Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 7, No. 3, 2008, Page 55
connection to trauma. She particularly cites the work of Peter Fonagy and his associates to
establish the relationship between a secure early relationship and the ability to be self-
reflective and to know the minds of others.
The findings of Farber‘s research study, presented in this book, suggest that it is the
severity of the trauma suffered in childhood and adolescence, particularly the cumulative
trauma of violent sexual and physical abuse maintained in a climate without secure
attachments, that is a key factor in the development and maintenance of dissociation, self-
injurious habits, and eating-disordered habits in childhood. The severity of the trauma also
is significant in the development in childhood of a general sense of body alienation, which
can contribute to the development of eating-disordered behavior, self-mutilating behavior,
and other forms of self-harm later in adolescence and or adulthood.
However, Farber indicates that self-harm might not be solely the result of trauma
experienced early in life. Self-harm can result from the ordeal of being under the influence
of a powerful, manipulative, sadomasochistic leader who co-opts one‘s ability to think
critically and have ownership over one‘s own body. Self-harming behavior in these instances
is seen as the outcome of cult programming and cult-learned practices and rituals that
create dissociative behaviors to enhance the leader‘s influence and doctrine in which dietary
restrictions or various forms of abuse are either encouraged or seen as acceptable. Those of
us who examine the world of cults have seen how dietary restrictions or physical or sexual
abuse often is redefined as necessary to increase the members‘ level of purity. The
acceptance of this destructive behavior is supplemented by the contagion and peer pressure
of the group. In my work with former cult members, I also find that self-harm may be the
result of an attempt to play out, through the body, a cult-induced message not consciously
acknowledged by the former cult member.
Farber explains that, just as addictive alcoholism is a progressive disease, the behavior of
chronic bulimics and self-mutilators follows a progressive course from preoccupation to
ritual preparation (which helps to induce a dissociated mental state) to compulsivity (need
to perform the behavior) to shame and despair. She considers that this behavior might
reveal a psychological addiction to trauma, a compulsion to repeatedly and unconsciously
reenact and express, through bodily self-harm, severe trauma suffered in childhood. Having
been the passive victim of traumatic abuse in childhood, the individual will be compelled to
repeat the trauma, sadistically inflicting violence on others or masochistically inflicting
violence upon the self. Anger that is physically directed at the self is central to the life of the
individual who has been abused and violated, leading to repetitive reenactments upon the
body that have the potential to become dangerously out of control. Although Farber touches
on this, I might more centrally suggest that these early abusive experiences (particularly,
but not only, by those who suffered from sexual abuse) also have a libidinal component,
and libido is interwoven with aggression in these acts.
I found the section of the book on clinical implications to be as illuminating and extensive as
the previous sections on theory. Not only does Farber give the reader principles for working
with this population, she also highlights these principles with vignettes from her own and
other therapists‘ clinical work. First and foremost, after a comprehensive understanding of
the inherent power of these symptoms, Farber assures the reader that attachment to self-
harm can be both emotionally and biochemically altered through the development of a
secure attachment. The attachment relationship can serve as a bridge to the idea of the
possibility of different relationships in the real world. These early relationships were quite
destructively exciting and aggressive, and sexual feelings become mixed together in
potentially destructive ways. Farber explains that the aim of therapy can be to transform
harmful bodily enactments by building in patients a capacity to reflect upon their experience
and make a symbolic leap from the body to the mind.
connection to trauma. She particularly cites the work of Peter Fonagy and his associates to
establish the relationship between a secure early relationship and the ability to be self-
reflective and to know the minds of others.
The findings of Farber‘s research study, presented in this book, suggest that it is the
severity of the trauma suffered in childhood and adolescence, particularly the cumulative
trauma of violent sexual and physical abuse maintained in a climate without secure
attachments, that is a key factor in the development and maintenance of dissociation, self-
injurious habits, and eating-disordered habits in childhood. The severity of the trauma also
is significant in the development in childhood of a general sense of body alienation, which
can contribute to the development of eating-disordered behavior, self-mutilating behavior,
and other forms of self-harm later in adolescence and or adulthood.
However, Farber indicates that self-harm might not be solely the result of trauma
experienced early in life. Self-harm can result from the ordeal of being under the influence
of a powerful, manipulative, sadomasochistic leader who co-opts one‘s ability to think
critically and have ownership over one‘s own body. Self-harming behavior in these instances
is seen as the outcome of cult programming and cult-learned practices and rituals that
create dissociative behaviors to enhance the leader‘s influence and doctrine in which dietary
restrictions or various forms of abuse are either encouraged or seen as acceptable. Those of
us who examine the world of cults have seen how dietary restrictions or physical or sexual
abuse often is redefined as necessary to increase the members‘ level of purity. The
acceptance of this destructive behavior is supplemented by the contagion and peer pressure
of the group. In my work with former cult members, I also find that self-harm may be the
result of an attempt to play out, through the body, a cult-induced message not consciously
acknowledged by the former cult member.
Farber explains that, just as addictive alcoholism is a progressive disease, the behavior of
chronic bulimics and self-mutilators follows a progressive course from preoccupation to
ritual preparation (which helps to induce a dissociated mental state) to compulsivity (need
to perform the behavior) to shame and despair. She considers that this behavior might
reveal a psychological addiction to trauma, a compulsion to repeatedly and unconsciously
reenact and express, through bodily self-harm, severe trauma suffered in childhood. Having
been the passive victim of traumatic abuse in childhood, the individual will be compelled to
repeat the trauma, sadistically inflicting violence on others or masochistically inflicting
violence upon the self. Anger that is physically directed at the self is central to the life of the
individual who has been abused and violated, leading to repetitive reenactments upon the
body that have the potential to become dangerously out of control. Although Farber touches
on this, I might more centrally suggest that these early abusive experiences (particularly,
but not only, by those who suffered from sexual abuse) also have a libidinal component,
and libido is interwoven with aggression in these acts.
I found the section of the book on clinical implications to be as illuminating and extensive as
the previous sections on theory. Not only does Farber give the reader principles for working
with this population, she also highlights these principles with vignettes from her own and
other therapists‘ clinical work. First and foremost, after a comprehensive understanding of
the inherent power of these symptoms, Farber assures the reader that attachment to self-
harm can be both emotionally and biochemically altered through the development of a
secure attachment. The attachment relationship can serve as a bridge to the idea of the
possibility of different relationships in the real world. These early relationships were quite
destructively exciting and aggressive, and sexual feelings become mixed together in
potentially destructive ways. Farber explains that the aim of therapy can be to transform
harmful bodily enactments by building in patients a capacity to reflect upon their experience
and make a symbolic leap from the body to the mind.
