Mental Health Professional Workshops for continuing education

Posted in Miscellaneous at 2:17 pm by Rick Ross

Coercive Persuasion: Treating Victims of Abusive Relationships, Destructive Cults, and Coercive Groups

Brisbane, Australia (Queensland)

March 17 – 18, 2008 and March 19 – 20, 2008

Hotel Grand Chancellor Brisbane
23 Leichhardt Street (cnr Wickham Terrace)
Ph. 07 3831 4055 Fax: 07 3831 5031

These workshops are being held for mental health professionals. Also, special travel and tour option arrangements are being made for Japanese mental health professionals to attend the workshops through a special tour company that provides educational tours for Japanese professionals (interpretor will be arranged). Please contact Wellspring Retreat and Resource Center for more information, to register for the workshops, as well as information regarding accommodations to attend the workshop.

Moreton Island, Queensland Australia
Tangalooma Wild Dolphin Resort (75 minute ferry ride from Brisbane)
Recovery from Cults and Cultic Relationships (workshops for former members of cults, coercive groups, and cultic relationships) March 24 (arrival) – March 29 (departure March 29 or 30), 2008

These workshops are designed for former members of cults and cultic relationships. Psycho-educationally based workshops will be offered in the morning and afternoons for individuals as well as free time to explore the island and to relax on this beautiful island. These workshops are not designed to be a substitute for mental health treatment, however, they may assist the former member in the healing process after leaving these particular destructive groups and relationships. Please contact Wellspring Retreat and Resource Center for more information, to register, and for accommodation information and reservations.

Moreton Island, Queensland Australia
Tangalooma Wild Dolphin Resort
Workshops and Counselling Treatment Sessions for Former Members of Destructive Cults, Coercive Groups, and Cultic Relationships March 24 (arrival) – April 4 (April 4 or 5 departure), 2008

For a limited number of clients, counseling sessions will be offered by Wellspring counselors to assist in the recovery of individuals who have left cults, coercive groups, or cultic relationships. The set-up up this treatment program will be very similar to what is offered to our clients who travel to our treatment facility in Albany, Ohio in the United States. Counseling sessions will be offered in the morning, and workshops delivered by Wellspring staff will be offered in the afternoons. Ample time will be allotted for rest and relaxation at this extraordinarily beautiful resort area. Please click on this link for more information on this resort. Please contact Wellspring Retreat and Resource Center for more information, to register, and for accommodation information and reservations.

Wendy Pishvazadeh, BS
Wellspring Retreat & Resource Center
See [wellspringretreat.org]

I highly commend the choice of location! :-P

John

Thanks for the info., Rick.

From their site:

How do I know Wellspring isn't a cult?

You don't ...unless you do some homework. You can begin to explore the cult phenomenon on our links page or begin on your own at your local library or bookstore. You will find that those in the know highlight common elements of cult dynamics. We believe you'll find us saying the same things here on our web site and in our other informational materials as the other experts.

You might also note that we've been featured in national and international media outlets and that our counselors are licensed and members of multiple professional associations. Wellspring treatment program for victims of cults is also accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities.

We encourage you to check us out! We understand how important it is to earn your trust!

-----------------------------

So far, this organisation seems to have the goods.

Some biographical info. on the founder Dr. Paul Martin:

Dr. Paul Martin Paul Martin (Ph. D., Pittsburgh) is a psychologist in private practice in Athens, OH - where he and his three assistants provide contract psychological services at Echoing Meadows Hospital - and the Executive Director of the Wellspring Retreat and Resource Center, an institution which he founded in 1986 expressly to work with the cult-involved and their families who had begun to ask for his assistance.

Dr. Martin's background and experience especially fit him for diagnosing and treating victims of coercive persuasion and thought reform. He dropped out of graduate school in 1971 and rose to leadership in a Jesus Movement group called "The Blitz" (later known as The Great Commission International). When he eventually questioned the group's cultic qualities to no effect, he left. Like some others, he then went back to school partly to analyze his experience. He did so, and then began helping others to do the same.

Apart from his three degrees in psychology, a year of advanced study of psychopharmacology, and an M.A. in humanities, Dr. Martin counts theological studies at Nazarene Theological Seminary in Kansas City and Princeton Theological Seminary in New Jersey. Dr. Martin was a counselor for the Lutheran Service Society in Pennsylvania, a Senior Research Associate for the University of Pittsburgh's Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, and Executive Director of Kansas City's Cornerstone Religious Foundation, which ministers to area campuses. He was also for five years a member of the department of psychology at western Pennsylvania's Geneva College, where he taught psychology, psychopharmacology, and the biblical basis of behavior.

Dr. Martin recently published "Dispelling the myths: The psychological consequences of cultic involvement" (Christian Research Journal, Winter/Spring 1989, 9-14) and is working on a study entitled "Personality configuration and denial symptoms of recent and past members of cultic organizations." His presentations to professional associations include Self-injury Behavioral Programs at the 2nd Annual Behavior Modification Conference (Ohio Department of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities, 1986), and Psychological Aspects of Cultic Involvement (Rockford Conference on Discernment and Evangelism, 1989).

Dr. Martin is a member of AFF's Victim Assistance Committee and is helping to develop a post-cult assessment instrument that can help professionals working with cult- leavers who have received no exit counseling or rehabilitation (the vast majority). He is also collaborating with AFF's Michael Langone on a clinical inquiry to determine what cult-related distress looks like, what factors can be identified to predict cult-related damage, and whether or not certain kinds of treatment work.

For anyone thinking of coming, Australia Zoo (aka Steve Irwin's place) is just up the road from Brisbane. Plenty of other good reasons to visit as well.

John

Crikey, John. I agree, Brisbane is a nice part of the world. I wonder whether they'll make a trip to sunny Victoria.

I wonder how much they charge. It would be good for someone at this forum to visit and then give a report. On the surface, they do look fair dinkum.

There is a conference in Brisbane followed by some sessions at a resort in Frazer Island (just off Brisbane). Nothing else that I can see. Perhaps you could come up on a cheap flight? :->

Anyway, if RR posts it to the forum then it's obviously got his "tick of approval". That's good enough for me.

John

If someone could sponsor me to go, I'd be the only provider of such services in the South Central United States.

Unfortunately, I just returned from Brisbane and wouldn't be able to attend a Queensland based seminar. Not right now.

With regard to a 'tick of approval', that's probably a fair summation, but my suspicious mind doesn't approve of anything until I've had an opportunity to look into things. Although the jury is still out (for me), I do suspect that this group, Wellspring, is on 'our' side.

Cool. That's all I have to say. Some day I want to go to Australia. It's a place I've always wanted to visit.

Bonus points to anyone who can get their health fund to pay for the trip! :-)

John