In this week's bonus episode, Tracy & I are deconstructing dogma with our dear friend Maria Skinner! Maria is a former teacher and trainer with 'the Org', and were more than a little excited to sit down and hear from her. It was a jam-packed convo, so it's gonna roll out in two parts.Part 1: Transparency or TMI? - Healthy Boundaries in LeadershipMaria came to us with a burning 'cult'ure series question. When it comes to healthy leadership......
If you listened to this week's release on the main feed (Ep.53), you'll understand why I'm so excited to have Monica back for a Patreon bonus episode. Monica is a former Org teacher and a long-time friend of the podcast. I keep inviting her back because she's so full of heart, and she continually finds ways to wrap words around the unspeakable; her hard-earned insights move me - deeply.In this follow-up convo, we ask ourselves a big question:...
One year ago, Monica Welty shared her story with TDP listeners on the pod - see Ep.29 Grief & Gratitude - and now she’s back for another heart-to-heart about moving on after loss. Candice opens the episode with a commentary on spiritual bypassing, and then Monica joins her to share recent insights she’s been having in her own process of cult recovery. Monica spent a decade training at ‘the Org’ in addition to other new age wellness...
IF you missed part 1 of this convo, we highly recommend you circle back to it before diving into this one, because we pick up right where we left off. In this episode, Tracy & I continue our deconstruction of 'triple isolation' as defined by Alexandra Stein, who writes:"People in totalist organisations are pressed so tightly together that their individuality is erased – as are any trusting interactions among them. Everyone is a...
At age sixteen, Lindsay Spyker woke in the middle of the night to two strangers hovering over her bed and by order of her parents, she was transported to Cross Creek - a youth ‘rehabilitation’ center in La Verkin, Utah where she would spend the next two years of her life. Today, she shares her harrowing experience with us. The 'troubled teen' industry is a multi-billion dollar money machine that preys on parental anxiety and uses deceptive...
Alexandra Stein writes: "People in totalist organisations are pressed so tightly together that their individuality is erased – as are any trusting interactions among them. Everyone is a ‘friend’ but true friendship is suppressed as a diversion from, and a threat to, attachment to the cause, the leader and the group. In fact, far from finding true comradeship or companionship, followers face a triple isolation: from the outside world, from...
Stacy Parish is this week’s guest on the pod. Stacy is an artist, and the creator and host of the Full Spirals podcast. In this wholehearted convo, she & Candice discuss how Stacy’s experiences in early childhood shaped her passion for creative expression as both voice and vehicle for healing. Stacy repressed memories of the early childhood trauma that she experienced; and in her thirties, an ongoing battle with addiction required she...
We're back with another episode in the Deconstructing Dogma series!This week we're finishing up a three-part language series with a focus on 'thought-terminating cliches' as defined by cult researcher, Robert Jay Lifton.We open things up with a discussion about the impact they have on folks who are experiencing grief - referencing an eye-opening conversation I had many moons ago on the podcast with Monica Welty. See Episode 29; it's a great...
Candice returns with the second half of her convo with new friends of the podcast and co-founders of the #igotout movement, Lisa & Gerette. If you missed part one, circle back because the conversation picks up where it left off. Gerette shares what a relief it is 'being human’ after 18 years spent striving to perfect herself in a therapy-based cult. Lisa acknowledges activists who are blowing the whistle on her very first guru, who has...
Tomorrow I start teaching again. And, another reminder that the photo I posted a few days ago of me dancing is from eleven(ty-million) years ago - a point that’s very relevant to this story. About an hour ago, I dug out some dance attire that I haven’t worn in years. What you see here is what I’ve held onto after two decades of teaching - 32 pairs of dance pants, 20 sports bras in almost every color, and about two dozen tops (not pictured...
