Center For Feeling Therapy

Center For Feeling Therapy

The Center for Feeling Therapy was an abusive psychotherapy group which was referred to as a cult by various sources. It was founded in 1971 in Los Angeles.

The Center was founded by former members of Arthur Janov's Primal Institute who were dissatisfied with what they felt were shortcomings in primal therapy. The Center started as an offshoot of primal therapy, but quickly abandoned primal therapy and subsequently went through many theoretical shifts, including an emphasis on dream analysis. At its peak it had 350 resident patients and 2,000 members including various branches.

Over time, the Center became cult-like and extremely abusive to its members. The abuse consisted of physical assault, sexual humiliation, verbal assault, financial abuse, excessive demands for ritual, inadequate rest, and enforced physical labor. The enforced physical labor was so severe that some members were permanently injured by it.

After nine years, the members rebelled against the center, leading to its closure in 1980. Some of the former members later sued the founding therapists in what was the largest psychology malpractice suit in California. They were represented by Paul Morantz, who specialized in suing cults.

The Center for Feeling Therapy was discussed in Therapy Gone Mad by Carol Lynn Mithers, a book based on interviews of 48 former patients of The Center for Feeling Therapy who shared diaries, notes and audiotapes with her. Another book on the subject is, Insane Therapy, Portrait of a Psychotherapy Cult by Marybeth Ayella.