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Where & When
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Friday, August 28, 2026 from 2:00pm - 4:00 New York time
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Class will be recorded for all registrants and available for viewing for one month.
This webinar offers a compassionate introduction to the psychology of cultic relationships, and presents Focusing as a path for cult recovery.
Cultic harm does not arise from individual deficiency or naivety. It develops through specific relational and psychological conditions that can shape anyone's experience — appearing not only in religious groups or movements, but also in intimate relationships, families, political environments, and therapeutic settings.
Drawing on established research into cultic systems, Ella will introduce the core conditions that make cultic influence possible and explore how they interfere with self-trust, meaning-making, and relational safety. Alongside this, she introduces Focusing — a body-based practice developed by Eugene Gendlin — as a remarkably precise antidote to cult trauma, offering a way to restore the inner listening that high-control systems work hardest to suppress.
All are welcome to attend. This webinar is particularly relevant for therapists and helping professionals, cult survivors, and those with friends or loved ones in high-control relationships or environments. It stands alone as an educational introduction and also serves as a preview of Ella's longer five-week course on Focusing for Cult Recovery.
Format
We use Zoom videoconferencing for our online classes. The session will be held in meeting format so that all participants can see the presenters and each other. You will need to have a computer/mobile device. Calling in by phone is also possible but not preferred as participation in breakout rooms will be limited.
All registrants (whether or not you attend live) can view the recording for one month. Breakout rooms are not recorded.
Bio
Ella VanGaya is a Certified Focusing Professional and Certified Focusing Trainer with the International Focusing Institute, trained under Focusing Coordinator Annette Dubreuil and Trauma and Addiction Psychotherapist Jan Winhall. She brings the heart of a mystic and the mind of a pattern creator to her work, grounded in a profound trust in the body's wisdom. Her personal journey of healing from cultic upbringing has shaped a deep commitment to authenticity and felt-sense intelligence. Ella is also an astrologer, musician, intuitive, and author, and hosts the podcast Free the Stories. She lives on Salt Spring Island, BC, with her partner, two sons, and their dog.
Focusing Highlights
The Focusing Highlights series highlights the work of those teaching, practicing and carrying forward Focusing all over the world. Presenters generously donate their time and participants pay what they can. If you are certified through The International Focusing Institute and would like to offer one, please check out this page.
Registration Information and Price
Ella is offering this class to support The International Focusing Institute. This live online class is pay-what-you-can. The suggested payment for US residents is $30.
If you need to give less, that's fine, but we do require each participant to give something. Please give extra if you can! Thank you for supporting the Institute.
Refunds: A full refund minus a $15 administrative fee (regardless of the registration fee paid) for cancellations 14 days before the start date. Cancellations less than 14 days before the start date are nonrefundable.
Registration Policies: TIFI reserves the right to cancel, change and alter the program if necessary. The opinions offered by presenters and participants are their own and do not necessarily represent the opinions of TIFI. Participants authorize TIFI to use their name, statements and likeness without charge, for promotional purposes in publications, advertising, video, web, new media, or other formats. Please note that the class will be recorded and may be distributed to a wider audience. By registering for this course with the Institute, and in consideration of the right and opportunity to participate in and contribute to the Institute’s classes, for the purposes of its control of all video and/or audio recordings thereof pertaining to uses serving our purposes and goals, in enrolling in this session you acknowledge and agree to the Institute’s ownership of all rights in such classes, including all rights under copyright therein. In no circumstance shall any portion or clip posted or displayed exceed 3 minutes in duration. If you plan to use, post or display any portion or clips of these recordings, including posting these to a website or to a social media platform or portal, you agree that you will seek and obtain the prior approval of the Institute.
Contact
Questions? [email protected]
Registration Information and Price
This live online class is pay-what-you-can. The suggested payment for US residents is $30. If you need to give less, that's fine, but we do require each participant to give something.