Alison Miller’s reply to Evan Anderson, Grey Faction Director of The Satanic Temple (TST)’s Grey Faction
“The reason I discontinued my membership in the College of Psychologists has nothing to do with the Grey Faction’s harassing complaint about my writings and online videos. I left the College because I am 78 years old. I retired two years ago.” – Alison Miller
“That is why I resigned, not because I was about to be found guilty of promoting unscientific conspiracy theories. Anderson has posted his complaint and the College’s response, distorting the story by omitting the College’s letter to me and my response to it. As for not being allowed to call myself a “psychologist,” that is the situation for every retired psychologist. It is similar for other health professions, and it does not indicate that the work I did was inferior or that I was found guilty of unethical behavior.” – Alison Miller
Here is a brief history of the Grey Faction’s efforts from:
(Alison Miller’s article will follow.)
For almost a decade Douglas Misicko using several aliases (including Douglas Mesner and Lucien Greaves) has harassed groups helping child abuse, rape and trauma survivors. He has also harassed groups providing research in support of child abuse, rape and trauma survivors.
In 2013, he and others created a group called the Satanic Temple. One part of this group is called the Grey Faction. The Grey Faction states they “invade” conferences. These conferences are provided to help and educate child abuse, rape and trauma survivors and their helpers.
Their representatives that invade these conferences misrepresent their reasons for attending these conferences. They film people at these conferences without permission and publish these films without the permission of those filmed. The Grey Faction repeatedly misrepresents the research and statements of the people at these conferences. It uses repeated ad hominem attacks against child abuse and trauma researchers without rebutting their research or stories.
This information is being posted with the permission of its author, Alison Miller. Please note: All accusations are alleged. The views, facts and opinions mentioned in this article are the opinions of the author and are not necessarily the opinions of this website or its editor.
Note from Alison Miller:
The reason I discontinued my membership in the College of Psychologists was nothing to do with the Grey Faction’s harassing complaint about my writings and online videos. I left the College because I am 78 years old. I retired two years ago. When I retired, I maintained membership in a non-practising (retired) category because I still had clinical records from past clients. I mistakenly assumed that the provision of psychological services which is prohibited for non-practising members extended only to providing direct service to clients, and that I was still permitted to speak at conferences and write articles. When Evan Anderson complained about my work, the College asked me about my professional activities since retirement, and let me know that (a) I did not have to remain a member after retirement as long as another member knew the location of my clinical records, and (b) speaking and writing were considered to be providing psychological services, which was forbidden to non-practicing members—but if I discontinued membership, my speaking and writing activities would no longer be the concern of the licensing body. It became evident to me that I no longer needed to maintain this unnecessary membership which now prohibited me from speaking and writing, so I resigned from the College.
That is why I resigned, not because I was about to be found guilty of promoting unscientific conspiracy theories. Anderson has posted his complaint and the College’s response, distorting the story by omitting the College’s letter to me and my response to it. As for not being allowed to call myself a “psychologist,” that is the situation for every retired psychologist. It is similar for other health professions, and it does not indicate that the work I did was inferior or that I was found guilty of unethical behavior. Anderson has distorted the meaning of the College’s response to his complaint, as if the complaint itself were validated. It was not.
I am accused of being a conspiracy theorist because I believe there exist organized groups of pedophiles, some of whom use the trappings of Satanic religion to intimidate children and make child pornography, and some of whom exploit knowledge of traumatized children’s ability to dissociate. It appears that the leadership of the Grey Faction believe there is a conspiracy of highly credentialed mental health professionals, including psychiatrists, psychologists, clinical social workers, criminologists, psychotherapists and counselors, all of whom agree with my understanding of this kind of trauma. They suggest that the limited understanding of trauma and dissociation and of organized abuse which was common around 1990 should replace the better-informed modern approach which characterizes members of our conspiracy of professionals. Don’t let them fool you.
Alison Miller
(Please note: Parts of the formatting in the original letter have been changed for the Internet.)
Inquiry Committee
College of Psychologists of British Columbia
#404, 1755 West Broadway
Vancouver, BC
V6J 4S5
August 18, 2019
Re: Pursuant to the Health Professions Act
Complainant: Mr Evan Anderson
File No. 2019-C26
I am responding to your letter dated July 31, 2019 regarding the complaint by Evan Anderson.
The Complainant
I should like to point out that I have never met Evan Anderson. From speaking with the Chair of the Survivorship conference, Neil Brick, and from an online search, I believe that he is the Director of the Grey Faction of the Satanic Temple. Their website, on which they lay out their objectives, is https://greyfaction.org/….This group has the specific objective of discrediting all professionals who speak or write about delayed recall of child abuse memories or about dissociative disorders caused by severe child abuse, and particularly about ritual abuse. They misrepresent and ridicule the beliefs of such mental health professionals. They take the extreme position that ritual abuse never occurs. Many well known authorities in the field of complex trauma and dissociation have been attacked online by this group, and other professionals besides myself have received complaints to their licensing bodies. Members of the Grey Faction show up at professional conferences on a regular basis without registering to attend these conferences. They put up little shows in the hallways, shouting accusations against leaders in the field. The “Take Action” page on their website encourages people to take action against “conspiracy therapists.”
My Current Professional Activities
Let me first address the Inquiry Committee’s additional query, about whether I might be practising despite being in the non-practising category.
I retired in 2017. I maintain my registration only for the purpose of maintaining my clinical records, as at retirement I moved from Victoria to _____________, and I have been unable to find a local psychologist in this area willing to take responsibility for my records, as I am not known here. I stopped seeing clients in 2017. I also at that time stopped providing online or telephone consultations to therapists in other parts of the world who requested my expertise in treating adult survivors of organized child abuse who suffer from complex trauma and/or dissociative disorders. I do not intend to return to practice, as I am seventy eight years old and have deliberately moved to a rural community in order to have a different kind of life.
I presented in person at the 2017 Survivorship conference in May 2017, when I was still in active practice. I actually stopped seeing clients when I moved away from Victoria, at the beginning of July 2017.
My only professional activities in 2018 consist of writing books and articles, and I have continued to contribute to the field of trauma and dissociation via writing in 2019:
Miller, A. (2017). Dissociation in families experiencing intimate partner violence. Journal of Trauma and Dissociation, 18 (3), The Abused and the Abuser: Victim-Perpetrator Dynamics, 427-440.
Miller, A. & Gingrich, H.D. (2018). The treatment of ritual abuse and mind control. In Gingrich, H.D. & Gingrich, F.C. Treating trauma in Christian counselling. Inter-Varsity Press.
Hoffman, W. & Miller, A. (2018). From the Trenches: A Victim and Therapist Talk about Mind Control and Ritual Abuse. London: Karnac.
Miller, A. (2019). Therapeutic neutrality, ritual abuse and maladaptive daydreaming. Frontiers in the Psychotherapy of Trauma and Dissociation, 1(3).
Miller, A. (2019). Organized abuser groups’ use of supernatural powers to intimidate victims. ISSTD News.
In May of 2019 I presented once more at the California Survivorship Conference via Skype, and I also presented the same material at the East Coast SMART conference, also organized by Neil Brick. I do not believe that my 2019 conference presentations were in breach of my registration status as non-practicing. I presented via Skype, and although the participants could see my face on a computer, I could not see theirs. I was not treating any clients/patients at these conferences, and when I allowed the conference organizer permission to videotape my presentations, I was not providing direct service to any persons in need of psychological services. I presented pro bono as an invited speaker.
In June of 2019 I provided an evening workshop (also pro bono) in London, UK, for therapists at the Centre for Dissociative Studies. I am not currently planning any presentations, books, or articles, although I am scheduled to be interviewed for ISSTD News as part of a series of interviews with pioneers in the field of trauma and dissociation treatment.
Since leaving Victoria in 2017 I have seen no clients and provided no supervision or consultations. I was the 2017 Chair of the RAMCOA (ritual abuse/mind control/organized abuse) special interest group (SIG) of the International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation (ISSTD), a large body of mental health professionals from many countries. I have been a member of this society since 1994, and a Fellow since 2013. The ISSTD sets professional standards for practice in the field of trauma and dissociation, and treatment guidelines: See https://www.isst-d.org/resources/adult-treatment-guidelines/. We do engage in some peer consultation online, with client identities disguised. There are other members who are retired from various helping professions: psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, counsellors, psychotherapists and psychoanalysts. We retired members remain involved to assist and encourage younger professionals who venture into the trauma field, especially because this area of practice is undergoing rapid development. Our present SIG chairperson, who has many speaking engagements, is retired from her professional practice in the U.K.
The Allegation of Perpetuating False Beliefs
Mr. Anderson alleges that I am perpetuating false beliefs about cults and ritual abuse that are not informed by the scientific or professional literature. Surely he must be aware that my writings on this subject constitute part of the scientific and professional literature. Besides Healing the Unimaginable (2012) and the some of 2018 and 2019 publications listed above, my writings include:
Miller, A. (2016). What’s different about ritual abuse and mind control? Chapter 10, pp. 221-232 in Sinason, V. & Van der Merwe, A. P. Shattered but Unbroken: Voices of Triumph and Testimony. London: Karnac.
Miller, A. (2016). Reflections on having my name used. Pp. 24-29 in Sinason, V. & Van der Merwe, A. P. Shattered but Unbroken: Voices of Triumph and Testimony. London:Karnac. (This article refers to a memoir written by a client of mine.)
Miller, A. (2015). Foreword to Breitenbach, G. Inside Views from the Dissociated Worlds of Extreme Violence: Human Beings as Merchandise. London: Karnac (translated from German).
Miller, A. (2014). Becoming Yourself: Overcoming Mind Control and Ritual Abuse. London: Karnac.
Miller, A. (2012). Dialogue with the higher-ups. Pp. 111-132 in Vogt, R. & Vogt, I. (Eds.) Perpetrator Introjects: Psychotherapeutic Diagnostics and Treatment Models. Kroning: Asanger Verlag.
Miller, A. (2008). Recognizing and treating survivors of abuse by organized criminal groups. Chapter 17, pp. 479-490 in Noblitt, R. & Noblitt, P. P. (Eds.) Ritual Abuse in the 21st Century. Bandon, Oregon: Robert D. Reed Publishers.
Mr. Anderson states “The idea that there are Satanic cults abducting and abusing people has an unfortunate history in the mental health field. They have been long-debunked, and have absolutely no place in modern mental health treatment.” I wish this were the case. Recent criminal investigations in various countries show that organized child abuse with multiple perpetrators is very common, and results in many different mental health conditions, especially dissociative disorders. A number of these investigations revealed Satanic trappings being used as part of the abuse. In the early 1990s there was a massive attempt via the media to promote the message that Mr. Anderson is stating here.
These abuses do occur, and severe child abuse (including multiple-perpetrator organized abuse) is a major cause of many mental and physical health difficulties (see the Childhood Adverse Experiences (ACE) study, https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/childabuseandneglect/acestudy/index.html.)
The literature regarding ritual abuse has evolved a great deal since I published Healing the Unimaginable. See, for example,
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Cheit R. (2014) The Witch-Hunt Narrative: Politics, Psychology and the Sexual Abuse of Children, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
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Richardson K. (2015) Dissecting Disbelief: Possible Reasons for the Denial of the Existence of Ritual Abuse in the United Kingdom. International Journal for Crime, Justice & Social Democracy 4: 77-93.
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Salter M. (2012) The Role of Ritual in the Organised Abuse of Children. Child Abuse Review 21: 440-451.
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Salter M. (2013) Organised Sexual Abuse, London: Glasshouse/Routledge.
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Schröder J, Nick S, Richter-Appelt H, et al. (2018) Psychiatric Impact of Organized and Ritual Child Sexual Abuse: Cross-Sectional Findings from Individuals Who Report Being Victimized. International journal of environmental research and public health 15: 2417.
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Schwartz HL. (2000) Dialogues with forgotten voices: Relational perspectives on child abuse trauma and the treatment of severe dissociative disorders: Basic Books.
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Schwartz HL. (2013) The Alchemy of Wolves and Sheep: A Relational Approach to Internalized Perpetration in Complex Trauma Survivors: Routledge.
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Scott S. (2001) Beyond disbelief: The politics and experience of ritual abuse, Buckingham: Open University Press.
There are now a number of prosecuted child sexual abuse cases in which ritual abuse was substantiated, including that of Marx Dutroux in Belgium in 2001 (which included substantive evidence of widespread political involvement and corruption), the Ponchatoula church case in Louisiana in 2007 and Colin Batley’s prosecution in Wales in 2011. It is my opinion that Mr. Anderson and his group are trying to turn back the clock to the early 1990s, when the false memory advocates succeeded in silencing and intimidating leaders in the field of therapy with survivors of severe and organized childhood abuse through lawsuits and complaints to licensing bodies. The few outspoken leaders in this field were slapped with lawsuits. This delayed the dissemination of knowledge about these crimes and the organized criminal groups who perpetuate them.
Code Standards Regarding Registration Status
3.8, 7.1, 7.7, 18.1, 18.2 I find it difficult to believe that being an invited speaker teaching at a conference in another country (pro bono) is a violation of non-practising status for retired members. Such a prohibition would deprive our profession of the wisdom of its elders.
My Statements about What Organized Abuser Groups Do
The majority of the statements of mine which Mr. Anderson states are false and supposedly “demonstrate my lack of knowledge about these issues” are statements about what many survivors report that some organized perpetrator groups actually do to their victims in addition to sexually abusing them. I stand by these statements.
Harvey Schwartz, whose writings I have mentioned above, wrote in a recent online post:
“Demystification is essential to our work. If therapists do not know or understand the specific methods, madness and dynamics of organized perpetrator groups … our patients will be insidiously abandoned (without professionals treating them even realizing it) to their own dissociative worlds of internalized domination, annihilating shame, and soul murder. And, their heartbreaking spirit-crushing isolation will be reinforced without anyone ever realizing this. Then, patients’ acting out, retreat, or other mysterious behaviors in therapy might be misrecognized by ill-informed, or limited informed therapists who may end up frustrated and perhaps even acting out their helplessness and frustration on the patient, further reinforcing the pathological belief systems installed by the perpetrators and cultivated in years of living hell.
“It is so important for our field to educate the larger trauma and mental health field about what survivors have actually lived through, as well as the what and how of the machinations of the perpetrators so therapists’ minds and hearts can stretch to provide the kinds of holding, witnessing, containment and demystification necessary for healing extremely malevolent trauma. More than anything it is essential to realize that traumatized patients will not reveal to us or themselves, these extremely bizarre and sadistic experiences if they do not sense that we have some ability to “go there.” And, more than that, an ability to willingly and courageously go there with them, but to go there with a combination of compassion, ferocity, and acceptance.”
My primary sources of knowledge about these crimes are:
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My own clients, seen over the period from 1990 to 2017.
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Other therapists’ descriptions since the 1990s (through written handouts, a few early articles, workshops and conferences, a private online discussion group for therapists working with this population, and the large and ongoing online Dissociative Disorders discussion group, and eventually the ISSTD’s special interest group);
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Exploratory research, especially the Extreme Abuse Survey, whose results are published online: https://extreme-abuse-survey.org/.
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More recent publications, such as those I listed above.
My Statements Regarding My Own Experiences
A number of the items on your list refer to experiences of mine which I spoke or wrote about (all from the early 1990s.) These unfortunate and traumatizing experiences are not products of my imagination; rather, they opened my eyes to abuses of which I was previously unaware. Just what is Mr. Anderson alleging when he identifies these personal experiences of mine as problematic? That I am mentally ill myself? That I am lying? I wish these things had not happened but they did, and they opened my eyes to the activities of organized perpetrator groups. He calls my statements “delusional ramblings” and “bizarre and unhinged statements.” I am aware that my style in the videos is informal, because I was speaking to a group of people at a conference, not writing a formal document. That does not mean I am delusional or unhinged. The practices about which I spoke are indeed bizarre, and there is no information which disproves their existence.
My Allegedly False Statements regarding Diagnosis and Treatment
The remaining items on the list deal with diagnosis and treatment:
He says that I stated that memories can be stored in the body. I did not mean that memories are stored, as Anderson says, “in the body rather than the brain.” This is not the meaning of the well known term “body memories.” Rather it means that a traumatic memory includes the physical sensations of what happened, and these physical sensations may give a “flashback” of pain (or electroshock sensations) rather than a visual sensation or a narrative. This is widely known among trauma therapists. See Dr. Bessel van der Kolk’s The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind and Body in the Healing of Trauma.
I stated that baby memories from infancy need to be “processed for full integration”, which might require a temporary regression to infancy. This is out of context. I do not recommend that every person who has survived such abuse needs to do this. I was only stating that if a person wants to integrate all the part-selves separated by trauma, they need to also be aware that there may be infant abuse experiences.
Survivors of ritual abuse have many misdiagnoses; in fact, multiple diagnoses are characteristic of persons with dissociative disorders. Schizophrenia is only one of those misdiagnoses, and flashbacks of ritual abuse can be misunderstood as schizophrenic hallucinations and delusions. It is, of course, possible for someone to have a dissociative disorder as well as schizophrenia, and hearing the voice of God or Jesus is only one symptom which may reflect either. Depression, bipolar disorder, and notably Borderline Personality Disorder are more common misdiagnoses (or additional diagnoses). Since the education of mental health professionals, especially psychiatrists, is woefully lacking with regard to the sequelae of trauma and the dissociative disorders, misdiagnoses continue to happen.
I stated that the ritual abuse and torture of young children leads to splitting of their minds into pieces that later results in Dissociative Identity Disorder. Yes, indeed. This is not “repression” of memories, as Mr. Anderson alleges. The DID is present in childhood, not just later, and the child, and later adult, has very separate ego states in which one does not know what the other one experienced or did. I actually think of this as the separation of circuits in the brain, rather than splitting of the “mind”, but the research has not yet been done to prove this, although persons with DID do have different areas of the brain light up when different alters are occupying consciousness.
The Code Standards
3.2 Maintaining competency: I am confident that I have maintained full competency, particularly in the areas of ritual abuse, mind control, and the dissociative disorders. I have published articles in peer-reviewed journals on the subject, in edited collections, and in books of my own with a reputable academic publisher, Karnac Books. However, since retirement I have not sent in summaries of my continuing education to CPBC because I do not intend to return to practice.
3.3 Demonstration of knowledge: My writings demonstrate my knowledge. The fact that I have had no complaints from clients over all the years of my practice is also significant.
3.5 Since 1990 I have gained proficiency in work with this unique population through experience and what training has been available. I have taught courses in treating dissociative disorders, and presented a workshop on this for BCPA.
3.6 This emphasizes the importance of referral to an expert in the field. When I began practice with this client group in 1990, there were few or no experts in the field anywhere. Learning from my clients with this history, I became the therapist in Victoria to whom other therapists referred clients who showed symptoms of DID or made disclosures of ritual abuse or mind control. There was no recognized professional book on diagnosis and treatment, until I wrote HealinHealing the Unimaginable, the first book in the field to present a complete treatment protocol for such clients.
3.7 I have indeed maintained current professional knowledge. See the references above.
3.9 Empirical foundation of interventions: I did not use any improper techniques. I followed the treatment guidelines provided by the International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation.
3.12 Objectivity of opinions and interventions: See my article in Frontiers in the Psychotherapy of Trauma and Dissociation, a peer-reviewed journal, as it addresses this very issue.
3.14 Opinion based on proper information: My sense is that this item refers more to opinions regarding clients rather than opinions regarding whether certain abuses actually occur. As Mr. Anderson’s organization takes the position that ritual abuse simply does not occur, his opinion of what is proper information is very different from that of a large body of licensed professionals working with survivors of such abuse.
3.15 Relying on scientifically and professionally derived knowledge when making scientific or professional judgments: In a newly opened up field of enquiry, we rely on the larger community and what information is available. I have done so. However, this client population suffers from abuses by organized criminal groups. The Mafia was once thought not to exist, sexual abuse was thought to be rare, and domestic violence was considered unimportant. Vested interests do not want information regarding these abuses to become public.
3.18 Limitations on opinions: When I state that certain types of groups engage in certain activities, I usually qualify my statements by saying that such behaviors are not universal among such groups, and different groups do different things.
5.1 Preserving client welfare: The activities of mine about which Mr. Anderson complains do not involve any clients.
5.26 I had no professional relationship with persons to whom I spoke at a conference or with persons who read my book. I do not believe Mr. Anderson has any evidence that my talks or book have harmed anyone.
10.1 Misleading information: I do not believe I provided any false or misleading information in these public statements.
10.14 In these talks and this book I was not “interpreting the science or the practice of psychology or psychological services.” I believe I was presenting information fairly and accurately, although the talks were more informal than the book.
10.15 Media presentations: I have taken care to ensure that readers or conference attendees do not believe themselves to have a professional relationship with me. Many persons have tried to contact me online and obtain my services as a result of my public profile, and I have declined, suggesting instead that they find a therapist in their location via the ISSTD.
10.16 False and deceptive statements: Perhaps Mr. Anderson believes that some of my statements, particularly regarding what perpetrator groups do, are false. I do not.
15.5 Accuracy in training: I believe I have presented psychological information accurately and with a reasonable degree of objectivity. However, I may have expressed some outrage and disgust when talking about the abusive activities in which some abuser groups engage, according to their victims.
15.8 Prohibitions on training: I do not teach techniques to unqualified individuals.
I would guess that Mr. Anderson and his Grey Faction cohorts have made and will make complaints to the licensing boards of many persons working in this field. This is a litigious complainant, and related organizations in other countries do the same thing, according to a UK colleague of mine.
I think it is important that such harassment of competent therapists, especially those who teach others, fail before it gains traction.
Alison Miller, Ph.D., R. Psych. #654
