Here Robert shares his experiences of RSE and Ramtha/JZ Knight.
In 1990 his 16 year old daughter was recruited into RSE by a close friend and from a parent’s perspective shares his personal challenges and insights of having a loved one caught up in a religious cult for ten years. At 1:05 Robert speaks about his daughter dropping out of school and moving to the cults RSE headquarters in Yelm Washington. He also touches upon some of the psychological strategies used by cults that essentially breaks down a followers critical thinking process by the use of coercive control methods and extreme physical practices to the point of mental and physical exhaustion. Robert also shares his broader knowledge on cults and how they operate. Helpful for families that may have loved ones caught up in a destructive cultist group.
Robert Menna shares his story from the perspective of his own history growing up with a father in the advertising industry, of the ‘Mad Men’ era, and then through the lense of a father himself. Bob is also a former international model with a career spanning over 25 years in addition to being Director of Elite Men, a division of Elite Model Management in NYC for several years.
In 1990, through a confluence of experiences, Bob found himself in a rapid change of personality and thought processes. Around the same time, his then 16 year old daughter was involved in a group called "Ramtha's School Of Enlightenment". Some of you may be familiar with JZ Knight, who claimed to channel Ramtha, a 35,000 year old enlightened being. Bob’s daughter, was involved with this group for over 10 years.
From the time of his daughter’s involvement, and continuing on, Bob as a non- academic has been involved in researching various aspects of the cultic phenomena. With his deep dive into the field, drawing on his own experiences and that of his daughter and others he has been able to assist others, including families and former members, in a role that he refers to as an Influence Analyst. In this position, he helps individuals gain insight into the influence at work in their particular situation, and how those influences may be affecting them.
*Bob does selective pro-bono work.
Bob's personal interests besides cultic research include people watching, swimming, tennis, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, tap dancing, waveski surfing and roller skating.
Link to Bob’s story on Enlighten Me Free:
Link to Bob’s 2023 ICSA Conference presentation:
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Jennifer specializes in working with survivors of coercive control. She is trained in a specialized approach that is research-based and rooted in the work of Dr. Gillie Jenkinson. She has a Masters in the Psychology of Coercive Control and functions as an expert witness in such cases. Jennifer is also a research associate at Salford University. For more information, please visit her website, Jennifer-French.com.
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https://open.spotify.com/episode/5xFgsQ ... fgYird8vaA