Dear Bob,
What would you suggest or in a nutshell in what ways can someone help themselves to recover from a cult? I'm thinking that many people who specifically leave the Family/COG either have few if any resources or funds to pay for professional therapy. Some may even have loads of kids that they need to care for and wouldn't be able to visit somewhere like Wellspring or Meadowhaven, or wouldn't even know where to start looking for someone professional who is knowledgeable about cults and how they work, and even if they found someone who was, most probably wouldn't be able to afford their fees anyway. (One such therapist told me that they charged £125 for a 40 min session!)Also I don't know if Wellspring or Meadowhaven would be equipped to deal with whole families who have loads of kids! Those of us who don't live in the states don't even have any cult rehab centres near us, and the airfares are expensive!!
My question therefore is has anyone thought of some sort of free or very cheaply priced e-therapy that could reach across geographical distance and could be available for anyone who has access to a computer.
By e-therapy I mean e-mails on a regular basis, or instant messaging at an agreed time, on a one to one completely confidential basis, between ex-cult (or even current cult?) members who need professional help.
Perhaps if something like this had been available at the time, I wonder if someone like Ricky could have been helped? There are an awful lot of hurting and angry people (and rightfully so after the abuse they've suffered) on all of the ex-member sites and my heart goes out to them.
The message boards are good, and the support through the online chat, but some of us would be better helped by personal professional online help? -What do you think? Do you think any of the professionals in this field would think of undertaking such a project? (eg ICSA formerly AFF?)