Healing through social and spiritual affiliation.

Abstract

Two very different approaches can be employed to promote recovery from psychiatric disorders. One approach is grounded in an understanding of individual psychopathology, and it is clearly central to contemporary care. The second approach to recovery, which is based on group psychology and the support derived from participation in a group, can also be valuable in promoting recovery. In examining this second approach, I consider Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and other movements that operate through social and ideologically grounded support. The term “spiritual recovery movement” (1) can be applied to them. On the basis of studies that I and my colleagues have conducted, I describe a psychological model to clarify the operation of such groups. Charismatic groups Social and spiritual recovery can be considered from the perspective of naturally occurring, highly cohesive, and religiously oriented cultic groups, two of which I have studied. One was the Divine Light Mission, headed by a guru who began preaching at the age of six in his native India. Members’ responses to a research questionnaire indicated a reduction in their symptoms of psychological distress after they joined the group, and the extent of the reduction was significantly correlated with the intensity of the social cohesiveness a member felt toward the group (2). Further clarification of the psychology of cultic groups emerged from our studies of the Unification Church, the “Moonies.” Using two scales I found that the stronger an individual’s affiliative feelings toward the group, the greater his or her psychological wellbeing (3). A study of long-term members who were matched to their future spouses by the Reverend Moon