by Lisa Kohn | Sep 4, 2023 | Recovery
This powerful poem by ansel elkins was pasted in my Facebook group for Moonie Second Gens. It floored me. I don’t know if it resounds as deeply and mind-shatteringly for people who weren’t raised with strict, confining religious teachings – and specifically strict and...
by Lisa Kohn | Apr 24, 2023 | Recovery, Resilience
Perhaps there’s something about being raised in a cult that carves guilt and shame deeply into one’s psyche. (Trust me there is.) Perhaps it’s something that many, if not all, of us have had inflicted into us, one way or another. Either way, I am realizing more and...
by Lisa Kohn | Feb 27, 2023 | Resilience
I’ve written before about the cult hymn I grew up with: How will I use this treasure store? How will I share this wordless joy? I’ll greet all men with a loving heart. I’ll speak the truth with a clear voice. I was taught to be a heavenly soldier for god and my “True...
by Lisa Kohn | Nov 7, 2022 | Recovery, Resilience
I was on a zoom with another Second Gen (those of us born and/or raised in a cult or extremist group). He was telling us how he was struggling. How something had happened in his cult-activist network, and that it kicked up shit. That he was having a hard time getting...
by Lisa Kohn | May 16, 2022 | Recovery, Resilience
That’s what my therapist said to me the other day. “Your capacity for joy is amazing, considering the trauma you experienced.” Considering that I (more) often (than I care to admit) ask her, “it was hard, right? My childhood was hard, right?” it was amazing – and...