Mini Conference: Freedom Of Mind - Empowering Individuals To Think For Themselves

To pre-register for the mini conference 
click on the donate button below

When:  November 17, 2013

             2:00 PM - 5:30 PM

Where:  Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center  - Auditorium

              255 Lafayette Ave. (Route 59) 

              Suffern, NY 10901

Registration Fee / Suggested Donation):  

Early Bird Rate Per Person: $10.00 (before November 15, 2013) using a credit card

At the door:  $15.00 Per Person (cash or check made out to The Awareness Center, Inc.) 

For more information contact:  

             The Awareness Center, Inc.

             Call:  224-534-9155 or  Email: VickiPolin@aol.com

Internationally Renown mind control expert - Steve Hassan, M.Ed, LMHC, NCC and Vicki Polin, MA, LCPC will be providing an educational workshop on mind control.    

The goals of this workshop will help participants learn to recognize what mind control is, how to recognize and avoid being influenced by destructive and controlling practices which can occur within families, in relationships, at schools, yeshivas and within various other religious and professional organization. 

This workshop is dedicated to the memory of Deb Tambor, a woman who grew up in the chassidic world and found the need to walk away.  Abe Weiss, who was Deb's boyfriend will speak briefly about her life and his own experience of going Off The Derech (OTD).  

For more information contact:  

The Awareness Center, Inc.

             Call:  224-534-9155 or Email: VickiPolin@aol.com

_______________________________________________________________________

SPEAKERS BIO:

Steve Hassan has dedicated his life to helping loved ones leave controlling people, cults and beliefs.   Steve is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor (LMHC) in the State of Massachusetts and a Nationally Certified Counselor (NCC). He has been educating the public about controlling groups and individuals for nearly forty  years.  Steve is a member of The Awareness Center’s international advisory board and is also the founder and director of the Freedom of Mind Resource Center.  In the past Steve’s appeared on 60 Minutes, Nightline, Dateline, Larry King Live, and The O’Reilly Factor. 

Steve is also created the "BITE Model of Cult Mind Control", and the author of "Combatting Cult Mind Control: Guide to Protection, Rescue, and Recovery from Destructive Cults"; "Releasing the Bonds: Empowering People to Think for Themselves" and “Freedom of Mind: Helping Loved Ones Leave Controlling People, Cults and Beliefs.”

Vicki Polin, MA, LCPC is a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor in the State of Illinois who has been helping survivors of sex crimes heal for just under thirty years.  Throughout Vicki’s career she has counseled both adults and children of sex crimes, she has also worked with survivors of political torture, domestic violence, individuals with addiction issues, along with survivors who were involved in cults.

In the past Vicki has qualified as an expert witness and provided testimony in juvenile court on cases related to childhood sexual abuse and neglect. She has presented educational and experiential seminars to community groups, universities, and at professional conferences internationally –– including at Jewish Women International (JWI) Jewish Orthodox Feminist Alliance (JOFA), National Organization for Women (NOW), and the United Nations Conference on the Status of Women.  Vicki has also provided testimony at legislative hearings across the United States.  

Vicki is the founder and director of The Awareness Center, which is the international Jewish Coalition Against Sexual Abuse/Assault (JCASA).  Vicki is also the author of “The 1997 Chicagoland Area Sexual Abuse Resource Guide for Care Providers and Survivors”.


Directions:
Good Samaritan Hospital
255 Lafayette Ave.  Suffern, NY
Click here for directions

For information on Public Transportation from either Brooklyn or NYC
(NOTE: you will have to either take a cab or walk a distance once you arrive to get to the hospital):

MTA New York City Transit:  718-330-1234 

NJ TRANSIT RAIL 

Monsey Trails - Bus from and to Brooklyn

CONFERENCE SPONSORS:

To pre-register for the mini conference 

click on the donate button below

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

Too Embarrassing To Offer Help?

© (2013) By Vicki Polin
Originally published by The Examiner on October 10 2013

Nearly 10 years ago while I was living in Baltimore there was a day I wasn't feeling well and ended up passing out in a parking lot. Just my luck I ended up falling face first, right on to the cement parking lot. Needless to say the next day I ended looking like someone I was someone's punching bag.

A few days after my fall I finally was feeling much better. I had to run some errands in preparations of the coming Shabbat (Jewish sabbath). At the time I was living within the Torah observant world. I kept kosher and Shabbat. I dressed modestly (wearing a long skirt which covered my knees and a blouse which covered my elbows and neckline). I was quiet embarrassed about going out in public looking the way I did, yet I needed to get things done. I did my best to muster up all the courage I could so I could step outside my front door.

My first stop was to go to "Seven Mile", which is the local kosher grocery store. As I walked from my car to the store, through the parking lot -- I noticed people staring at me. To be honest, I think I would have looked too considering how black and blue my eyes were and how swollen my face was.

As I shopped I was also extremely aware of the looks many women gave me who were also in the store. They all would turn away as soon as they noticed I saw them looking at me. I know they turned away in hopes of not embarrassing me.

I continued shopping and over heard two women talking. One of the women said to her friend very . . . "I wonder who beat her up?" I wish I would have said something, yet I didn't. I guess I didn't want to embarrass them.

I finally got out of Seven Mile and became apprehensive of going on to my next errand (which was to go to a non-kosher grocery store to pick up some items the first store didn't have). I remember sitting in my car in the parking lot of "Shoppers" for a minute, trying to muster up the courage to go in.

Within minutes of entering "Shoppers", I was approached by the first woman who saw me. She wanted to make sure I was OK. She also gave me a card with the local domestic violence hot-line number on it.  I remember thanking her and told her I really, "Just fell".

She gave me a hug and said, "Just in case, you have the number". As I walked through the non-kosher grocery store I was approached by at least a dozen women and a few men, all saying the same thing. All wanting to make sure that I was safe and that I knew there was help out there for me if I needed it. It was sort of funny because not one of them wanted to believe the truth, they all just wanted to make sure I was safe and that I knew, "no one had a right to hit me like that".

When I got to my car I started to cry, not because so many people approached me wanting to be helpful. I was saddened by the fact not one frum (orthodox) woman came up to me to offer me support. The reality is I wasn't embarrassed that so many people wanted to help me -- actually it was a relief to know that strangers really cared and if I needed help they were more then willing to be of assistance. I was grief stricken because my own people turned their backs on me.

If the orthodox world is unable to offer support to strangers who look like they were battered, how do we really expect them to help children who are currently being abused or help adult survivors?

Deb Tambor and the Quasi-Chasidic Town of New Square

© (2014) By Vicki Polin

The Awareness Center's Daily Newsletter - October 1, 2013

Rabbi David Twersky (Skvere Rebbe) and Deb Tambor Z"L

When you deal with a quasi-chasidic community that appears to be mimicking a cult, innocent people end up dying -- in the case of Deb Tambor I call this murder by suicide. 

Judaism is about each individuals relationship with G-d, and not the power and control various rabbonim seem to be implementing over their congregants and or community members. From the experiences shared with me from various individuals (OTD survivors) who walked away from communities like New Square, they left in hopes of being able to experience "Free Will". 

I've never seen so many young people feeling trapped within a system in which they felt they had no alternative but to end their lives. With the number of suicides coming out of New Square along with a few other quasi-chasidic communities, I fear the number of deaths will surpass the number of those who died in Jonestown. I pray to G-d all the time that the federal goverment will start investigating the "alleged" corruption that is going on in this town –– in hopes of preventing one more person ends up committing suicide. 

I want to remind everyone who is feeling hopeless or trapped that there is help available to you. You can always call the National Suicide Prevention Hotline 1-800-273-8255.