2025 Margaret Singer Award Doug and Wendy Duncan
Doug and I received the Margaret Singer award at the International Cultic Studies Association’s (ICSA) annual conference in Montreal July 2-5, 2025. We were deeply honored and humbled to be chosen as the recipients of this prestigious award. When Doug and I left a pseudo-Christian cult 25 years ago we never could have imagined where we are today. We were heart broken, disillusioned, and confused, and had no idea how to navigate the process of healing.
Fortunately, through the writings of individuals such as Margaret Singer and the resources and support of ICSA, we were able to start the recovery journey and eventually use our experience to help others transition to post-cult life.Being chosen to receive the 2025 Margaret Thaler Singer award by ICSA was a complete surprise. Margaret Singer was a cult expert and pioneer in the field of coercive persuasion and thought reform programs; she was also a brilliant psychologist and academic. Neither Doug nor I can claim to be either of those things, but we have strived to emulate her heart for people who have experienced cultic or spiritual abuse. We have facilitated ongoing support groups for nearly two decades, including one specifically for individuals recovering from spiritually abusive Christian groups. In addition to leading support groups, we provide individual counseling and recovery coaching and have given numerous presentations and lectures at conferences, churches, colleges, etc.
Doug and I contributed several chapters to the book published by ICSA, Wounded Faith: Understanding and Healing from Spiritual Abuse, and I wrote a book, I Can’t Hear God Anymore: Life in a Dallas Cult, which chronicled our involvement and recovery in a Bible-based cult. Additionally, we have collaborated with media outlets to promote cult awareness and with legal professionals on cult related cases. Most recently we worked with a law firm in Chicago in their battle against a Transcendental Meditation program in the Chicago Public Schools.
We have come a long way since leaving a cult and know that it would not have been possible without the support and encouragement of ICSA, friends, and family. Our heartfelt gratitude to all who have been instrumental in our recovery journey.
