr. Chinitz serves on the Board of Directors of Women Against Abuse.

1. Friday, 2-3:15 Panel – Preventing Family Violence: Becoming Part of the Solution

Bobbie Coyle is Carol Diament's sister.

1. Saturday, 7:15-9:15 Family Case Presentations *

Cliff Deardorff is the Assistant Director of Public Health for The Educational & Scientific Trust of the Pennsylvania Medical Society. He previously worked with the Division of Maternal and Child Health and the Cancer Control Program at the Pennsylvania Department of Health and with the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. Mr. Deardorff has also worked as an advocate for children and adults with developmental disabilities through a Federal grant from the U.S. Department of Education and with the Association for Retarded Citizens.

1. Friday, 2-3:15 Moderator of Panel – Preventing Family Violence: Becoming Part of the Solution

Carol Diament was a member of a psychotherapy group for five years. She has been working on recovery issues for the last three years.

1. Saturday, 7:15-9:15 Family Case Presentations *

Arthur Dole, Ph.D. is professor emeritus of education and former chair of the Psychology in Education Division at the Graduate School of Education, University of Pennsylvania. He is a member of the board of directors of AFF and serves on the editorial advisory board of Cultic Studies Journal.

1. Saturday, 1:30-5 Symposium - Theory and Cults: In search of the Perfect Explanation, Discussant

2. Nancy E. Durborow is Special Project Coordinator for Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Violence.

3. Friday, 2-3:15 Panel – Preventing Family Violence: Becoming Part of the Solution

Linda Jayne Dubrow, Ph.D. is a psychologist in private practice with the Verree Psychology Group and RETIRN (Re-entry Therapy Information, and Referral Network), which she co-founded. Dr. Dubrow is attending psychologist at the Sanctuary Unit at Friends Hospital, which specializes in the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder. She is also Director of Counseling at Manor Junior College.

1. Friday, 9:50-11 Coercive Persuasion and Domestic Violence: Looking at the Abusive Family Environment as Cult

Steve Dubrow-Eichel, Ph.D. is a psychologist in private practice with the Verree Psychology Group and RETIRN (Re-entry Therapy, Information, and Referral Network), which she co-founded. Dr. Dubrow is attending psychologist at the Sanctuary Unit at Friends Hospital, which specializes in the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder. She is also Director of Counseling at Manor Junior College.

1. Saturday, 9-12:30 Symposium -Treatment and Cults: What Works with Whom

Gloria Eisenberg is Steven Eisenberg's parent.

1. Saturday, 7:15-9:15 Family Case Presentations *

Daniel Eisenberg is Steven Eisenberg's parent.

1. Saturday, 7:15-9:15 Family Case Presentations *

Steven Eisenberg is a former Hare Krishna member. He is a Thought Reform Consultant and a consultant to RETIRN, which offers services to families affected by cults.

1. Saturday, 7:15-9:15 Family Case Presentations *

Carol Giambalvo is an ex-cult member who has been a Thought Reform Consultant since 1984 and a cofounder of reFOCUS, a national support network for former cult members. She is on AFF’s Board of Directors and is responsible for its Project Outreach. Author of Exit Counseling: A Family Intervention and co-editor of The Boston Movement: Critical Perspectives on the International Churches of Christ, Ms. Giambalvo has written and lectured extensively on cult-related topics.

1. Saturday, 1:30-5 - Ex-cult member support sessions – Recovery from Abusive Groups – Session Coordinator

Lorna Goldberg, MSW, ACSW, is a therapist in private practice and has operated a support group for ex-cult members with her husband, William Goldberg, for over 16 years. She teaches at the New Jersey Institute of Psychoanalysis and has written extensively for social work publications and for AFF publications.

1. Friday, 9:15 Welcome and Introduction of conference theme, Psychological Manipulation: The Abuse of Women Conference Chair

2. Saturday, 9-12:30 Symposium -Treatment and Cults: What Works with Whom

3. Saturday, 1:30-3:15 Spouses in Cults *

4. Saturday, 3:30-5:15 Families with Multi-Year Involvement *

William Goldberg, MSW, ACSW., a therapist, is Director of The Community Support Center in Pomona, New York and Director of the North Rockland (NY) Mental Health Clinic. He has operated a support group for ex-cult members with his wife, Lorna, for over 16 years. He has written extensively for social work publications and for AFF publications and has appeared on many major TV and radio programs discussing cults.

1. Saturday, 9:30-10:30 Ex-member panel - Cults and Families: The Tug of War Moderator *

2. Saturday, 10:45-12:30 Communications *

3. Saturday, 1:30-3:15 Communications *

4. Saturday, 3:30-5:15 Problem Solving *

5. Saturday, 7:15-9:15 Family Case Presentations - Respondent *

Maureen Griffo was a member of a Bible-based communal group for ten years. She operates an on-line chat support group for ex-members and people with loved ones in cults. She serves on the Board of re-FOCUS.

1. Saturday, 9:30-10:30 Ex-member panel - Cults and Families: The Tug of War *

Joan Higgins, a school psychologist, is a former victim of two abusive marriages. She volunteers for Unity Group, a not-for-profit organizations that helps battered women. Ms. Higgins is the mother of four grown children and has eight grandchildren.

1. Friday, 11:15-12:30 Panel Discussion: The Effects of Abusive Experience on Families

Joseph F. Kelly

1. Saturday, 3:30-5:15 Exit Counseling *

Thomas Keiser, Ph.D., J.D., a clinical psychologist in Huntingdon Valley, Pennsylvania, is the co-author, with Jacqueline Keiser, of The Anatomy of Illusion (Charles C. Thomas).

1. Saturday, 12:30 Moderator of Symposium -Treatment and Cults: What Works with Whom

Mike Kropveld is Director of Info-Cult, an educational organization in Montreal, Canada.

1. Saturday, 1:30-5 Symposium - Theory and Cults: In search of the Perfect Explanation, Moderator

Janja Lalich, a writer, consultant, and specialist in the study of cults and psychological manipulation and abuse, is founder and Education Director of Community Resources on Influence and Control. She is co-author of Cults in Our Midst, "Crazy" Therapies: What Are They? Do They Work? and Captive Hearts, Captive Minds as well as numerous articles. She is a former ten-year member of a political cult.

1. Friday, 9:50-11 Psychosexual Exploitation of Women in Cults

2. Friday, 7:30-9:30 "Crazy" Therapies: What Are They? Do They Work?

3. Saturday, 8:30-5 Ex-cult member support sessions – Recovery from Abusive Groups – Session Facilitator

Michael D. Langone, Ph.D., a counseling psychologist, earned his Ph.D. at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He is Executive Director and Director of Research and Victim Assistance of AFF. He is Editor of AFF’s Cultic Studies Journal, editor of the book Recovery From Cults, and co-author of Cults: What Parents Should Know and Satanism and Occult-Related Violence: What You Should Know.

1. Saturday, 9-9:30 Mindbending: An Overview

2. Saturday, 1:30-5 Symposium - Theory and Cults: In search of the Perfect Explanation, Psychological Theories – Conference on Cults: Theory and Treatment Issues Conference Coordinator

Cynthia Lilley is a music educator. She recovered her daughter from a well-known group after an intense and protracted struggle. Both the Today and Now shows on NBC broadcast long segments on her family’s attempts to locate her daughter and to speak with her away from cultic influence. Since then Ms. Lilley has devoted time and effort to informing the public of the dangers of destructive cults.

1. Friday, 11:15-12:30 Moderator of Panel Discussion: The Effects of Abusive Experience on Families

Edward Lottick, MD, whose son was in a cult, is a family practitioner in Kingston, Pennsylvania. Dr. Lottick taught at Hudson Valley Communty College, invented the Electrosurgical Hemostat, and has done medical work in prisons. He is on the Board of Trustees of the Pennsylvania Medical Scoeity and is Editor of the Luzerne County Medical Society Bulletin. In 1993, AFF awarded Dr. Lottick, a member of its Board of Directors, the John G. Clark Award for Distinguished Scholarship in Cultic Studies.

1. Friday, 2-3:15 Panel – Preventing Family Violence: Becoming Part of the Solution

Ellen Mali was a member of a psychological/political group for twenty-four years. She raised her son, Adam, under the strict confines of the group and walked away from it seven years ago, two years after her son had left. Ms. Mali is now an antiques dealer in Lenox, MA. She is writing a book with her son about their experiences.

1. Friday, 11:15-12:30 Panel Discussion: The Effects of Abusive Experience on Families

Arnold Markowitz, MSW, received his BS at Empire State College of the State University of New York and his MSW at Yeshiva University. He is a psychotherapist and Director of the Cult Hot Line and Clinic of the Jewish Board of Family and Children’s Services in New York City, where he also serves as Director of Brooklyn Adolescent Services. He has presented many cult-education programs, has made many media appearances, and has been quoted widely as a cult expert in the print media.

1. Saturday, 9-12:30 Symposium -Treatment and Cults: What Works with Whom

Paul Martin, Ph.D., a former member and leader of The Great Commission, is a psychotherapist. He is Director of the Wellspring Retreat and Resource Center in Albany, Ohio, a live-in rehabilitation center for ex-cult members, and is author of Cult-Proofing Your Kid. Dr. Martin has appeared on many major TV programs.

1. Saturday, 9-12:30 Symposium -Treatment and Cults: What Works with Whom

Charles McAlpin was a member of a shepherding/discipleship group for five years during his late teens and early twenties.

1. Saturday, 9:30-10:30 Ex-member panel - Cults and Families: The Tug of War *

Evelyn Ortner is founder and executive director of The Unity Group, an advocacy group for battered women and their children. She lectures widely and has appeared on radio programs. Ms. Ortner is author of a chapter in the United Nations publication The Woman’s Experience: The Emergence of Women in the 21st Century and of many articles. She has received many awards in recognition of her accomplishments in raising public awareness of the problem of domestic violence, including a letter of commendation from President William Clinton.

1. Friday, 9:50-11 Domestic Violence: A Loss of Selfhood

Carole Rayburn, Ph.D., M.Div., is a Clinical Consulting and Research Psychologist in private practice. She is immediate past president of and a Fellow of the Division of Psychology of Religion of the American Psychological Association; a Fellow of the APA Division on Psychology of Women; a Fellow of the APA Division of Psychotherapy; and a Fellow of three other APA Divisions. Dr. Rayburn is an expert on the effects of sexual and physical abuse on women and women and stress. She is presently coordinating the establishment of a pre-divisional organization within the APA on the psychological study of women’s spirituality.

1. Friday, 9:50-11 Respondent Panel – Mind Manipulation, Cults, and Domestic Violence: Professional and Personal Perspectives

Herbert L. Rosedale, Esq., President of AFF, is a senior partner in the lawfirm of Parker Chapin Flattau & Klimpl in New York City. He has written several articles on cults and the law, contributed a chapter to Recovery From Cults, and is co-editor of The Boston Movement: Critical Perspectives.

1. Friday, 9 Welcome

2. Friday, 12:30-2 Moderator Women and the Law: Where do Abuse Victims Stand?

3. Friday, 4:50-5 Summary and Closing Remarks

Shelley Rosen, CSW, is an interpersonal psychoanalyst and family therapist. She is a former staff member of the Jewish Board of Family and Childrens’ Services Cult Hotline and Crisis Clinic and now continues to see ex-cult members and their families in her private practice.

1. Friday, 3:30-4:30 Panel – Counseling of Cult and Abuse Victims: Practical Suggestions

Marcia Rudin, MA is Director of the International Cult Education Program of AFF. She formerly taught philosophy and philosophy of religion at William Paterson College. Ms. Rudin is co-author of the books Why Me? Why Anyone? and Prison or Paradise? The New Religious Cults and is editor of Cults on Campus: Continuing Challenge. She wrote the International Cult Education Program lesson plan for middle and high schools and wrote and produced two AFF videotapes.

1. Friday, 9:50-11 Moderator Panel – Mind Manipulation, Cults, and Domestic Violence: Professional and Personal Perspectives

Patrick Ryan, a former member of Transcendental Meditation, has been a Thought Reform Consultant since 1984. He is Editor of AFF News: Recovery Information About Cults And Psychological Manipulation and designs and implements AFF’s Internet Web site. He is the founder and former head of TM-ex, the organization of ex-members of TM. He has contributed to the Journal of the American Medical Association and to AFF’s book Recovery From Cults and has presented programs about hypnosis and trance-induction techniques at several AFF workshops and Cult Awareness Network conferences.

1. Saturday, 3:30-5:15 Exit Counseling *

Margaret Thaler Singer, Ph.D. is a clinical psychologist and emeritus adjunct professor at the University of California, Berkeley. An expert on post-traumatic stress, she is one of the world’s foremost experts on cults and psychological manipulation. She is co-author of Cults in Our Midst and "Crazy" Therapies: What Are They? Do They Work? as well as a contributor to many books and journals in her field. She has appeared as an expert on many major TV and radio programs.

1. Friday, 9:15-9:50 Keynote Address- Psychological Manipulation: How it Works and Why Women are Vulnerable

2. Friday, 7:30-9:30 "Crazy" Therapies: What Are They? Do They Work?

3. Saturday, 9-12:30 Symposium -Treatment and Cults: What Works with Whom

Alexandra Stein spent ten years in a leftist political cult in Minnesota with her two children. She is currently writing a book about this experience. She is a computer consultant and is active in cult awareness education.

1. Friday, 11:15-12:30 Panel Discussion: The Effects of Abusive Experience on Families

2. Saturday, 9:30-10:30 Ex-member panel - Cults and Families: The Tug of War *

Joseph Szimhart is an ex-member of a New Age group. He studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts and the University of New Mexico. A professional artist, he has exhibited his work and has taught art and practiced art therapy with brain damaged patients at the Pennhurst State School and Hospital in Pennsylvania. He has been a Thought Reform Consultant for over seventeen years. He has made many media appearances and has been quoted as a cult expert in many publications.

1. Saturday, 7:15-9:15 Family Case Presentations – Respondent *

Benjamin Zablocki, Ph.D., a professor of sociology at Rutgers University, has written widely on cults and communes.

1. Saturday, 1:30-5 Symposium - Theory and Cults: In search of the Perfect Explanation, Sociological Theories

[ top ]