This article is an electronic version of an article originally published in Cultic Studies Journal, 1985, Volume 2, Number 1, pages 2-16. Please keep in mind that the pagination of this electronic reprint differs from that of the bound volume. This fact could affect how you enter bibliographic information in papers that you may write.
 

Psychotherapy And The “New Religions”: Are They The Same?

Daniel Kriegman, Ph.D.
Leonard Solomon, Ph.D.

Abstract

Kilbourne and Richardson (1984) propose that cult groups (which they refer to as “new religions”) and psychotherapy are “functionally equivalent” and essentially the same. In this paper, we critically examine their logic and conclusions. The cult group seeks to lock the member into a highly dependent relationship to the leader, thereby foreclosing the member’s further growth and development. Psychotherapy seeks to utilize and resolve a patient’s natural yearning for a dependent nurturant relationship with the therapist in order to lead to greater internal freedom and personal autonomy. By critically examining the deeper level differences, this paper serves to illuminate the importance of distinguishing between such phenomena. There are, for example, profound differences between the manipulative techniques of social influence and control exercised by cults and the societally sanctioned and ethically applied techniques inherent in the curative process of psychotherapy.
 

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