Bill Goldberg (social worker)

Bill Goldberg] is a social worker and researcher of cults. He has a private practice and counsels families of alleged cult members. Goldberg also works for the Rockland County, New York Department Of Mental Health - he directs three out-patient programs.

Goldberg has been invited to testify before several state legislatures on regulations affecting residents of Adult Homes as well as on cult-related matters. He has testified before The New York State Assembly Committee on Child Care, The New York State Social Service Committee, The New Jersey State Assembly Judiciary Committee, and the Connecticut State Judiciary Committee.

Goldberg has appeared as an expert commentator on The ABC News, The Sally Jesse Raphael Show, the John Mc Laughlin Show, MSNBC and The Geraldo Rivera Show.

With his wife Lorna Goldberg, Mr. Goldberg has co-led a support group for what they regard as ex-cult members for over 25 years.

In 1999, Bill and Lorna Golberg were awarded the Leo J. Ryan Award, from the Leo J. Ryan Education Foundation}}

Together, they wrote the article: "Group work with former cultists", which was published in Social Work (journal). This article has been cited by other academicians in scholarly journals, including: Louis Jolyon West., Doni P. Whitsett, Michael Langone, and John Gordon Clark., Irene Gasde, and Richard A. Block, , a report prepared for Boston University’s Danielsen Institute, Kevin A. Harris, and Monica Pignotti.

Education

Certifications
  • Licensed Clinical Social Worker, New Jersey, 1995
  • Board Certified Diplomate in Clinical Social Work, American Board of Examiners in Clinical Social Work, 1988
  • Certified Social Worker, New York, 1976
  • Certification, Academy of Certified Social Workers, 1972
Academic degrees
  • M.S.W., 1970, New York University
  • B.A., 1968, Rutgers University

Awards, honors

  • "Hall of Fame Award", (OLD) Cult Awareness Network
  • Leo J. Ryan Award, 1999.

Publications

Books

  • "Guidelines for Support Groups," in the book, Recovery from Cults (book), edited by Michael Langone, Ph.D., published by W.W. Norton and Company.

Articles

  • “Gap: A Treatment Approach for the Young Adult Chronic Patient,” New Directions for Mental Health Services, Volume XIV, June 1982
  • “Cults on Campus: How Can You Help?” Campus Law Enforcement Journal, Volume XVI, No. 2, 1988
  • “Family Responses to a Young Adult’s Cult Membership and Return,” The Cultic Studies Journal, Volume VI, No. 1, 1989
  • “Counseling Cult-Impacted Students,” Cults on Campus: Continuing Challenge edited by Marcia R. Rudin, American Family Foundation, 1991
  • “Questions and Answers” ongoing column in Focus: The Newsletter for Former Cultists published by the Authentic Cult Awareness Network, Chicago, 1991-1993
  • Preface to Recovery from Abusive Groups by Wendy Ford, American Family Foundation, 1993
  • “A Mental Health Approach” in The Boston Movement, edited by Carol Giambalvo and Herbert L. Rosedale. American Family Foundation, 1996
  • “Cold Reading: The Tricks of the Psychics” in Badaboom Gramaphone No. 2, March 1997
With Lorna Goldberg

See also

  • List of cult and new religious movement researchers
  • Arthur A. Dole, Ph.D.
  • Lorna Goldberg
  • Cultic Studies Review