Therapy, Thought Reform, and Cults

Abstract

This article describes how a theory of personality or a theory of therapy can be turned into an ideology that a cult-forming therapist can use to justify autocratic domination of clients/patients.

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Notes on contributors

Margaret Thaler Singer

Margaret Thaler Singer, Ph.D., is a clinical psychologist and Emeritus Adjunct Professor of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley. She has received numerous national awards for her research from the American Psychiatric Association, the American College of Psychiatrists, the National Mental Health Association, the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy, and the American Family Therapy Association. In addition, she has held a National Institute of Mental Health Research Scientist Award and received the Leo J. Ryan Memorial Award named in honor of the U.S. Representative killed in Jonestown, Guyana, for her work on cults. She has over one hundred publications in professional journals. Her book, Cults in Our Midst is published by Jossey-Bass (1995).