Board of Directors, International Cultic Studies
Association
Lorna Goldberg, M.S.W., L. C. S. W., a
psychoanalyst in private practice with children,
adolescents, and adults. She has co-led a
support group for ex-cult members with her
husband, William, for over 30 years. She is on
the Board of Directors of ICSA/ICSA and is Dean
of Faculty, Institute for Psychoanalytic
Studies, Teaneck, New Jersey. She has written
extensively for social work and ICSA
publications. (Lorna@blgoldberg.com)
http://www.blgoldberg.com/
Lorna Goldberg
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Professional Profile
Lorna Goldberg
Psychotherapist Loma Goldberg was already a practicing social worker (M. S. W.
from New York University) when her abiding interest in cult-related matters
began in the mid-1970s: she and her parents were faced with the acute need to
understand her brother's involvement in a cult and help him break its bonds.
This done - with happy results to this day - she and her husband-colleague
Bill, also a social worker and AFF Advisory Board member, formed a support
group for ex-cult members, now in its twelfth year. From this vantage point,
alongside her own psychoanalytic work, teaching, and student supervision at the
NJ Institute (where she received her psychoanalytic certification), Mrs.
Goldberg and her husband have been able over the years to provide AFF with
assessments of the changing cult scene, vital information as we try to tailor
our work to the changing situation. Unfortunately, says Mrs. Goldberg, the
present numerical "strength" of the ex-member group, even as
individuals come and go, indicates that cultic activity is as great now as it
has been over the last decade. Some cult groups prominent in early years have
diminished, she notes, but Bible-based and New Age groups have taken up the
slack - and more.
Mrs. Goldberg continues to share her understanding
and advice with a wider circle than AFF, most importantly perhaps within the
Cult Awareness Network (where her parents, Lila and Dr. Harold Scales, have
been guiding lights of the New York/New Jersey affiliate), and to civic and
professional associations in the New York area. Nor has she left out the
scholarly side of things: she and her husband are co-authors of "Group
Work with
Former Cult Members" (published in the journal Social Work), and are
currently writing an essay dealing family therapy.
Cult Observer, Vol. 5, No. 6,
1988, p. 16
Lorna Goldberg
URL:
E-mail:
Message
AFF Advisory Board Profile
Lorna Goldberg
Psychotherapist Loma Goldberg was already a practicing social worker (M. S. W.
from New York University) when her abiding interest in cult-related matters
began in the mid-1970s: she and her parents were faced with the acute need to
understand her brother's involvement in a cult and help him break its bonds.
This done - with happy results to this day - she and her husband-colleague Bill,
also a social worker and AFF Advisory Board member, formed a support group
for ex-cult members, now in its twelfth year. From this vantage point, alongside
her own psychoanalytic work, teaching, and student supervision at the NJ
Institute (where she received her psychoanalytic certification), Mrs. Goldberg
and her husband have been able over the years to provide AFF with assessments of
the changing cult scene, vital information as we try to tailor our work to the
changing situation. Unfortunately, says Mrs. Goldberg, the present numerical
"strength" of the ex-member group, even as individuals come and go, indicates
that cultic activity is as great now as it has been over the last decade. Some
cult groups prominent in early years have diminished, she notes, but Bible-based
and New Age groups have taken up the slack - and more.
Mrs. Goldberg
continues to share her understanding and advice with a wider circle than AFF,
most importantly perhaps within the Cult Awareness Network (where her parents,
Lila and Dr. Harold Scales, have been guiding lights of the New York/New Jersey
affiliate), and to civic and professional associations in the New York area. Nor
has she left out the scholarly side of things: she and her husband are
co-authors of "Group Work with Former Cult Members" (published in the
journal Social Work), and are currently writing an essay dealing family
therapy.
