Re-hab Center
reFOCUS does not have "official" support groups, nor do we endorse any of the following. The following are support groups that are currently meeting. The list at the end consists of support groups that are open not only to former members of cults, but to families of cult members.
Colorado:
Facilitator: Sharon Colvin. Contact 904-439-7541 to leave a message for Sharon.
Fort Collins:
Facilitator: Hal Mansfield. Contact:
(970) 490-2032
California:
Sacramento Area:
Renewed Directions, P.O. Box 227, Loomis, CA 95650. Facilitator: John Morehead (916) 652-7804
San Francisco Bay Area:
Co-Facilitators: Janja Lalich and Michael Lisman.
Contact: Cult Recovery & Information Center, P.O. Box 1199, Alameda CA 94501,
Telephone (510-522-1556.
Florida:
Hope Ministries (has a Christian perspective) Facilitator: Carol Levak. (954) 434-8251
Massachusetts:
Boston Area Support Group. Contact (617)353-5269 (voice mail)
Montana:
For former members of Church Universal & Triumphant -- others, however, may inquire. Co-Facilitators: Harmony Gates and Peter Arnone. (406) 282-7060 or 222-6449
New Jersey/New York:
Meets monthly in Englewood, NJ. Facilitators: Bill & Lorna Goldberg. (201) 894-8515
Meets bi-monthly at Seton Hall University. Facilitator: Tom Morris. (201) 763-2735
Midland Park: Meets bi-monthly in a church and has a Christrian perspective. Facilitator: Elizabeth Davies (201) 445-5942. New: support group for parents with adult children in cults - 2nd Thursday of month at Hawthorne Gospel Church, 7:30 p.m.
New York: Support group for people born into or who grew up in cults -- that were in a cult with their parents before the age of 18. Facilitator: Peggy Hill (718) 935-0046
Central Ohio:
Facilitator: John Wick. (614) 323-1687
Oregon:
Portland area. Facilitator: John Goldhammer (503) 222-0921
Pennsylvania:
Facilitator: Steve Dubrow-Eichel of R.E.T.I.R.N. Meets monthly, Wednesday p.m.( 215) 464-8038
Washington:
Seattle area. Facilitator: Carey Bowen (360) 491-6978
Washington, D.C.:
Monthly meetings, Facilitator: Livia Bardin, M.S.W. (202) 966-7678
Montreal, CANADA:
Ex-Members Society. Contact Fred Klein at (514) 990-6483
Vancouver, CANADA:
Survivors of Mind Abuse, Facilitator: Gordon Neufeld (604) 734--3584
California:
Bay Area, SanFrancisco: I.N.F.O.R.M. Resource and Support Group. Contact: Michelle Campbell (510) 452-2636
Los Angeles Area: L.A.Ex-ICC Support Group. Faciliators: Art & Lynn Ryter. (818) 349-0813
Orange County. Contact Terry L. Smith. (714) 599-0662
New York:
Manhattan: Right Side Up. Contact: Dave Anderson
(212) 569-9049
California:
San Francisco Bay Area Ex-Jehovah's Witness Support Group, P.O. Box 6472, San Rafael, CA 94903. Facilitator: Kimberly Sherry. Contact: (415) 491-1421
New York:
The Lighthouse. Facilatator: Barbara Castillo. Contact (718) 393-0056
Florida:
Tallahassee: Coordinator Teresa Fillman (904) 553-6264. The support group is open to ex-members of the International Churches of Christ, ex-members' families and also to families concerned about their loved ones' who are current members
Minnesota:
Minneapolis - Free Minds. Contact Heather Svoboda at (612) 378-2528. Monthly meeting (1st Wed. of month) for ex-cult members, concerned family and interested others. It's an open forum for information and support without a "support group" format.
Richfield - Answers, Inc. Contact Bruce Laughton at (612) 942-9999 (callers' messages are taken following a long informational message about mind control) This is a combined ex-cult member and concerned persons support group.
North Carolina:
Break Free, P.O. Box 220991, Charlotte, NC 28222 Contact: Susan Wilson (704) 529-2940
Tennessee:
Tennessee Valley: (Christian perspective) Coordinators: Randy & Susan Rogers (423) 339-1664. Email: Rafael Martinez.
Melbourne, Australia:
Ex-Melbourne Church of Christ/Boston Movement - Support Group; a fortnightly meeting for former members of the International Churches of Christ/Boston Movement and family members of those still involved with the group offered by CARM (Cult Awareness Research Ministry. Visit their web site for information about next schduled meeting and location.
Colorado:
Religious Movement Resource Center, 629 S. Howes, Ft. Collins, CO 80521 (970) 490-2032
New York/New Jersey:
Cult Information Service, P.O. Box 867, Teaneck, NJ 07666 (201) 833-1212
There is a comprehensive list of helping resources on AFF's web site.
Re-hab Center
Wellspring Retreat and Resource Center is a non-profit corporation (501 (c) (3)) whose purpose is to provide a program of counseling and instruction to individuals who have suffered psychological and spiritual distress resulting from their involvement in destructive cult-like organizations or relationships.
Founded informally in 1986 with part-time staff and incorporated in 1988, Wellspring offers extended residential counseling with professional instructors. The program of counseling is geared toward the restoration of clients to emotional, spiritual, and social wholeness.
Although we accept clients from a wide variety of religious and cultic backgrounds (the only exceptions at the present time are Satanic cults), Wellspring is, to our knowledge, the only center in the country where a program is offered that is specifically designed for those who have been damaged psychologically and spiritually by Bible-based cultic organizations.
The goal of Wellspring's program is, very simply, to assist former cult victims return to normal life again, free of the deleterious effects of their cultic experience. These effects include false guilt, depression, anxiety, fear, confusion, and anger; thus we help our clients return to *emotional* stability. We also assist them in returning to *social* stability by helping them reintegrate themselves with family, friends, and career - relationships and life-goals which are often interrupted by the cult.
In addition, we help those who so desire to establish, or re-establish a wholesome biblical relationship with God and the church - in other words, a return to *spiritual* stability. For additional information, contact Wellspring Retreat and Resource Center at:
PO Box 67
Albany, OH 45710
(740) 698-6277
(614) 698-2053 Fax
Wellspring also publishes a bi-monthly newsletter, "Wellspring Messenger."
