Eileen Aveni’s Reply to Evan Anderson, Director of The Grey Faction of The Satanic Temple in Context:

The Campaign to Discredit Mental Health Professionals

Eileen Aveni LMSW, LCSW, ACSW, BCD

May 28, 2021

(Please note: This article and page is strictly the opinion of the author and not necessarily the opinion of the SMART newsletter or the webmaster. All accusations are alleged)

I am one in a long and growing list of mental health professionals who have been targets of an aggressive, systematic, and vitriolic harassment and disinformation campaign by Evan Anderson and The Grey Faction of The Satanic Temple (TGF/TST) over at least the past five years. This campaign explicitly attempts to discredit and marginalize professionals who study, treat, and educate on ritual abuse, torture-based mind control, human trafficking, and the production of child abuse materials.

The targets of The Grey Faction of The Satanic Temple’s propaganda campaign include criminologists, psychological and forensic researchers, university professors, and licensed and registered mental health professionals—psychologists, psychiatrists, clinical social workers, marriage and family counselors, professional counselors, and more, who provide psychotherapy to children and adults subjected to these extreme forms of child abuse and who, as a result, suffer complex, developmental psychological trauma, including Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) and dissociated and recovered memories of being abused.

This article is a reply to the harassment and false accusations propagated against me and my mental health colleagues by Evan Anderson, Director of The Grey Faction of The Satanic Temple, with background information to place the current campaign in important historical context.

Forms of The Grey Faction / The Satanic Temple Harassment

Forms of harassment engaged in by Evan Anderson and The Grey Faction of The Satanic Temple (TGF/TST) include:

  1. An aggressive Internet disinformation campaign characterized by ad hominem attacks, bombastic, sensational, and repetitive language, a tone of hatred, ridicule, and arrogance, websites displaying morbid and shocking imagery, false, distorted, and exaggerated claims, and statements and quotations presented as facts that lack any basis and omit references. They fail to acknowledge credible academic and news sources that refute their claims and arguments, they cite the professionals they attack out of context, build arguments on logical fallacies, limit arguments to a few, repetitive points, reference non-scholarly materials to negate scholarly data, and most egregious, fail to acknowledge the testimony of countless survivors of extreme abuse.

Evan Anderson and The Grey Faction of The Satanic Temple’s ad hominem attacks include scathing personal accusations that lack basis in fact and even include mockery of the physical characteristics of those they target.

In addition, TGF/TST materials frequently describe the now-voluminous academic, forensic, and clinical evidence of ritual abuse, organized abusive groups, and the resulting psychological and physical symptoms as “delusional,” “irresponsible” “bizarre,” “evidence-free,” reckless” “unscientific,” and “discredited.”

  1. Filing multiple, frivolous licensing board complaints against mental health professionals on the basis of their publishing and/or presentations about extreme forms of abuse and Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) and broadcasting these complaints widely on the Internet. These complaints are not generated or filed by patients objecting to the practices of their psychotherapists.
  2. Filing multiple complaints to credentialing bodies and professional organizations against individuals, educational institutions, and professional organizations that provide continuing education or university academic credit for teaching about extreme forms of abuse, and broadcasting these complaints widely on the Internet. This is an effort to thwart the academic freedom to educate on these subjects.
  3. Infiltrating and physically disrupting professional conferences and government meetings, and recording and publicizing confidential presentations and documents.

Aims of The Grey Faction / The Satanic Temple Propaganda

The propaganda spread by Evan Anderson and The Grey Faction of The Satanic Temple includes efforts to:

  1. Discredit the diagnoses of dissociative disorders, especially dissociative amnesia and Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID), despite these diagnoses’ longstanding inclusion in The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the American Psychiatric Association.
  2. Argue that DID is an iatrogenic artifact of bad therapy rather than the result of childhood trauma. This position has little if any research basis. (See: Dalenberg, C. J., Brand, B. L., Gleaves, D. H., Dorahy, M. J., Loewenstein, R. J., Cardeña, E., … & Spiegel, D. (2012). Evaluation of the evidence for the trauma and fantasy models of dissociation. Psychological Bulletin, 138(3), 550. Available online at Evaluation of the evidence. See also: Brand, B. “Is dissociation trauma based or fantasy based.” Available online at Trauma based or fantasy based.)
  3. Convince the public and the mental health profession (a) that memories of child abuse are not dissociated, (b) that recovered memories of child abuse are likely to be false, (c) that any memories of abuse are likely to be “false memories,” and (d) that psychotherapists commonly “implant” “false memories” of child abuse in adult and child clients.

Extensive research both on memory and on child abuse contradicts these positions. The research shows that memories of child abuse and other trauma is encoded in the brain differently from every day memories. They can be (a) more enduring than memories of more typical events, (b) more focused on the details that posed danger than on peripheral stimuli, (c) more somatosensory, (d) initially dissociated, and (e) recalled with significant accuracy years, even decades, later.  (See: Chapter 16: Trauma and Memory, by M. Rose Barlow, Kathy Pezdek, and Iris Blandón-Gitlin. APA Handbook of Trauma Psychology: Vol. 1. Foundations in Knowledge, S. N. Gold (Editor-in-Chief) (2017), American Psychological Assn. Available online at Trauma and Memory. See also: Canada Department of Justice: The Impact of Trauma on Adult Sexual Assault Victims, PART III – How Trauma Affects Memory and Recall. Available online at Canada Justice.)

  1. Argue that established psychotherapy methods, such as Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), hypnotherapy, guided imagery, art, and journaling, induce “false memories.”
  2. Discredit child abuse victims’ memories and psychological trauma, including: (a) children’s disclosures, (b) delayed disclosures, (c) amnesia for child abuse, (d) repressed or dissociated memories of child abuse, (e) recovered memories of child abuse, (f) formation of dissociated identities in response to child abuse, and, (g) memories of child abuse that is extreme, particularly abuse that is ritualistic or perpetrated by networks of offenders.

Of course, denying the validity both of children’s memories of abuse and of delayed (i.e., adult) memories of abuse is to deny the possibility of any memory of child abuse. Obviously, this denial is untenable.

  1. Coerce and intimidate psychotherapists into: (a) dismissing dissociative disorders as not actual or as iatrogenic, (b) discussing recovered memories of abuse as not true, (c) dismissing as delusional any memories of ritualistic abuse or abuse by networks of offenders, and, (d) not filing mandated reports of suspected child abuse to child protection or law enforcement based on clients’ reports of recovered memories of extreme abuse.

Such propaganda spread by Evan Anderson and The Grey Faction of The Satanic Temple creates a hostile backdrop for the provision of psychotherapy on a number of fronts.

  • It can stir fear of public ridicule and legal actions in psychotherapists as they diagnose dissociative disorders, respond to clients’ reports of child abuse, especially the most extreme forms of abuse, and treat their trauma.
  • It can cause psychotherapists and their professional organizations to avoid writing and teaching about recovered memories, dissociative disorders, and extreme abuse, especially ritualistic abuse.
  • It can create unwarranted self-doubt in individuals who have memories of child abuse or who have troubling dissociative symptoms.

The TGF/TST propaganda is so outrageous as to be entertaining were it not hindering the spread of truth and inhibiting the development of individual and profession-wide understanding of the nature and prevalence of abuse and its sequelae. This, however, appears to be the purpose of the propaganda, and results in fewer people being protected from horrific, ongoing abuse

Nevertheless, many survivors do come forward seeking the help they need to get free from abusive groups and to experience healing from their trauma. And many professionals continue to work in the field unflinchingly.

My Professional Background

I have been a psychotherapist for 42 years, certified and licensed in Michigan continuously since 1979 as well as licensed in Virginia since 2016, and have specialized in treating trauma throughout my career. I have successfully treated at least 75 survivors of ritual abuse and consulted for mental health professionals, police and other law enforcement agencies, psychiatric hospitals, church hierarchies, and pastoral leaders on at least another 100 ritual abuse cases.

In addition, I have treated thousands of individuals suffering from other forms of extreme and complex trauma and have consulted extensively for the entities listed above, plus child protection agencies, medical hospitals, courts, the U.S. State Department, and Victims of Pan Am Flight 103 (the Lockerbie bombing family support/advocacy organization).

For the last 25 years, I have been an international speaker, teacher, and consultant on extreme abuse, including ritual abuse, mind control, organized abuse (RA/MC/OA), and Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) to mental health professionals, law enforcement, churches, and community groups. I have appeared frequently on radio and television broadcasts, and have spoken to countless community groups on the treatment of systematic, planned, organized, extreme abuse, complex trauma, and harassment—including clergy abuse, ritual abuse, mind control programming, government medical and psychological experimentation, terrorism, and human trafficking.

In 2011, I was invited to Malaysia to create and teach a Master’s level psychotherapy methods course and provide a therapy/counseling internship for 41 graduating counseling students. Before this time, nationwide standards had required internship supervisors to have only field experience, not professional degrees in therapy or counseling. Inaugurating the university’s new high-tech counseling center wing, I provided students advanced training in methods and careful, monitored individual and group supervision of some of the most complex cases that can occur in treatment—a program that was now equal to international standards.

During my three-plus months in Malaysia, I also taught courses on trauma treatment at several other Malaysian universities, and presented workshops and seminars to a newly formed Malaysian counseling association, to sexual assault women’s centers, to counseling centers, and to a ministry serving trafficking victims fleeing to Malaysia from other nations.

I was the 2016 Chair of the RAMCOA Special Interest Group (SIG), a division of the International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation (ISSTD), a large body of mental health professionals from many nations. (The ISSTD sets professional standards for practice and treatment guidelines in the field of trauma and dissociation. See https://www.isst-d.org/resources/adult-treatment-guidelines/)

I am developing and testing a new model of treating and eradicating mind control called the “Migration Model” for treatment of extreme abuse survivors with DID. (See “The Migration Model: A New Approach to Mind Control Treatment in Ritual Abuse Clients.” International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation Conference, Chicago, IL, 90-minute workshop, March 24, 2018.  Abstract available online (recording and slides available to ISSTD members) at Migration Model-ISSTD. See also  https://www.ra-free.org/migration-model.)

I serve on the Boards of two domestic and international organizations serving extreme abuse survivors.

I am currently researching and writing on the connection between trafficking and RA/MC/OA.

For more of my expertise, refer to the Partial CV at the end of this article.

Despite my training, extensive experience, and international standing, I now find myself professionally harassed by frivolous accusations and an online smear campaign by individuals and groups who lack the professional background to assess the psychiatric diagnoses and treatments they disparage, and who ignore or deny the decades of thoroughly documented, worldwide forensic, clinical, and historical evidence of the systematic abuses I and my colleagues treat.

Let me provide some historical context for my story, because the attacks on the profession and on survivors didn’t start with Evan Anderson or The Grey Faction of The Satanic Temple. The attacks have a long, sordid history dating back to the era when extreme abuse survivors first started to seek professional help.

The History of Professional Harassment

CHILD ABUSE ENTERS THE PUBLIC AWARENESS

In the 1970s, child physical abuse slowly began to enter the awareness of mental health professionals following the 1968 publication of “The Battered Child,” by Ray E. Helfer and Ruth S. Kempe (1968: London: Pearson Education). In 1974, the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act established the National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect. In the 1980s, child sexual abuse slowly began to enter the awareness of mental health professionals. In 1981, twenty-five volunteer and professional organizations formed the National Child Abuse Coalition to put pressure on Congress to create more laws addressing sexual abuse. That same year, Harvard University professor of psychiatry Judith Lewis Herman published her book “Father-Daughter Incest” (1981: Harvard University Press). Child abuse began to be increasingly discussed in the media and victims increasingly disclosed their abuse to the authorities and in psychotherapy.

SEXUAL AND RITUAL ABUSE

By the mid-1980s, victims of extreme abuse, including ritual abuse, slowly began to come forward. In 1991, the Los Angeles County Commission for Women published the “Report of the Ritual Abuse Task Force” (available online at L.A. Task Force). The mental health community and child protection agencies listened.

Slowly, training began to be offered to mental health professionals, child protection agencies, and law enforcement. Although the existence of this purposeful, abhorrent, sadistic behavior was initially hard to synthesize, awareness was growing, journal articles began to be published, and investigation protocols began to be developed within child protection agencies.

PSEUDO-SCIENTIFIC PROPAGANDA BACKLASH

At the same time, a backlash campaign was begun to dispute the reality and prevalence of the child abuse that was being revealed, especially extreme abuse. In March of 1992, the backlash became institutionalized when Peter and Pamela Freyd, whose daughter, Jennifer Freyd, had accused her father of sexually abusing her, co-founded the False Memory Syndrome Foundation (FMSF) with the help of about 20 prominent mental health professionals, including Paul McHugh and Elizabeth Loftus. In actuality, FMS is not a syndrome. Rather, as Stephanie Dallam says, it is “a pseudoscientific syndrome that was developed to defend against claims of child abuse.” (Dallam, S. (2002). “Crisis or Creation: A systematic examination of false memory claims”. Journal of Child Sexual Abuse 9 (3/4): 9–36. See also Child Abuse Wiki-FMS. See also “The False Memory Syndrome at 30: How Flawed Science Turned into Conventional Wisdom,” by Joshua Kendall (February 7, 2021), available online at FMS at 30. See also online documentation at Pseudoscience.)

 

Particular focal points of FMSF propaganda included alleging (1) that parents and/or therapists influence children to believe they had been abused or to disclose child abuse, (2) that delayed disclosure of child abuse is likely not credible, (3) that memories of child abuse do not become repressed or dissociated, (4) that memories of abuse are not later recovered, (5) that Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) is not an actual disorder but an artifact of bad therapy, and, with the greatest vigor (5) that ritual abuse and mind control do not exist and that any reports of such abuse are false, resulting from “satanic panic,” “moral panic,” “mass hysteria,” overzealous therapists, therapists trying to prolong their patients’ therapy for financial profit, Christian belief in demons, and patients influencing each others’ memories.

A PROFESSION UNDER SIEGE

The FMSF encouraged psychotherapy patients to sue their therapists for “implanting” “false memories” or causing them to develop purported “False Memory Syndrome.” They launched letter-writing campaigns to legislators urging passage of legislation that would reduce successful legal prosecution of child abuse. They courted the media, and both newspapers and television gave their propaganda a megaphone. In some cases, FMSF urged and abetted public harassment of therapists (See: “Notes from a Practice under Siege: Harassment, Defamation, and Intimidation in the Name of Science,” by David L. Calof, Ethics and Behavior, 1998, 8 (2):161 –187. Available online at https://ritualabuse.us/research/memory-fms/notes-from-a-practice-under-siege.)

The combination of these large-scale publicity campaigns and lawsuits had a deep impact on abuse survivors and on the practice of psychotherapy. Workshops on risk management and law and ethics instructed psychotherapists to educate patients about the malleability of memory, not to tell their patients that they judged any reported memories of abuse to have basis, and even not to ask patients whether they had ever been abused as a child. Professional standards of care were re-written to adapt to these risk management concerns. Therapists began to practice more and more “defensive psychotherapy.” Some psychotherapists stopped treating child abuse victims and survivors. Many therapists dismissed DID as iatrogenic or rare. Many therapists and hospital programs responded to patients’ reports of extreme abuse with dismissal, incredulity, or advice to focus only on present-day concerns. Some therapists closed their practices.

Fortunately, some therapists continued to recognize ritual abuse and mind control as actual and extreme forms of abuse. Some continued to teach and publish. Many continued to serve survivors quietly. In addition, survivors supported each other by creating grass-roots organizations and survivor support groups.

THE EVIDENCE BUILDS

Since the early 1990s, the documented evidence of horrific and widespread abuse, including ritual abuse, has only grown. Here are just a few of the more recent examples.

  1. The 2007 “Extreme Abuse Survey” of ritual abuse survivors, with responses from over 2,000 respondents in 40 countries, conducted by the German and American researchers Thorsten Becker, Wanda Karriker, Bettina Overkamp, and Carol Rutz. (Available online at https://www.extreme-abuse-survey.org/survey.php?en=b. A summary of findings from the survey is available for downloading in PDF format by clicking http://endritualabuse.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Findings-from-the-2007-EAS-Series-June-25-2016.pdf.)
  2. The 2008 “Torture of Canadian women by Non-state Actors in the Private Sphere: A Shadow Report” by Canadian activists Jeanne Sarson and Linda MacDonald, who are now working with the United Nations to expose and combat abuse, exposing ritual abuse networks throughout Canada. (Available online at Shadow Report.)
  3. The 2014 article “Empirical and Forensic Evidence of Ritual Abuse,” Chapter 6 in “Cult and Ritual Abuse: Narratives, Evidence, and Healing Approaches,” 3rd ed., by James Randall Noblitt and Pamela Perskin Noblitt (2014: Praeger). (Available online at http://endritualabuse.org/empirical-and-forensic-evidence-of-ritual-abuse/)
  4. The explosive, four-part, 2019 New York Times investigative series “Exploited,” exposing the multi-billion dollar online child sexual abuse industry, created both by large-scale organized crime networks and peer-to-peer networks in the community, aided and abetted by high tech networks, which displays the same forms of torture-level abuse reported by survivors of ritual abuse and mind control.

Part 1: The Internet is Overrun with Images of Child Sexual Abuse. What Went Wrong? (Sep 29, 2019)

Part 2: Child Abusers Run Rampant as Tech Companies Look the Other Way (Nov 9, 2019)

Part 3: Video Games and Online Chats are ‘Hunting Grounds’ for Sexual Predators (Dec 7, 2019)

Part 4: Fighting the Good Fight Against Online Child Sexual Abuse (Dec 23, 2019)

  1. Laila Mickelwait’s “Traffickinghub” petition, calling for the shutdown of online porn site, Pornhub, which hosts millions of videos of sex trafficking and child rape, and for the prosecution of its owners and executives. See Trafficking Hub Petition – Shut Down Pornhub #Traffickinghub
  2. Nicholas Kristof’s December 4, 2020, New York Times editorial, The Children of Pornhub, which was instrumental in prompting credit card companies to drop services to Pornhub.
  3. Nicholas Kristof’s December 9, 2020, follow-up New York Times editorial, An Uplifting Update on the Terrible World of Pornhub.
  4. Nicholas Kristof’s April 16, 2021, New York Times editorial, Why Do We Let Corporations Profit from Rape Videos?
  5. The frequently updated “Ritual Abuse, Ritual Crime and Healing” website, listing some of the criminal convictions of perpetrators of ritual abuse around the world. Conviction List: Ritual Abuse Cases – RA Info (ra-info.org)
  6. The “Child Abuse Wiki” website, whose goal is to publicize “accurate and scientific information on child abuse issues…backed by journal articles and reputable sources…in an easy to read format” (See http://www.childabusewiki.org/index.php?title=Ritual_Abuse)

The Grey Faction of The Satanic Temple (TGF/TST)

The False Memory Syndrome Foundation folded in 2019. Since then, Evan Anderson and The Grey Faction arm of The Satanic Temple have taken the lead in publicly harassing those helping extreme abuse survivors. In fact, The Grey Faction is explicitly dedicated to disrupting the work of mental health professionals who are working to rescue and help victims of child abuse, rape, and trauma worldwide. It maintains a page on The Satanic Temple website as well as a separate site of its own. Both promulgate appallingly outdated and wildly inaccurate information about extreme abuse, its prevalence, the trauma it is known to cause, and its treatment. The group actively promotes harassment and disparagement of professionals serving the survivor population and—[inexplicably]—continues to deny the existence of ritual abuse itself.

The Grey Faction of The Satanic Temple’s materials frequently refer to therapists who acknowledge the reality of ritual abuse and mind control as “Conspiracy Therapists.” It’s a clever pun, but don’t let it fool you. It is TGF/TST who are conspiracy theorists. As Dr. Alison Miller, a retired but still-harassed psychologist who has contributed enormously to the professional literature on ritual abuse writes: “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” (see Alison Miller’s Reply).

The following pages of the “Stop Mind Control and Ritual Abuse Today (SMART)” website give further insight into the goals and tactics of The Grey Faction of The Satanic Temple.

https://ritualabuse.us/ritualabuse/grey-faction-satanic-temple-and-lucien-greaves-fact-sheet/

https://ritualabuse.us/research/rebuttals-of-satanic-panic-theory-and-false-memory-syndrome/

As elaborated on the above sites, Evan Anderson and TGF/TST make many unfounded and unsubstantiated claims on the one hand, and, on the other, deny many thoroughly documented facts regarding ritual abuse, including the existence of networks of abusers and traffickers that utilize ritual abuse and mind control. No one who has researched the topic of ritual abuse can not know about this information. It is well-established in the professional, scientific, and forensic literature and publicized on the Internet and, more and more, in mainstream media. The evidence includes government documents revealing systematic abuse and mind control experiments in military and government settings spanning several decades. These materials, released pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), include documentation of the CIA’s “Mk-Ultra” mind control experimentation program that was exposed in the 1970’s. These records are available on the CIA’s website, www.cia.gov/readingroom/search/site/mk-ultra.

Since 2019, even mainstream media have been exposing egregious abuse, including international prostitution and trafficking rings, as well as the large-scale and exponentially growing production and publication of sadistic child abuse materials.

The existence of the latter is irrefutable: the videotaped evidence is seized by law enforcement. This form of extreme abuse includes elements reported by victims of ritual abuse and mind control, including:  torture, multiple perpetrators, multiple victims, sadistic sexual abuse, coercion of victims to harm and kill other victims (“coerced perpetration”), terrorization of victims into silence, including threats of harm to loved ones. The central difference is the motives of the perpetrators. The producers of child abuse materials appear to primarily be motivated by sadism (sexual and otherwise), whereas perpetrators of ritual abuse and mind control also have ideological or religious motives. The multi-billion-dollar industry also clearly incentivizes those with financial motives. Regardless of the motives, the child abuse materials include torture and coerced perpetration.

My Personal Professional Journey

Over much of my career as a therapist, I have focused on helping survivors of trauma, ranging from sexual abuse victims to individuals who have lost family members to suicide or to terrorist attacks (such as the 1988 PanAm Flight 103/Lockerbie bombing).

In the early 1990s, this took a new and unexpected direction. Some clients who had originally come to me for more typical issues began to share memories of physical and sexual abuse and even torture that initially seemed unbelievable. I was shocked, but I listened. Over a period of several years, the parallels among the stories of unrelated clients became too obvious to ignore or discount. Patterns that emerged matched patterns therapists around the country (indeed, around the world) were also hearing from their clients. We gradually networked with each other to share and develop strategies and techniques that would help these clients. Universities and hospitals somehow learned of my experience (I hadn’t told them) and referred clients to me who had psychological or physical evidence of such backgrounds (sometimes even including genital and other anatomical mutilation). As time went on, I consulted with and for dozens of other therapists, physicians, hospitals, and organizations who had encountered and were now serving this population.

I observed the False Memory Syndrome scandal as it developed. I watched as respected colleagues fell victim to public harassment, false information, and costly legal battles. I quietly continued to serve victims of extreme abuse as they came—or returned—for help, which they did.

My Professional Harassment Experience

In the past several years, I have been subjected to costly and time-consuming harassment in the form of formal allegations of professional misconduct. All were dismissed except one that was so vague as to be unanswerable. The series of cases started with a no-longer-funny comedy of bureaucratic errors. The cases are all closed. I will explain them in detail for the sake of full disclosure and clarity. It began with unpublished changes to Michigan’s licensing regulations.

MICHIGAN LICENSING CHALLENGE

Unpromulgated Regulations

In 2016, the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA) created, but did not publicize, new regulations regarding tri-annual renewal of LMSW licenses. The new regulations stipulated that at least half of the 45 CEUs required for licensing renewal every three years be earned in person. Because of the 3-year cycle of renewals (with some clinicians renewing one year, others the next year, and the rest the third year of the cycle), the regulations were not to be enforced until 2020. None of this was communicated to clinicians.

When my license came up for renewal in April of 2017, I submitted certification forms for the 45+ CEUs I had earned (though only a list of courses taken, not the certification forms themselves, was actually required).

Premature Enforcement

Soon afterwards, a LARA investigator called me to say that, in reviewing the certificates, she noticed I had not taken enough in-person credits under the new regulations. This was the first I had heard of these regulations. As noted above, they had not been promulgated to clinicians. They did not appear on the LARA license renewal website, nor on CEU providers’ sites. I would not learn until later that they would not actually go into effect until 2020. The investigator did not explain this (perhaps she did not know). I agreed to “make up” the “missing” in-person credits. After some searching for useful, appropriately advanced coursework, and further discussion with the LARA investigator, she agreed that if I took 20 in-person credits by August, 2017, my license would not lapse.

Extra CEUs

I enrolled in a 40-CEU course that would be offered over two weekends. The course providers indicated that 20 credits would be awarded after the first weekend of training in August 2017—meeting my commitment to LARA—and the remaining 20 would be awarded after the second weekend of training in January, 2018. I called the LARA investigator, and she approved the plan.

However, when I completed the first weekend, the course providers changed their policy, and announced they would instead award all 40 credits after the second training weekend in January, 2018. I phoned the LARA investigator again, explained the situation, and was told this would be acceptable.

To summarize to this point: I had already met the 2017 requirements for renewing my license, since the new regulations were not to go into effect until 2020, and so my license was, in fact, continuously valid. While working to meet the new regulations, I met with unexpected delays from the CEU providers, but was told by LARA that my efforts were sufficient to maintain my license in the interim.

Online Licensure Record Incorrectly Marked “Lapsed”

Unbeknownst to me, at some point in this process, my license was incorrectly marked as “Lapsed” on the LARA public website. This led to yet another unfortunate development that unnecessarily damaged my professional reputation.

I often work in collaboration with other professionals, including medical professionals, in my clients’ care. In late 2017, one of my ritual abuse clients was hospitalized briefly. With the client’s permission, I offered detailed background and perspectives to a hospital psychiatrist treating her. Shortly thereafter, the client reported to me that the psychiatrist had told her I did not have a license. (This was how I learned that LARA had improperly listed my license as lapsed on their public website.)

I reported the error to LARA. Then I attended the second half of the CEU course in January of 2018 and submitted the certificate for 40 CEU credits to LARA.

2018 Complaint

On February of 2018, a complaint was filed against me alleging that I had been operating without a license and challenging my handling of the above client’s case.

LARA investigated the complaint, and in March 2019, consolidated the allegations into five “counts.” After receiving my oral and written responses to the allegations, LARA offered to dismiss four of them, including the allegation that I had practiced without a license. Those four counts were:  COUNT I. Professional negligence and failure to exercise due care—DISMISSED.  COUNT II. Failure to conform to minimal standards of acceptable and prevailing practice for a social worker—DISMISSED.  COUNT III. Lack of good moral character—DISMISSED.  COUNT V. Unlicensed practice as a social worker—DISMISSED.

This left COUNT IV, “practice outside the scope of her license.” Despite numerous conversations, LARA staff gave no indication, orally or in writing, as to which specific, alleged conduct might have fallen into this category, nor of what evidence I could offer to defend myself against the imprecise charge. (Section 16221(c)(iii) of the Code provides no help. It, too, simply reads, “Practice outside the scope of a license.”)

Given the unsustainable costs of continued defense against an unspecified offense, as well as LARA’s threat to re-open the four dismissed counts for re-adjudication if I contested the remaining count, I entered a plea of “no contest.” For those not familiar with this bit of legalese, it means I did not admit to the validity of the charges, but I allowed LARA to proceed as if I had admitted to them and impose a penalty accordingly. (My lawyer has since told me that she has never known Michigan’s Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs to dismiss all charges in a complaint, an approach which baffles lawyers in other states.)

My penalty for the undefined operation “outside the scope” of my license was a $1,000 fine, a year of probation, quarterly supervision meetings with another highly experienced therapist, and completion of several additional CEU courses on specified topics that I was more than qualified to teach myself—three CEUs in “the area of telehealth” (which I had already been practicing for 19 years) and three “in the area of DSM and diagnosing mental health disorders” (which I had, in fact, previously taught).

Summary

In short, (1) LARA’s enforcement of unpublicized new regulations 3 years ahead of schedule, (2) a CEU provider’s failure to grant CEUs when promised, and (3) LARA’s improper online listing of my license as lapsed despite agreeing that my extra renewal efforts were acceptable, led to (4) a psychiatrist who was treating one of my clients falsely believing I was operating without a license, (5) the psychiatrist inaccurately informing my client that I was operating without a license, and (6) a complaint being filed against me with the Michigan licensing board.

(7) Four of five Counts in the case were dismissed. (8) A fifth Count of unspecified professional malfeasance, so vague that I had no way to disprove it, resulted in (9) a fine and the time and expense of supervision and earning superfluous CEUs, and (10) an improper and permanent blemish on my professional record.

I completed all of the requirements of the LARA probation stipulation in December, 2020.

NEW, FRIVILOUS CHARGES FROM THE GREY FACTION’S EVAN ANDERSON

It was during the above probation period that Evan Anderson, Director of The Grey Faction of The Satanic Temple, jumped into the fray.

In 2016, I had moved to Virginia and had obtained a second license there. In January, 2020, Evan Anderson of TGF/TST filed two identical, frivolous complaints against me in Virginia and Michigan. The rambling, five-page documents include several allegations.

  1. First, Evan Anderson of TGF/TST alleges that I am guilty of “propagating the irresponsible conspiracy theory that there exist widespread cults engaging in systematic ritualized abuse.” His only citation refuting their existence is an obsolete (1992) FBI report, long since superseded by decades of research and clinical and forensic evidence of large, organized perpetrator groups.
  2. Evan Anderson of TGF/TST further alleges that I espouse “the related and similarly evidence-free conspiracy theory of ‘government mind control’” programs. Then he explicitly acknowledges that the CIA was involved in mind control programming (i.e., Mk-Ultra), as revealed in Congressional hearings. He apparently believes that the 1977, Congressionally-mandated shutdown of the program was completed. However, many survivors born since 1977 report being subjected to Mk-Ultra.
  3. In another inaccuracy typical of TGF/TST materials, Evan Anderson of TGF/TST claims that I had two prior complaints filed against me—one in February, 2018, and another in March, 2019. These are simply the dates of two documents in the same, resolved case which I described in detail above. (The Grey Faction website repeats this erroneous claim of two separate previous complaints.)
  4. Evan Anderson of TGF/TST spends nearly two pages of the five-page complaint quoting from a presentation of mine—one that healthcare professionals may take for CEU credits. Though he alleges that “nearly every slide” of the dense, 37-slide presentation “contains statements that are utterly reckless,” he fails to identify a single specific error or offer evidence in refutation of any point.
  5. Evan Anderson of TGF/TST then spends several paragraphs discussing other therapists who serve extreme and ritual abuse survivors.
  6. Evan Anderson of TGF/TST alleges that I hold “numerous beliefs about mental health and religion” that are not compatible with psychological practice, though he has never had a client relationship with me based on which he could judge whether any religious or philosophical views I may hold improperly impact my therapeutic work. (None of my thousands of current or former clients, religious, non-religious, or antagonistic toward religion, has ever expressed such a concern.)
  7. Uncharacteristically, near the end of the five pages, Evan Anderson of TGF/TST does finally challenge a specific scientific statement, one I made during a presentation in 2014. In response to my assertion that schizophrenia is “sometimes curable,” Anderson counters, “Of course, there is no cure for schizophrenia.” As with so many of Evan Anderson’s and TGF/TST’s declarations on issues of fact, he is uninformed. Schizophrenia can go into remission or full recovery, particularly if treated early. Here are just four of many peer-reviewed journal articles published over the last 20 years addressing prevention, remission, and recovery from schizophrenia (listed in chronological order). In one recent review of international outcomes (repeating a study conducted in 1985), complete recovery increased to 37.75% from the 1985 rate of 20.4%, with even better results for first episode psychosis (FEP): 57.1% in the recent study vs 20.7% in 1985 (see Huxley, P., et al, below).
  1. Evan Anderson of TGF/TST ends his complaint against me by “Taking it as a given that your department does not agree with the troubling views . . . propagated in her professional capacity as a licensed professional.”

This was far from a “given,” however. In fact, Virginia and Michigan both promptly dismissed the twin complaints. Virginia explicitly identified the allegations as “frivolous.”

As is typical of The Grey Faction of The Satanic Temple, in these frivolous (but time-consuming and expensive), harassing complaints, Evan Anderson trotted out their usual, vague, repetitive refrains such as “dangerous and debunked” and “evidence-free” theories, and “utterly reckless” beliefs, without acknowledging the extensive professional literature which substantiates the theories and knowledge.

Meanwhile, they continue to irresponsibly promulgate their own dangerous and debunked, evidence-free, and utterly reckless information about me, other professional colleagues, and more importantly, about ritual abuse and its sequelae.

As of this writing, The Grey Faction of The Satanic Temple website:

  • States that I am under probation, which I am not (see above). It makes no mention of Evan Anderson’s complaints to Michigan and Virginia, nor of them being dismissed as frivolous.
  • Highlights a complaint they made to the California Board of Psychology against psychologist Ellen Lacter, Ph.D., but fails to mention that the Board dismissed their complaint.
  • Highlights a 2019 complaint they lodged with the Canadian College of Psychologists of British Columbia (CCPBC) against world renowned therapist Dr. Alison Miller and claims “credit” for ending Dr. Miller’s career, saying that she is “no longer permitted to practice” when, in fact, she had retired two years before they lodged their complaint. The CCPBC dismissed the case in October, 2019. Yet as of this writing, 18 months later, TGF/TST’s inaccurate claims remain headlined on their website. For Dr. Miller’s own description of this set of events, see Alison Miller’s Reply.
  • Lists eminent therapist and ritual abuse historian Dr. Randy Noblitt’s license as nearly 7 months past expiration, though the California Board of Behavioral Sciences website lists it as current.

Evan Anderson and The Grey Faction of The Satanic Temple have not acknowledged their errors or omissions, nor apologized for their numerous disproven accusations and dismissed professional complaints. What motivates their inaction? Once aware of the facts, why persist in promoting the falsehoods?

And in the face of incontestable evidence that ritual abuse is a devastating, worldwide phenomenon, why claim that ritual abuse crimes are “rare” and then—on the same website—contradictorily refer to “the non-existent ritual abuse”?

The most generous interpretation would be that The Satanic Temple wants to keep its own satanic rituals from being tarnished by association with horrific crimes that we know are committed either as or in the guise of satanic rituals. But if this were their motivation, wouldn’t they oppose the crimes and work to expose those who commit them so that TST’s reputation wouldn’t be further sullied by association, rather than deny that they occur?

In fact, however, I am not aware of anywhere that The Satanic Temple even expresses opposition to ritual abuse—a glaring omission—much less fights it. Instead, they merely, repeatedly, implausibly, and unconvincingly deny that ritual abuse exists and scorn and target those who offer help to its survivors.

These are not the methods, tactics, or behaviors of people who have sound thinking or helpful information to share. Rather, they are strategies intended to obfuscate and distract from their lack of sound thinking, evidence, and logic.

Conclusion

Despite the multiple instances of harassment that I have personally experienced at the hands of Evan Anderson and The Grey Faction of The Satanic Temple, despite their ongoing misinformation campaign, it is my privilege to continue to serve extreme abuse survivors, and continue to see them healed of unimaginable trauma from cult, military, government, trafficking organizations, and other abusing groups who purposely traumatize them with the expectation that they will never remember or recover from their abuse. They are my daily inspiration in strength and perseverance.

From the early days—when the False Memory Syndrome Foundation was created to attack and discredit complex trauma survivors coming forward for help and the professionals trying to assist them—to today—when Evan Anderson, The Grey Faction of The Satanic Temple, and their allies use similar tactics to deny the existence of extreme abuse and of ritual abuse in particular—the scholarly research into trauma based on clinical and forensic evidence continues to mount. The field of trauma treatment is now enabling mental health professionals to recognize and resolve some of the most baffling diagnostic presentations in survivors and help them to finally heal from conditions that before now were misunderstood.

The fields of law enforcement, child protection, medicine, government, and faith communities have also benefited from these advances. They, too, have gradually learned to more accurately identify mental health issues in their respective populations and to establish better protocols for care and management.

Complex trauma exists.  As difficult as it is for society to grasp the reality that some trauma comes from the most egregious and horrific abusive acts—behavior that we would never have thought possible—survivors of even the most inhumane and torturous types of abuse bravely emerge from the shadows hoping that we will caringly meet them in their secret, inward places and gradually help them overcome what was done to them. Survivors are waiting.

Harassment such as that carried out by The Grey Faction of The Satanic Temple is a distraction not only to mental health practitioners such as myself, but to criminologists, university professors, and psychological and forensic researchers, as well. The badgering and bullying tactics impede the provision of help to the many wounded survivors of extreme abuse who deserve respect, admiration, compassion, and assistance rather than the dismissive and obstructive interference of TGF/TST and its allies.

Nevertheless, the field of trauma is advancing now more than ever with voluminous amounts of credible evidence and academic research.  We are far beyond needing to verify that extreme abuse happens.  We not only know it does happen, we now have an increasing number of tools and an ever-expanding knowledge base to resolve extreme trauma.  If abuse survivors can endure these despicable acts and still want to live, still hope to make a new life for themselves, then surely we can stand up to the hostility and backlash while we help lead them out of their darkness. We can also help lead members of the public out of their natural denial, to not only grapple with the realities of extreme abuse, but to move beyond incredulity to action, such as helping enact laws to uncover and prosecute criminal networks and individual perpetrators. Survivors need hope that one day these abuses will stop.  They are waiting for us to move beyond our own fears of backlash and attack. Survivors are waiting–everywhere.

First Postscript:  A Closing Word to Mental Health Professionals

I want to speak some words of encouragement to my fellow mental health professionals.

First, though working with survivors of extreme abuse and trauma is challenging, and is likely to induce secondary post-traumatic stress or compassion fatigue, it is worth it. The survivors I have had the privilege to work with over the past several decades are consistently among the most inspiring, resilient, and persevering people I have ever met.

Second, don’t go it alone. It is a challenging arena. Surround yourself with—and get supervision from—professionals experienced in the extreme abuse field. Join the International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation (ISSTD) and other organizations that recognize, research, and offer conferences and advanced training in the treatment of extreme abuse.

Third, if you experience “push-back” from individuals or groups like The Grey Faction of The Satanic Temple, take heart. Know that you are probably doing something right. Their list of “Conspiracy Therapists” is a virtual “Who’s Who” of reputable, dedicated, trailblazing professionals in the mental health field. So don’t give up. Survivors need to be listened to, and deserve our support and help.

Let’s not keep them waiting.

Second Postscript:  A Closing Word to Survivors

I also want to speak some words of encouragement to any survivors of extreme abuse who are reading this.

First, know that you are not alone. There are professionals who can and want to help you, either directly or by providing regular consultation to your current therapist if you are already in therapy.

Second, there are support groups of other survivors, such as Survivorship (Survivorship.org). There you will find others who, like you, are resilient, persevering, and inspiring! Numerous other websites offer comprehensive information about extreme trauma (see the Resource List below for some reputable ones).

Third, approach the half-baked propaganda and websites of organizations like The Grey Faction of The Satanic Temple with great skepticism. You’ll recognize them by their slanderous accusations, denials of current research, and even denials of your personal experience. Don’t let them discourage you from seeking help. Therapists have been developing our understanding and treatment of trauma and extreme abuse for decades. Many, many people like you are getting help and getting out of their abusing groups.

You don’t need to wait any more.

Resource List

BOOKS AND ARTICLES

AlAqeel, B.; Margolese, H. C. “Remission in Schizophrenia: Critical and Systematic Review” Harvard Review of Psychiatry: December 10, 2012 – Volume 20 – Issue 6 – p 281-297.

Aveni, E. (2017) “The Complexities of Identifying Ritual Abuse and Mind Control in Your Client.” (Available online at www.ra-free.org/complexities-of-identifying-ritual-abuse.)

Aveni, E. (2018) “The Migration Model.” (Available online at www.ra-free.org/migration-model.)

Aveni, E. (2018) “How to Decrease In-Fighting and Increase Respect for The Gifts of All Internal Parts.” (Available online at www.ra-free.org/how-to-decrease-internal-system-infighting.)

Barlow, Rose M., Kathy Pezdek, and Iris Blandón-Gitlin. “Chapter 16: Trauma and Memory,” APA Handbook of Trauma Psychology: Vol. 1. Foundations in Knowledge, S. N. Gold (Editor-in-Chief) (2017), American Psychological Assn. (Available online at Trauma and Memory.)

Becker, Th., Karriker, W., Overkamp, B., & Rutz, C. (2007) The Extreme Abuse Survey. (Available online at https://www.extreme-abuse-survey.org/survey.php?en=b). For “Findings from the Survey…”, see Karriker, et al (2008).

Calof, D. L. (1998) Notes from a Practice under Siege: Harassment, Defamation, and Intimidation in the Name of Science. in Ethics and Behavior, 1998, 8 (2):161-187.) https://ritualabuse.us/research/memory-fms/notes-from-a-practice-under-siege/

Canada Department of Justice. (2019) The Impact of Trauma on Adult Sexual Assault Victims, PART III – How Trauma Affects Memory and Recall. (Available online at http://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/rp-pr/jr/trauma/p4.html)

Cheit R. (2014) The Witch-Hunt Narrative: Politics, Psychology and the Sexual Abuse of Children, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Dalenberg, C. J., Brand, B. L., Gleaves, D. H., Dorahy, M. J., Loewenstein, R. J., Cardeña, E., … & Spiegel, D. (2012). Evaluation of the evidence for the trauma and fantasy models of dissociation. Psychological Bulletin, 138(3), 550.

Grigoriadis S., PhD, MD1, Seeman, M. V., MDCM, FRCPC, FACP “The Role of Estrogen in Schizophrenia:  Implications for Schizophrenia Practice Guidelines for Women.” First Published June 1, 2002. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry. (Available online for PDF download at https://doi.org/10.1177%2F070674370204700504)

Helfer, R. E. and Kempe, R.S. (1968) The Battered Child. London: Pearson Education.

Herman, J. L. (2015) Trauma and Recovery: The Aftermath of Violence–From Domestic Abuse to Political Terror. Basic Books.

Hoffman, W. (2019) The Enslaved Queen: A Memoir about Electricity and Mind Control. New York City: Aeon Books.

Hoffman, W. (2019) White Witch in a Black Robe: A True Story About Criminal Mind Control. New York City: Aeon Books.

Huxley, P., Krayer, A., Poole, R., Prendergast, L., Aryal, S., Warner, R. “Schizophrenia outcomes in the 21st century: A systematic review” First published: 15 May 2021. (Available online at https://doi.org/10.1002/brb3.2172)

Karriker, W., Becker, Th., Rutz, C., & Overkamp, B., (2008). Findings from the 2007 Extreme Abuse Survey (EAS) Series. (PDF available for download by clicking: http://endritualabuse.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Findings-from-the-2007-EAS-Series-June-25-2016.pdf). For the Extreme Abuse Survey itself, see Becker, et al (2007).

Keller, M. H., Dance, G. J. X. and Bowles, N. (2019) “Exploited.” Four-part New York Times investigative Journalism Series.
PART I, Keller and Dance (Sep 29, 2019): “The Internet is Overrun with Images of Child Sexual Abuse. What Went Wrong?” (Available online at Exploited Part 1)
PART 2, Keller and Dance (Nov 9, 2019): “Child Abusers Run Rampant as Tech Companies Look the Other Way” (Available online at Exploited Part 2)
PART 3, Bowles and Keller (Dec 7, 2019): “Video Games and Online Chats are ‘Hunting Grounds’ for Sexual Predators” (Available online at Exploited Part 3)
PART 4, Dance (Dec 23, 2019) “Fighting the Good Fight Against Online Child Sexual Abuse” (Available online at Exploited Part 4)

Kendall, J. (2021) “The False Memory Syndrome at 30: How Flawed Science Turned into Conventional Wisdom. (Available online at FMS at 30)

Kristof, N. (December 4, 2020), New York Times editorial, “Children of Pornhub.” (Available online at The Children of Pornhub)­­­

Kristof, N. (December 9, 2020), New York Times editorial, “An Uplifting Update on the Terrible World of Pornhub.” (Available online at Uplifting Update)

Kristof, N. (April 16, 2021), New York Times editorial, “Why Do We Let Corporations Profit from Rape Videos?” (Available online at Why Do We)

Los Angeles County Commission for Women. (1991) “Report of the Ritual Abuse Task Force” (Available online at L.A. Task Force).

Miller, A. (2014) Becoming Yourself: Overcoming Mind Control and Ritual Abuse. London: Karnac.

Miller, A. (2013) Healing the Unimaginable: Treating Ritual Abuse and Mind Control. London: Routledge.

Miller, A. (2019) “Reply to Evan Anderson, Grey Faction Director of The Satanic Temple.” Letter to the Inquiry Committee, College of Psychologists of British Columbia. (Available online at Alison Miller’s Reply).

Noblitt, J. R., Perskin-Noblitt, P. (2008) Ritual Abuse in the Twenty-First Century: Psychological, Forensic, Social, and Political Implications. Bandon, Oregon: Robert D. Reed Publishers.

Noblitt, J. R., Perskin-Noblitt, P. (2014) “Empirical and Forensic Evidence of Ritual Abuse,” Chapter 6 in Cult and Ritual Abuse: Narratives, Evidence, and Healing Approaches, 3rd ed., Westport, CT: Praeger. (Available online at Empirical and Forensic Evidence)

Porges, S. (2011) The Polyvagal Theory: Neurophysiological Foundations of Emotions, Attachment, Communication, and Self-regulation (Norton Series on Interpersonal Neurobiology).  New York City: W.W. Norton.

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.

Rutz, Carol. (2001). A Nation Betrayed (The Chilling True Story of Secret Cold War Experiments Performed on Our Children and Other Innocent People). Grass Lake, MI: Fidelity. A 10-page summary is available online at A Nation Betrayed.

Salter M. (2012) “The Role of Ritual in the Organized Abuse of Children.” Child Abuse Review 21: 440-451.

Salter M. (2013) Organized Sexual Abuse, London: Glasshouse/Routledge.

Sarson, J. and MacDonald, L. (2008) Torture of Canadian Women by Non-state Actors in the Private Sphere: A Shadow Report. (Available online at Shadow Report)

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.

Schwartz, H. L. (2000) Dialogues with forgotten voices: Relational perspectives on child abuse trauma and the treatment of severe dissociative disorders: Basic Books.

Schwartz, H. L. (2013) The Alchemy of Wolves and Sheep: A Relational Approach to Internalized Perpetration in Complex Trauma Survivors. London: Routledge.

Scott S. (2001) Beyond disbelief: The politics and experience of ritual abuse. Buckingham: Open University Press.

Van der Kolk, B. (2015) The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma. United Kingdom: Penguin Publishing.

Woodberry, K. A., Shapiro, D. I., Bryant, C., Seidman, L. J. “Progress and Future Directions in Research on the Psychosis Prodrome: A Review for Clinicians.” Harvard Review of Psychiatry: March/April 2016 – Volume 24 – Issue 2 – p chi87-103.

DOCUMENTARIES

Jeffrey Epstein: Filthy Rich. (2020) Dir. Lisa Bryant. RadicalMedia, James Patterson Entertainment, Third Eye Motion Picture Company. Film. Four-part documentary series detailing the history of the international trafficking ring run by Jeffrey Epstein.

Operation Touissant. (2018) Dir. Nick Nanton, Ramy Romany. Perf. Tim Ballard, Anthony Robbins, Glenn Beck.  DNA Films. Film. Documentary following a rescue mission performed by former Homeland Security Special Agent Tim Ballard’s child slavery rescue group, Operation Underground Railroad.

WEBSITES

http://www.childabusewiki.org Website whose goal is to publicize “accurate and scientific information on child abuse issues…backed by journal articles and reputable sources…in an easy to read format.” Relevant pages include:
www.childabusewiki.org/index.php?title=Ritual_Abuse
www.childabusewiki.org/index.php?title=False_Memory_Syndrome

https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/search/site/mk-ultra  CIA documentation of U.S. government Mk‑Ultra mind control experimentation made available through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).

http://www.endritualabuse.org American ritual abuse expert Dr. Ellen Lacter’s “End Ritual Abuse” website, an extensive compendium of information on extreme and ritual abuse.

www.extreme-abuse-survey.org/  2007 “Extreme Abuse Survey” by Becker, Th., Karriker, W., Overkamp, B., & Rutz, C.

www.isst-d.org  Website of the International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation (ISSTD), the world’s premiere professional organization devoted to the study of trauma and extreme abuse.

www.justice.gc.ca/eng/rp-pr/jr/trauma Canada Department of Justice trauma information website (see article referenced in BOOKS AND ARTICLES list, above, under “Canada Department of Justice”).

https://lailamickelwait.com Website of American anti-trafficking activist Laila Mickelwait. (See also https://traffickinghub.com)

www.nonstatetorture.org  Jeanne Sarson and Linda MacDonald’s “Persons Against Non-State Torture” website, exposing ritual abuse networks throughout Canada. Includes the Sarson and MaDonald “Shadow Report” (see BOOKS AND ARTICLES, above).

www.organisedabuse.com  Australian criminologist Dr. Michael Salter’s “Organized Abuse” website.

www.ourrescue.org  Website of Operation Underground Railroad (OUR), Tim Ballard’s international child trafficking rescue organization.

http://www.ra-free.org  American ritual abuse and extreme trauma expert Eileen Aveni’s website for survivors and therapists.

www.ra-info.org/faqs/ra-convictions  “Ritual Abuse, Ritual Crime, and Healing” website, providing Information and resources for survivors, therapist, and others.

www.ritualabuse.us  Ritual abuse expert Neil Brick’s “Stop Mind Control and Ritual Abuse Today (SMART)” website, an extensive compendium of information about ritual abuse as well as fact sheets about The Satanic Temple, The Grey Faction, and its representatives.

http://www.teachtrauma.com Towson University’s (Towson, MD, USA) website based in their world-class trauma study program.

https://traffickinghub.com Laila Mickelwait’s “Trafficking Hub” website, exposing the online porn site Pornhub’s profiteering from child abuse and trafficking. (See also https://lailamickelwait.com)

Partial Curriculum Vitae:  Eileen Aveni LMSW, LCSW, ACSW, BCD

SELECT PROFESSIONAL HIGHLIGHTS

2016 Chair of the RAMCOA Special Interest Group (SIG), a division of the International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation (ISSTD), a large body of mental health professionals from many nations. (The ISSTD sets professional standards for practice and treatment guidelines in the field of trauma and dissociation. See https://www.isst-d.org/resources/adult-treatment-guidelines/).

Frequent consultant to mental health professionals, law enforcement, churches, and other community groups throughout the U.S., as well as Australia, England, Switzerland, Malaysia, & Canada.

Member of a Michigan Legislative Task Force which helped develop a bill addressing ritual abuse and trafficking.

Helped to develop and run a Safe House for RAMCOA survivors for 2½ years and founded a RAMCOA survivors therapy group which I ran for 8 years.

Co-founded and was Clinical Director of a regional Christian counseling center for 14 years.

Involved with the U.S. State Department and the Harvard Omega Project serving families of the PAN AM 103 air bombing over Lockerbie, Scotland.

Have a high level of expertise differentiating psychological, medical, and spiritual causes and effects of trauma, then determining appropriate interventions.

Regular trainer to law enforcement, community and church groups to understand signs of sadistic abuse, sex trafficking and mind control and facilitate them coming alongside victims.

Over 20 years’ experience offering tele-therapy and tele-consulting worldwide utilizing video conferencing, email, chat, and phone.

Expert witness in several trials.

Served a semester in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, as a clinical therapy internship supervisor and university course developer.  Taught graduate counseling students and professionals who were serving SE Asian trauma and sex trafficking refugees, among others.  Key instructional goal:  to align students’ practices with global standards of treatment professionalism. Offered numerous city-wide seminars to the community on trauma.  Guest speaker at several SE Asian professional mental health conferences and several Malaysian universities teaching workshops on complex trauma and related topics. Developed and videotaped training modules for future graduate students.

Board Member of Survivorship, a non-profit organization supporting RAMCOA survivors, their therapists and helpers.

Board Member of the Daniel Coalition, a non-profit offering consulting to survivors and Catholic churches in Michigan dealing with clergy abuse.

Have spoken and taught domestically and internationally, including for the ISSTD, Survivorship, S.M.A.R.T. (Stop Mind Control and Ritual Abuse Today), as well as for individual churches and community organizations. Regular radio guest over several years covering mental health issues on a talk radio program in SE Michigan, Ohio, and Canada.

Several of my courses have been offered for CEUs for professional development and licensure.

Board Certified Diplomate in Clinical Social Work (BCD), a member of the American Academy of Experts in Traumatic Stress (BCETS), and a member of the National Center for Crisis Management.

SELECT LIST OF PRESENTATIONS

“Sexual Abuse Recovery” – offered at least 15 times in many venues to community and professional groups and as a frequent featured speaker on “Love Talks” a daily radio call-in program on WCM Radio where I taught and answered listener’s questions, Detroit, MI/Western Ontario, Canada, 2 hours. 1991-97.

“Involving and Training the Community to Support RA Survivors – Believe the Children Conference 1994, 1995, as part of C.A.R.E. Inc.

“Creating a Healing Community Within a Church for Ritual Abuse Survivors to Recover” – co-taught at least 20 times over 3 years (1994-1996) while working with C.A.R.E., Inc. in multiple cities to professional conferences and community groups.

“Sudden vs. Anticipated Death and the Difference in the Resolution of the Trauma” – part of 2nd Tuesday Talk Series (community talks offered by Crossroads Counseling Center of Ann Arbor, MI), 1994-97.

“Therapy for Dissociative Disorders” – part of 2nd Tuesday Talk Series (community talks offered by Crossroads Counseling Center of Ann Arbor, MI), 1995-97.

“Issues in the Repressed Memory Debate” – part of 2nd Tuesday Talk Series (community talks offered by Crossroads Counseling Center of Ann Arbor, MI), 1995-97.

“Issues in Processing Traumatic Memories” – part of 2nd Tuesday Talk Series (community talks offered by Crossroads Counseling Center of Ann Arbor, MI), 1995-97.

“Dissociative Identity Disorder – Identifying Symptoms in Your Client” – a masterclass presented to all graduate counseling students, requested by Regent University’s School of Psychology and Counseling, 4-hour workshop, Fall, 1996.

“Issues and Approaches in the Diagnosis and Treatment of Dissociative Identity Disorder” – My presentation was followed by “Integrating Personalities in Healing DID (Dissociative Identity Disorder) Personalities: A Role for Therapist, Pastor and Client” presented by Loris Gillen, M.Ed, from Melbourne, Australia, also a specialist in dissociative disorder treatment. We followed this with a joint Q and A for both presentations. At the American Association of Christian Counselors World Congress, 2½ hour combined workshop, November, 1997.

“Freedom from Bondage: The Reality of Pornography” – Calvary Life Assembly Counseling Center, Melaka, Malaysia, two 1-hour workshops, Sept 2 and 3, 2011.

“Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) – Recognizing It and Approaches to Treatment,” – Calvary Life Assembly Counseling Center, Melaka, Malaysia, ½ day workshop, Sept 7, 2011.

“Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) – Recognizing It and Approaches to Treatment,” Wisma WIM, Taman Tun, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, ½ day workshop, Oct 1, 2011.

“From Hush to Healing – Childhood Sexual Abuse Recovery Treatment in Adults” – Part 1 and Part 2, Wisma WIM, Taman Tun, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, two ½ day workshops, Oct 8 and 15, 2011.

“Mitigating Stress and Mental Health Management” – co-taught with Evelyn Biles, D.Min., UCSI University staff, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, full-day workshop, Oct. 22, 2011.

“Grief Therapy” – HELP University, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, ½ day workshop, Oct 2011.

“Trauma, Loss and PTSD” – All Women’s Action Society (AWAM – a women’s crisis center), Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, ½ day workshop, October, 2011.

“Sexual Abuse Trauma and Recovery” – All Women’s Action Society (AWAM – a women’s crisis center), Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, ½ day workshop, October, 2011.

“Ethics” – Alpha Omega International College graduate counseling students, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 2-hour workshop, November, 2011.

“Lessons from an Eight Year Therapy Group for DID (Dissociative Identity Disorder) Clients” – International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation Conference, Baltimore, MD, November, 2013.

“Atypical Presentations of DID: Clues and Treatment Approaches” – International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation Conference, Long Beach, CA, 90-minute co-presentation, October, 2014.

“Helping You Work with Your Internal System” – The 2016 Annual Ritual Abuse, Secretive Organizations and Mind Control Conference, Windsor Locks, CT, co-presented with a ritual abuse survivor, 4-hour workshop, August 13, 2016.

“Assessment & Treatment Strategies and Techniques for Working with Survivors of Ritual Abuse” – International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation Conference, Washington, DC, 90-minute co-presentation with Alison Miller, PhD, April 1, 2017.

“The Many Faces of Sex Trafficking: The Interplay between Sex Trafficking, Mind Control and Ritual Abuse” – International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation Conference, Washington, DC, April 2, 2017.

“How to Decrease Internal System In-Fighting and Increase Respect for The Gifts of All Internal Parts” – The 2017 Annual Ritual Abuse, Secretive Organizations and Mind Control Conference, Windsor Locks, CT, 2-hour workshop, August 12, 2017.

“The Complexities of Identifying Ritual Abuse and Mind Control in Your Client” – International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation (ISSTD), Webinar, 1-hour workshop as part of day long Webinar conference.  Other speakers included: Valerie Sinason, Ph.D. (England), Alison Miller, Ph.D (Canada), Lynette Danylchuk, Ph.D (ISSTD Past President, U.S.A.), and Michael Salter, Ph.D (Australia), September 6, 2017 (For CEU credit description: https://www.ce-credit.com/courses/102260/the-complexities-of-diagnosing-ritual-abuse-and-mind-control-in-your-client.  For ISSTD webinar library listing: https://www.isst-d.org/training-and-conferences/webinar-library/ Series VII, 2017). For an online article based on the presentation, see www.ra-free.org/complexities-of-identifying-ritual-abuse.

“The Migration Model: A New Approach to Mind Control Treatment in Ritual Abuse Clients” – International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation Conference, Chicago, IL, 90-minute workshop, March 24, 2018. Abstract available online (recording and slides available to ISSTD members) at https://www.eventscribe.com/2018/ISSTD/agenda.asp?day=3/24/2018&theday=Saturday&h=Saturday%20%20March%2024&BCFO=P|G. For an online article based on the presentation, see www.ra-free.org/migration-model.

“How to Decrease In-Fighting and Increase Respect for The Gifts of All Internal Parts” – The Survivorship.org Ritual Abuse and Mind Control 2018 Conference, Long Beach, CA, 2-hour workshop, May 19, 2018. For an online article based on the presentation, see https://www.ra-free.org/how-to-decrease-internal-system-infighting.

“The Complexities of Identifying Ritual Abuse and Mind Control in Your Client” – The Survivorship.org Ritual Abuse and Mind Control 2019 Clinician’s Conference, Long Beach, CA, 90-minute workshop, May 3, 2019. For an online article based on the presentation, see www.ra-free.org/complexities-of-identifying-ritual-abuse.