Elizabeth Tylden
Encyclopedia
Elizabeth "Betty" Tylden (1 August 1917 – 3 February 2009) was a British psychiatrist who specialized in working with adult survivors of child abuse
, and those affected by religious cults and the use of mind control
techniques. She became known as a forensic psychiatrist who acted as an expert witness in many such cases from 1948 until her retirement in 2004.
, South Africa, where her father was given land after the Boer War
, but moved to England for her education. She attended Godolphin School
, Salisbury, and studied medicine at Girton College, Cambridge
.
. She worked with soldiers who were suffering from what was then known as "battle exhaustion," and people affected by The Blitz
, the bombing of British cities by the German airforce. From the 1980s onwards, she worked with former members of cults, including the Children of God and the International Church of Christ. She was often called as an expert witnesses in cases involving cults, and their exercise of what lawyers call "undue influence" over the membership using mind-control techniques. Some of these techniques sought to exercise what Tylden called totalitarian control over the members, leading to mental illness which sometimes involved delusions and hallucinations that led to a diagnosis of schizophrenia. Tylden argued that these patients were not psychotic, but were engaged in normal "survival reactions" to trauma. Psychologists now call such a response complex post-traumatic stress disorder
(C-PTSD). Tylden argued that psychoanalysis
and conventional psychotherapy, which seek causes in childhood, were inappropriate as treatment in such cases, and that relaxation therapy or hypnotic regression might return the patients to the mental state they were in in the cult, with its group singing, meditation, or other "group thought-reform patterns of behaviour," as the Telegraph puts it.
Other founder members included Henry Cornelius
, the film director, and Rowland Hilder
, the artist. Five of Tylden's children and grandchildren still live and work there.
Child abuse
Child abuse is the physical, sexual, emotional mistreatment, or neglect of a child. In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Department of Children And Families define child maltreatment as any act or series of acts of commission or omission by a parent or...
, and those affected by religious cults and the use of mind control
Mind control
Mind control refers to a process in which a group or individual "systematically uses unethically manipulative methods to persuade others to conform to the wishes of the manipulator, often to the detriment of the person being manipulated"...
techniques. She became known as a forensic psychiatrist who acted as an expert witness in many such cases from 1948 until her retirement in 2004.
Early life
Tylden was the daughter of Major Geoffrey Tylden, the military historian, and Cicily Abdy, daughter of Brigadier-General Abdy. She was born and raised in Appledore in the Orange Free StateOrange Free State
The Orange Free State was an independent Boer republic in southern Africa during the second half of the 19th century, and later a British colony and a province of the Union of South Africa. It is the historical precursor to the present-day Free State province...
, South Africa, where her father was given land after the Boer War
Boer War
The Boer Wars were two wars fought between the British Empire and the two independent Boer republics, the Oranje Vrijstaat and the Republiek van Transvaal ....
, but moved to England for her education. She attended Godolphin School
Godolphin School
The Godolphin School is an independent boarding school for girls at Salisbury in Wiltshire, England, founded in 1726. The school educates some 430 girls between the ages of eleven and eighteen.-History:...
, Salisbury, and studied medicine at Girton College, Cambridge
Girton College, Cambridge
Girton College is one of the 31 constituent colleges of the University of Cambridge. It was England's first residential women's college, established in 1869 by Emily Davies and Barbara Bodichon. The full college status was only received in 1948 and marked the official admittance of women to the...
.
Interest in trauma and cult membership
According to The Daily Telegraph, she first became interested in mental trauma when she worked as a registrar in London during the Second World War under the psychiatrist William SargantWilliam Sargant
William Walters Sargant was a controversial British psychiatrist who is remembered for the evangelical zeal with which he promoted treatments such as psychosurgery, deep sleep treatment, electroconvulsive therapy and insulin shock therapy.Sargant studied medicine at St John's College, Cambridge,...
. She worked with soldiers who were suffering from what was then known as "battle exhaustion," and people affected by The Blitz
The Blitz
The Blitz was the sustained strategic bombing of Britain by Nazi Germany between 7 September 1940 and 10 May 1941, during the Second World War. The city of London was bombed by the Luftwaffe for 76 consecutive nights and many towns and cities across the country followed...
, the bombing of British cities by the German airforce. From the 1980s onwards, she worked with former members of cults, including the Children of God and the International Church of Christ. She was often called as an expert witnesses in cases involving cults, and their exercise of what lawyers call "undue influence" over the membership using mind-control techniques. Some of these techniques sought to exercise what Tylden called totalitarian control over the members, leading to mental illness which sometimes involved delusions and hallucinations that led to a diagnosis of schizophrenia. Tylden argued that these patients were not psychotic, but were engaged in normal "survival reactions" to trauma. Psychologists now call such a response complex post-traumatic stress disorder
Complex post-traumatic stress disorder
Complex post-traumatic stress disorder is a psychological injury that results from protracted exposure to prolonged social and/or interpersonal trauma with lack or loss of control, disempowerment, and in the context of either captivity or entrapment, i.e. the lack of a viable escape route for the...
(C-PTSD). Tylden argued that psychoanalysis
Psychoanalysis
Psychoanalysis is a psychological theory developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries by Austrian neurologist Sigmund Freud. Psychoanalysis has expanded, been criticized and developed in different directions, mostly by some of Freud's former students, such as Alfred Adler and Carl Gustav...
and conventional psychotherapy, which seek causes in childhood, were inappropriate as treatment in such cases, and that relaxation therapy or hypnotic regression might return the patients to the mental state they were in in the cult, with its group singing, meditation, or other "group thought-reform patterns of behaviour," as the Telegraph puts it.
Child and family psychiatry
She became a child and family psychiatrist at Bromley Hospital in 1949, and a consultant in 1960. She also worked part-time at University College Hospital, establishing England's first drug abuse clinic. She was involved in drafting the Guidelines of Good Clinical Practice in the Treatment of Drug Misuse published in 1984 by the Department of Health.St Julian's
Tylden married George Douglas Morgan, also a psychiatrist, on 30 November 1944, and together with other professional couples they bought St Julians in 1951, a large country house near Sevenoaks, Kent— established as a private members' club in 1956—where they created an experimental communal household in which families, including professional women, could live and work while having their children looked after in the house's nursery.Other founder members included Henry Cornelius
Henry Cornelius
Henry Cornelius was a South African-born film director, producer and screenwriter. He directed five films between 1949 and 1958.-Biography:...
, the film director, and Rowland Hilder
Rowland Hilder
Rowland Frederick Hilder OBE was an English marine and landscape artist and book illustrator. He has been called 'the Turner of his generation', and according to the Dictionary of National Biography 'The description "Rowland Hilder country" evokes a landscape as distinctive and personal as...
, the artist. Five of Tylden's children and grandchildren still live and work there.
Further reading
- St Julians Club website, accessed 9 March 2010.
- Belsey, Jonathan (2009). Remembering Betty Tylden, British Medical Journal, 28 October 2009, accessed 10 March 2010.
- Tylden, Elizabeth (2005). A memory of the war, BBC, 5 August 2005, accessed 10 March 2010.