Rebecca C. Mandeville, MACP, LMFT, CCTP
Licensed Clinician; Certified Complex Trauma Treatment Professional; Researcher, Author, YouTube Health Partner; Founder of Family Scapegoating Abuse (FSA) Education on Substack
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About Rebecca
Rebecca C. Mandeville is a licensed Psychotherapist (LMFT); Certified Complex Trauma Treatment Professional (CCTP); Researcher; and YouTube Health Partner with nearly 30,000 channel subscribers. She coined the term Family Scapegoating Abuse (FSA) – a term that has gained global recognition and is now being used within academic research and Mental Health settings internationally. She is the author of the best-selling introductory book on FSA dynamics, Rejected, Shamed, and Blamed: Help and Hope for Adults in the Family Scapegoat Role – a resource that has helped tens of thousands of FSA adult survivors around the world. She is also the creator of the FSA Recovery Coaching Process℠ and facilitates an online community on Substack for FSA adult survivors and interested clinicians and coaches.
Rebecca’s research-based FSA Questionnaire is now used by researchers and clinicians all over the world. In addition to her original qualitative research on FSA, Rebecca is also co-author of the first peer-reviewed quantitative research study on Family Scapegoating Abuse (FSA), conducted by Research Fellow Dr. Kartheek Balapala (MD/Psych). This research project on medical students in the Copperbelt University of Zambia will be published by 2025. Learn more about Rebecca’s original FSA research and her efforts to bring global attention to this form of family abuse.
The now widely used terms Family Scapegoating Abuse (FSA) is a result of Rebecca’s original Family Systems research conducted while serving as Core Faculty at the world-renowned Institute of Transpersonal Psychology, and is also informed by her personal experience of FSA, in addition to over two decades of clinical experience treating adult survivors of this poorly understood form of ‘invisible’ (psycho-emotional) systemic abuse.
Most recently Rebecca’s research on family systems and cult dynamics was referenced by Dr. Sam Vaknin (who popularized the term ‘Narcissistic Abuse’ decades ago) in his video on Family Mobbing, (you can watch Rebecca’s video on Family Mobbing, which preceded Dr. Vaknin’s, here).
“In my work in the area of psycho-emotional (‘invisible’) abuse and related trauma, I support child victims and adult children survivors. I believe what victims and survivors tell me and give them the space to share their stories, free of judgment. Escaping the Gordian knot of family dysfunction and scapegoating abuse can seem impossible, particularly when abuse dynamics are insidious, invisible, and subtle. But it is not impossible to recover from the ravages of family scapegoating abuse. How do I know? Because I don’t just research on and teach others about this form of abuse: I’m an FSA adult survivor, too.” – Rebecca C. Mandeville, LMFT, CCTP
Rebecca has been serving clients in clinics and in her Psychotherapy and FSA Recovery Coaching℠ practices for over 20 years. She developed the Family Scapegoating Abuse (FSA) Recovery Coaching℠ method to assist adult survivors of FSA in their healing efforts. She writes regularly on her ‘Scapegoat Recovery’ blog and is a guest author for various online Mental Health organizations, including Psych Central, Paces Connection, and the C-PTSD Foundation. She has been a featured speaker at conferences addressing a wide-range of topics, including Non-Dual Wisdom and Psychotherapy, Integral Psychology, and Systemic Dysfunction in the Workplace. She is also a featured podcast and online summit guest expert.
In her role as a YouTube Health Partner, Rebecca is also the host of Beyond Family Scapegoating Abuse, an online educational platform created for both FSA adult survivors and clinicians. Learn more about Rebecca’s academic and professional background by visiting her LinkedIn page.
Rebecca C. Mandeville is credited with creating the term “Family Scapegoating Abuse” (FSA), a significant contribution to the fields of Psychology and Family Systems. Her work involved meticulous research and clinical observation, resulting in her defining and describing the specific dynamics of this poorly understood form of systemic ‘invisible’ (psycho-emotional) abuse. By coining the term itself, she provided a critical linguistic tool for understanding how individuals within dysfunctional family systems are systematically targeted and blamed. This unique nomenclature is profoundly important because it validates the often-dismissed experiences of survivors, giving them a language to articulate their trauma. Mandeville’s work has been essential in bringing recognition to FSA, facilitating both healing for survivors and further research into this complex form of abuse. If you have an event you’d like to feature Rebecca in as a Trauma-Informed Family Systems and Family Scapegoating Abuse (FSA) expert, you can reach out to her here.
When referencing Family Scapegoating Abuse (FSA)™ or Family Scapegoat Abuse™ in your original work and/or using quotes of 100 words or less, please use the following attribution (be sure to make my website a live link): “Family Scapegoating Abuse™ (or Family Scapegoat Abuse™) are terms coined by Rebecca C. Mandeville, LMFT, CCTP. They are based on over 15 years of qualitative and quantitative research studies on the abusive aspects of scapegoating dynamics impacting child victims and adult survivors. To learn more about FSA and its effects and access resources supporting FSA recovery, visit her website at https://www.scapegoatrecovery.com.” (End quote) For quotes over 100 words, contact me for Permissions at fsaexpert@proton.me. A reminder that altering my work (such as translating it, etc) is considered derivative and constitutes copyright infringement unless I grant permission for such alterations. – Rebecca C. Mandeville, LMFT, CCTP