Show Notes
Roydon Gibbs grew up as a second-generation member of a Jehovah's Witness family. In the early 1950s, his mother, grandmother and father were recruited by Jehovah's Witnesses and became members. A decade later, Roydon was born, the youngest of five children in a family fully immersed in the world of Jehovah's Witnesses. At the age of 15, he became a ‘dedicated’ member and left school to become an enthusiastic and committed full-time recruiter. In his early twenties, he became a worker at the national headquarters for Jehovah's Witnesses in New Zealand bringing him in close contact with national and international leaders of the Jehovah's Witnesses.
By the age of 26, Roydon was burnt out and found himself shamed, shunned, and ostracised by the only community he had ever known. This plunged Roydon into a dark period of addictions, depression and despair followed by recovery and the creating of a new life. Roydon is now in his 60s and his life is very different from the one he experienced in the first 26 years of his life.
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For 10 years Nicola Ranson was a disciple of the guru, Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh (AKA Osho) from India to Oregon until the commune collapsed amid criminal activity. She became a somatic psychotherapist specialising in trauma and has worked with many cult survivors. Nicola taught Counselling Psychology for 17 years on the adjunct faculty at National University. Her memoir, A Slice of Orange: loving and leaving the Osho/Rajneesh cult will be published by Unsolicited Press this December
Bec Sonkkila survived six years in the MISA yoga cult. Rebuilding her dismantled identity became her life's work. Today, she is an international recovery and relationship coach specialising in coercive control and post-cult identity. Using somatic practices, hypnotherapy and lived experience, Bec helps clients distinguish genuine connection from compliance. She splits her time between New Zealand, Australia and Finland, and is writing a book about finding a self you can trust.