ABSTRACT
This chapter highlights considerations for professionals who provide therapy for first- generation and second-generation former cult members. Some individuals who believe they have been harmed by their involvement in a destructive cult 1 and who are experiencing difficulties in their post-cult lives seek therapy with me. In order to help them, I employ an integrated approach that utilizes both psycho-education and psychodynamic psychotherapy. 2 In this therapeutic method, instead of focusing on whether or not a group is a cult per se, I focus upon the specific manner in which the group’s use of influence interacted with and affected the personality dynamics of each of my clients. Psycho-education focuses on the outside processes of the group while psychodynamic psychotherapy focuses on how those group dynamics affect the inner personality features, conflicts and emotional life of each of my clients.
