Media Ethics & Production Consulting
Advising media on their portrayals of coercive control, cultic abuse, human trafficking, and psychological trauma — and their ethical collaboration with the people whose lives become the story. Because ethical practices build productions that last.
I advise documentaries, scripted productions, and other media on the accurate portrayal of coercive control, cult dynamics, institutional abuse, and trauma, as well as the ethical representation of survivors and lived experience.
I work with projects at every stage, from trauma-informed interview planning and survivor engagement to script, manuscript, character, and narrative review, helping teams reduce the risk of retraumatization and vicarious trauma while preserving the complexity, credibility, and impact of the story.
I Consult For
Documentaries · Scripted Film & TV · Journalists · Publishers · Survivor Media Training
FOCUS AREAS
How I Support Projects
Trauma-Informed Interview Planning
Structuring participant conversations to minimize harm while preserving the material a project needs.
Survivor Engagement
Guidance on consent, boundaries, and ongoing communication with survivor participants throughout production.
Narrative Review
Assessing how coercive control, cult dynamics, and institutional abuse are being portrayed for accuracy and impact.
Retraumatization Risk
Identifying where a story's treatment risks re-harming participants, and where it can be told with more care without losing narrative weight.
Preparing for the Public Eye
Media Training
Prepare survivors for interviews, helping them anticipate hard questions and sustain healthy boundaries. Participants are able to tell their story publicly without being blindsided by the process.
Behind the Story
Vicarious Trauma Mitigation for Teams
Helping teams recognize secondary traumatic stress and build practices that protect their own well-being throughout production.
A Producer Who Was Also the Story
I was an executive producer and a featured participant in Hulu's Stolen Youth: Inside the Cult at Sarah Lawrence — both a survivor whose story the film told and a producer who helped shape how it was told. That dual perspective is the foundation of my consulting work: I understand the practical demands of documentary filmmaking and the psychological realities faced by participants. I help productions navigate both with integrity.
ADVOCACY & DIALOGUE
Speaking on These Issues
I present internationally on coercive control, shame, human trafficking, and survivor recovery, including at the International Cultic Studies Association and the International Academy of Law and Mental Health. My recent presentation at the World Without Exploitation conference in Washington, DC (pictured) examined coercive control as an underlying mechanism in cult-based and other forms of human trafficking.
Forensic Grounding
As a forensic behavioral analyst, I’m retained as an expert in criminal, family law, and domestic violence matters. I examine how coercion, fear, and dependency influence victims’ behavior, with analysis grounded in the factual record: documents, communications, and testimony. That same behavioral-pattern lens informs how I advise productions on accurately portraying coercion and trauma.
Background & Training
AB, Harvard University
MD, Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons
Psychiatry internship at LAC+USC Medical Center, one of the nation’s highest-volume psychiatric emergency services
Member, Harvard Medical School’s Program in Psychiatry and the Law
Certified in the Walking Free model of post-cult recovery (Dr. Gillie Jenkinson)
Additional training in cult dynamics, coercive persuasion, and undue influence