Rebecca C. Mandeville, LFMT, CCTP
Founder of Family Scapegoating Abuse (FSA) Education
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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.
For comprehensive information on the insidious systemic phenomenon I named Family Scapegoating Abuse (FSA), please review the home page of this website (a summary of my qualitative and peer-reviewed quantitative research is included); read my bestselling introductory book on FSA (Rejected, Shamed, and Blamed); and check out my Healing the Scapegoat Wound E-Publication (with private Community features) on Substack.
ATTENTION: I do not typically grant interviews or participate in online summits or podcasts outside of clinical or academic settings. If you have an interview request or presentation proposal, please first familiarize yourself with my work by reading my introductory book on Family Scapegoating Abuse, Rejected, Shamed, and Blamed.
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Rebecca C. Mandeville is an internationally recognized pioneer within the field of Family Systems and a scapegoat abuse and scapegoat trauma expert. She 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 Healing the Scapegoat Wound: FSA Education Support Community, 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.
Summary of Research- Rebecca C. Mandeville, LMFT
Summary of Qualitative and Quantitative Research on Family Scapegoating Abuse (FSA)
The term Family Scapegoating Abuse (FSA) was coined by psychotherapist and clinical researcher Rebecca C. Mandeville. Mandeville’s work is foundational to the field, and she has collaborated with other researchers to study this insidious systemic phenomenon. Her recent peer-reviewed quantitative studies serve to further legitimatize the devastating reality of FSA and recovery challenges survivors face.
Key researchers and their contributions
Rebecca C. Mandeville
As the central figure in FSA research, Mandeville’s work includes:
- Creating and defining the term ‘Family Scapegoating Abuse’ (FSA): This has provided a crucial framework for understanding the systemic psycho-emotional abuse that occurs when a dysfunctional family unfairly targets one member with blame and criticism.
- Qualitative research: Through her clinical practice and studies, she identified that FSA often leads to Complex Trauma (C-PTSD), Betrayal Trauma, Complicated Grief; Anxiety Disorders; Depressive Disorders; Impostor Syndrome; and Toxic Shame.
- Quantitative research: In 2024, she co-authored the first peer-reviewed quantitative study on FSA, with another study planned for 2025.
- Authoring content: Mandeville wrote Rejected, Shamed, and Blamed: Help and Hope for Adults in the Family Scapegoat Role, which details her findings and provides resources for survivors. She also publishes new articles about FSA regularly on her Healing the Scapegoat Wound Substack and is a licensed Healthcare Partner on YouTube via her Beyond Family Scapegoating Abuse channel.
- A Unique Nomenclature: Other terms coined by Mandeville as a result of her original FSA research that enhance survivor and clinician discussions include ‘family scapegoat trauma’; ‘scapegoat narrative’; ‘righteous rage’; and ‘scapegoat grief’.
Key findings from the research of Rebecca C. Mandeville
- Complex trauma and other effects of FSA: Mandeville’s research revealed that many FSA survivors suffer from complex trauma; betrayal trauma; attachment trauma; anxiety; depression; and toxic shame. As such, FSA results in a variety of psycho-emotional symptoms and social impediments, including feeling that the world is an unsafe place, emotional dysregulation, a sense of not belonging anywhere, and difficulty forming healthy, secure relationships.
- Systemic dynamics: The research reveals that scapegoating is a systemic issue often fueled by intergenerational trauma, projection, and the splitting of family roles, where one child is designated as the “scapegoat”.
- Clinical consequences: Survivors often report a long history of seeking treatment for various diagnoses like depression, anxiety, or personality disorders without the root cause of the scapegoating being identified.
- Impact on relationships: FSA can lead to a distorted relationship with oneself and others, self-doubt, difficulty expressing emotions, and a tendency to engage in “fawning” or people-pleasing behaviors due to the betrayal trauma and toxic shame experienced within their family-of-origin.
Dr. Kartheek R. Balapala
Co-authored quantitative studies: As a research fellow and MD, Dr. Balapala co-authored the first peer-reviewed quantitative study on FSA with clinician and Family Systems researcher Rebecca C. Mandeville in 2024. This study was published in the European Journal of Public Health Studies. Mandy Sizalobuhle Mpofu, Research Scholar, also co-authored this study.
Read the study at https://oapub.org/hlt/index.php/EJPHS/article/view/202/202
Upcoming research: Dr. Kartheek R. Balapala also collaborated on a second quantitative study with Family Systems and Scapegoat Abuse expert Rebecca C. Mandeville and Research Scholar Dr Suriyakala Perumal Chandran, which focused on how Family Scapegoating Abuse (FSA) affects women with Postpartum depression (PPD). This study is now complete and is expected to be published in peer-reviewed health and medical journals in both Europe and Asia in late 2025. Check back soon for links to the published studies.
ATTENTION!
🛑 Important Notice Regarding use of My Intellectual Property
Thank you for visiting, sharing, and engaging with the resources on this site! Your support in raising awareness about Family Scapegoating Abuse (FSA) is highly valued.
Please be aware that the specific term, concept, and content surrounding ‘Family Scapegoating Abuse’ (FSA) have been developed, researched, and copyrighted by Rebecca C. Mandeville, founder of Family Scapegoating Abuse (FSA) Education.
Why Permission is Needed to Use My FSA Content
I ask that you respect my intellectual property rights for the following reasons:
- Protecting Integrity: My materials, including the term ‘Family Scapegoating Abuse (FSA), are designed to provide specialized, reliable, and consistent information and resources. Unauthorized use or modification can dilute the term’s meaning and potentially misrepresent the underlying research-supported concepts.
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How to Share and Use My FSA Work Appropriately
- Attribution is Required: If you reference or quote the concept, definition, or specific term Family Scapegoating Abuse (FSA) in a non-commercial work and your quote is 100 words or less, please provide clear and visible credit back to me and this website. *Example: “The concept of Family Scapegoating Abuse (FSA) as defined here is based on the work of clinician and researcher Rebecca C. Mandeville at https://www.scapegoatrecovery.com.”
- Use for Personal Awareness: You are encouraged to use the concepts for personal understanding and discussion for non-commercial purposes, using the above attribution.
- Commercial/Public Use Requires Permission: You must obtain explicit, written permission from me before using the term Family Scapegoating Abuse / FSA or any content derived from this site for:
- Any commercial purpose (e.g., in a book, paid course, or for-profit resource).
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EMAIL ME FOR PERMISSION: I’m passionate about helping people understand and recover from FSA. If you plan to create commercial or non-commercial content (articles, podcasts, books, videos, etc.) that references Family Scapegoating Abuse and/or FSA and/or my FSA research and related content and educational material, you must email me to request permission to use my copyrighted work (this includes translations of my content).
Thank you for your understanding and cooperation in protecting my ability to continue developing and sharing these vital resources. – Rebecca C. Mandeville, LMFT, CCTP
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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
HOW TO AVOID COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT: I encourage you to share my content with others (including on social media). However, modifying my work without my granting permissions (such as translating it; uploading my videos on your own YouTube channel; or creating content with it that you then use for commercial purposes) is considered a ‘derivative’ work, and violates my copyright, which then becomes a legal matter that I’d prefer not to have to deal with. Attribution / Citations Required when referencing contents from this website. Contact Author for Permissions when using quotes over 100 words.