Cultic Studies Journal, Vol. 2 No. 1 1985, Page 8
They complete their course of psychotherapy without changing their world view, without
giving up their religious beliefs and replacing them with those of their therapist, without
feeling they have joined a special all-encompassing club. They are content simply to have
their suffering diminished.
Cult groups, on the other hand, actually strive to have their members replace their own
world views and independence of judgment with a totalistic ideology that demands complete
adherence and uniformity among the members. To suggest that mainstream
psychotherapies in general take this stance is inaccurate. The behavior of cult groups is not
oriented toward helping the individual, but rather toward maintaining the convictions and
glory of the ―guru‖. The central fact is that the behavior of leaders of cult groups serves to
glorify their own power and personal status. Their goal is not to help the member to become
independent or to gain control over or insight into distressing symptoms or feelings. The
greater glory of the leader is achieved through the maintenance of the member‘s
dependency on the guru or organization. A psychotherapist who has such objectives would
be viewed by his professional peers as unfit and potentially destructive to the patient.
Summary
Kilbourne and Richardson propose that psychotherapy and the ―new religions‖ (cults) are
―functionally equivalent‖ Psychotherapy and the ―new religions‖ offer to ameliorate
emotional suffering. But so do the purveyors of drugs astrology, exercise and diet
programs, and vacation get-aways. They may all be ―competitors for a limited market,‖ to
use Kilbourne and Richardson‘s expression, but the critical question is what differentiates
them and their followers. Psychotherapy has some special attributes clinicians in their
professional groups have developed a set of ethical principles and practices to be used by
the practitioner in order to safeguard the patient‘s interest 2) careful clinical descriptions,
observations, theorizing, and systematic research efforts are continually being used to
evaluate the relative effectiveness of specific psychotherapeutic approaches with different
patient groups, thereby providing both the clinician and the public with an evaluative
yardstick and, 3) safeguards are taken to ensure that psychotherapists, formally licensed
by society (e.g., through the state in the United States), have carefully studied and continue
to study the results of these investigations and clinical observations. Clinical theory and
practice are rooted in the scientific method, and are open to public and professional scrutiny
and debate (Luborsky, 1984). Such research seeks to document patient improvement as
well as treatment ―casualties.‖ Psychotherapists are required to demonstrate competence in
the understanding of the body of knowledge that we have developed about human
psychological functioning and to apply that knowledge while following ethical guidelines.
To the extent currently possible, there is an attempt to base mainstream psychotherapies
on the scientific principles of intersubjective verifiability and the development of theoretical
formulations capable of prediction and modification based upon their ―fit‖ with independent
observation. Thus, mainstream psychotherapy seeks to harness the essential technological
power of the scientific approach. Clinical theory and practice are rooted in the scientific
study of human development and functioning (Note 4). There are constant challenges and
modifications to existing theory and leadership in the field.
As psychotherapists we become deeply involved in the lives of our patients. That being the
case, we recognize the need for a set of guiding ethics. We have a strong belief in the power
and utility of the scientific method the application of empirical research to clinical practice.
These values are in sharp contrast to the religious cult group notion of an absolute authority
who has the undisputed truth. Most religious cult leaders are self-appointed, messianic
persons who claim a special mission in life. Cult leaders center the members‘ veneration
upon themselves and are authoritarian in their power structure. The leader is regarded as
the supreme and final authority. There is ideological totalism (Note 5). Hence, Kilbourne

Cultic Studies Journal, Vol. 2 No. 1 1985, Page 9
and Richardson‘s attempt te characterize (mainstream) psychotherapies as merely an
alternative form of ―new religion‖ is puzzling to us. In their zealous pursuit of similarities,
they have failed to capture the profound differences that exist between psychotherapy and
the ―new religions.‖
Notes
(Note 1). These ―new religions‖ are consistently referred to as ―cults‖ in this journal and by
many, if not most, other authors. Calling them ―new religions‖ appears to be an attempt to
legitimize them and to put them on an equal footing with an accepted cultural institution,
psychotherapy. In this paper we are referring to the same phenomena when we use the
terms ―new religion‖ or ―cult.‖
(Note 2). ―Mainstream‖ refers to clinical psychotherapy practiced by licensed practitioners
following the guidelines and ethical principles set down by such major organizations as the
American Psychological Association, the American Psychiatric Association, and the National
Association of Social Workers.
(Note 3). We have deliberately chosen Temerlin and Temerlin‘s descriptions of extreme
examples of authoritarian treatment groups. This represents a ―worst case‖ analysis to show
how and under what conditions cult groups and authoritarian treatment groups could be
similar. Moreover, the practices of such authoritarian leaders would be grounds for dismissal
from any major professional organization as well as loss of license. Coincidentally, the day
after we wrote thf last sentence our local daily paper, The Boston Globe (January 13, 1985),
reported that a psychologist was expellee from the American Psychological Association after
a former patient claimed that he ―...maintains a ‗dual relationship with individuals who are
both his patients and practicing therapist-members...‘ of the psychotherapy institute that ht
heads, ―...a practice considered unethical by the (American Psychological) association.‖ The
article also stated that the state licensing board was expected to issue an order asking the
psychologist ―to ‗show cause‘ why his state license t( practice psychology should not be
revoked‖ (p. 36).
(Note 4). For example, there is an active interplay between experimental findings in such
diverse areas as research on infancy and psychopharmacology, all of which have impact on
the nature of clinical theory and practice.
(Note 5). In this regard there appears to be two types of religious cults. One type, for
example, the Divine Light Mission (Guru Maharaj Ji), has an ideology which promotes a view
of the world as divided into camps, the ―ordinary‖ masses and the ―enlightened few with
knowledge‖. Such images may appeal to those recruits who suffer from a sense of shame
and inferiority as an integral part of a narcissistic defect. By contrast, the ideology of such
cult groups as the ―Moonies‖ or Scientologists promotes a view of the world as divided
between ―good‖ and ―evil‖ -those who favor God/Life versus Satan/Death. As Hoffer (1951)
points out, for such groups the strength of their movement ―is proportionate to the
vividness and tangibility of its devil‖ (p. 86). Such images may appeal to recruits who rely
upon more primitive paranoid defenses to cope with their anxiety (Olson, 1980).
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