Cult and Not-Cult: Warning from the Sullivanians

This review of “The Sullivanians” examines cult dynamics. A psychotherapy cult based on the work of Harry Stack Sullivan exploited and controlled their members through the induction of traumatized attachment states. Extreme dynamics associated with such cults seem inapplicable to ordinary non-cult organizations, such as psychoanalytic institutes. Understanding how underlying and emergent organizational properties, such as power, operate even in non-cult professional organizations can help institutes transform from environments that induce insecurity to facilitating environments.