Cult Leader and his Devotees in the NXIVM Сase: A Psychoanalytic Perspective

Psychoanalysis of leadership

Abstract

The article is devoted to the analysis of the phenomenon of relations of the cult leader with his followers using the apparatus of psychoanalytic theory; the empirical study is conducted on the material of the cult NXIVM. The relationship between the cult leader and his followers has a dynamic nature and most often has a painful pathological character of domination and subordination. Using the optics of psychoanalytic theory in the article the author tries to find out what is the peculiarity of psychopathology of the cult leader; how the leader gets unlimited power over his followers; what is the role of the shame emotion in the psychological history of the leader and followers.