Survivor Conference - Saturday and Sunday May 17 - 18, 2025
This year's topic is "Celebrating the Gains Fighting Ritual Abuse."
Clinician's Conference - Friday May 16, 2025
This year's topic is "Progress Against Extreme Abuse."
Please write info@survivorship.org if you would like to get on our conference mailing list or if you are interested in attending our conference next year.
Conference Web Page: https://survivorship.org/the-survivorship-trafficking-and-extreme-abuse-online-conference-2025
The Survivorship Trafficking and Extreme Abuse Online Conference 2024 Presentations https://survivorship.org/the-survivorship-trafficking-and-extreme-abuse-online-conference-2024-presentations/
The Survivorship Extreme or Ritualistic Abuse 2023 Conference Presentations
The Survivorship Ritual Abuse and Mind Control 2022 Conference Presentations
The Survivorship Ritual Abuse and Mind Control 2021 Conference Presentations
The Survivorship Ritual Abuse and Mind Control 2020 Conference Presentations
Grey Faction, Satanic Temple and Lucien Greaves Fact Sheet https://ritualabuse.us/ritualabuse/grey-faction-satanic-temple-and-lucien-greaves-fact-sheet/
Video Presentations from The Survivorship Ritual Abuse and Mind Control 2017 Conference
Ritual Abuse Evidence https://survivorship.org/ritual-abuse-evidence/
Child Abuse Wiki - Ritual Abuse http://childabusewiki.org/index.php?title=Ritual_Abuse
The Corsini Encyclopedia of Psychology and Behavioral Science - Sadistic Ritual Abuse http://books.google.com/books?id=JQMRmyOfpJ8C&pg=PA1436&lpg=PA1436#v=onepage&
Conference Speakers
Please note this speaker list may be subject to change. We will be updating this page in the next few months. Please write Survivorship at info@survivorship.org for more information. This information may remind survivors of their programming. You may want to read this with a support person.
Progress made against Ritual Abuse in Scotland since 1980 - Laurie Matthew
A presentation exploring the struggle in Scotland (and to some extent the wider UK) by survivors and their supporters to get ritual abuse recognised and survivors provided with the help and support they need and deserve. The fight against ritual abuse in Scotland likely reflects the same struggle survivors and supporters have faced globally, and that struggle can often feel overwhelming and exhausting. This presentation offers hope and shines a light on Scottish survivors (and their supporters) long battle against ritual abuse, the challenges encountered and the many achievements made.
Dr. Laurie Matthew OBE is founder and Manager of Eighteen And Under an award winning charity providing confidential support services to young people who have been abused. She is a founding member of MAIRSINN (formerly the Ritual Abuse Network Forum - RANS). She is the author of several books about ritual abuse and the Violence Is Preventable abuse prevention programmes for children and young people. She has over 40 years experience of directly supporting abuse survivors. Her published research has included participatory research with adult ritual abuse survivors and participatory research with young survivors of sexual abuse who were unknown to authorities. https://www.mairsinn.org.uk/ https://www.18u.org.uk
Researching, Writing and Publishing about Masonic Ritual Abuse – What are the issues? - Lynn Brunet
In 1999, when I was first exploring my own memories of Masonic abuse, I came across a reference to the words of Neil Brick that were in a 1996 Australian journal for survivors of ritual abuse. This was to be a pivotal moment for me as I realised that I had been one of these ‘most people’ who had no idea that they had been raised in a cult. From this point onward I realised that not only would I grapple with my own personal story to uncover more of the memories but I would also pursue some serious research into this phenomenon, starting with a PhD in my own field of art history and theory. This talk will look at some of the issues related to researching, writing and publishing on this topic from my earliest attempts to my most recent work.
Lynn Brunet (PhD) is an Australian art historian whose research examines the coupling of trauma and ritual in modern and contemporary western art and literature. In particular, it traces the connection between Masonic and other fraternal initiation rites and complex trauma in the work of so-called ‘tortured’ artists and writers.
People Who Identify as Plural - Randy Noblitt PhD
There is an emerging literature about people who identify as plural. Some individuals perceive themselves as having a singular identity or personality. Others may have the experience of multiple, or plural identities, e.g., as is characteristic in the DMS diagnosis dissociative identity disorder. This presentation discusses the variety of circumstances where people may have the experience of multiple identities or selves. We will distinguish clinically significant (e.g., those diagnoses listed in DSM or ICD) from nonclinical varieties of the experience of plurality, also identifying circumstances that may not be clearly one or the other. We will also consider intersectionality with plural communities and LGBTQIA+ and neurodivergent populations.
Randy Noblitt is a professor of Clinical Psychology at Alliant International University, Los Angeles and a licensed psychologist in Texas. He has evaluated and treated extreme abuse survivors clinically since 1979. He has authored three editions of the book Cult and Ritual Abuse with Pam Noblitt (1995, 2000, 2014). Together they also edited Ritual Abuse in the 21st Century (2008) and they have authored, Navigating Social Security Disability Programs: A Handbook for Clinicians and Advocates (2020).
Successful Investigations of Extreme Abuse Cases – The Role of Mental Health Professionals in Family Courts - Dr. Rainer Hermann Kurz
A recent study (Meier, 2020) trawled from electronic records the outcomes of US child custody cases involving allegations of abuse and ‘parental alienation’. It showed how discredited theories, bias and lack of understanding of abuse can lead to unsafe judgements. These issues appear to be magnified when it comes to allegations of extreme child sexual abuse. Salter & Woodlock (2023) advocate for strategic forms of knowledge production in which ignorance features as a provocation towards information-seeking rather than as a defence mechanism against intolerable realities when it comes to organized abuse, in which multiple adults sexually abuse multiple children. This presentation reviews successful prosecutions of Extreme Abuse Cases that are in the public domain as well as three case studies. Medical records and psychological symptoms (Silberg, 2021) consistent with Chronic Child Sexual Abuse and objective forensic opportunities were ignored. The case studies illustrate how ignorance and allegations of ‘mental ill health’ driven by vested interest appear to drive unsafe judgements in family courts. The recommendations of Meier (2021) are applied to cases where extreme abuse allegations have been raised.
Rainer Kurz is a Chartered Psychologist based in London. Since 1990 Rainer has worked in Research & Development roles for leading test publishers. His PhD dissertation was on enhancing the validity and utility of ability testing. Rainer developed 50+ psychometric tests and authored more than 100 publications. He is a Consultant Editor for Test Reviews at the Psychometric Testing Centre (PTC) of the BPS. Rainer has been investigating complex trauma assessment problems since 2012. He presented 30+ posters on trauma, dissociation and healing at international peer-reviewed conferences that are available here: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Rainer_Kurz2
Ritualistic Abuse Survivors Difficulties Obtaining Services - Neil Brick
Ritualistic abuse survivors have struggled to obtain adequate mental health and social support services for over twenty years. This problem has been exacerbated by a lack of trained providers and adequate social services to deal with the complex problems ritualistic abuse survivors present. Most clinicians do not receive proper training due to severe trauma topics and their symptomatology not being adequately covered in their master level training programs or in post continuing education training. Very few organizations are available to educate clinicians and survivors about the research in the field. Insurance companies often do not adequately cover services for long term treatment. Social services employees are not adequately trained to work with severe trauma survivors. There is a paucity of training regarding trauma informed services and ways to work with clients suffering from dissociative disorders. Application guidelines often make it very difficult for ritualistic abuse survivors to receive in the timelines given. Survivors may have difficulties getting to offices, getting on the Internet or filling out paperwork. Issues to be discussed will include the symptomatology of dissociative disorders, attachment disorders, mood and anxiety disorders, economic problems, and social barriers. Solutions to decrease and eliminate these difficulties will be discussed. These will include public advocacy, public education, survivor training, and the building of a research base to help survivors and their helpers move forward to prevent these difficulties in the future.
Neil Brick is a survivor of ritualistic abuse. His work continues to educate the public about child abuse, trauma, and ritualistic abuse crimes. His child abuse and ritualistic abuse newsletter S.M.A.R.T. http://ritualabuse.us has been published for 30 years. http://neilbrick.com
We recommend that survivors bring a safe support person to the online conference who is familiar with the issues ritual abuse survivors may need help with.
None of the material on this page, on linked pages or at the conference is meant as therapy, or to take the place of therapy.
Survivorship is one of the oldest and most respected organizations supporting survivors of extreme child abuse, including sadistic sexual abuse, ritualistic abuse and torture. Survivorship provides resources, healing, and community for survivors; training and education for professionals who may serve survivors; and support for survivors' partners. The organization functions as a support for survivors who may be isolated emotionally or geographically. Through community outreach and training, Survivorship also raises awareness about these difficult issues. The purpose of the conference is to help survivors of ritualistic abuse. The conference is for survivors and their helpers.