Intervening in Cultic Situations: ICSA and My Presentations

Charlene Edge at Creativity Festival 2019 Photo by SRErwin

What do you know about cults and how to help survivors? For those who want to attend a conference on the subject, I recently received the following announcement about one in 2020.

In this post, after the announcement, I respond to the conference theme, sharing what’s happened with Undertow.

Check out the schedule below for the last four presentations I’ll make this year.

“Intervening in Cultic Situations”

“The International Cultic Studies Association (ICSA) is conducting its 2020 Annual International Conference jointly with Info-Secte/Info-Cult of Montreal and the Association québécoise Plaidoyer-Victimes from July 2–4, 2020 (preconference workshops on Wednesday July 1, 2020).

The conference theme, “Intervening in Cultic Situations: Questions and Issues,” relates to the many requests for help and to the support services offered to those harmed by cultic situations (members or former members of high-control groups, and friends and families).

Service providers include various organizations (community groups, foundations, judiciary, police agencies, youth-protection services, professionals from different disciplines, etc.). ICSA welcomes proposals related to this theme.” For details, click here.

“Intervening in Cultic Situations: Questions and Issues”

This conference should prove highly valuable to many people. In my view, ICSA is the best non-profit organization doing this sort of work in the USA. I know and have worked with several professionals involved in ICSA, including Michael Langone, PhD, Executive Director of ICSA.

Because I am not a mental health counselor, attorney, or academic working in this field, I always refer folks who need serious, personal help to check out the ICSA website. I suggest beginning with the page called Cults 101. Help from professionals at ICSA is readily available.

How I attempt to intervene in cultic situations

My mother used to say, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” I try to be a prevention person. If you don’t already know, I wrote a book to educate, heal, and warn about cults and fundamentalism: Undertow: My Escape from the Fundamentalism and Cult Control of The Way International. The primary reasons I wrote Undertow were 1) to heal myself 2) to reach out to others.

Numerous Undertow readers have contacted me to express how Undertow helped them in one way or another. Some were in The Way, others are family members, others are non-cult participants who gained insight they’d never had on the subject.

FYI – Undertow is available in paperback and eBook at major booksellers and indie bookstores. In Winter Park, FL, it’s sold at Barnes and Noble, Writers Block Bookstore, and Brandywine Books. Public libraries can order copies upon request. Some local college libraries have the book, too.

My cult story & prevention presentations

Even before I published Undertow in November 2016, I had the honor to give presentations about my story to college students in religion classes. While I was still writing Undertow, I was on two radio shows—live. Later, I went public and spoke at a litany of places: ICSA conferences in Florida and France, Rollins College Olin Library, Knowles Chapel and the Suntrust Auditorium, the Winter Park Public Library, The Learning Institute for Elders at UCF where 450 attended, two book clubs, a Florida Writer Association meeting at the Maitland Library, The Mayflower where Dr. Rita Bornstein invited me to speak to her fellow residents, LifeArt Studio run by Lezlie Laws who asked me to read some Undertow and talk about writing it, a local Unitarian Universalist Church, the Orlando chapter of the American Association of University Women’s 18th annual luncheon, Rollins College and Stetson University philosophy and religion clubs, a class and its faculty in American Studies at Leuphana University in Germany, and a creativity festival at a local Episcopal church. A two-part print interview appeared in Leuphana University’s American Studies Blog and an article featuring my story by Tim Freed, Associate Editor, appeared in the Winter Park/Maitland Observer, March 2018. Some events (beginning in 2017) are recorded on my website under Events.

In these presentations, the focus was my own experience, definitions of a cult, and warning signs to watch for when recruiters come along. People asked lots of questions!

Retiring after four (4) more public Undertow events

Before the end of this year, I’ll have the honor of giving four more presentations. Afterwards, I’ll retire from “public talks” BUT will keep offering presentations to college students when opportunities arise near home.

At events, I offer Undertow at the discounted price of $20. Student discount is $17.

Date	Group	Place
August 18, Sunday 1:00 – 2:30 PM	Central Florida Freethought Community – guests are welcome	University Club, Winter Park, FL
August 28, Wednesday 7:00 – 8:30 PM	Winter Park Public Library – open to the public	Winter Park Public Library
October 1, Tuesday 1:00 – 2:30 PM	Psychology Speakers Forum Students/faculty – guests are welcome	Valencia College, East Campus Room yet to be determined. Orlando, FL
November 14, Thursday Time to be determined	Winter Park Women’s Club – guests are welcome	Winter Park, FL