Gaslighting, the double whammy, interrogation, and other methods of covert control in psychotherapy and analysis

304 Pages·1996·11.868 MB·English

by  Dorpat, Theodore L

Gaslighting,
the Double Whammy,
Interrogation, and
Other Methods of Covert Control
in Psychotherapy and Analysis

Gaslighting,
the Double Whammy,
Interrogation, and
Other Methods of Covert Control
in Psychotherapy and Analysis
THEO. L. DORPAT, M.D.
JASON ARONSON INC.
Northvale, New Jersey
London
This book was set in 11 pt. Berkeley Book by Alpha Graphics of Pittsfield, New Hamp
shire, and printed and bound by Book-man of North Bergen, New Jersey.
Copyright © 1996 by Jason Aronson Inc.
10 9 8 7 6 54 3 2 1
All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No pan of this book may be
used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission from Jason
Aronson Inc. except in the case of brief quotations in reviews for inclusion in a maga
zine, newspaper, or broadcast.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Dorpat, Theodore L
Gaslighting, the double whammy, interrogation, and other methods
of covert control in psychotherapy and analysis I Theo. L Dorpat.
p. em.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-56821-828-1
l. Psychoanalysis-Moral and ethical aspects. 2. Control
(Psychology) 3. Psychotherapist and patient-Moral and ethical
aspects. 4. Mental suggestion-Moral and ethical aspects.
5. Brainwashing. 6. Manipulative behavior. I. Title.
[DNLM: 1. Power (Psychology) 2. Psychotherapy.
3. Psychoanalysis-methods. WM 420 D715i 19961
RCS06.D668 1996
616.89'14-dc20
DNLMIDLC
for Library of Congress 96-14098
Manufactured in the United States of America. Jason Aronson Inc. offers books and cas
settes. For information and catalog write to Jason Aronson Inc., 230 Livingston Street,
Northvale, New Jersey 07647.
To my wife, Doris,
and my daughter, joanne Halverson,
gratefully.
For those who stubbornly seek freedom, there can be
no more urgent task than to come to understand the
mechanisms and practices of indoctrination. These are
easy to perceive in the totalitarian societies, much less
so in the system of "brainwashing under freedom" to
which we are subjected and which all too often we serve
as willing or unwitting instruments.
Noam Chomsky, 1987
Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction and Overview xi
Part I
Covert Methods of Interpersonal Control and
Other Indoctrination Methods
l Covert Methods of Interpersonal Control 3
2 On Gaslighting: How to Dominate Others 31
without Their Knowledge or Consent
3 On Questioning Used as a Covert Method 47
of Interpersonal Control
Part II
Studies of Psychotherapy and
Psychoanalytic Treatment Cases
Subjected to Indoctrination Methods
4 The "Mad Scientist"-A Microanalysis of 77
One Analytic Hour
viii CONTENTS
5 The Effects of Indoctrination Methods- 97
Six Case Studies
6 The Wolf Man's Analysis- 123
An Interactional Perspective
7 What Did Dora Want? The Abuse of Power 139
in Freud's Analysis of Dora
8 The Two Analyses of Mr Z-Revisited 159
9 Some Comparisons between What Occurs in 179
Cults and in Psychoanalytic Treatment
Carried Out with Indoctrination Methods
10 Psychoanalytic and Management Approaches: 195
A Comparative Analysis
Part III
Remedies and Correctives
11 Steps toward a Non-Directive Approach in 225
Psychoanalytic Treatment
References 255
Credits 267
Index 269
Acknowledgments
I would like to express my appreciation and gratitude to the fol
lowing colleagues who provided me with valuable criticisms
and recommendations for the preparation of this manuscript: Dr.
Maxine Anderson, Dr. Katalina Bartok, Dr. Robert Bergman, Dr.
Austin Case, Dr. Margaret Crastnopol, Dr. Raelene Gold, Dr. Mel
Knight, Dr. Robert Langs, Dr. Stanley S. Mandell, Dr. Karol
Marshall, Dr. Paul Ornstein, Dr. James Raney, Dr. David Rowlett,
Dr. Robert Stolorow, Dr. Max Sucharov, and above all, Dr. Michael
Miller, who carefully checked the entire manuscript.
I am especially grateful to Ms. Jean Keating for editing and
preparing the manuscript.