Psychjourney Audio Book Club

Shattered Dreams: My Life as a Polygamist's Wife

MP3 File

Length-39 minutes, 3 seconds

Deborah Harper, President of Psychjourney, interviews Ms. Irene Spencer, author of Shattered Dreams: My Life as a Polygamist's Wife published by Center Street.

Ms. Irene Spencer

Irene  Spencer lives in Anchorage Alaska, with her faithful husband of twenty years, Hector J. Spencer, who never leaves her side. At 84 years of age, Hector travels with Irene, proudly basking in her recent, new-found success. They currently reside in Woodbridge, California with Irene's oldest daughter, where Irene continues to write and work on various projects.

Irene's number one love is her family, so when she's not writing or speaking, she is on the road, traveling the globe from Alaska to Mexico, Idaho, California, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Missouri, and Louisiana to visit her "family forest". Irene attends as many new births, birthdays, weddings, etc. as possible. 

Despite the demands on her time to fulfill her speaking engagements, Irene finds time to continue her writing and spend time with her family. With plans to author additional books, Irene just smiles when asked when she will take time to rest and responds "When I'm 6 feet under!" Her next book (title to be determined) will be available in May 2009. Visit Ms. Spencer’s website at www.irenespencerbooks.com

Take Back Your Life: Recovering from Cults and Abusive Relationships

Length-58 minutes, 25 seconds

Deborah Harper, President of Psychjourney, interviews Dr. Janja Lalich, co-author of Take Back Your Life: Recovering from Cults and Abusive Relationships with Madeleine Tobias published by Bay Tree Publishing .

Janja Lalich, Ph.D.

Janja Lalich, Ph.D. is a researcher, author, and educator specializing in cults and extremist groups, with a focus on charismatic relationships, political and other social movements, ideology and social control, and issues of gender and sexuality. She has served as a consultant to educational, mental health, business, media and legal professionals, as well as to members, former members, and families of members of controversial groups. She is Associate Professor of Sociology at California State University, Chico.

Her recent book is Bounded Choice: True Believers and Charismatic Cults. Dr. Lalich has written and lectured extensively and is author, co-author, or editor of numerous books, articles, and chapters. Her most recent book is Take Back Your Life: Recovering from Cults and Abusive Relationships. Her other books include Crazy Therapies: What Are They? Do They Work? and Cults in Our Midst both coauthered with the renowned cult expert and clinical psychologist Dr. Margaret Thaler Singer.  Also Dr. Lalich was guest editor of Women Under the Influence: A Study of Women's Lives in Totalist Groups, a special issue of the Cultic Studies Journal (vol. 14,1,1997).

Dr. Lalich is the founder and director of the Center for Research on Influence & Control, a cult research and resource center. Over the years she has met with and interviewed hundreds of current and former members of groups and their families. She has also been a consultant to attorneys, mental health professionals, health professionals, educators, and the media. She is often interviewed about cult-related events. A member of the American Sociological Association, the Association for the Sociology of Religion, and the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion.

Dr. Lalich presents regularly at academic and lay conferences. She has appeared on Meet the Press, national and local news programs, talk shows, cable documentaries, as well as on radio and Internet programs, such as NPR's To the Best of Our Knowledge and Morning Edition, the BBC's Thinking Allowed, and Time/CNN Impact and Omni magazine's LiveScience online. She can be reached at 530-898-5542 or JLalich@csuchico.edu. Visit the Safe Passage Foundation website.

Snapping: America's Epidemic of Sudden Personality Change

50 minutes, 23 seconds

Deborah Harper, President of Psychjourney, interviews Flo Conway and Jim Siegelman, co-authors of Snapping: America's Epidemic of Sudden Personality Change published by Stillpoint Press.

Flo Conway and Jim Siegelman

As authors, Flo Conway and Jim Siegelman have broken new ground in the study of personal and social change. Their published works offer a compelling blend of first-person testimony, in-depth analysis and tough investigative journalism. Their books include Dark Hero Of The Information Age: In Search of Norbert Wiener The Father of Cybernetics and Holy Terror: The Fundamentalist War on America's Freedoms in Religion, Politics, and Our Private Lives.

Flo Conway graduated from the University of New Mexico with a B.A. in journalism. She earned her master’s degree and was advanced to doctoral candidacy at the University of Oregon, where she pioneered the first interdisciplinary program in communication. Jim Siegelman graduated with honors in philosophy from Harvard, where he also served as president of the Harvard Lampoon. He conducted graduate study in philosophy, linguistics and semiotics as recipient of the Fiske Fellowship to Trinity College, Cambridge.

Conway and Siegelman’s writings on many timely topics has kept them at the fore of the media. They have appeared on “Good Morning America,” the “Today” show, “The Tonight Show,” “Prime Time Live,” “20/20,” “48 Hours,” “NBC Nightly News,” “CNN Late Edition,” “Larry King,” and more than 300 radio and television programs in the U.S., Canada and Europe. They have lectured at more than 40 colleges and universities, where their books have long been required texts, and addressed numerous professional associations, mainline religious denominations, and civic organizations. Articles by or about them have appeared in The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, Science Digest and many other periodicals.Visit their website.

All God's Children: Inside the Dark and Violent World of Street Families

MP3 File

Length-35 minutes, 36 seconds

Deborah Harper, President of  Psychjourney, interviews Ms. Rene Denfeld, author of All God's Children: Inside the Dark and Violent World of Street Families published by Public Affairs.

Ms. Rene Denfeld.

Rene Denfeld was raised by a single mother of five in a racially mixed family in Portland, Oregon. Her articles on feminism sparked debate and led to her first book contract at the age of twenty-two. That book, The New Victorians, was an international bestseller. She has written for numerous publications, including the New York Times Magazine and the Philadelphia Inquirer. Rene has made many media appearances, from Goodmorning America to CNN.  She lives in Portland, Oregon, with her partner and three children. Visit her website.

Firewalker

Firewalker

by Ms. Lyca Shan

Ms. Shan is interviewed by Byram Fowles, PhD, MSW

Click here to listen...   (Length- 31 minutes, 24 seconds)

                         Read Ms. Shan's personal story, Raised In A Cult.