Uploaded March 2022 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
The Impact of Yesterday on Today (Lorna Goldberg and Ck Rardin)
Sunday, March 20th, 2022
Disclaimer: Views expressed on ICSA Websites or in ICSA's publications or events or other venues are those of the document's author(s) or speaker(s) and are not necessarily shared, endorsed, or recommended by ICSA or any of its directors, staff, or advisers.
To a large extent, the cult environment has shaped many of the beliefs and character traits of S/MGAs. After they leave the cult, they may bring these beliefs and character traits with them. S/MGAs can discover that attitudes shaped within the cult might be impeding their present life. For example, in the cult, they were expected to reach perfection. This belief causes them to struggle with internalized pressure to be perfect after they leave. When S/MGAs fail at perfection, they typically might feel depressed or filled with shame. S/MGAs also might experience symptoms of C-PTSD, such as hypervigilant or hypovigilent (dissociative) behavior. Additionally, S/MGAs typically struggle with complicated emotions about their parents in the cult, and they might be uncertain about how to deal with their feelings after they leave the cult. Finally, the presenters will explore how post-cult relationships and therapy might aid former cult members.
Lorna Goldberg, LCSW, PsyA, Board Member and Past President of ICSA, is a clinical social worker and psychoanalyst in private practice and Director at the Institute of Psychoanalytic Studies. In 1976, she and her husband, William Goldberg, began facilitating a support group for former cult members that continues to meet monthly in their home in Englewood, New Jersey. She has cochaired ICSA’s Mental Health Committee, published numerous articles in professional journals about her therapeutic work with former cult members, and contributed chapters to several important texts on psychotherapy and cults. Most recently Lorna coedited (along with William Goldberg, Rosanne Henry, and Michael Langone) Cult Recovery: A Clinician’s Guide to Working With Former Members and Families (2017). Lorna and Bill are founding facilitators of the CT Workshop for Those Born or Raised in Cultic Groups.
Ck Rardin, facilitator, ICSA CT Workshop for Those Born or Raised in Cultic Groups, was born in California. His parents raised him in a cultic Catholic group and when he reached adolescence, they signed over their parental rights to the group. Ck was then sent to the cult’s headquarters in Itaquera, Sao Paulo, Brazil. He stayed in the group till age 26 when he gathered the courage and strength to leave the organization on his own. After leaving he became a certified EMT, then was certified and joined the American Society of Clinical Pathologists (ASCP ), with which he maintains his certification. He now runs his own IT consulting firm in upstate New York and spends much of his time involved in recovery from his experience, working to expose these groups (for example, assisting in research for MTV’s production of The Cult Question) as well as helping others in their recovery.
The Impact of Yesterday on Today (Lorna Goldberg and Ck Rardin)
Sunday, March 20th, 2022
Disclaimer: Views expressed on ICSA Websites or in ICSA's publications or events or other venues are those of the document's author(s) or speaker(s) and are not necessarily shared, endorsed, or recommended by ICSA or any of its directors, staff, or advisers.
To a large extent, the cult environment has shaped many of the beliefs and character traits of S/MGAs. After they leave the cult, they may bring these beliefs and character traits with them. S/MGAs can discover that attitudes shaped within the cult might be impeding their present life. For example, in the cult, they were expected to reach perfection. This belief causes them to struggle with internalized pressure to be perfect after they leave. When S/MGAs fail at perfection, they typically might feel depressed or filled with shame. S/MGAs also might experience symptoms of C-PTSD, such as hypervigilant or hypovigilent (dissociative) behavior. Additionally, S/MGAs typically struggle with complicated emotions about their parents in the cult, and they might be uncertain about how to deal with their feelings after they leave the cult. Finally, the presenters will explore how post-cult relationships and therapy might aid former cult members.
Lorna Goldberg, LCSW, PsyA, Board Member and Past President of ICSA, is a clinical social worker and psychoanalyst in private practice and Director at the Institute of Psychoanalytic Studies. In 1976, she and her husband, William Goldberg, began facilitating a support group for former cult members that continues to meet monthly in their home in Englewood, New Jersey. She has cochaired ICSA’s Mental Health Committee, published numerous articles in professional journals about her therapeutic work with former cult members, and contributed chapters to several important texts on psychotherapy and cults. Most recently Lorna coedited (along with William Goldberg, Rosanne Henry, and Michael Langone) Cult Recovery: A Clinician’s Guide to Working With Former Members and Families (2017). Lorna and Bill are founding facilitators of the CT Workshop for Those Born or Raised in Cultic Groups.
Ck Rardin, facilitator, ICSA CT Workshop for Those Born or Raised in Cultic Groups, was born in California. His parents raised him in a cultic Catholic group and when he reached adolescence, they signed over their parental rights to the group. Ck was then sent to the cult’s headquarters in Itaquera, Sao Paulo, Brazil. He stayed in the group till age 26 when he gathered the courage and strength to leave the organization on his own. After leaving he became a certified EMT, then was certified and joined the American Society of Clinical Pathologists (ASCP ), with which he maintains his certification. He now runs his own IT consulting firm in upstate New York and spends much of his time involved in recovery from his experience, working to expose these groups (for example, assisting in research for MTV’s production of The Cult Question) as well as helping others in their recovery.
