The Road Less Traveled
    A New Psychology of Love, Traditional Values and Spiritual Growth
M. Scott Peck, M.D.

The Case of Kathy

- Kathy was most frightened patient Peck had ever seen
- Kathy was 20 yrs old
    - No problems with marriage
    - Close to her parents
    - Never any psychiatric difficulty before
- Chanting, very religious
- Had allowed mother to totally dominate her
    - She had to reject mother's domination
    - Face the process of establishing her own values and making her own decisions
    - Much safer to let her mother make the decisions
    - Much simpler to adopt her mother's values and those of the church
- Much more work to direct her own existence

- Church not sole cause of Kathy's neurosis
    - Only a tool used by her mother
    - No nun or priest ever encouraged her to question religious doctrine or to think for herself in any way
- Kathy's church made no effort to help her establish her own personal religion

Kathy grew up dominated by her mother.  She accepted her mother's beliefs as her own and never learned how to create her own personal world view.