Professional Consultation
Sometimes what you need is not a training program or a course. It is an hour with someone who understands this work deeply and can think through a specific situation, project, or question with you.
RTC's Co-Directors, Elise Heerde and Sam Sellers, offer 60 and 90 minute professional consultations for individuals and organisations outside of the clinical space who are navigating questions related to religious trauma, cult recovery, coercive control, or high-control group dynamics.
They are focused, collaborative consultations drawing on significant lived experience and specialist professional expertise in this field.
A consultation with Elise or Sam might be useful if you are:
A journalist, author, or documentary maker researching religious trauma, cults, or coercive control and wanting informed, nuanced guidance on how to approach the subject responsibly
A student or academic working on research in this space and looking for practitioner insight to complement your work
An organisational leader, HR professional, or workplace consultant encountering high-control dynamics in a professional setting and wanting to understand what you are seeing
A legal professional, advocate, or policy worker whose work intersects with religious harm or coercive control and who needs specialist context
An individual wanting a one-off specialist conversation about a situation involving a high-control group or coercive system, outside of a therapeutic context
Professional consultations with Elise and Sam are not therapy, counselling, or clinical supervision, and should not be treated as a substitute for either. They are also not legal advice. If you are a survivor looking for therapeutic support, our practitioner directory is a better starting point.
Consultation
✳︎
Media
✳︎
Speaking
✳︎
Consultation ✳︎ Media ✳︎ Speaking ✳︎
Media Enquiries
RTC's Co-Directors are available for media engagement across a wide range of formats and contexts. We take media requests seriously and assess each one individually to ensure our participation is purposeful, well-informed, and in the interests of the survivors and practitioners we serve.
We are available for:
Podcast interviews
Print, digital, and online journalism
Documentary and television commentary
Radio and audio media
News commentary and expert opinion
Social and independent media platforms
We bring to media engagement the same commitment we bring to everything else: accuracy, survivor-centred framing, and a refusal to sensationalise the experiences of the people this work is about. We are particularly interested in media opportunities that deepen public understanding of religious trauma, coercive control, and cult recovery, and that contribute to a more informed conversation.
All media requests are assessed on a case by case basis. We aim to respond to all enquiries within 48 hours.
Get in Touch
To submit a media enquiry, please email us.
Please include in your enquiry the nature of the piece or project, your publication or platform, your expected audience, the format and timeline, and what you are hoping Elise or Sam can contribute.
Speaking Engagements
Elise and Sam are available for speaking engagements across a wide range of formats, contexts, and audiences. If you are looking for informed, engaging, and practically grounded presentations on religious trauma, cult recovery, coercive control, or high-control group dynamics, we would love to hear from you.
We speak at and for:
Professional conferences
Practitioner development days and training events
Academic and research settings
Corporate and organisational training
Community and survivor-facing events
Advocacy and sector events
We offer:
Keynote presentations
Workshops and interactive sessions
Panel participation and expert commentary
Tailored presentations for specific audiences and contexts
Topics we speak on include:
Religious trauma and its clinical presentations
Coercive control in religious and non-religious group contexts
Cult dynamics and cult recovery
Identifying high-control harm in mainstream settings
Supporting survivors in clinical and community contexts
Ethical practice in religious trauma and cult recovery work
Please include in your enquiry the nature of the event, the format, the date and location, and what topic or focus you have in mind.
A Note on How We Approach This Work
Whether it is a consultation, a media interview, or a keynote, Elise and Sam bring the same thing to every engagement: genuine trauma-informed expertise grounded in lived experience, a commitment to accuracy and nuance, and a deep respect for the complexity of what survivors have been through.