Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 9, No. 1, 2010, Page 42
from each person effort, tolerance of frustration, reduction of omnipotence, contact with
reality, and emotional control—all necessary elements for task-oriented work.
We could equally view the initial formation of the music group around the Teacher as
operating according to the basic assumption of dependency, ―as a group of adepts of an
idea or a person whose goodness is not questioned‖ (Grinberg, Sor, &De Blanchedi, 1991:
26). Gradually, now in a state of regression, the group began sliding toward the second
basic assumption of fight/flight, from which there began to circulate a conviction of the
existence of a common external enemy they had either to defend themselves against or flee
from. It is during this drift from one assumption to another that the greatest risk of violent
conduct might appear. At one point in the evolution of the group, when the Teacher was in
a state of disarray because of the desertion of his members, he considered moving to a
remote island with the few remaining members, where they could protect themselves
against ―imminent destruction.‖
As Volkan notes (2007), in situations of malignant regression —and therefore of group
folie—the risk of violent counter-action may increase if no account is taken of reactive
responses. We can see this in the Waco case, for example, where ATF agents interpreted
Koresh‘s discourse as an aggression against them and consequently decided to attack the
Mt. Carmel Center. Although we may also observe reactions of this type in a therapeutic
context, they acquire greater proportion in public situations in which the paranoid
decompensation of the leader leads him to interpret any external maneuver as an attack.
Therefore, it was essential for me to attend to my own emotions and reactions in the
situation with the music group.
Significantly, my counter-transferential responses (tension, claustrophobia, difficulty in
thinking straight) echoed the atmosphere in which the members of the music group were
living, as consciously and unconsciously transmitted to me by the family members. Having
the courage to experience these difficult feelings emboldened this working group to develop
an approach sufficiently intense to open a breach in the defensive bunker in which the
members had barricaded themselves around the Teacher.
In terms of the regression we mentioned earlier, we could say that the family members
were capable of entering into a process of benign regression, investing in me a minimum of
trust. This made it possible for us to organize a working group that deployed a network
intervention to gain access to the music group. The emotional reciprocity established over
time between the family members and me enabled them to try to feel the intensity of their
loved ones‘ experience rather than to defend against the pain of loss. Despite the fear and
skepticism with which they came to seek help, they managed to establish a sufficiently good
relationship with me to avoid a new, malignant regression centered on me. I had to work
with them to counter their idealization, which had to remain within realistic limits if we were
to accomplish the task of helping. In contrast to the blind trust that the Teacher demanded
of his pupils, my function in this multifamily context was to cultivate in the family members
and friends a basic confidence in their own abilities. This shifted them from a dependent
request for help to a more proactive stance with a basic confidence in their own abilities.
Psychoanalytic experience shows us how easy it is for a relationship to become malignant in
the absence of adequate recognition and use of counter-transference. It also shows us this
potential danger where the helping relationship serves the interest of the helper rather than
the interests of the individuals and the group. Various studies have shown us the psychotic
potential of groups and the risks of entering a situation of malignant regression and,
therefore, of folie, if the individuality and differences of group members are not respected.
Bion‘s concept of the psychotic personality is equally pertinent rather than a
psychopathological diagnosis, the term suggests a mental state that coexists alongside
another state, which Bion calls the non-psychotic personality. Among the central features of
from each person effort, tolerance of frustration, reduction of omnipotence, contact with
reality, and emotional control—all necessary elements for task-oriented work.
We could equally view the initial formation of the music group around the Teacher as
operating according to the basic assumption of dependency, ―as a group of adepts of an
idea or a person whose goodness is not questioned‖ (Grinberg, Sor, &De Blanchedi, 1991:
26). Gradually, now in a state of regression, the group began sliding toward the second
basic assumption of fight/flight, from which there began to circulate a conviction of the
existence of a common external enemy they had either to defend themselves against or flee
from. It is during this drift from one assumption to another that the greatest risk of violent
conduct might appear. At one point in the evolution of the group, when the Teacher was in
a state of disarray because of the desertion of his members, he considered moving to a
remote island with the few remaining members, where they could protect themselves
against ―imminent destruction.‖
As Volkan notes (2007), in situations of malignant regression —and therefore of group
folie—the risk of violent counter-action may increase if no account is taken of reactive
responses. We can see this in the Waco case, for example, where ATF agents interpreted
Koresh‘s discourse as an aggression against them and consequently decided to attack the
Mt. Carmel Center. Although we may also observe reactions of this type in a therapeutic
context, they acquire greater proportion in public situations in which the paranoid
decompensation of the leader leads him to interpret any external maneuver as an attack.
Therefore, it was essential for me to attend to my own emotions and reactions in the
situation with the music group.
Significantly, my counter-transferential responses (tension, claustrophobia, difficulty in
thinking straight) echoed the atmosphere in which the members of the music group were
living, as consciously and unconsciously transmitted to me by the family members. Having
the courage to experience these difficult feelings emboldened this working group to develop
an approach sufficiently intense to open a breach in the defensive bunker in which the
members had barricaded themselves around the Teacher.
In terms of the regression we mentioned earlier, we could say that the family members
were capable of entering into a process of benign regression, investing in me a minimum of
trust. This made it possible for us to organize a working group that deployed a network
intervention to gain access to the music group. The emotional reciprocity established over
time between the family members and me enabled them to try to feel the intensity of their
loved ones‘ experience rather than to defend against the pain of loss. Despite the fear and
skepticism with which they came to seek help, they managed to establish a sufficiently good
relationship with me to avoid a new, malignant regression centered on me. I had to work
with them to counter their idealization, which had to remain within realistic limits if we were
to accomplish the task of helping. In contrast to the blind trust that the Teacher demanded
of his pupils, my function in this multifamily context was to cultivate in the family members
and friends a basic confidence in their own abilities. This shifted them from a dependent
request for help to a more proactive stance with a basic confidence in their own abilities.
Psychoanalytic experience shows us how easy it is for a relationship to become malignant in
the absence of adequate recognition and use of counter-transference. It also shows us this
potential danger where the helping relationship serves the interest of the helper rather than
the interests of the individuals and the group. Various studies have shown us the psychotic
potential of groups and the risks of entering a situation of malignant regression and,
therefore, of folie, if the individuality and differences of group members are not respected.
Bion‘s concept of the psychotic personality is equally pertinent rather than a
psychopathological diagnosis, the term suggests a mental state that coexists alongside
another state, which Bion calls the non-psychotic personality. Among the central features of
