Dr Sara Rahmani
Lecturer in Religious Studies, Te Herenga Waka – Victoria University of Wellington
“Leaving any religious group can be an extremely painful process, but it can certainly be more traumatic and costly for those who leave cults, since membership in high-demand groups often becomes all-consuming. An appropriate advocacy for former members begins with a nuanced understanding of their needs and the sacrifices they have made. As educators, we also have a responsibility to raise awareness and to engage the public and our social services in a nuanced and pragmatic conversation about these groups. Conferences like this can and should take a step towards this end – by fostering dialogue in ways that avoids replicating the same totalistic narratives that we find deeply problematic about cults in the first place.”
David Farrier
Investigative journalist and film maker (“Mister Organ”, “Tickled”)
“As a journalist and documentary maker, I’ve always been fascinated by cults and what draws people into them. I’m also really interested in cult-like behaviour in other places, both online and in real life. During the pandemic, a lot of my writing on Webworm looked at people’s descent into the likes of QAnon, and I wrote about the control charismatic megachurch leaders had over young people.
I’m a big fan of Anke Richter’s work in this space, and excited that there is an event where people can gather and learn more about these dangers that are not going away. The more we know, the safer we are – and so I’m really excited to see what Decult turns into and be involved!”
Andre Afamasaga
Human Rights, Lived Experience & Social Cohesion Advocate
I was previously a senior manager at the Te Kahui Tika Tangata | NZ Human Rights Commission overseeing education of the Conversion Practices Prohibition Legislation to religious settings. I’m also a survivor of conversion practices and an ex-Pastor, which is why I have decided to use my lived experience to be involved with the DECULT conference, including being the MC.
I genuinely respect the positive role that religion can play in society. As such, I believe DECULT is an educational opportunity for religious leaders to help them understand their human rights obligations and responsibilities to their members and wider society. Preventing their settings from being environments where cult-like behaviours are present, will help stop serious harm from occurring in religious, cultural, and familial contexts. It will help the church to be an agent of positive social cohesion, rather than being conflated with high control groups who hold extreme views and harmful practices.
Dr Caroline Ansley
Medical doctor and founder of the Centrepoint Restoration Project
“Like many children at the former New Zealand cult Centrepoint, I suffered harm there. To support each other better, I set up the Centrepoint Restoration Project in 2015. I have worked for 18 years as a GP, as a physician but also as a clinical leader for Te Whatu Ora Waitaha, a role which involves advocacy and system change work. Earlier this year I started the “Cult Chat” podcast which educates New Zealanders about cults, with input from leavers and experts.
In those roles, and through my personal experience, I see an immense gap when it comes to understanding people inside and leavers of cults – in the general public, but also with frontline healthcare providers. There is a massive blind spot about current cult activity in this country.
Cult leavers are people with enormous physical and mental health care needs as a result of the coercively controlling environment they have escaped. These needs last their whole lives and put them at high risk of chronic diseases, mental illness, suicide, addiction, education failure, and welfare dependency. Cult leavers need rehoming to a healthy community that can care for them and help them repair, and targeted health interventions. But for the majority, there are no rehabilitation and support services in Aotearoa.
The upcoming Decult conference is an event I am thrilled to support. For the first time, concerned professionals, former members and family members who most wish for change in this area can gather. It is an opportunity to educate professionals as well as the public who can then help survivors better with their recovery. It’s a unique chance for networking with other professionals and educators who want change in our social services so that less harm will happen in the future.”
Prof Ekant Veer
Professor of Marketing, University of Canterbury
“As a marketing academic whose research focuses on how marketing can be used to benefit society, I also explore the way in which communities form online. Cults and cult-like behaviour is, therefore, very much a topic of interest for me as a means of understanding online behaviour as well as supporting those who are vulnerable to the impact of cults. The more we know how these groups operate and draw people in, the more we can learn to build a society that is resilient to the impact of cults.”
Dr Nicholas Thompson
Senior lecturer in Theological and Religious Studies, Auckland University
“There’s not much public discussion of religion in New Zealand, whether in the media, politics or education. This means that New Zealanders can find it hard to know how to respond to people suffering the after-effects of religious trauma or to religious leaders who are abusing their power. Most importantly, public agencies like the police and mental health support are sometimes poorly equipped to respond to reports of abuse and criminality in religious communities. These challenges are compounded when the communities are small and isolated from the mainstream of New Zealand society.
One of the strengths of this conference is that it will bring together people from a wide range of backgrounds and expertise. In my experience, academic discussion of cults is often so focused on theory that it risks overlooking the lived realities of those who are recovering from abuse and exploitation in cults and other religious bodies. I feel as though I have a lot to learn from those who are much more directly involved, either as survivors or those who offer support”
Dr Gillie Jenkinson
Psychotherapist and cult expert (UK)
“Cults can proliferate in places where they are not acknowledged and where there are few laws to support those horribly abused within these coercively controlling settings.
It is time for the public to gain a better understanding how cults operate, recruit and affect their victims for life. As an accredited psychotherapist, international speaker, published author and director of Hope Valley Counselling in the UK, I want to add my voice to this intention at the Decult conference and confirm the kind invitation to be a speaker. I am passionate about raising awareness and offering strategies for recovery which have been gleaned through my own cult experience in England in the 1970s, my clinical work, my research at both Masters and PhD level and my study of the phenomenon of cults.
While in New Zealand for the Decult conference, I would also be interested in providing training for professionals and recovery workshops for former cult members. I understand that specialised cult counselling is not yet available in New Zealand, but very much needed. It would be an honour to introduce my work to the wider public, to cult survivors, and to my New Zealand colleagues.”
Ciaran Fox
Mental Health Promotion, Mental Health Foundation of New Zealand
“Improving the mental health of populations starts with understanding it better. When we can better understand the psychological, social and spiritual needs of people, we can recognise the tactics of coercive control groups like cults for what they are: the cynical manipulation and exploitation of people’s intrinsic human needs for belonging, meaning, purpose, and family. Decult helps by raising our cult literacy and empathy for leavers and survivors. I hope we can lead change in our communities so they naturally provide for our collective wellbeing, and lessen the appeal of cults through exposure and awareness, as we support leavers and survivors of coercive control with aroha ki te tangata.”
Dr Jess Reedy
Clinical psychologist, Kawatiri Psychology, Westport
“I provide treatment to clients with traumatic experiences in high-demand groups. In my work, it’s apparent that an increasing number of people recovering from this kind of harm could benefit from the support of psychologists and other mental health professionals with sensitivity and understanding of the particular concerns and challenges they face. Specialised knowledge and skills for those working in high-demand group recovery is very much needed as few mental health professionals have undergone specialised training in this area.
It is heartening that Decult is paving the way for professional development and networking with specialised experts to meet this need. In my view, financial support for this inaugural event offers a high impact contribution with a lasting ripple effect to this currently unmet need. I have no hesitation in endorsing Decult and wish them the very best in securing the funding required to spread cult education across Aotearoa.”
Jazelle Alderdice
Psychotherapist (MNZAP)
“I’m supporting the Decult Conference becoming a reality in Aotearoa New Zealand because I feel very excited about many of us developing our knowledge and skills in this much needed area.
Over the many years of my counselling and psychotherapy practice I have worked with a few people who have exited cults. I witnessed first-hand the immense courage that it takes to pull away and then the ongoing struggles in finding, claiming and living their authentic selves. As a therapist I had no specialist training in helping people leaving high demand groups and so found my way as best I could. There was no training that I knew of especially in New Zealand at this time.
A conference that focuses on this area along with many opportunities for ongoing training and education for a variety of first responders, including therapists, feels overdue and necessary. The increase of awareness, skills and education will help inform all who participate in Decult and the post-conference therapy training, making the next stage for those leaving cults so much safer.”
Lindy Jacomb
Pastor and founder of the Olive Leaf Network
“I am so excited for the first Decult conference – a space like this is long overdue for Aotearoa.
I’m a former member of a high-demand religious group, and consider myself a survivor of religious trauma and spiritual abuse, particularly through the practice of extreme shunning. I’m also an activist and advocate for other former members of such groups through my recently launched Aotearoa-based charity for this purpose, the Olive Leaf Network.
Every day both personally and professionally through the Olive Leaf Network, I see the need for increased education and resourcing support for former members of high- control groups, their family members and loved ones, and for front-line workers, therapists and service providers who are dealing with the long-term fallout and effects of group-based coercive control. New Zealand’s general awareness and education in these areas is in much need of improving, and a conference like Decult sounds like a perfect opportunity to network, upskill and build resilience against harmful group coercive control dynamics.
I really hope that funding bodies and other important agencies with the power to get great ideas that benefit the public off the ground will take notice of Decult and provide all the support they can to get this beneficial and important conference happening.”
Sarah Steel
Author (Do As I Say) and Australian podcaster (Let’s Talk About Sects)
“The subject of cults and how they operate took over my life unexpectedly in 2017. Since launching my podcast six years ago, it’s become clear to me that this is a largely neglected human rights issue. The media will cover the more sensational stories, while those suffering from financial and other forms of abuse are often overlooked as their trauma is put down to a matter of “choice” or conflated with ideas around religious freedom. Aside from the fact that many were born into their high-demand groups (plenty of which are not religious), so never made a choice in the first place, we need to better understand how coercive control operates to remove choice in group situations.
Decult is a fantastic opportunity to raise awareness and understanding of these issues, and for professionals and the public to look into more effective support systems for victim-survivors – who generally come out into a world with little comprehension of what they’ve been through. Key to this is listening to those with direct experience. I look forward to the conference and thank Anke and her team for putting it together.”
Liz Gregory
Gloriavale Leavers’ Support Trust Founder
“For the past decade I have been involved with a team of people across New Zealand helping resettle Gloriavale leavers. We are acutely aware that professionals and the general public need an increased awareness in the world of cults and high-demand groups. We have worked hard over many years to create a network of people who are working collaboratively to deliver better outcomes in Gloriavale, but they need more education. Decult is perfectly placed to enter that space. I would be excited to see volunteers, social service agencies, ministers, counsellors, and even some government agencies attend. We need to continue speaking up and joining hands with others who want to raise awareness for the harm that cult groups cause. As a co-host on the podcast “Cult Chat”, I bring my voice to the table to share knowledge about the needs of survivors and the role of all New Zealanders in cult-proofing our lives. I will bring my voice to Decult too.”
Rachael Elspeth Elder
Accountability + Leadership Specialist
“Imbalances of power exist in every community, workspace and home. Unchecked, they can become extremely abusive. We all have a lot to learn from brave cult survivors in how to identify and prevent abuses of power and coercive behaviour, so we can weed it out of our public, private and community organisations and institutions. Let’s educate ourselves by standing up to support the Decult kaupapa and apply these learnings to our everyday lives. Stoked to be involved!”
Jim Goodwin
Advisor to the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care
“As a semi-retired counsellor and sexual abuse survivor, I’m passionate about making the world a better place. For many years, I worked as a psychiatric nurse in mental health and met many patients who had been in cults. One person I particularly remember had left the Christian Community in Cust which later became Gloriavale. He floundered with integrating himself into society and took his life. It is in his memory and for the others that I want to do what I can to help people who have left cults. To make Decult a safe experience for everyone, I will be on standby during the conference to offer psychological support.”
Tore Klevjer
President of CIFS Inc. Australia (Cult Information Family Support)
“As an ex-cult member, a dedicated counsellor, and the current president of CIFS, I am pleased to endorse and support the Decult conference. Having firsthand experience in addressing the pervasive trauma inflicted by cults on individuals, their families, and friends, I confront these challenges regularly. The repercussions are profound, underscoring the need for comprehensive awareness and education.
Despite the abundance of available information, the prevailing ignorance surrounding this topic remains astonishing. This knowledge gap is especially alarming given that a significant majority of healthcare professionals and psychologists remain uninformed.
Having successfully organised a similar seminar in Australia, we have observed positive outcomes, reinforcing the value of open dialogue and education. I wholeheartedly recommend the Decult conference as a crucial platform for fostering understanding, raising awareness, and bridging the information gap surrounding the lasting impact of cults on individuals and society as a whole.”
Sara Passmore
President of the New Zealand Association of Rationalists and Humanists
“The NZARH was delighted when DECULT 2024 first proposed addressing this serious and long overlooked need in New Zealand. As a secular association, we jumped at the chance to support this important work as a sponsor and partner, and we’re so glad we did!
It was the start of a significant collaboration, one of ongoing mutual support: we highly recommend the experience to other like-minded organisations. The conference excelled at pooling resources and creating a hub for dealing with cults in NZ, it was an excellent networking opportunity for those with similar values and concerns and gave our association increased exposure, creating interest in what we do and generating new memberships.
We would also recommend this conference in future to those who make their way to the NZARH under similar circumstances (people often join our association after leaving religion). Hearing directly from cult leavers themselves was an incredible and humbling learning experience to our entire membership.
Post conference, we are continuing to work with the DeCult Team, one practical example is that we are starting our own Cult Survivor group in Auckland.
We’d also like to comment on the profound level of professionalism within the DECULT Team. Every effort was made to provide a safe and secure environment for those attending – it was successful beyond our expectations and we very much look forward to what lies ahead.”
