About Me:

I was born into a high-control religious group called the Two by Twos — sometimes called the Secret Sect, because it has no church buildings and no name. Traveling ministers with absolute authority. Total control over what we were allowed to know, think, and feel. I left in my mid-twenties and have spent the thirty years since taking apart what was done to my mind.

I write about how these systems actually work. Not just that one — the mechanism underneath all of them, which turns out to be the same four or five moves whether you're looking at a church, a controlling marriage, or a political movement. Every group claims to be unique. That's one more thing they have in common.

I'm the author of the Purple Door Journeys books — two illustrated allegories for survivors and the people who love them, each with a companion journal. I publish a weekly essay series called Understanding What Happened to Us. I've spoken publicly on coercive control and Christian nationalism, most recently in Moscow, Idaho, at the invitation of local organizers.

I've also owned a learning center for twenty-six years, which means I've spent my working life teaching people to recognize patterns and think for themselves. That turns out to be the same job.

What I care about most: the people still inside, and the people who love them and don't know what to do. I'm not a therapist and I don't pretend to be. I'm someone who got out and can explain how.