In Part 2 with Alicia Duncan, we get into the really juicy stuff: the loaded language, the euphemisms, and the whole “don’t say the scary word or everyone clutch their pearls” universe around MAID. Alicia breaks down how terms like autonomy, dignity, and assisted dying get used as PR glitter, while the actual lived experience can look a lot more like coercion, gaslighting, and a bureaucratic escape room with no exit.
She also digs into the bigger system questions: who benefits, what safeguards are missing, why assessors aren’t held to a higher standard, and how financial and institutional incentives can shape decisions about life and death. Plus: the autopsy findings, the physiological effects of the drugs used, the push to expand MAID to people with mental illness and even mature minors, and why Alicia is on a mission to keep asking the annoying-but-necessary questions.
Watch Alicia’s episode on CBC’s The Fifth Estate on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=plinQAHZRvk
Also be sure to pick up Alicia’s book, The Other Side of the Straitjacket, when it drops September 1st, and follow her on X, Instagram, or at aliciaduncan.com.
Trigger warning: This episode contains frank discussion of suicide, medically assisted death/euthanasia, PTSD, mental illness, eating disorders, psychiatric hospitalization, coercion, gaslighting, institutional failure, and possible criminal negligence.
Also…let it be known that:
The views and opinions expressed on A Little Bit Culty do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the podcast. Any content provided by our guests, bloggers, sponsors or authors are of their opinion and are not intended to malign any religion, group, club, organization, business, individual, anyone or anything. Nobody’s mad at you, just don’t be a culty fuckwad.
Buy the A Little Bit Culty book on Amazon or order a signed copy.
Check out our amazing sponsors
Join A Little Bit Culty on Patreon
Get poppin’ fresh ALBC Swag
Support the pod and smash this link
Check out our cult awareness and recovery resources
Watch Sarah's TED Talk and buy her memoir, Scarred
CREDITS:
Executive Producers: Sarah Edmondson & Anthony Ames
Production Partner: Citizens of Sound
Co-Creator: Jess Tardy
Audio production: Will Retherford
Production Coordinator: Lesli Dinsmore
Writer: Sandra Nomoto
Social media team: Eric Skwarzynski and Brooke Keane
Theme Song: “Cultivated” by Jon Bryant co-written with Nygel Asselin
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp.
In this episode, we’re joined by Alicia Duncan for a conversation that takes ALBC somewhere new: not a traditional cult, but a deeply troubling story about coercion, undue influence, narrative control, and institutional power. Alicia shares what happened after her mother entered Canada’s MAID—Medical Assistance in Dying—program, and how a family already navigating COVID, concussion symptoms, mental-health struggles, caregiver burnout, and a seriously broken healthcare system ended up facing an unimaginable loss.
Alicia walks us through the red flags, the rushed timeline, the medical assessments, the police wellness check, the legal maze, and the privacy laws that kept her family—and even the police—from accessing the records they needed to understand what happened. We get into assisted dying, euthanasia, suicide, autonomy, safeguards, medical negligence, bureaucratic gaslighting, and the very uncomfortable question of what happens when a system designed to protect people becomes more invested in protecting itself. And because apparently one impossible paperwork nightmare wasn’t enough, Alicia’s spent years advocating for answers, investigating the first police-investigated MAID death in Canadian history, and trying to make sure other families don’t get the same “good luck, hope you enjoy the maze” treatment. You’ll want to stay tuned for Part 2.
Watch Alicia’s episode on CBC’s The Fifth Estate on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=plinQAHZRvk
Also be sure to pick up Alicia’s book, The Other Side of the Straitjacket, when it drops September 1st, and follow her on X, Instagram, or at aliciaduncan.com.
Trigger warning: This episode contains frank discussion of suicide, medically assisted death/euthanasia, PTSD, mental illness, concussion and traumatic brain injury, psychiatric hospitalization, coercion, medical trauma, family estrangement, caregiver burnout, institutional failure, and possible criminal negligence.
Also…let it be known that:
The views and opinions expressed on A Little Bit Culty do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the podcast. Any content provided by our guests, bloggers, sponsors or authors are of their opinion and are not intended to malign any religion, group, club, organization, business, individual, anyone or anything. Nobody’s mad at you, just don’t be a culty fuckwad.
Buy the A Little Bit Culty book on Amazon or order a signed copy.
Check out our amazing sponsors
Join A Little Bit Culty on Patreon
Get poppin’ fresh ALBC Swag
Support the pod and smash this link
Check out our cult awareness and recovery resources
Watch Sarah's TED Talk and buy her memoir, Scarred
CREDITS:
Executive Producers: Sarah Edmondson & Anthony Ames
Production Partner: Citizens of Sound
Co-Creator: Jess Tardy
Audio production: Will Retherford
Production Coordinator: Lesli Dinsmore
Writer: Sandra Nomoto
Social media team: Eric Skwarzynski and Brooke Keane
Theme Song: “Cultivated” by Jon Bryant co-written with Nygel Asselin
SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS:
See the reviews, see what stands out, and see if BetterHelp is right for you. Visit Betterhelp.com/culty.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
In the second half of our Cults to Consciousness bonus episode, the conversation gets even more practical: how to spot coercive control in real time, rebuild trust in your own intuition, and stop confusing love with obedience. We share more from our new book, A Little Bit Culty: Navigating Cults, Control and Coercion, including why survivor stories matter, how to talk about cultic experiences without re-traumatizing yourself, and what “healthy” can actually look like when your nervous system is still catching up.
Check out Cults to Consciousness on YouTube, Instagram, or TikTok, and follow Shelise at sheliseannsola.com and on Instagram @sheliseann.
Also…let it be known that:
The views and opinions expressed on A Little Bit Culty do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the podcast. Any content provided by our guests, bloggers, sponsors or authors are of their opinion and are not intended to malign any religion, group, club, organization, business, individual, anyone or anything. Nobody’s mad at you, just don’t be a culty fuckwad.
Buy the A Little Bit Culty book on Amazon or order a signed copy.
Check out our amazing sponsors
Join A Little Bit Culty on Patreon
Get poppin’ fresh ALBC Swag
Support the pod and smash this link
Check out our cult awareness and recovery resources
Watch Sarah's TED Talk and buy her memoir, Scarred
CREDITS:
Executive Producers: Sarah Edmondson & Anthony Ames
Production Partner: Citizens of Sound
Co-Creator: Jess Tardy
Audio production: Will Retherford
Production Coordinator: Lesli Dinsmore
Writer: Sandra Nomoto
Social media team: Eric Skwarzynski and Brooke Keane
Theme Song: “Cultivated” by Jon Bryant co-written with Nygel Asselin
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
In this bonus episode, we hop over to Cults to Consciousness with past ALBC guest Shelise Ann Sola for a real, slightly sweaty, very honest conversation about how cults mess with your head, your body, and your sense of what’s normal. We talk about our new book, A Little Bit Culty: Navigating Cults, Control and Coercion, and how survivors can move from confusion and self-blame toward clarity, boundaries, and a little less second-guessing. Stay tuned for Part 2 on Thursday.
Check out Cults to Consciousness on YouTube, Instagram, or TikTok, and follow Shelise at sheliseannsola.com and on Instagram @sheliseann.
Also…let it be known that:
The views and opinions expressed on A Little Bit Culty do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the podcast. Any content provided by our guests, bloggers, sponsors or authors are of their opinion and are not intended to malign any religion, group, club, organization, business, individual, anyone or anything. Nobody’s mad at you, just don’t be a culty fuckwad.
Buy the A Little Bit Culty book on Amazon or order a signed copy.
Check out our amazing sponsors
Join A Little Bit Culty on Patreon
Get poppin’ fresh ALBC Swag
Support the pod and smash this link
Check out our cult awareness and recovery resources
Watch Sarah's TED Talk and buy her memoir, Scarred
CREDITS:
Executive Producers: Sarah Edmondson & Anthony Ames
Production Partner: Citizens of Sound
Co-Creator: Jess Tardy
Audio production: Will Retherford
Production Coordinator: Lesli Dinsmore
Writer: Sandra Nomoto
Social media team: Eric Skwarzynski and Brooke Keane
Theme Song: “Cultivated” by Jon Bryant co-written with Nygel Asselin
SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS:
Try the Burger Perfection Flight at OmahaSteaks.com today. That’s 20 premium steak burgers for just $79.99. Plus, get $35 off with promo code CULTY. Terms apply. See site for details.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Gerette Buglion’s back for part two of our catch-up. This one dives deeper into the messy, important work of healing through writing, therapy, and self-trust. She talks about internal consent, knowing when to pause, and why it’s so important for survivors to move slowly when a story starts to light up the nervous system.
We also get into the realities of publishing after cultic abuse, including how predatory dynamics in the writing world can hit old wounds hard, and why it’s crucial to know your allies and keep strong boundaries. Gerette shares how survivor experience can help you spot when something is genuinely off versus when an old trigger is getting activated. She reflects on the value of humor, love, and safe enough relationships in real healing.
The episode wraps with more on Living Cult Free, including its discussion groups, symposiums, and survivor-centered podcast, plus a vivid dream exchange that lands on themes of predators, intuition, and self-reliance.
Follow Gerette on her website, gerettebuglion.com, or on Facebook or Instagram. Also check out her writing tips at gerettebuglion.com/writingtips and LivingCultFree.com.
Trigger warning: This episode contains frank discussion of cultic abuse, coercive control, trauma recovery, and re-traumatization.
Also…let it be known that:
The views and opinions expressed on A Little Bit Culty do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the podcast. Any content provided by our guests, bloggers, sponsors or authors are of their opinion and are not intended to malign any religion, group, club, organization, business, individual, anyone or anything. Nobody’s mad at you, just don’t be a culty fuckwad.
Buy the A Little Bit Culty book on Amazon or order a signed copy.
Check out our amazing sponsors
Join A Little Bit Culty on Patreon
Get poppin’ fresh ALBC Swag
Support the pod and smash this link
Check out our cult awareness and recovery resources
Watch Sarah's TED Talk and buy her memoir, Scarred
CREDITS:
Executive Producers: Sarah Edmondson & Anthony Ames
Production Partner: Citizens of Sound
Co-Creator: Jess Tardy
Audio production: Will Retherford
Production Coordinator: Lesli Dinsmore
Writer: Sandra Nomoto
Social media team: Eric Skwarzynski and Brooke Keane
Theme Song: “Cultivated” by Jon Bryant co-written with Nygel Asselin
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
In our next “Where are they now?” catch-up episode, Gerette Buglion is back, and she’s still doing what she does best: helping survivors turn cult experience into something meaningful, grounded, and actually useful. In this conversation with Sarah, she shares how life has evolved since we last spoke, from personal recovery and family life to the gentle, steady growth of Living Cult Free and her writing work with survivors.
A big focus here is Writing to Reckon, her trauma-informed, cult-informed writing program for survivors who want to process coercive control through story. She talks about why writing can be so powerful, how to know when something is ready to share, and why slowing down before publishing can protect people from re-traumatization.
She also offers practical advice for memoir writers and whistleblowers, including keeping old journals and materials which can become a goldmine later, writing privately and imperfectly, and trusting the raw language that comes up. It’s a strong reminder that survivor-led spaces can help rebuild trust, sharpen your bullshit detector, and make meaning out of what happened without flattening it. Stay tuned for Part 2 on Thursday.
Follow Gerette on her website, gerettebuglion.com, or on Facebook or Instagram. Also check out her writing tips at gerettebuglion.com/writingtips and LivingCultFree.com.
Trigger warning: This episode contains frank discussion of cultic abuse, coercive control, trauma recovery, whistleblowing, and re-traumatization.
Also…let it be known that:
The views and opinions expressed on A Little Bit Culty do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the podcast. Any content provided by our guests, bloggers, sponsors or authors are of their opinion and are not intended to malign any religion, group, club, organization, business, individual, anyone or anything. Nobody’s mad at you, just don’t be a culty fuckwad.
Buy the A Little Bit Culty book on Amazon or order a signed copy.
Check out our amazing sponsors
Join A Little Bit Culty on Patreon
Get poppin’ fresh ALBC Swag
Support the pod and smash this link
Check out our cult awareness and recovery resources
Watch Sarah's TED Talk and buy her memoir, Scarred
CREDITS:
Executive Producers: Sarah Edmondson & Anthony Ames
Production Partner: Citizens of Sound
Co-Creator: Jess Tardy
Audio production: Will Retherford
Production Coordinator: Lesli Dinsmore
Writer: Sandra Nomoto
Social media team: Eric Skwarzynski and Brooke Keane
Theme Song: “Cultivated” by Jon Bryant co-written with Nygel Asselin
SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS:
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See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
If you love listening to ALBC on your commute, while folding laundry, or as your little antidote to the daily chaos, you’ll be right at home with the audiobook version of A Little Bit Culty: Navigating Cults, Control and Coercion. This bonus episode gives you Chapters 3 and 4 from the audiobook, so you can hear the book the way it was meant to be heard—out loud, in your ears, and with all the same candor, humor, and hard-earned insight you get from the podcast.
It’s a great way to dip into the book if you don’t yet have the paperback or ebook, or if you just want to keep the cult chat going in a format that fits neatly into your life. Think of it as more of the good stuff: equal parts story, survival, and “oh wow, that explains a lot.”
Pick up our audiobook on Audible and tell your friends to do the same!
Also…let it be known that:
The views and opinions expressed on A Little Bit Culty do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the podcast. Any content provided by our guests, bloggers, sponsors or authors are of their opinion and are not intended to malign any religion, group, club, organization, business, individual, anyone or anything. Nobody’s mad at you, just don’t be a culty fuckwad.
Buy the A Little Bit Culty book on Amazon or order a signed copy.
Check out our amazing sponsors
Join A Little Bit Culty on Patreon
Get poppin’ fresh ALBC Swag
Support the pod and smash this link
Check out our cult awareness and recovery resources
Watch Sarah's TED Talk and buy her memoir, Scarred
CREDITS:
Executive Producers: Sarah Edmondson & Anthony Ames
Production Partner: Citizens of Sound
Co-Creator: Jess Tardy
Audio production: Will Retherford
Production Coordinator: Lesli Dinsmore
Writer: Sandra Nomoto
Social media team: Eric Skwarzynski and Brooke Keane
Theme Song: “Cultivated” by Jon Bryant co-written with Nygel Asselin
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
If you love listening to ALBC on your commute, while folding laundry, or as your little antidote to the daily chaos, you’ll be right at home with the audiobook version of A Little Bit Culty: Navigating Cults, Control and Coercion. This bonus episode gives you the Preface, Introduction, Introduction to Part I, Chapter 1, and Chapter 2 from the audiobook. You can hear the book the way it was meant to be heard—out loud, in your ears, and with all the same candor, humor, and hard-earned insight you get from the podcast.
It’s a great way to dip into the book if you don’t yet have the paperback or ebook, or if you just want to keep the cult chat going in a format that fits neatly into your life. Think of it as more of the good stuff: equal parts story, survival, and “oh wow, that explains a lot.”
Pick up our audiobook on Audible and tell your friends to do the same!
Also…let it be known that:
The views and opinions expressed on A Little Bit Culty do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the podcast. Any content provided by our guests, bloggers, sponsors or authors are of their opinion and are not intended to malign any religion, group, club, organization, business, individual, anyone or anything. Nobody’s mad at you, just don’t be a culty fuckwad.
Buy the A Little Bit Culty book on Amazon or order a signed copy.
Check out our amazing sponsors
Join A Little Bit Culty on Patreon
Get poppin’ fresh ALBC Swag
Support the pod and smash this link
Check out our cult awareness and recovery resources
Watch Sarah's TED Talk and buy her memoir, Scarred
CREDITS:
Executive Producers: Sarah Edmondson & Anthony Ames
Production Partner: Citizens of Sound
Co-Creator: Jess Tardy
Audio production: Will Retherford
Production Coordinator: Lesli Dinsmore
Writer: Sandra Nomoto
Social media team: Eric Skwarzynski and Brooke Keane
Theme Song: “Cultivated” by Jon Bryant co-written with Nygel Asselin
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
In Part 2 of our conversation with Dr. Gillie Jenkinson, we move from her remarkable story into the practical question so many survivors ask: How do you actually recover after leaving a cult? Gillie shares how her own experience escaping a high-control Christian group led her to become one of the world's leading specialists in cult recovery, and why she set out to create ethical, trauma-informed support when almost none existed. We dig into the foundations of her work, from the International Cultic Studies Association (ICSA) and the pioneering Wellspring Retreat Center to the influence of Dr. Robert Jay Lifton's thought reform model, exploring why understanding coercive control is often the first step toward reclaiming yourself.
We also unpack the common threads Gillie has seen after decades of working with former members of high-control groups, religious cults, and coercive relationships. From identity reconstruction and trauma recovery to the importance of healthy therapeutic boundaries and making sense of what happened, this convo’s packed with hope and hard-earned wisdom for anyone navigating life after undue influence.
Pick up Dr. Gillie Jenkinson’s book, Walking Free from the Trauma of Coercive, Cultic and Spiritual Abuse, follow her on Facebook or LinkedIn, and follow Hope Valley Counselling at hopevalleycounselling.com or on Facebook.
Trigger warning: This episode contains frank discussion of religious trauma, coercive control, thought reform, and psychological manipulation.
Also…let it be known that:
The views and opinions expressed on A Little Bit Culty do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the podcast. Any content provided by our guests, bloggers, sponsors or authors are of their opinion and are not intended to malign any religion, group, club, organization, business, individual, anyone or anything. Nobody’s mad at you, just don’t be a culty fuckwad.
Buy the A Little Bit Culty book on Amazon or order a signed copy.
Check out our amazing sponsors
Join A Little Bit Culty on Patreon
Get poppin’ fresh ALBC Swag
Support the pod and smash this link
Check out our cult awareness and recovery resources
Watch Sarah's TED Talk and buy her memoir, Scarred
CREDITS:
Executive Producers: Sarah Edmondson & Anthony Ames
Production Partner: Citizens of Sound
Co-Creator: Jess Tardy
Audio production: Will Retherford
Production Coordinator: Lesli Dinsmore
Writer: Sandra Nomoto
Social media team: Eric Skwarzynski and Brooke Keane
Theme Song: “Cultivated” by Jon Bryant co-written with Nygel Asselin
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
This episode is sponsored by Betterhelp.
Dr. Gillie Jenkinson—the OG, the GOAT, and the GG of cult recovery work (she needed a definition, we provided several)—finally makes her long-overdue debut on A Little Bit Culty. She’s a therapist, cult survivor, and the author of Walking Free from the Trauma of Coercive, Cultic and Spiritual Abuse, and this first part is all about how she got in.
It started in 1970s London: a posh English boarding school girl who grew up in Uganda, wanted to marry a lord, and had no particular ambition or sense of direction. A persistent friend with a sulking habit got her to a meeting, an emotional experience convinced her it was real, and suddenly she was a radicalized born-again Christian baptized in the Leicester Square fountain with a police officer conveniently looking the other way. From there it was a slow drift—au pair jobs, city moves, counseling from a fellowship—until she found herself living in community houses with the Love of God group, a Bible-based cult founded by a charismatic opera singer from Birmingham School of Music.
What followed was seven years of escalating control, a second leader who brought in physical beatings with a bamboo cane framed as spiritual discipline, and a psychological prison so complete that leaving never once crossed her mind. The cult imploded on its own—and she got out with her future husband Tony, whom she'd been secretly carpooling with—but the cult stayed in her for another 14 years through a series of churches that knew, as she puts it, "fuck all" about cult recovery. Part 2 brings the work, the book, and the brilliance she's built from all of it—stay tuned.
Pick up Dr. Gillie Jenkinson’s book, Walking Free from the Trauma of Coercive, Cultic and Spiritual Abuse, follow her on Facebook or LinkedIn, and follow Hope Valley Counselling at hopevalleycounselling.com or on Facebook.
Trigger warning: This episode contains frank discussion of physical abuse, religious coercion, and psychological imprisonment.
Also…let it be known that:
The views and opinions expressed on A Little Bit Culty do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the podcast. Any content provided by our guests, bloggers, sponsors or authors are of their opinion and are not intended to malign any religion, group, club, organization, business, individual, anyone or anything. Nobody’s mad at you, just don’t be a culty fuckwad.
Buy the A Little Bit Culty book on Amazon or order a signed copy.
Check out our amazing sponsors
Join A Little Bit Culty on Patreon
Get poppin’ fresh ALBC Swag
Support the pod and smash this link
Check out our cult awareness and recovery resources
Watch Sarah's TED Talk and buy her memoir, Scarred
CREDITS:
Executive Producers: Sarah Edmondson & Anthony Ames
Production Partner: Citizens of Sound
Co-Creator: Jess Tardy
Audio production: Will Retherford
Production Coordinator: Lesli Dinsmore
Writer: Sandra Nomoto
Social media team: Eric Skwarzynski and Brooke Keane
Theme Song: “Cultivated” by Jon Bryant co-written with Nygel Asselin
SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS:
Don’t let stigma stand in the way of support. Start therapy with BetterHelp. Sign up and get 10% off at BetterHelp.com/culty.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
In Part 2 of our conversation with Liz Tenuto aka The Workout Witch, we get into the science (and surprisingly practical magic) behind somatic healing and why so many trauma survivors feel stuck even after years of therapy. Liz shares how her own search for relief from chronic health issues led her to the world of nervous system regulation, and explains how simple somatic exercises can help move the body out of survival mode and into a place where real healing can begin. We also explore the connection between religious trauma, cult recovery, chronic stress, and physical symptoms, unpacking why unresolved trauma can show up as everything from jaw clenching and insomnia to chronic pain and autoimmune conditions.
Along the way, we put Liz's work through the ALBC lens, asking what healing looks like after life in a high-control group—and how to tell the difference between evidence-based recovery tools and wellness trends that overpromise. If you've ever wondered why your body seems to remember things your mind has already processed, this conversation offers an accessible, hopeful look at trauma recovery that goes beyond talk therapy.
Pick up a copy of Liz’s book, When the Body Speaks and follow her at theworkoutwitch.com or on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Threads or YouTube.
Trigger warning: This episode contains frank discussion of trauma and religious trauma, PTSD, chronic illness and pain, anxiety, and the physical effects of living in prolonged survival mode.
Also…let it be known that:
The views and opinions expressed on A Little Bit Culty do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the podcast. Any content provided by our guests, bloggers, sponsors or authors are of their opinion and are not intended to malign any religion, group, club, organization, business, individual, anyone or anything. Nobody’s mad at you, just don’t be a culty fuckwad.
Buy the A Little Bit Culty book on Amazon or order a signed copy.
Check out our amazing sponsors
Join A Little Bit Culty on Patreon
Get poppin’ fresh ALBC Swag
Support the pod and smash this link
Check out our cult awareness and recovery resources
Watch Sarah's TED Talk and buy her memoir, Scarred
CREDITS:
Executive Producers: Sarah Edmondson & Anthony Ames
Production Partner: Citizens of Sound
Co-Creator: Jess Tardy
Audio production: Will Retherford
Production Coordinator: Lesli Dinsmore
Writer: Sandra Nomoto
Social media team: Eric Skwarzynski and Brooke Keane
Theme Song: “Cultivated” by Jon Bryant co-written with Nygel Asselin
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Liz Tenuto, aka The Workout Witch, joins A Little Bit Culty for a seriously useful, beautifully weird conversation about healing after abuse, trauma, and all the body-based chaos that can follow. She shares how TikTok accidentally became her platform, how somatics helped her reclaim her body after an abusive marriage, and why movement ended up being the thing that finally made a dent in her insomnia and dissociation.
Liz also talks about the early warning signs she missed, including love bombing, financial abuse and tech abuse, and the slow, mean little erosion of identity that kept her doubting herself for way too long. Her story is further shaped by childhood sexual abuse, a later assault at 14, and the way trauma can sit in the body until the right kind of healing starts opening the trapdoor.
This episode is equal parts candid, smart, and deeply validating for anyone who has ever felt like their nervous system was running a little hot and a lot haunted. Stay tuned for Part 2 of our convo on Thursday.
Pick up a copy of Liz’s book, When the Body Speaks and follow her at theworkoutwitch.com or on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Threads or YouTube.
Trigger warning: This episode contains frank discussion of childhood sexual abuse, sexual assault, domestic and financial abuse, coercive control, dissociation, and trauma recovery.
Also…let it be known that:
The views and opinions expressed on A Little Bit Culty do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the podcast. Any content provided by our guests, bloggers, sponsors or authors are of their opinion and are not intended to malign any religion, group, club, organization, business, individual, anyone or anything. Nobody’s mad at you, just don’t be a culty fuckwad.
Buy the A Little Bit Culty book on Amazon or order a signed copy.
Check out our amazing sponsors
Join A Little Bit Culty on Patreon
Get poppin’ fresh ALBC Swag
Support the pod and smash this link
Check out our cult awareness and recovery resources
Watch Sarah's TED Talk and buy her memoir, Scarred
CREDITS:
Executive Producers: Sarah Edmondson & Anthony Ames
Production Partner: Citizens of Sound
Co-Creator: Jess Tardy
Audio production: Will Retherford
Production Coordinator: Lesli Dinsmore
Writer: Sandra Nomoto
Social media team: Eric Skwarzynski and Brooke Keane
Theme Song: “Cultivated” by Jon Bryant co-written with Nygel Asselin
SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS:
Don’t let stigma stand in the way of support. Start therapy with BetterHelp. Sign up and get 10 percent off at BetterHelp.com/culty.
If your glasses are overdue for a refresh, now is the time. Go to ZENNI.COM/PODCAST and use code PODCAST15 for 15% off your first order. The styles sell out, so don't sit on it.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Sam Sellers and Elise Heerde return for Part 2 to unpack what healing actually looks like after leaving high-control religious environments. Spoiler: it is not neat, linear, or especially glamorous. Sam talks about getting married, being shunned, learning to live with religious trauma, and slowly rebuilding after years of dissociation. Elise shares how counseling helped her connect the dots between assault recovery, body-based trauma responses, and the God-image she had been handed.
A big thread here is how these systems train people to distrust their own minds, especially through weaponized Bible passages, predestination logic, and the kind of “God said it, I believe it, end of discussion” authority that makes your inner compass feel illegal. Both guests also dig into the messy aftermath of deconstruction, including functional freeze, black-and-white thinking, and the way survivors can accidentally recreate some of the same dynamics they’re trying to escape.
Our convo ends with a practical note of hope: Religious Trauma and Cults is expanding its work to support survivors and practitioners across Australia and New Zealand, with a focus on high-control groups of all kinds—not just religious ones.
Follow Religious Trauma and Cults at religioustraumaandcults.com, Sam’s website and podcast at anchoredcounsellingservices.com.au and Elise’s website and books at eliseheerde.com.
And to follow the Victorian Parliamentary inquiry into the recruitment and impact of cults and other fringe groups submission: https://religioustraumaandcults.com/victorian-cult-inquiry-submission
Trigger warning: This episode contains frank discussion of religious trauma, coercive control, assault recovery, dissociation, queer identity, emotional and spiritual abuse, and family/community rejection.
Also…let it be known that:
The views and opinions expressed on A Little Bit Culty do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the podcast. Any content provided by our guests, bloggers, sponsors or authors are of their opinion and are not intended to malign any religion, group, club, organization, business, individual, anyone or anything. Nobody’s mad at you, just don’t be a culty fuckwad.
Buy the A Little Bit Culty book on Amazon or order a signed copy.
Check out our amazing sponsors
Join A Little Bit Culty on Patreon
Get poppin’ fresh ALBC Swag
Support the pod and smash this link
Check out our cult awareness and recovery resources
Watch Sarah's TED Talk and buy her memoir, Scarred
CREDITS:
Executive Producers: Sarah Edmondson & Anthony Ames
Production Partner: Citizens of Sound
Co-Creator: Jess Tardy
Audio production: Will Retherford
Production Coordinator: Lesli Dinsmore
Writer: Sandra Nomoto
Social media team: Eric Skwarzynski and Brooke Keane
Theme Song: “Cultivated” by Jon Bryant co-written with Nygel Asselin
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Sam Sellers and Elise Heerde of Religious Trauma and Cults bring the receipts on growing up in high-control faith worlds, with Sam from the Brethren Christian Church, an independent off-shoot of the Exclusive Brethren, and Elise from the Pentecostal Church & New Apostolic Reformation. They talk about how those systems can start out feeling like belonging with a side of certainty, then slowly turn into “wait, this is weird” when obedience, fear, and authority start doing the heavy lifting.
Sam shares how a strict, male-led church, predestination, and a not-so-subtle pressure to comply eventually collided with her own growing sense that the whole thing was, frankly, spiritually and emotionally bonkers. Elise gets into hell trauma, hearing-from-God hierarchy, and the painful realization that being told not to trust yourself is a pretty solid recipe for losing the plot.
It’s a funny, sharp, and deeply honest conversation about religious trauma, queer identity, control, and the long road back to your own brain. Stay tuned for Part 2 of our conversation on Thursday.
Follow Religious Trauma and Cults at religioustraumaandcults.com, Sam’s website and podcast at anchoredcounsellingservices.com.au and Elise’s website and books at eliseheerde.com.
And to follow the Victorian Parliamentary inquiry into the recruitment and impact of cults and other fringe groups submission: https://religioustraumaandcults.com/victorian-cult-inquiry-submission
Trigger warning: This episode contains frank discussion of coercive control, religious trauma, sexual assault, homophobia, emotional and spiritual abuse, and family/community rejection.
Also…let it be known that:
The views and opinions expressed on A Little Bit Culty do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the podcast. Any content provided by our guests, bloggers, sponsors or authors are of their opinion and are not intended to malign any religion, group, club, organization, business, individual, anyone or anything. Nobody’s mad at you, just don’t be a culty fuckwad.
Buy the A Little Bit Culty book on Amazon or order a signed copy.
Check out our amazing sponsors
Join A Little Bit Culty on Patreon
Get poppin’ fresh ALBC Swag
Support the pod and smash this link
Check out our cult awareness and recovery resources
Watch Sarah's TED Talk and buy her memoir, Scarred
CREDITS:
Executive Producers: Sarah Edmondson & Anthony Ames
Production Partner: Citizens of Sound
Co-Creator: Jess Tardy
Audio production: Will Retherford
Production Coordinator: Lesli Dinsmore
Writer: Sandra Nomoto
Social media team: Eric Skwarzynski and Brooke Keane
Theme Song: “Cultivated” by Jon Bryant co-written with Nygel Asselin
SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS:
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See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Michael Shamblin Black is back for Part 2, and this one goes to the darkest corners of life inside Remnant Fellowship—and the even darker corners of life after it. Michael walks us through the red flags he couldn't ignore: Gwen's suffocating control, the Remnant "guidance system" cataloging every member's doubts and mapping their homes (collateral, just without the branding), an arranged marriage designed to keep him monitored, Joe Lara's sniper threat with a Creedmoor round, and the moment the plane went down and he felt, honestly, relief. We talk about what it's like to be PIMO—physically in, mentally out—for years, secretly recording meetings and writing in a hidden journal while singing worship songs on stage. Then comes the aftermath: sleeping on an air mattress chasing rats with a machete, stress-induced chest pain, hair falling out in clumps, suicidal ideation, and a stalker with 15 arrests who'd been at it since 2010.
Michael's still here, still fighting, and still hoping his kids find their window out. We end with his message to anyone still inside Remnant, the healing power of finally being able to say the things out loud, and the wild fact that Jennifer Grey—yes, Baby from Dirty Dancing—plays his mother in the Lifetime movie, Starving for Salvation. Reaction video incoming…
Follow Michael Shamblin Black on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, X, or TikTok. Also check out our chat with ex-Remnant member Gina Wilson from Season 4.
Trigger warning: This episode contains frank discussion of suicidal ideation, depression, stalking, death threats, physical abuse, and grief.
Also…let it be known that:
The views and opinions expressed on A Little Bit Culty do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the podcast. Any content provided by our guests, bloggers, sponsors or authors are of their opinion and are not intended to malign any religion, group, club, organization, business, individual, anyone or anything. Nobody’s mad at you, just don’t be a culty fuckwad.
Buy the A Little Bit Culty book on Amazon or order a signed copy.
Check out our amazing sponsors
Join A Little Bit Culty on Patreon
Get poppin’ fresh ALBC Swag
Support the pod and smash this link
Check out our cult awareness and recovery resources
Watch Sarah's TED Talk and buy her memoir, Scarred
CREDITS:
Executive Producers: Sarah Edmondson & Anthony Ames
Production Partner: Citizens of Sound
Co-Creator: Jess Tardy
Audio production: Will Retherford
Production Coordinator: Lesli Dinsmore
Writer: Sandra Nomoto
Social media team: Eric Skwarzynski and Brooke Keane
Theme Song: “Cultivated” by Jon Bryant co-written with Nygel Asselin
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Michael Shamblin Black joins ALBC to talk about growing up inside his mother Gwen Shamblin’s world, featured in the HBO Max docuseries The Way Down: God, Greed, and the Cult of Gwen Shamblin. He reflects on life in Remnant, his current efforts to expose the church, and how therapy with Dr. Laura Anderson (past S6 ALBC guest) has helped him gain clarity while he works through long-held trust issues.
He shares a deeper look at Gwen’s early worldview, including how her anti-authority instincts, fixation on submission, and resentment toward male leadership shaped the messaging that later became Remnant Fellowship. That message shifted from weight loss and “personal revelation” into a church culture that emphasized control, appearance, loyalty, and separation from outside influence.
Michael talks about how the church’s collapse accelerated once its public legitimacy cracked, how the plane crash and the docuseries further damaged the brand, and why he now sees Remnant as an appearance-driven system built on shame and power. He also describes his own path into music, the opportunities that vanished when the backlash began, and the painful realization that his family story, his career, and the church were all entangled. Stay tuned for Part 2 of the conversation on Thursday.
Follow Michael Shamblin Black on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, X, or TikTok.
Trigger warning: This episode contains frank discussion of cults, coercive control, physical, religious, and emotional abuse, family conflict, shame, manipulation, and trauma recovery.
Also…let it be known that:
The views and opinions expressed on A Little Bit Culty do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the podcast. Any content provided by our guests, bloggers, sponsors or authors are of their opinion and are not intended to malign any religion, group, club, organization, business, individual, anyone or anything. Nobody’s mad at you, just don’t be a culty fuckwad.
Buy the A Little Bit Culty book on Amazon or order a signed copy.
Check out our amazing sponsors
Join A Little Bit Culty on Patreon
Get poppin’ fresh ALBC Swag
Support the pod and smash this link
Check out our cult awareness and recovery resources
Watch Sarah's TED Talk and buy her memoir, Scarred
CREDITS:
Executive Producers: Sarah Edmondson & Anthony Ames
Production Partner: Citizens of Sound
Co-Creator: Jess Tardy
Audio production: Will Retherford
Production Coordinator: Lesli Dinsmore
Writer: Sandra Nomoto
Social media team: Eric Skwarzynski and Brooke Keane
Theme Song: “Cultivated” by Jon Bryant co-written with Nygel Asselin
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See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
In Part 2 of our conversation with Corey Jentry, we pick up where we left off and follow the long, winding path out of the troubled teen industry and the program founded by Bob Meehan. Corey shares how years of coercive control, dependency, and identity-shaping didn’t simply end when he left the program; they followed him into the world of recovery, where he found himself grappling with many of the same dynamics inside certain corners of 12-step culture and the addiction-treatment industry. We talk about the dangers of pathologizing autonomy, the power of belonging, and why it can take decades to untangle beliefs that were imprinted during adolescence.
Our conversation also explores Corey’s evolution from survivor to researcher and advocate. He reflects on discovering how the business of treatment really works, recognizing familiar patterns across the behavioral health, rehab, and youth treatment worlds, and why he’s dedicated so much of his work to understanding indoctrination, radicalization, and coercive influence. Thought-provoking, nuanced, and occasionally darkly funny, this episode is a masterclass in spotting the difference between genuine support and manufactured dependence.
Pick up Corey’s book, Selling Sanity: The Troubled-Teen Industry, the Insane Profits, and the Kids Who Pay the Price, and follow him on his website, coreyjentry.com, Substack @drcoreyjentry, or on LinkedIn.
Trigger warning: This episode contains frank discussion of psychological manipulation, coercive control, addiction treatment programs, suicide, overdose, mental health struggles, emotional abuse, and experiences within the troubled teen industry.
Also…let it be known that:
The views and opinions expressed on A Little Bit Culty do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the podcast. Any content provided by our guests, bloggers, sponsors or authors are of their opinion and are not intended to malign any religion, group, club, organization, business, individual, anyone or anything. Nobody’s mad at you, just don’t be a culty fuckwad.
Buy the A Little Bit Culty book on Amazon or order a signed copy.
Check out our amazing sponsors
Join A Little Bit Culty on Patreon
Get poppin’ fresh ALBC Swag
Support the pod and smash this link
Check out our cult awareness and recovery resources
Watch Sarah's TED Talk and buy her memoir, Scarred
CREDITS:
Executive Producers: Sarah Edmondson & Anthony Ames
Production Partner: Citizens of Sound
Co-Creator: Jess Tardy
Audio production: Will Retherford
Production Coordinator: Lesli Dinsmore
Writer: Sandra Nomoto
Social media team: Eric Skwarzynski and Brooke Keane
Theme Song: “Cultivated” by Jon Bryant co-written with Nygel Asselin
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.