Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 1, No. 1, 2002, Page 11
Resources for Families
Recognizing that families needed practical, hands-on books to help them deal with loved
ones in cultic groups AFF in the mid-1980s began to work on the first of a series of books
aimed at families.
Cults: What Parents Should Know, published in 1988 was written by former group member
and counselor, Joan Carol Ross, and Dr. Michael Langone. This book addressed issues of
assessment, defining the problem, communication, planning, and dealing with post-cult
difficulties.
In 1992 AFF published the first edition of Carol Giambalvo‘s Exit Counseling: A Family
Intervention. This book complemented Cults: What Parents Should Know by providing
practical details and advice for families considering an exit counseling. Its publication was a
landmark event in the supplanting of deprogramming by noncoercive exit counseling
approaches. A revised, second edition of this book was published in 1996.
In 1996 Livia Bardin, M.S.W. led AFF‘s first workshop for families (these have been held
every year since in conjunction with AFF‘s annual meeting). She developed a collection of
forms to better equip families (and friends) to help a loved one involved in a cultic group:
Summary of Changes, Pre-cult Identity Chart, Group Profile, Member‘s Present Situation,
Sending Important Messages, Using the Private Language, Listening and Responding, About
the Family, Friends and Family Network, and Strategic Planning Worksheet. In 2000 she
completed a book based on her workshops and forms, Coping with Cult Involvement: A
Handbook for Families and Friends. This book helps families achieve a level of
understanding far deeper than that provided by other written resources.
Education
AFF initiated a preventive educational program, the International Cult Education Program
(ICEP), in 1987. ICEP‘s goals were to develop educational resources for young people,
educators, and clergy, to encourage educational programs for youth, and to provide support
and guidance to those conducting such programs. Founded and directed by Marcia Rudin
until her retirement in 1997, ICEP produced two videotapes, Cults: Saying “No” Under
Pressure and After the Cult: Recovering Together, a book, Cultism on Campus:
Commentaries and Guidelines for College and University Administrators (revised in 1996
under the title, Cults on Campus: Continuing Challenge), a lesson plan, a collection of
pseudoscience fact sheets, four educational flyers, and the semi-annual newsletter, Young
People and Cults. Funding cuts prevent AFF from maintaining ICEP as a distinct program
today, although its functions continue to the extent resources permit.
That many people held AFF‘s educational activities in high esteem became evident in June
1995, when AFF president, Herbert Rosedale (who has served as president since 1987), was
asked to deliver a commencement address to the graduating class of the State University of
New York‘s Institute of Technology at Utica/Rome, ―Promises and Illusions.‖ This address is
printed in Cultic Studies Journal, 11(2).
In 1987 AFF organized a special conference on Business and the New Age Movement at the
American Management Association in New York City. This conference brought together
journalists, researchers, and helping professionals to address the legal, ethical, and mental
health controversies that surrounded certain training programs in business. As a follow-up
to this conference Drs. Arthur Dole, Michael Langone, and Steve Dubrow-Eichel conducted a
series of studies designed to clarify what is meant by ―new age.‖ Reports on these studies
were published in Cultic Studies Journal. AFF‘s contributions to the examination of cultism‘s
implications for business were recognized when AFF‘s president, Herbert Rosedale, was
appointed in 1992 Executive in Residence at the School of Business, Indiana University. Mr.
Resources for Families
Recognizing that families needed practical, hands-on books to help them deal with loved
ones in cultic groups AFF in the mid-1980s began to work on the first of a series of books
aimed at families.
Cults: What Parents Should Know, published in 1988 was written by former group member
and counselor, Joan Carol Ross, and Dr. Michael Langone. This book addressed issues of
assessment, defining the problem, communication, planning, and dealing with post-cult
difficulties.
In 1992 AFF published the first edition of Carol Giambalvo‘s Exit Counseling: A Family
Intervention. This book complemented Cults: What Parents Should Know by providing
practical details and advice for families considering an exit counseling. Its publication was a
landmark event in the supplanting of deprogramming by noncoercive exit counseling
approaches. A revised, second edition of this book was published in 1996.
In 1996 Livia Bardin, M.S.W. led AFF‘s first workshop for families (these have been held
every year since in conjunction with AFF‘s annual meeting). She developed a collection of
forms to better equip families (and friends) to help a loved one involved in a cultic group:
Summary of Changes, Pre-cult Identity Chart, Group Profile, Member‘s Present Situation,
Sending Important Messages, Using the Private Language, Listening and Responding, About
the Family, Friends and Family Network, and Strategic Planning Worksheet. In 2000 she
completed a book based on her workshops and forms, Coping with Cult Involvement: A
Handbook for Families and Friends. This book helps families achieve a level of
understanding far deeper than that provided by other written resources.
Education
AFF initiated a preventive educational program, the International Cult Education Program
(ICEP), in 1987. ICEP‘s goals were to develop educational resources for young people,
educators, and clergy, to encourage educational programs for youth, and to provide support
and guidance to those conducting such programs. Founded and directed by Marcia Rudin
until her retirement in 1997, ICEP produced two videotapes, Cults: Saying “No” Under
Pressure and After the Cult: Recovering Together, a book, Cultism on Campus:
Commentaries and Guidelines for College and University Administrators (revised in 1996
under the title, Cults on Campus: Continuing Challenge), a lesson plan, a collection of
pseudoscience fact sheets, four educational flyers, and the semi-annual newsletter, Young
People and Cults. Funding cuts prevent AFF from maintaining ICEP as a distinct program
today, although its functions continue to the extent resources permit.
That many people held AFF‘s educational activities in high esteem became evident in June
1995, when AFF president, Herbert Rosedale (who has served as president since 1987), was
asked to deliver a commencement address to the graduating class of the State University of
New York‘s Institute of Technology at Utica/Rome, ―Promises and Illusions.‖ This address is
printed in Cultic Studies Journal, 11(2).
In 1987 AFF organized a special conference on Business and the New Age Movement at the
American Management Association in New York City. This conference brought together
journalists, researchers, and helping professionals to address the legal, ethical, and mental
health controversies that surrounded certain training programs in business. As a follow-up
to this conference Drs. Arthur Dole, Michael Langone, and Steve Dubrow-Eichel conducted a
series of studies designed to clarify what is meant by ―new age.‖ Reports on these studies
were published in Cultic Studies Journal. AFF‘s contributions to the examination of cultism‘s
implications for business were recognized when AFF‘s president, Herbert Rosedale, was
appointed in 1992 Executive in Residence at the School of Business, Indiana University. Mr.
