Justice After Coercive Control with Carol Merchasin
Shownotes
Carol Merchasin returns, and this time, Rachel and Carol go deep on what it actually looks like when survivors of coercive control, spiritual abuse, and high-control groups consider taking legal action.
Carol shares how her career shifted from corporate employment investigations to building a litigation practice focused on religious misconduct and cultic settings, and what landmark cases reveal about how the law interprets coercion, consent, and systems of control.
What happens when a survivor wants justice, but the legal system wasn't built for them? Carol walks through the real barriers: statutes of limitations, evidence demands, credibility challenges, and the emotional toll of depositions and mediation, especially for those carrying religious trauma or the psychological weight of cult recovery.
She also explains how the right litigation team can become part of the healing process, why journals and social media posts matter more than most people realize, and what truly trauma-informed support looks like when therapy and legal advocacy work together.
Plus: Carol shares her role as ICSA board president and highlights the upcoming ICSA conference in San Diego on July 1 — a vital gathering for researchers, clinicians, and advocates working at the intersection of faith deconstruction, coercive control, and survivor justice.
Carol’s Links
ICSA Conference: https://internationalculticstudies.org/
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