60 International Journal of Cultic Studies ■ Vol. 5, 2014
forward to reading about Shaw’s thoughts on the
traumatizing, narcissistic cult leader. Shaw’s
view, from a psychoanalytic perspective, of cult
leaders or gurus through the lens of them as
traumatizing narcissists is interesting,
illuminating, and worth taking on board and it is
a helpful contribution to the field.
In the chapter on couples (chapter 5), I was
disappointed that Shaw did not explicitly
comment on one-on-one cults although with his
having summarized group/cult dynamics, it is
clear that these will apply as well to the one-on-
one cultic relationship in which the victim is
often in the thrall and control of the TN partner.
I also was disappointed that Shaw did not
explicitly address the issue of second-generation
adults (SGAs) in his discussion of the cult leader
being a TN. I wondered about the experience of
being the child of a cult member who is in the
thrall of a TN, who in turn acts as an abusive
parent to both the dependent and depleted cult-
member parent and the depleted and dependent
second-generation child. The child is doubly
abandoned and abused. I would have liked
Shaw to have commented on this issue.
Reviewer’s Bias
I am a former-cult-member psychotherapist
reviewing a book by a former-cult-member
psychotherapist, but I do not believe there is a
conflict of interest. I am based in the United
Kingdom, and Dan Shaw is based in New York.
I was a member of a Bible-based cult, not a
Hindu-based cult.
forward to reading about Shaw’s thoughts on the
traumatizing, narcissistic cult leader. Shaw’s
view, from a psychoanalytic perspective, of cult
leaders or gurus through the lens of them as
traumatizing narcissists is interesting,
illuminating, and worth taking on board and it is
a helpful contribution to the field.
In the chapter on couples (chapter 5), I was
disappointed that Shaw did not explicitly
comment on one-on-one cults although with his
having summarized group/cult dynamics, it is
clear that these will apply as well to the one-on-
one cultic relationship in which the victim is
often in the thrall and control of the TN partner.
I also was disappointed that Shaw did not
explicitly address the issue of second-generation
adults (SGAs) in his discussion of the cult leader
being a TN. I wondered about the experience of
being the child of a cult member who is in the
thrall of a TN, who in turn acts as an abusive
parent to both the dependent and depleted cult-
member parent and the depleted and dependent
second-generation child. The child is doubly
abandoned and abused. I would have liked
Shaw to have commented on this issue.
Reviewer’s Bias
I am a former-cult-member psychotherapist
reviewing a book by a former-cult-member
psychotherapist, but I do not believe there is a
conflict of interest. I am based in the United
Kingdom, and Dan Shaw is based in New York.
I was a member of a Bible-based cult, not a
Hindu-based cult.
