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An Interview With Jeannie Riseman

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Occasionally, there are survivors with a special gift who choose to use that ability to help other survivors. Jeannie Riseman is one of these people. She is a talented writer and editor, and her hard work is evident in the magazine "Survivorship", created by Caryn Stardancer, which Jeannie now edits.

Jeannie is also the creator of the Ritual Abuse Home Page, one of the oldest (and best!) resources on the web, whether you are a survivor learning about ritual abuse, or a support person or therapist seeking more information. She has spent hour after hour collecting resources and indexing them on her site.

Jeannie has graciously agreed to be interviewed, and to share some from her own past with Suite 101.

Q: Jeannie, how did you come to speak out against ritual abuse and/or mind control? What led you to the decision? How did you find the courage to speak out?

A: It was instinctual. When I got the very first abuse memory, one of my first thoughts was "The personal IS political." I started telling everybody under the sun and I haven't shut my mouth since.

Q: How did you begin to remember your own trauma? Were there any factors that triggered this memory process? Have you sought validation for your memories? If so, what have you found?

A: My parents and husband had died and my kids were grown and on their own. I had responsibilities to nobody but myself, which I think was really crucial.

Actually, I am one of the few people I know of who learned of the abuse in therapy. My therapist, who I trusted and liked, decided to try a silly little Gestalt-type exercise where the two people put their hands together and push. (Supposed to make saying "no" easier, or something.) Because he was so tall, he knelt down to be on my level and I went right into flashback to servicing a kneeling man when I was four. Poor guy had no idea why I was sobbing and non-verbal!

That unleashed a lot of memories, first of sexual abuse by one man, later of group and cult experiences. I have no external validation, perhaps because the generation above me is pretty much all dead. And ours was an oral tradition; we kept nothing in writing.

Q: What were your experiences with either/or any combination of: a) cult control and programming b) governmental mind control c) any other type of intentional abuse ?

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