Good clicky Jaine. Alice, yes! I have had numerous encounters and dealing with cult and ex-cult members. James Jones got his start in the community just over the hill from here and that area of Mendocino county just seems to have some kind of weird connection to the, what? Weird? The Steven Stayner case, Polly Klass/Richard Allen Davis case, there are others. I've often wondered if it were the water or something? It is amazing to me how otherwise intelligent people can be beguiled by a charismatic person.

I worked a number of years as a suicide hot line counsellor in Marin county, California and that was a real eye-opener in the realm of active listening. You absolutely do NOT want to address a caller's situation with any preconceived notions or judgments. The center's recruiting poster was a field of identical persons standing alone. Only one pair were holding hands and the caption read "To communicate is the beginning of understanding."