Cultic Studies Journal, Vol. 15, No. 2, 1998, page 83
even though I‘m sure ―Fruitcake‖ was one of the names high on his list.‖ Helen soon moved
to Melbourne from Perth to live with a female member of the ETEM. Rick felt helpless to
change her mind until he met with Joe A, another man in Perth whose wife was about to
leave him and his children for an ETEM life.
Joe A had already contacted an exit counselor (me) from the United States and arranged for
an intervention with his family. Joe A engaged Pat Ryan and I to fly down to help him in
January of 1993. We took the non-coercive, educational approach (the only way we would
work) over several days of meetings in their home and it worked very well. During our five
days in Perth we met with Rick and planned his intervention, but we had to go home,
regroup and return to Melbourne several weeks later. Rick knew his situation presented
more difficulties than Joe A‘s, but he had to try. Rick, Helen, and others involved describe
this somewhat convoluted, tension-filled event that resulted in Helen voluntarily speaking
with the exit counselors and eventually going home with her family. During the entire
intervention, Helen slept at the ETEM house. Her internal, lonely struggles at night over
what to do, what to think, whether to return to talk with her family are an incredible
testimony to the human spirit, her spirit, to return to ―reality.‖
The Branch Davidian standoff at Waco began just prior to this family intervention. Pat Ryan
and I appeared on a Melbourne radio show as many Australians were involved in the Waco
event. That may have been a mistake. As Rick Larsen writes, before Ryan left Australia from
Sydney he was served with a bizarre but legal restraining order. A Scientologist claimed she
had evidence that Pat Ryan and I were there to ―abusively deprogram‖ her. To this day I do
not know who this woman is. After the Larsen case ended, I remained in Melbourne to work
in a hospital with a pregnant, forty-year-old woman who had a psychological breakdown
after channeling the spaceship commander, Ashtar --so I was never served. Ryan had to fly
back to Sydney later to fight the accusation. He won his case handily, but to this day the
Scientologist has not paid the thousands of dollars in fees awarded him by the court.
Rick and Helen Larsen give us a rare insight into, what they call ―Exit Counselling: Ethical
―Deprogramming‖ of the Nineties.‖ Their post-intervention struggles and resolutions are a
testament to their love for one another and commitment to help others unduly impacted by
cult activity. Rick Larsen is currently the Deputy Chairperson of CultAware Australia. The
manuscript for Cult Encounter is in the process of being printed in book form.
Joseph Szimhart
Thought Reform Consultant
Pottstown, Pennsylvania
This article is an electronic version of an article originally published in Cultic Studies Journal, 1998, Volume 15,
Number 2, pages 222-235. Please keep in mind that the pagination of this electronic reprint differs from that of
the bound volume. This fact could affect how you enter bibliographic information in papers that you may write.
even though I‘m sure ―Fruitcake‖ was one of the names high on his list.‖ Helen soon moved
to Melbourne from Perth to live with a female member of the ETEM. Rick felt helpless to
change her mind until he met with Joe A, another man in Perth whose wife was about to
leave him and his children for an ETEM life.
Joe A had already contacted an exit counselor (me) from the United States and arranged for
an intervention with his family. Joe A engaged Pat Ryan and I to fly down to help him in
January of 1993. We took the non-coercive, educational approach (the only way we would
work) over several days of meetings in their home and it worked very well. During our five
days in Perth we met with Rick and planned his intervention, but we had to go home,
regroup and return to Melbourne several weeks later. Rick knew his situation presented
more difficulties than Joe A‘s, but he had to try. Rick, Helen, and others involved describe
this somewhat convoluted, tension-filled event that resulted in Helen voluntarily speaking
with the exit counselors and eventually going home with her family. During the entire
intervention, Helen slept at the ETEM house. Her internal, lonely struggles at night over
what to do, what to think, whether to return to talk with her family are an incredible
testimony to the human spirit, her spirit, to return to ―reality.‖
The Branch Davidian standoff at Waco began just prior to this family intervention. Pat Ryan
and I appeared on a Melbourne radio show as many Australians were involved in the Waco
event. That may have been a mistake. As Rick Larsen writes, before Ryan left Australia from
Sydney he was served with a bizarre but legal restraining order. A Scientologist claimed she
had evidence that Pat Ryan and I were there to ―abusively deprogram‖ her. To this day I do
not know who this woman is. After the Larsen case ended, I remained in Melbourne to work
in a hospital with a pregnant, forty-year-old woman who had a psychological breakdown
after channeling the spaceship commander, Ashtar --so I was never served. Ryan had to fly
back to Sydney later to fight the accusation. He won his case handily, but to this day the
Scientologist has not paid the thousands of dollars in fees awarded him by the court.
Rick and Helen Larsen give us a rare insight into, what they call ―Exit Counselling: Ethical
―Deprogramming‖ of the Nineties.‖ Their post-intervention struggles and resolutions are a
testament to their love for one another and commitment to help others unduly impacted by
cult activity. Rick Larsen is currently the Deputy Chairperson of CultAware Australia. The
manuscript for Cult Encounter is in the process of being printed in book form.
Joseph Szimhart
Thought Reform Consultant
Pottstown, Pennsylvania
This article is an electronic version of an article originally published in Cultic Studies Journal, 1998, Volume 15,
Number 2, pages 222-235. Please keep in mind that the pagination of this electronic reprint differs from that of
the bound volume. This fact could affect how you enter bibliographic information in papers that you may write.
