Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 9, No. 1, 2010, Page 38
identified as Alex.) The families reported their sons and daughters had started private music
lessons and shortly thereafter they had gone to live in a house together with the Teacher.
The young man they chanced to meet confirmed that the music Teacher had formed a
―cult‖, and he was afraid of ―what could happen inside…they have all gone mad.‖
One of the significant elements in this case is that the individuals had met this former
member in the street by chance, and it would be a chance meeting with the rest of the
current members that would help them exit their loved ones. Another significant element of
this case was that one of the families that asked for help was that of the music Teacher.
At the outset, I conducted my work with the family members on an open-ended basis,
which was the manner they themselves felt most comfortable with. After meeting with the
various family members, I decided to adopt a multifamily strategy in which all family
members met together in a group setting. This multifamily working approach allowed us to
address the participants‘ anxieties and to better strategize an encounter with the Teacher‘s
followers.
Two former members who had been involved with the group years ago also joined us after
several multifamily interviews. As the relatives heard from those who had previously been
close to the Teacher, their anxiety increased. They learned that the project began as a
group that would experiment with novel rhythms and other innovations, and that initially
they had many successful public performances. After this honeymoon period, the group
started to close in around them, cutting their ties with other musicians and family members
and leaving them isolated.
After a number of multifamily interviews, it became clear that the sons and daughters had
changed some important aspects of their lives. The symptoms that both family members
and those who had managed to leave the group cited were consistent with those we
observe among cult members. They had disconnected from previous friendships their
professional performance decreased (they played less music) the language they used was
very restricted, largely consisting of repeating the Teacher‘s expressions to the point of
cliché (loaded language) they showed limitations in their autonomous thinking (mental
blocks, lacunae) and they became distrustful, exhibiting paranoid feelings of being spied on
by other musicians. Also, all the relatives agreed that their children had shifted from an
interest in learning from other musicians to being attached to the man they were now
required to call 'Teacher.' In addition, he renamed his followers with biblical names. Some
reported their children became annoyed or aggressive when questioned about the Teacher
or the Project.
Through family interviews, I learned these facts regarding the five people who were
members at the time of this intervention: 1) A significant number of them had used drugs
during adolescence 2) they shared a great passion for music despite family opposition 3)
they had either a dominant or an absent father figure and 4) most had a family history of
past involvement in dogmatic religious movements.
On learning of how the group had closed in upon itself and of the malignant regression of
the followers in response to the leader, I experienced counter-transferential feelings of
confinement and claustrophobia. It was difficult to think clearly, to organize my impressions,
to deal with the impact of all the family members. Gradually, I shifted from bewilderment,
excitement, anguish, and confusion to the slow emergence of anger that motivated my
desire to do something to help unblock the situation.
My exit counseling strategy in this case used ideas from network therapy. Exit counseling,
according to Langone and Martin (1993), is ―a voluntary, intensive, time-limited, contractual
educational process that emphasizes the respectful sharing of information with cultists.‖
Network therapy (Sirkin &Rueveni, 1992),9 like exit counseling, is based on involving family
identified as Alex.) The families reported their sons and daughters had started private music
lessons and shortly thereafter they had gone to live in a house together with the Teacher.
The young man they chanced to meet confirmed that the music Teacher had formed a
―cult‖, and he was afraid of ―what could happen inside…they have all gone mad.‖
One of the significant elements in this case is that the individuals had met this former
member in the street by chance, and it would be a chance meeting with the rest of the
current members that would help them exit their loved ones. Another significant element of
this case was that one of the families that asked for help was that of the music Teacher.
At the outset, I conducted my work with the family members on an open-ended basis,
which was the manner they themselves felt most comfortable with. After meeting with the
various family members, I decided to adopt a multifamily strategy in which all family
members met together in a group setting. This multifamily working approach allowed us to
address the participants‘ anxieties and to better strategize an encounter with the Teacher‘s
followers.
Two former members who had been involved with the group years ago also joined us after
several multifamily interviews. As the relatives heard from those who had previously been
close to the Teacher, their anxiety increased. They learned that the project began as a
group that would experiment with novel rhythms and other innovations, and that initially
they had many successful public performances. After this honeymoon period, the group
started to close in around them, cutting their ties with other musicians and family members
and leaving them isolated.
After a number of multifamily interviews, it became clear that the sons and daughters had
changed some important aspects of their lives. The symptoms that both family members
and those who had managed to leave the group cited were consistent with those we
observe among cult members. They had disconnected from previous friendships their
professional performance decreased (they played less music) the language they used was
very restricted, largely consisting of repeating the Teacher‘s expressions to the point of
cliché (loaded language) they showed limitations in their autonomous thinking (mental
blocks, lacunae) and they became distrustful, exhibiting paranoid feelings of being spied on
by other musicians. Also, all the relatives agreed that their children had shifted from an
interest in learning from other musicians to being attached to the man they were now
required to call 'Teacher.' In addition, he renamed his followers with biblical names. Some
reported their children became annoyed or aggressive when questioned about the Teacher
or the Project.
Through family interviews, I learned these facts regarding the five people who were
members at the time of this intervention: 1) A significant number of them had used drugs
during adolescence 2) they shared a great passion for music despite family opposition 3)
they had either a dominant or an absent father figure and 4) most had a family history of
past involvement in dogmatic religious movements.
On learning of how the group had closed in upon itself and of the malignant regression of
the followers in response to the leader, I experienced counter-transferential feelings of
confinement and claustrophobia. It was difficult to think clearly, to organize my impressions,
to deal with the impact of all the family members. Gradually, I shifted from bewilderment,
excitement, anguish, and confusion to the slow emergence of anger that motivated my
desire to do something to help unblock the situation.
My exit counseling strategy in this case used ideas from network therapy. Exit counseling,
according to Langone and Martin (1993), is ―a voluntary, intensive, time-limited, contractual
educational process that emphasizes the respectful sharing of information with cultists.‖
Network therapy (Sirkin &Rueveni, 1992),9 like exit counseling, is based on involving family
