These reports are frequently augmented, so use your REFRESH BUTTON.
Smoke, Mirrors and Disinformation…
THE AMERICAN FAMILY FOUNDATION
&
CULT AWARENESS NETWORK
The American Family Foundation comes highly recommended by the apologetics organizations––Evangelical Ministries to New Religions/EMNR, Spiritual Counterfeits Project/SCP, and Christian Research Institute/CRI. Ronald Enroth, who is associated with all three organizations is on the American Family Foundation’s Advisory Board for the AFF publication––Cultic Studies Journal. [See CSJ advisory board listing below.] AFF also publishes a newsletter––the Cult Observer.
EMNR’s Craig Branch acknowledges in his EMNR bio that he holds a position at the American Family Foundation.
“K. Craig Branch is President of the Apologetics Resource Center [hotlink to Branch’s own apologetics web site/ org which is listed as a member org of EMNR]. He co-authored the book Thieves of Innocence with John Ankerberg [hotlink to Branch’s associate Ankerberg; a member of the secret Council for National Policy] and he has had articles published in the Watchman Expositor, Vantage Point, Christian Research Institute Journal, Spiritual Counterfeits Journal and New Man Magazine [NMM is the publication supporting the work of Promise Keepers]. Craig also serves as a Board member of Wellspring (a residential rehab center for victims of cult abuse) and as chairman of the Clergy Relations Committee for the American Family Foundation. Craig is an acknowledged expert in the area of New Age influences in education, and this knowledge of cultic influences was instrumental in passing an Alabama regulation protecting children from New Age practices in the public schools. Adding to his knowledge was the ten years he spent as a Unitarian prior to becoming a Christian. His expertise has led to his being a frequent speaker at colleges, seminaries and conferences. Craig is an ordained Minister in the Evangelical Church Alliance.”
We arrive at Branch’s Apologetics Research Center/ARC web site by clicking the hotlink on the EMNR web site. ARC/Branch is presently promoting two conferences on the his ‘UPCOMING APOLOGETICS CONFERENCES’ page.
Interestingly the first conference is offered by the apologists at the American Family Foundation. Consider that the AFF conferences are NOT Christian. They are led by psychologists and psychiatrists!! Through the EMNR/Evangelical Ministries to New Religions web site Christians are being directed to whoever the ‘experts’ are at AFF:
Upcoming Conferences…AFF Conference American Family Foundation's 2002 Annual Conference, Orlando, FL June 14-15, 2002 See AFF web page for more information.
Understanding Cults and New Religious Movements: Perspectives of Researchers, Professionals, Former Members, and Families
Main Conference sessions include:
Friday, June 14, 2002 Brainwashing Social Psychology, and the Courts Anyone Can Be FooledInternational Churches of Christ Political Groups: Deed and CreedAdvances in Social Science Research Releasing the Bonds: Empowering People to Think for Themselves Clinical and Diagnostic Issues
Saturday, June 15, 2002 Harm in New Religious Movements: Perspectives from Sociology, Religious Studies, and Psychology Research on the Jehovah's Witnesses Cults and Terrorism: Similarities and Differences ...And More!
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See American Family Foundation, below.
Note: Paul Carden of Apologia will be a presenter at the AFF 2002 Conference.
APOLOGIA [Rich Poll, Paul Carden, Ron Rhodes] is also a member organization of Lausanne’s EMNR. Until recently Rich Poll served on the EMNR board of directors. The APOLOGIA web site posts this endorsement from the American Family Foundation’s Executive Director Michael Langone:
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I find Apologia Report to be a useful adjunct to our own information collecting. Although we get a lot of articles from many different sources, I find that each of your issues has at least four or five entries that I have not seen. What adds to their utility is your summaries of the material. Keep up the good work!
Michael Langone, Ph.D., Editor, Cultic Studies Journal Executive Director, American Family Foundation (a secular cult-watching group) Source: APOLOGIA web page
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Spiritual Counterfeits Project recommends American Family Foundation’s authors…
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SPIRITUAL COUNTERFEITS PROJECT Newsletter Vol. 14:3, 1989 FROM FLORENCE TO ATHENS: Nursing’s New Age
In Review [two books recommended by SCP on the cults; emphasis added] Combatting Cult Mind Control by Steve Hassan Cults & Consequences: the Definitive Handbook
Since New Testament times, the Christian Church has set a standard of orthodoxy by carefully defining its beliefs and practice, often in response to heresy. In Jude, the writer urges, “Contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints.”
In contemporary times, several evangelical organizations, dubbed “cult watchers” have sprung up to carry on this task. For these, the term “cult” defines any religious group which deviates from the norm of biblical teaching.
More recently, cult watchers from the behavioral sciences have defined cultism, not theologically, but by considering sociological and psychological factors. For these, the goal is to establish a norm of behavior in religious groups, particularly in the areas of recruitment and control. Groups deviating from that norm are, in this perspective, “cults.”
Two recently published books, written for a popular audience, deal with cultism from this behavioral viewpoint. Steve Hassan’s Combatting Cult Mind Control [1988] should be available from any major bookstore chain. Hassan was a member of the Unification Church (Moonies) for over two years and rose to the rank of Assistant director of the Church’s national headquarters. In chapter two, he describes his “life in the Unification Church,” how he had been “lied to, manipulated, and robbed of his identity.”…After being “deprogrammed,” Hassan earned a Master’s degree in counseling, became national Coordinator of FOCUS, a support and information network, and is active in helping people exit cults.
The book gives us three chapters, liberally documented with case studies, that describe cultic manipulation. Three other chapters deal with prevention and how to help others. There are valuable insights here for anyone interested in evangelism who understands cult theology but need to grasp the psychological dynamics of cults and cultists as well.
In the chapter “Unlocking Cult Mind Control,” Hassan outlines the eight “keys” for successful intervention he uses in his “non-coercive approach to exit counseling.” While his presentation is not a “sales Pitch” for his services, a word of caution is in order. Consult a pastor or spiritual advisor familiar with cults before engaging a professional to help a friend or relative involved. Hassan wrote the book “to contribute a practical , informative guide to the problems people deal with in encountering the influence of destructive cults” He has done just that. The volume will offer significant help to many and probably become a best seller in the process..
Cults & Consequences [Edited by R. Anres and J. Lane. Commission on Cults & Missionaries, 1989], published by the Jewish Federation Council of Greater Los Angeles, is a compendium of contributions from several authors. While short sections are directed to the Jewish community, “Most of this book does not specifically address questions of theology,” but is concerned with the “deceptive proselytizing and unethical conduct” of cults. True to its subtitle, this volume is a handbook, the table of contents reflecting typical questions the issue of cults raises: “What is a cult?” “Why do cults attract? “What can parents do when their child becomes involved in a cult?” The volume also covers questions about deprogramming and exit counseling, rehabilitation after leaving a cult, and legal issues.
The answers come as short entries by various contributors among them: Dr. Margaret Thaler Singer, Professor of Psychology at U.C. Berkeley; Dr. Michael Langone of the American Family Foundation; Steve Hassan, author of Combatting Cult Mind Control reviewed above; and Dr. Ronald Enroth, Professor of Sociology at Westmont College and member of the Board of Directors for SCP… The book may be ordered from the Jewish Federation Council of Los Angeles…
Combatting Cult Mind Control and Cults & Consequences are two books which will give us a better understanding of cults and call us to more careful scrutiny of our own evangelistic methods. -- Dave Sheffel
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Editor’s Note: Hassan is no stranger to the American Family Foundation. The AFF 2002 conference Understanding Cults and New Religious Movements -- Perspectives of Researchers, Professionals, Former Members, and Families will include as speaker Steve Hassan whose topic will be: Releasing the Bonds: Empowering People to Think for Themselves. Others mentioned in this report are scheduled speakers: Michael Langone [AFF], Margaret T. Singer [AFF], Eileen Barker [LSE/CESNUR], Paul Carden [Apologia], and Paul R. Martin [Wellspring] whose topics will be: Brainwashing, Social Psychology, and the Courts and Advances in Psychological Research.
Ronald Enroth and associate Paul R. Martin at CRI and EMNR Conferences…
Ronald Enroth’s name appeared in the Christian Research Institute’s CRI JOURNAL masthead as Contributing Editor from SPRING 1991 until FALL 1994, although only one of the issues during this time frame carried an article ascribed to him–– ‘Ethical Problems in Exit Counseling,’ co-authored with William Alnor. Ronald Enroth was a speaker at EMNR’s Rockford Conference on Discernment and Evangelism, 1989 [Topic: Churches on the Fringe]; he spoke at the 1995 and 19997 EMNR Conferences.
Paul R. Martin was also listed in the CRI JOURNAL as Contributing Editor from SUMMER 1992 to SPRING 1996 and like Enroth, very few articles appearing in the journals are under his name. He was a speaker at EMNR’s Rockford Conference on Discernment and Evangelism [Topic: Psychological Aspects of Cultic Involvement], the EMNR conference 1994 [Topic: Rehabilitating the ex-cultist] and the 1995 EMNR conference. Personal Freedom Outreach is a member org of EMNR. Martin was a speaker at PFO’s Saint Louis Conference on Biblical Discernment in 2000 [Topic: Accepting the Validity of Mind Control] and Saint Louis Conference on Biblical Discernment 2002
Can it be assumed that both Enroth and Martin worked at Christian Research Institute [Walter Martin / Hank Hannegraaff] in a supervisory capacity?
The edited portion of ‘Ethical Problems in Exit,’ below, highlights certain details which CRI’s Alnor and Enroth bring out –– what do they know about the counter cult ministries and who do they recommend?
The following article can be read in full at the web location given for CRI files.
CRI/ENROTH & ALNOR RECOMMEND AFF FOR CULT-EXIT COUNSELING
High praises for CAN and AFF — Craig Branch of EMNR and Bill Kellogg of SCP learn how to do exit counseling from AFF/CAN. Paul Martin of Wellspring and AFF becomes CAN board member.
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Ethical Problems in Exit Counseling
by William M. Alnor and Ronald Enroth Christian Research Journal, Winter 1992
…This article, the result of an informal but extensive inquiry, is about exit counseling. During the past year or so the authors have spoken with many of the chief exit counselors in the country, and have consulted with many experts concerning the topic. We have also consulted with various evangelical countercult and apologetics ministries familiar with exit counseling. In order to insure a balanced approach, we have also spoken with -- or read materials from -- some of the most vociferous critics of the practice (and of countercult ministries and organizations), including spokespersons from various "religious liberty" groups that are often funded by the cult groups themselves.
LOOSE CANNONS?
The result of our inquiry is that out of approximately 15 major exit counselors operating in America, only a few appear to conduct themselves in a manner that communicates a sense of integrity and ethical concern. The field of exit counseling is full of men and women operating like loose cannons in a shadowy world of secrecy that contains little or no controls on their activities and offers little or no enforcement of ethical standards. Further, the amount of money major exit counselors charge is often excessive and unjustifiable, especially since in many instances their clients are vulnerable parents -- driven by panic over the conviction that their children are involved in a cult. Fees in excess of $20,000 per case are not unusual.
Many exit counselors at times engage in activities that are unethical at best and illegal at worst. They do this by participating in cases where consenting adults (over 18 years of age) are physically accosted, tricked, and sometimes kidnapped; thrown into rented vans; and held against their will in some cases for weeks at a time. During these ordeals the exit counselors try to talk them out of their cultic involvement…
THE BRIGHTER SIDE OF EXIT COUNSELING
Although only a handful of exit counselors (in our opinion) are succeeding at being professional and ethical in their endeavors, it is nevertheless true that many other exit counselors, whose activities we cannot endorse, have sometimes had a beneficial effect in helping people leave cults…
CAN EXIT COUNSELORS POLICE THEMSELVES?
We applaud several recent secular anticult organizations' efforts to clean up the field. In the past few years there have been initiatives within both the Cult Awareness Network and the American Family Foundation toward creating ethical standards by which exit counselors can police themselves. However, we are skeptical about these moves, particularly when the guidelines are only voluntary and enforcement is dubious. More troublesome is what appears to be a built-in conflict of interest; the monitoring committees are run by exit counselors who themselves may have a vested interest in keeping their fees high and who may be tempted to protect their colleagues. Moreover, some of these same exit counselors are under review by other cultwatchers over alleged unethical activities surrounding their businesses, personal lives, and exit counseling practices.
For example, according to Carol Giambalvo of Florida (a highly regarded exit counselor), a committee of exit counselors met during the Cult Awareness Network's 1991 annual conference in Oklahoma City to take up the issue of ethical standards…
Some Positive Developments
We know of Christian exit counselors who believe it is wrong to set a daily price on what they view as being the Lord's work. One Christian exit counselor from the Midwest, who wants little to do with the Cult Awareness Network due to its secular approach… Along the same lines, there are some interesting developments within the evangelical cult-watching community where some are becoming increasingly involved in voluntary (i.e., no kidnapping) exit counseling as part of their ministries. Craig Branch of the Watchman Fellowship (along with others associated with that ministry) already does limited voluntary exit counseling…Steve Hassan, a highly regarded Jewish exit counselor from Boston (and author of Combatting Cult Mind Control, [see Spiritual Counterfeits Project book review/endorsement of Hassan’s book above] has assisted Watters, even so far as conducting a seminar for Bethel ministries, teaching them how to assist people out of cults that utilize mind control. And Bill Kellogg, who heads the counseling ministries for the Spiritual Counterfeits Project (SCP) of Berkeley, California, has recently gotten involved in exit counseling. He has been drawing on the work of Carol Giambalvo (who wrote a helpful booklet offered by the Cult Awareness Network called Exit Counseling: A Family Intervention). Kellogg says that when people ask him what his fee is, he tells them they can make a voluntary gift to SCP if they want to.
Another positive development in the field of exit counseling is the fact that the largest rehabilitation center in America designed primarily for former cult members is the Wellspring Retreat and Resource Center in Ohio, a facility run by evangelical Christians. Because of Wellspring's effectiveness in helping former cult members acclimate to life outside the cults in a nonsectarian fashion, it has gained the respect and support of many of those associated with the secular Cult Awareness Network (CAN), the secular American Family Foundation, and even Jewish exit counselors. Many exit counselors, including those we have problems with, refer members of cults to Wellspring following the successful completion of their cases. Recently psychologist Paul Martin, the founder and director of Wellspring, was named as a CAN board member.
KIDNAPPED AND DEPROGRAMMED
Steve Hassan was kidnapped and deprogrammed against his will in the mid 1970s after he became involved with Rev. Sun Myung Moon's Unification Church. As a result, he doesn't endorse any kind of situation in which adults are kidnapped.
The Father of Deprogramming
It was Ted Patrick who first coined the term "deprogramming" in the early 1970s. His best-selling book, Let Our Children Go! (Thomas Congden Press, 1976), made the practice even more popular as it helped inspire several movies showing "deprogrammers" in a positive light.… Earlier, in 1974, Patrick helped found the Citizens' Freedom Foundation, which evolved into the Cult Awareness Network. [5] However, Hassan noted that "Patrick's success...was far from universal, and numbers of unsuccessful rescue attempts returned to their group and sued him as well as family members…
THE EMERGENCE OF EXIT COUNSELING
By the mid 1980s a new philosophy emerged in the place of deprogramming. The practice, known as "exit counseling," is based on the recognition of and respect for the conscious will of the cult member. The Cult Awareness Network no longer advocates deprogramming and its national board does not endorse abduction or false imprisonment, but rather voluntary exit counseling. It [CAN] has also for some time been distancing itself from Mr. Patrick… See note RE: CFF, CAN and Ted Partick below
OTHER PROBLEMS
Additional problems facing the evolving "profession" of exit counseling (some of which we've already alluded to) are a lack of appropriate educational credentials, deficient accountability structures, inadequate follow-up, and the fact that certain evangelical exit counselors believe it "unethical" to guide cult members into a fuller understanding of correct biblical doctrine.
On educational credentials, we know of only one prominent exit counselor, Steve Hassan, who has advanced master's-degree level training in counseling. He is correct in calling for more professionalism in the field. This would give greater credibility to an occupation that is often associated with shadowy operations.
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Mentioned in the CRI/Enroth and Alnor article above—Carol Giambalvo of AFF…
Giambalvo recommended by F.A.C.T. Net:
Cult Expert, Exit Counselor, Author, Lecturer
Since 1984, Carol Giambalvo has done exit counseling, lecturing, and writing in the field of thought reform, as well as serving as director with several organization’s boards, organizing and conducting recovery workshops and working with hundreds of people who have walked away from destructive cults. Her various job titles include thought reform consultant, family intervention specialist, cult information specialist, author, and lecturer. Ms. Giambalvo has a deep commitment to the recovery of individuals who have been part of a thought reform program, a group that was psychologically or spiritually abusive, or an abusive relationship.
* * * *
5 Carol Giambalvo, "Exit Counseling" in its second edition. Lecture "How Cults Do It" with Sandy Andron. Boston Movement.
Carol Giambalvo, who also attended the CAN conference, found in it "an exciting opportunity to see old friends," as well as to share information. Her book, Exit Counseling: A Family Intervention (AFF, 1992), is doing very well in its revised second edition, and it has been the subject of inquiries by distributors in Australia, she's happy to report.
(Fight Against Coercive Tactics Network, Incorporated)
DESCRIPTION FOR BBS FILE LISTING: The Cult Observer March 1993
CONTRIBUTOR: American Family Foundation (AFF)
LOCATION OF ORIGINAL: American Family Foundation (AFF)
NOTES: Back issues and selected reprints of the Cultic Studies Journal are available from the American Family Foundation, P.O. Box 2265, Bonita Springs, FL 33959-2265.
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CRI JOURNAL Spring 1993 RESPONSE [CRI’s letter section]
Notice: In the Summer 1992 JOURNAL I defended the assertion of our Winter 1992 article, ‘Ethical Problems in Exit Counseling,” that controversial deprogrammer Ted Patrick helped found Citizens Freedom Foundation (CFF), now known as Cult Awareness Network (CAN). However, documentation supplied to me by CAN indicates that Patrick neither called the founding meeting of CFF nor participated in the organization thereafter. Therefore we must retract this statement.
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Editors Note: CAN is making the point that Patrick was not the founder of CFF but CAN is not refuting the fact that CAN emerged out of CFF; i.e., CFF=CAN=CFF, as reported in the CRI JOURNAL article by Enroth and Alnor, above.
Interesting footnote RE: Alnor and Enroth
William Alnor has long-since severed his associations with Christian Research Institute. He had worked at CRI as early as 1987 and about that same time, according to Constance Cumbey, “Bill Alnor went on to head EMNR (what a surprise-cec)”; leaving CRI sometime in the early 1990s.
Much of the material on his web site today –– The Alnor Report/Cult Link is about the people, ongoing problems at CRI and problems with Hank Hanegraaff. Alnor continues to recommend, however, the work of Ronald Enroth to his readers. See the article by Bill Alnor about the Ronald Enroth vs. Jon Trott of Jesus People USA/JPUSA* dispute.
“…I responded by launching my own investigation on Enroth's research and found that instead of his research being faulty, it was excellent and very easy to prove. It was obvious that Enroth, in taking on this courageous project, had done the church a great service in tactfully and scripturally pointing out the problems of JPUSA in a loving, but respectful way. I responded by reporting the truth to the ministry, and with presenting an audio tape of some deeply hurt former members of JPUSA to the entire board that I developed independently.
“Further, I became very disturbed over the behavior of JPUSA -- and especially with that of Jon Trott, and that of various others who came to the defense of JPUSA -- some of whom had and still have a clear financial connection to the group.** Among the defenders of JPUSA have been Bob and Gretchen Passantino, Elliot Miller of the Christian Research Institute, and Dr. Norman Geisler of Southern Evangelical Seminary…”
Linked to Alnor’s article is a Response by Ronald Enroth on the same subject.
Editor’s Note:
Jon Trott of Jesus People USA/JPUSA –– on the Internet are several web sites which carry detailed histories of Jesus People USA. This would be interesting background information for us all; especially since Eric Pement of JPUSA’s Cornerstone magazine is on the EMNR board; especially since Jon Trott of Cornerstone will be working with John Morehead [EMNR President] to carry out the EMNR missiological paradigm [ministry to the frontiers of the New Religions] through Sacred Tribes < http://www.sacredtribes.com/
The above illustrates the fact that Alnor continues to be associated with Enroth—Alnor carrying Enroth’s writing on his web site—the same Ronald Enroth who is on the Cultic Studies Journal advisory board for American Family Foundation. [see below]
“Another positive development in the field of exit counseling is the fact that the largest rehabilitation center in America designed primarily for former cult members is the Wellspring Retreat and Resource Center in Ohio, a facility run by evangelical Christians.”
They revealed another Paul Martin connection:
“Recently psychologist Paul Martin, the founder and director of Wellspring, was named as a CAN board member.”
Source: Ethical Problems in Exit Counseling, William Alnor & Ronald Enroth, Christian Research Institute CRI JOURNAL, Winter 1992. See more about the shady nature of Cult Awareness Network/CAN below.
Paul R. Martin, Ph. D., is a licensed psychologist and clinical counselor, and is a former member of an abusive religious group. He is the director of Wellspring Retreat and Resource Center in Albany, Ohio. Wellspring is a residential treatment facility that provides a program of counseling and instruction to victims of cultic abuse, religious abuse, and/or mind control. Dr. Martin presented: ‘The Non-Negotiable Factors in Cult Recovery’ to the Leo J. Ryan Foundation conference in Oct. 2001.
Ed. Note: There is an interlocking relationship between American Family Foundation, Cult Awareness Network and Leo J. Ryan Foundation, see below.
Paul R. Martin co-authored CRI Journal, Winter 1993 with Michael Langone who was identified as “executive director of the American Family Foundation”:
‘Deprogramming, Exit Counseling, and Ethics—Clarifying the Confusion’
by Michael D. Langone and Paul R. Martin
Wellspring Retreat and Resource Center—Director, Paul R. Martin
In their article for Christian Research Institute, above, Wellspring was recommended to Christian Research Journal readers by Alnor and Enroth as “a facility run by evangelical Christians.”
Wellspring is recommended by the CultInfo web site as a Resource-Support Group “run by mental health professionals.” [Cult Info was formerly Cult Awareness Network/CAN and now Leo J. Ryan Foundation]
Evangelical Christians or mental health professionals?
The Wellspring literature, Wellspring web site info and Dr. Paul R. Martin’s credentials speak for themselves:
The Wellspring Brochure states:
“…helping cult victims from post-exit trauma to traditional therapy… The center was designed to assist those still struggling with emotional, relational, and psychological issues after exiting a cultic situation… Wellspring’s treatment plan is a multifaceted approach. Clients receive daily counseling and workshops from professionals who, themselves, have been hurt by cults. Counselors help clients reconstruct their experience and then place that experience within the framework of the coercive persuasion model articulated in the early 1960's by Dr. Robert J. Lifton in his work Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism. The workshops supplement the counseling sessions, further examining the dynamics of cultic manipulation. The treatment staff also helps clients with theological issues if they so desire. Wellspring’s clinical success is documented in published outcome studies, and the center continues to participate in a research program conducted in conjunction with the Ohio University Department of Psychology.
Dr. Paul R. Martin’s Credentials
Paul Martin’s Licensures:
Ohio State Board of Psychology.
Licensed Psychologist in Ohio, License #3733.
Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor in Ohio, License #E1458.
Certifications:
National Board Certified Counselors (January, 1983) #2557. American Association for Counseling and Development. Professional Memberships
Christian Association of Psychological Studies.
American Counseling Association.
American Mental Health Counselors.
American Psychological Association.
Ohio Psychological Association.
Ohio Mental Health Counselors Association.
American Association of Christian Counselors.
International Society for the Study of Personality Disorders.
Education:…
Dr. Martin studied theology at Princeton Theological Seminary (1974) and Nazarene Theological Seminary (1972-1976).
See also: Wellspring’s Lawrence Pile bio/intelligence connections
In 1986 Paul Martin was a presenter to the 2nd Annual Behavior Modification Conference. Martin is listed on the American Family Foundation/ AFF’s advisory board for their publication the Cultic Studies Journal.
“Dr. Martin is a member of AFF's Victim Assistance Committee and is helping to develop a post-cult assessment instrument that can help professionals working with cult-leavers who have received no exit counseling or rehabilitation (the vast majority). He is also collaborating with AFF's Michael Langone on a clinical inquiry to determine what cult-related distress looks like, what factors can be identified to predict cult-related damage, and whether or not certain kinds of treatment work.”
In the article which Dr. Paul R. Martin wrote for Christian Research Institute’s CRI JOURNAL in Winter/Spring 1989, he acknowledges his great respect for Margaret Thaler Singer:
by Paul R. Martin
…MYTH ONE
Ex-cult members do not have psychological problems. Their problems are wholly spiritual.
Although often believed by both Christians and ex-cultists, myth #1 has no basis in reality. As a result of extensive research with some 3,000 ex-cultists, Dr. Margaret Singer observed significant instances of depression, loneliness, anxiety, low self-esteem, overdependence, confusion, inability to concentrate, somatic complaints, and, at times, psychosis. [1] In addition to Singer's authoritative research, there are many articles and books that describe the psychological distress of ex-cultists. (Many of these findings will be referred to in the body of this article.)
My own experience verifies the findings of Dr. Singer…
Ed. Note: WARNING RE: APOLGETICS INDEX… Anton Hein fails to alert the unsuspecting reader that AFF is not a Christian organization in any sense of the word. The following Apologetics Index entry was taken word for word from the AFF web site. It appears that, according Hein, AFF is a recommended source. He includes the AFF address and phone number for contacting AFF. Hopefully, our report will expose the dangerous affiliation between EMNR and AFF.
Apologetics Index/Anton Hein’s entry for American Family Foundation:
Provides Information About Cults, Cultic Groups, Mind Control, Cult Abuse, etcetera.
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American Family Foundation/AFF
AFF is a nonprofit, tax-exempt research center and educational organization founded in 1979. AFF's mission is to study psychological manipulation and cultic groups, to educate the public and professionals, and to assist those who have been adversely affected by a cult-related experience. AFF consists of a professional staff and a growing network of more than 150 volunteer professionals in fields ranging from education, psychology, and religion to journalism, law enforcement, and business.
AFF addresses the problems posed by cults and other destructive groups through programs and projects in three areas:
1. Project Recovery improves the quality of services for former cult members, their families, and helping professionals by offering workshops, conferences, and a range of publications, videotapes, and other practical resources. 2. Project Alert encourages public discussion of cults and related issues and educates youth, the general public, professionals, and the media. AFF develops and distributes preventive education materials and services to clergy and educators through its special program, the International Cult Education Program (ICEP). 3. Project Discover conducts, encourages, and contributes to scientific research and writing projects designed to increase the public's and professionals' understanding of how cult victims can be helped and how cults affect individuals, families, and society. Researchers seeking assistance and/or interested in learning more about AFF's research network should write Dr. Michael Langone at the AFF address, fax him at (941) 514-3451
- Contact Info - P.O. Box XXXXX XXXXXXX, Florida 34133 Tel: XXXXXX Fax: (XXXXXXXX The APOLOGETICS INDEX also includes these entries:
Cult expert. Mental health professional. Supports brainwashing theory. Advanced the Theory of Systematic Manipulation of Social and Psychological Influence (SMSPI). AFF Board Member. Member, FACTNet Board of Advisors Berkeley, California Tel: 510-XXXXX Fax: fax (510) XXXXXX Biographical information
And … Wellspring Retreat and Resource Center
Wellspring provides an individualized program of counseling, instruction, restoration, and relaxation. Professionals counselors help rebuild lives after a negative group or relationship experiences. This site includes many articles on cults. Paul R. Martin. Ph.D., Director Albany, Ohio Publication: Wellspring Messenger
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AMERICAN FAMILY FOUNDATION publication: Cultic Studies Journal
Note for future reference the names of Ronald Enroth/ Johannes Aagaard / Paul Martin/ Margaret Singer/ Louis Jolyon West
~ edited for purposes of this report
Johannes M. Aagaard, Ph.D.
Professor, Faculty of Theology, Aarhus University, Arhus, Denmark;
Director, Dialogue Center International see below
Susan Andersen, Ph.D.
Assoc. Professor of Psychology, New York University, NY
Sandy Andron, Ed.D.
Central Agency for Jewish Education, Miami, FL
Dean Borgman, M.A.
Associate Professor of Youth Ministry, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary*
Robert Cialdini, Ph.D.
Professor of Psychology, Arizona State University
Assistant Professor, Religious Studies Department, Seton Hall University
Founded by Mother Elizabeth Ann Seton [1856]––a pioneer in Catholic education and the first American-born saint.
Seton Hall is the largest and oldest diocesan university in the United States.
Ronald Enroth, Ph.D.
Professor of Sociology, Westmont College
William Goldberg, M.S.W., A.C.S.W.
Program Supervisor, Rockland County New York Department of Mental Health
David Halperin, M.D.
Associate Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, Mt. Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY
John Hochman, M.D.
Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, UCLA Medical School