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Outlook: The downfall of 'The Screamers'

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The downfall of "The Screamers"

17/10/2020 GMT

The downfall of 'The Screamers'

BBC World Service - Outlook, The downfall of 'The Screamers'

Atlantis was a fringe psychotherapy commune who moved to guerrilla controlled Colombia

Atlantis was a fringe psychotherapy commune who practised primal screaming. When they moved to guerrilla controlled Colombia, things turned violent.

If you visited the controversial Atlantis commune in southern Colombia back in the 1990s, you’d have probably heard some disturbing noises. The group practised primal screaming, a form of psychotherapy which seeks to address childhood pain. They’d hold confrontational group sessions, where they were encouraged to direct their anger at each other, hoping to develop themselves psychologically in the process. 

The commune had started in London, founded by a therapist called Jenny James. They’d made the move to South America to be closer to nature, and they’d settled on a forested area of Colombia controlled by left wing Farc guerrillas. At first Atlantis coexisted with the Farc, but as the Colombian civil war intensified the guerrillas became more hostile, and when violence broke out it pulled the commune apart.  
 
Presenter: Faye Planer
Producer: Harry Graham

Picture: The Atlantis commune in Southern Colombia
Credit: BBC

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