Uploaded October 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
ICSA Conference 2025 - Montreal, QC
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Caroline Ansley
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Abstract: The medical workforce represent an influential body who are often as ignorant about the needs of cult-impacted people as the general population. They often have access to those still inside a cult — who either directly ask for aid from a doctor outside the group when they are unwell or injured, or are forced to access medical care due to urgency. The person may or may not disclose to their doctor that they are in a cult, though there are often clues for the astute and educated professional. Front line medical staff in New Zealand generally lack both the basic knowledge about cult activity, the ability to recognise a person who is in such a group, and the skills to support their recovery in a non-judgmental and trustbuilding way. In 2023 and 2024 a guidance was developed in New Zealand for health-workers - primarily for doctors, nurses and nurse practitioners - to use when consulting with people who either self-disclose that they are cult-impacted, or who rouse suspicion of such in the clinician. This guidance was developed with input from approximately 30 frontline health workers, survivors, and researchers. It is hosted by an online password protected website, which is used at point-of-care by community-based clinicians all over New Zealand on a day-to-day basis in their medical consultations. The publication of this guidance to support cultinformed clinical consultations increases substantially the possibility that cult-impacted people will find allies in their doctors, that their doctors will gain the important skills needed to approach them and engage their trust, and that health delivery will be better targeted to the specific medical needs to those traumatised by cults. In this presentation the author will describe the process whereby the guidance was developed and the response to the roll-out of the guidance across New Zealand.
ICSA Conference 2025 - Montreal, QC
-
Caroline Ansley
-
Abstract: The medical workforce represent an influential body who are often as ignorant about the needs of cult-impacted people as the general population. They often have access to those still inside a cult — who either directly ask for aid from a doctor outside the group when they are unwell or injured, or are forced to access medical care due to urgency. The person may or may not disclose to their doctor that they are in a cult, though there are often clues for the astute and educated professional. Front line medical staff in New Zealand generally lack both the basic knowledge about cult activity, the ability to recognise a person who is in such a group, and the skills to support their recovery in a non-judgmental and trustbuilding way. In 2023 and 2024 a guidance was developed in New Zealand for health-workers - primarily for doctors, nurses and nurse practitioners - to use when consulting with people who either self-disclose that they are cult-impacted, or who rouse suspicion of such in the clinician. This guidance was developed with input from approximately 30 frontline health workers, survivors, and researchers. It is hosted by an online password protected website, which is used at point-of-care by community-based clinicians all over New Zealand on a day-to-day basis in their medical consultations. The publication of this guidance to support cultinformed clinical consultations increases substantially the possibility that cult-impacted people will find allies in their doctors, that their doctors will gain the important skills needed to approach them and engage their trust, and that health delivery will be better targeted to the specific medical needs to those traumatised by cults. In this presentation the author will describe the process whereby the guidance was developed and the response to the roll-out of the guidance across New Zealand.
