An educator most of her life, Gerette’s focus on coercive control and cultic dynamics ignited in 2014 after emerging from eighteen years in a controlling self-help group. Good therapy, on-going education and building trusting relationships with other survivors are the pillars of her recovery process. Her passion for community education gradually formed into a profession. Today, Gerette’s educational offerings include Writing to Reckon™ programs, cult-recovery consultations, personalized retreats, and speaking engagements.
Writing to Reckon
There are FIVE ways you can Write to Reckon (W2R). What works for you?
Word by word you can reclaim the life you are here to live. Freely and boldly - without apology.
Your story wants to be freed.
SEE WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT W2R BELOW!
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The W2R Connections Seven-Week program is for those who feel ready to interact with other survivors while focusing on the written word as a tool for integration and creative expression. Weekly, two-hour zoom sessions offer ample opportunity for connections to be made while The Writing to Reckon Journal is a springboard for independent writing. A secure online Slack channel is available to participants 24/7. Companionship, accountability, and support are nearby throughout the entire seven week program.
You may write alone, but you are not alone. Connections happen.
The Writing to Reckon (W2R) Connection program is offered twice a year: Spring and Fall.
The cost is $395.
Read a few of the comments from participants of the Fall 2023 W2R Connections Program:
“I benefited most from feeling validated and not feeling alone in my experiences. It was wonderful to be with a group of people that listened without judgment. I will forever be thankful.”
“It's amazing how much clarity I gained in just 7 weeks compared to the last few years of dissecting my experience. The stages and prompts are laid out so well, they helped me see aspects of my life and story in totally new and different ways. “
“I benefited so much from the W2R Connections program - by being consistently witnessed in a safe and empathetic environment where I could let the walls down a little and process my experiences. “
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Ongoing Writing to Reckon classes offer a safe space for survivors to drop in on a first come-first served basis. These classes provide a confidential container to delve into the challenging terrain of power-over abuse. Each class includes a brief lesson on controlling dynamics and a writing prompt. Participants write for 45 - 50 minutes and then have the opportunity to share one’s work and receive and offer constructive, positive feedback in a structured manner. The class is supportive in nature but is not a support group. The focus is on writing and offers inspiration and support for the survivor’s journey through the written word.
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A Writing to Reckon retreat will offer you a private cabin and an individualized program so you can focus on writing. The retreat is designed and structured based on your needs. You will stay in a small rustic cabin and I will come and go, offering the educational support - as agreed upon.
Personal retreats can last anywhere from two days to two weeks and will be carefully crafted through an extensive application process.
“Bringing together two long-running separate threads—therapy and writing—into one conversation was transformative. To be able to use creative writing as a modality in an in-person therapeutic session was deeply meaningful and facilitated transformative integration. The trifecta of time with Gerette, time alone, and the presence of nature was a powerful combination.
I loved sitting by the stream. I loved the presence of the trees and the hillside and the flowers and the bees and this sense of continual change around me.”
K.F. Burlington, VT
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Half day or daylong Writing to Reckon Workshops offer survivors the space to immerse into the writing process. They can be offered on request at public or private venues. They have taken place at libraries, homes, in forests and on Zoom. They can be specially designed for survivors of the same group, or for families who have lost a loved one to a cultic group. They can be as varied or as specific as one wishes, with safeguards put in place to assure the privacy and confidentiality of all participants.
Live and in person Writing to Reckon Workshops are offered at different locations and only irregularly. Zoom workshops with a special focus can be arranged. If you are interested in hosting one or would like to speak with Gerette about offering one near you, please click the “connect” button. Full day and multi-day retreats are also an option.
A Writing to Reckon workshop is an opportunity for survivors of any high demand group who have experienced cultic, religious, or spiritual abuse to put words to their lived experiences in a safe, supportive environment. Through the process of writing one can find coherence around confusing or traumatic events where coercive control was present and this in turn can reduce stress and promote integration. Each workshop includes writing prompts, provides ample time to write, to share one's work and to receive feedback and support for the writer’s journey. No previous writing experience is necessary.
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For those who prefer to process and write in the privacy of their own home hearth, the Writing to Reckon Journal is perfect. It is organized into six stages of recovery from cultic abuse.
It’s no small act - to write one’s story of cultic, spiritual or religious abuse. Whether the process is purely for one’s own integration or it’s a book in the making - the writing will support the healing process.
“I"m a psychologist and did a lot of therapy. I can honestly say that nothing was more healing for me than these writing classes.
The writing prompts Gerette offers, help me to reflect upon my experiences. Both writing and hearing others' stories is healing. Sometimes there is no solution, or conclusion to these reflections. Only the pleasure of being free, of exploring and knowing that it’s ok to not have all the answers. That the goal is to ask myself better questions, and focus on the journey, not the destination, and that is what it is to live cult free. There is no path. I make the path as I talk and write in the class.”
- Gen Dale, Ontario
“I’ve been reading Gerette’s emails since Oct 2022 when I did a Writing to Reckon class with her. Gerette was one of the first people who was also a survivor that I interacted with post-cult and An Everyday Cult was the first book I read. I consider her a fellow traveler on this path that has so much to digest, accept, and move on from. She gave me permission to acknowledge it all, write it down, and add all the nasty, painful bits. Get it out!! Doesn’t matter that no one else understands what I’m saying. I continue to read and get support and insight from her emails.”
- Julie Arneson
“What I have discovered in Gerette's writing class is a fellowship of like-minded thinkers who came from the black and white worlds of cults/religion and are comfortable wrestling with the uncomfortable, unanswerable questions of life. Together, we ponder the dilemma of creating meaningful lives in the complicated, awful beautiful worlds we find ourselves in. There is great comfort in sharing our authentic humanity and vulnerability and in Gerette's group we have found the community and acceptance we long for post-religion/cult.”
- Jen S. Toronto, Canada
“Writing to Reckon helped me to challenge my chronic shame further than I had done in therapy. It was truly a liberating experience.”
- Catherine Moestue, Psychologist, Oslo Norway
“Writing to Reckon prompts have opened me up to myself. I’ve tried to write about my experiences of religious abuse before and it just felt so overwhelming. Sitting down with these prompts I feel like I’m not doing this healing work alone.”
- A. Martin, Bucks County, PA, Educator
Consultations
I hold a confidential container of respect and compassion for each individual, family or organization I work with.
A psycho-educational approach to cult recovery is the gold standard. I offer education that dovetails effectively with therapy, approaching each situation with gentleness, while offering concrete resources that support integration and comprehension.
Typically short-term or as-needed, I use a big-picture approach, working with what IS bringing compassion, cognition and a wide variety of tools to the table, supporting people to discover their own path forward.
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For survivors, consultation involves one-on-one meetings via zoom or in person. These sessions are an opportunity for experiences to be voiced and put into the larger perspective of patterns of cultic abuse. Whether the involvement took place recently or decades ago, I will engage in a process with you that supports the integration of complex and traumatic experiences, and furthers self understanding and compassion.
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Witnessing a loved one fall into a controlling group can be devastating - especially because in an effort to help, sometimes you can inadvertently create further alienation. Cultic environments actively strive to rupture healthy family ties because their goal is to become the “chosen family.” Consultations provide support that is specific to your loved ones experience - that builds and maintains bridges, re-establishing the link between you and your loved one’s pre-cult or authentic identity. Entire families and close friends can be invited into the consultations.
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Cult consultations begin with a commitment to transparency and a willingness to engage honestly on leadership and membership levels. I believe any group or organization has the potential to develop cultic tendencies - often unconsciously - employing controlling techniques that in the long run, will only undermine the entire system. Through educational consultation with leadership, members and all involved, the “easy fix'' of an authoritarian or power over approach can be identified and options for employing ethical leadership will be explored.
Personalized Retreats
I am honored to offer personalized cult recovery retreats to support individuals or couples whose lives have been impacted by cults or cultic abuse. These retreats are designed and structured through a collaborative process with all involved. The individual or couple will stay in a small rustic cabin and I will come and go, offering the educational and supportive content as agreed upon.
Personal retreats can last anywhere from two days to two weeks and will be carefully crafted through an application process that includes a recommendation from a licensed therapist.
Custom Workshops
Drawing on a wide variety of educational resources, I customize workshops for schools, training centers, college campuses, etc. My approach is to provide opportunities where participants can directly experience the human traits that make us vulnerable to either being unduly influenced and/or unconsciously promote power-over leadership that become cultic if not checked. Much of this content exists beneath common awareness. The aim of these workshops is to awaken a compassionate lens into the human condition that includes our innate vulnerabilities while also inspiring discernment and critical thinking, which in turn helps one to recognize and prevent engagement in harmful groups.
Below are two examples of such workshops but they can be adapted to any situation.
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The need for discernment in group participation is essential for adolescents and emerging adults. Destructive cultic groups target 15-25 year olds for recruitment - using their natural optimism, curiosity and openness as a tool to garner their trust.
Learning the signs of destructive or controlling groups is only the beginning of these workshops. Designed to engage students through experiential exercises, participants will learn how humans think (and don't think) and develop skills of discernment on how to safely interact with a group that might look really good but could lead to a loss of autonomy instead of empowerment.
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Cult Culture: a workshop for yoga teachers
Empowerment is the essence of what yoga teachers want for students: promoting self-confidence and inspiring a grounded connection with body, mind and spirit. However, there are many examples of abuse of power in yoga centers across the globe. How does this happen? Power dynamics are inherent in teacher-student relationships, making it essential for yoga teachers to understand the complex and nuanced dynamics of hierarchy, projection, and the vulnerability that brings each student into their class. This workshop is designed to shed light on power dynamics that exist in all yoga communities (whether we are conscious of them or not) and empower teachers through tools, techniques and increased personal understanding to create yoga environments imbued with reciprocity, integrity and healing.
“I found the discussion of Cult Culture eye opening - it helped me understand the difference between being part of a good team and one that wants a little more from you, and how your good group can go bad. How power and control, guilt and shame, can enter slowly over time and you don’t even realize it until you are deep inside, committed heart and soul. It can happen to any of us, it is only human to want to belong. This workshop made us aware, showed us the warning signs.In my humble opinion, Gerette’s Cult Culture class should be part of every yoga teacher training.”
~YTT Trainee, April 2019