ICSA TODAY 28
Chris Carlson, LCSW-R, is one of the two extraordinarily
gracious men who cofacilitate monthly ICSA meetings
in New York. Perhaps because of his midwestern
upbringing—“I’m a central Illinois boy,” Chris does not say
much about himself, offering comments only when they
are meaningful and needed. Without asking, you would
not easily find out about his wide range of interests, nor
would you find out about his accomplishments.
If there is a need that Chris feels he can help with, he
goes to work on it, with no fanfare. He and his wife, an
educator, family counselor, and vocal coach, have been
founding parents of not one but two schools. One,
the Brooklyn New School, is in the public school system
the other is a private school called Brooklyn Free School.
Chris was also a founding member of FOCUS, the
international organization for former cult members, which
was later revitalized by others as reFOCUS.
The only son of an Air Force pilot and an English teacher,
he says of his parents, “I got along well with my folks… We
moved frequently and so relied on each other quite a bit
while we adjusted to each new place. We all learned how
to make friends.”
“I started college as a marine biology major, then moved
on to psychology, then got my degree in Theater.” After
college, Chris traveled, and while in San Francisco “met
someone on the street from a spiritual community and
was invited over for dinner.” He went to the group’s farm,
and they turned out to be the Unification Church, aka
the Moonies. He spent 18 months working in the group,
fundraising and witnessing (recruiting), until his family
rescued him via deprogramming.
Shortly after that, he saw reports in the news about the
Jonestown tragedy. That news might have been the
beginning of his activism: “I knew what had just happened
to me and that it had happened to them. I had to speak
out.” Since then he has lectured extensively on this
topic and contributed to the creation of the docudrama
Moonchild, shown on PBS, HBO, and around the country.
Chris is a family man, and this becomes obvious as he
says, “We found that our family loved amusement parks,
the beach, swimming, theater, music, and dancing in the
rain as things we could enjoy together. Camping, which
my wife and I liked, didn’t make it with the kids. I had to
go fishing with my friends!” His children are now grown:
His married daughter is a professional singer, actress, and
dancer his son is a writer.
The most recent project Chris and his wife have been
engaged in is the creation and development of a theater,
the Brooklyn Players Community Musical Theater. This
family man, social worker, and educational activist is also
an actor and singer who runs the company, as well. And
that’s not even his day job!
Chris works in direct patient care at a New York
hospital, supervising a team of social workers and
Columbia University students who are doing their
in-hospital practice training. With Dan Shaw, he also
cofacilitates ICSA’s New York meetings on the last Friday of
each month (details and directions at icsahome.com). And
he is involved, yet again, with another new initiative: ICSA’s
recently formed Educational Outreach Committee. n
Profiles On...
Chris Carlson
Chris Carlson, LCSW-R, is one of the two extraordinarily
gracious men who cofacilitate monthly ICSA meetings
in New York. Perhaps because of his midwestern
upbringing—“I’m a central Illinois boy,” Chris does not say
much about himself, offering comments only when they
are meaningful and needed. Without asking, you would
not easily find out about his wide range of interests, nor
would you find out about his accomplishments.
If there is a need that Chris feels he can help with, he
goes to work on it, with no fanfare. He and his wife, an
educator, family counselor, and vocal coach, have been
founding parents of not one but two schools. One,
the Brooklyn New School, is in the public school system
the other is a private school called Brooklyn Free School.
Chris was also a founding member of FOCUS, the
international organization for former cult members, which
was later revitalized by others as reFOCUS.
The only son of an Air Force pilot and an English teacher,
he says of his parents, “I got along well with my folks… We
moved frequently and so relied on each other quite a bit
while we adjusted to each new place. We all learned how
to make friends.”
“I started college as a marine biology major, then moved
on to psychology, then got my degree in Theater.” After
college, Chris traveled, and while in San Francisco “met
someone on the street from a spiritual community and
was invited over for dinner.” He went to the group’s farm,
and they turned out to be the Unification Church, aka
the Moonies. He spent 18 months working in the group,
fundraising and witnessing (recruiting), until his family
rescued him via deprogramming.
Shortly after that, he saw reports in the news about the
Jonestown tragedy. That news might have been the
beginning of his activism: “I knew what had just happened
to me and that it had happened to them. I had to speak
out.” Since then he has lectured extensively on this
topic and contributed to the creation of the docudrama
Moonchild, shown on PBS, HBO, and around the country.
Chris is a family man, and this becomes obvious as he
says, “We found that our family loved amusement parks,
the beach, swimming, theater, music, and dancing in the
rain as things we could enjoy together. Camping, which
my wife and I liked, didn’t make it with the kids. I had to
go fishing with my friends!” His children are now grown:
His married daughter is a professional singer, actress, and
dancer his son is a writer.
The most recent project Chris and his wife have been
engaged in is the creation and development of a theater,
the Brooklyn Players Community Musical Theater. This
family man, social worker, and educational activist is also
an actor and singer who runs the company, as well. And
that’s not even his day job!
Chris works in direct patient care at a New York
hospital, supervising a team of social workers and
Columbia University students who are doing their
in-hospital practice training. With Dan Shaw, he also
cofacilitates ICSA’s New York meetings on the last Friday of
each month (details and directions at icsahome.com). And
he is involved, yet again, with another new initiative: ICSA’s
recently formed Educational Outreach Committee. n
Profiles On...
Chris Carlson
