Therafields: The Rise and Fall of Lea Hindley-Smith's Psychoanalytic Commune

by Grant Goodbrand

?At one point in the 1970s, 900 people were engaged with a therapeutic community in Toronto. Living together, and sharing emotional problems, the participants helped to create an institution owning houses, farms, and buildings. Therafields, the largest urban commune in Canada, was created by Lea Hindley-Smith, a woman from England with no formal training in therapy. But she exuded an astounding charisma, and developed ardent followers. Initially, students and faculty from St. Michael’s College, University of Toronto, were drawn to her, and gradually the word spread that this woman had enormous power to listen, and to heal. Carpenters, poets, teachers, lost souls — they all found a home in Toronto’s Annex neighbourhood. And according to one of her followers at the time, Lea “was a gifted healer, a real estate entrepreneur – and, as it turned out, a woman stalked by madness.” When the real estate market turned sour in the late 1970s, the financial structure began to crumble. At the same time, Hindley-Smith’s health started to fail, and by the early 1980s the movement had collapsed. Here, Grant Goodbrand reveals the behind-the-scenes story of Therafields.

270 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 2010

Reviews

[Deanne Rainbird · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating book, but probably the reason I found it fascinating is that I was a member of Therafields from about 1971 to 1974. Grant did a great job researching the community, but it may not be that interesting to a non-member. I don't believe Therafields was ever a cult. Yes, it did have a charismatic leader in Lea Hindley-Smith, and yes, many of us thought she was a queen, but it would be more accurate to say that it was a community, not a cult.

[Ian Mathers · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not really sure what star rating to give this, honestly. I got it out of the library because I'm friends with a couple of people who are related to some of the people depicted, and when they told me about Therafields and that there was a book about it, I couldn't resist. The people I know told me that their relatives had declined to be interviewed for this book, but had read it and while they sometimes disagreed with details, acknowledged that the basic picture was correct. Muddying the water further, Goodbrand himself was a member of the commune who had a significant role in it, and (at least to this reader) seems to be forthright about his opinions at the time about what was going on, including in cases where he can now see he was wrong. He neither pulls punches about what he thought were mistakes, nor does he seek to villify anyone; befitting the commune's original ethos, he seems to be writing this from a distance where he understands pretty much everyone's motivations.

So on the one hand, none of the writing here is deathless, and this is (to those not directly involved at the time) a fairly small part of local history, albeit an intriguing one. On the other, how many situations like this get even this level of history written about them? If Therafields was a cult, or had cultlike aspects, it's surely one of the only cults in history to return everyone's money to them when things fell apart. That's not to ignore the harm that was caused (although this is mostly on the part of one person, and as written here it seems likely he could have done just as much damage if he'd taught at a public school instead) or to defend any of it, just to point out that the commune itself mostly comes off as being a positive or at least neutral experience for most of the members. And of course then you could ask whether Goodbrand is biased, but he does a good enough job admitting frankly that he is and then still giving a seemingly warts and all depiction that it feels balanced.

So a slight, but generally engaging read. If you tangentially know some of the people involved, like I did, that definitely bumps it up a notch, as would being interested in communes/the history of Toronto/psychotherapy/etc. While that probably indicates a fairly small readership, this is the kind of book I'm glad exists - how else is this history going to get preserved?

[Virginia Van · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author traces the history of Therafields, with a therapeutic community in Toronto, in which in the in 1970s, some 900 people were engaged. Living together in homes in Toronto's Annex area and in a farm outside the city, the participants created the largest urban commune in Canada. The founder was Lea Hindley-Smith, a charismatic English woman with little training in therapy who none the less created a group of ardent followers. In the beginning, many were students and faculty from St. Michael’s College, University of Toronto. With time, the group appealed to the '70s counter culture with younger people embracing the farm life and moving away from the organizations therapeutic psychoanalytic roots. As Hindley-Smith’s health started to fail and the economy went bad in the early 1980s the movement had collapsed. Goodbrand was a member of Therafields from its beginning and tells the story of the organization's rise and fall. The author tends to use a lot of psychological theory and jargon in his writing and he is perhaps not always totally objective in his analysis; however, this book is an interesting look at a forgotten period of Toronto's history.

[Julia · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was very interesting to read and learn about this Toronto community of psychotherapists, which affected many people and radically changed some of them. This book will also be useful for those interested in learning about group dynamics and cults.

[Gv · Rating 2 out of 5]

i give two stars, which are only given because the topic of the book is so interesting and this book is almost the only thing i can find about it. As for the writing: poor style (boring, especially in the second part of the book when almost 75% of the text is about the finances of Therafields) and above anything else the desperate ... how to say that... lack of historical science? There are no sources or footnotes or acknowledgement that the author (who was part of Therafield) is actually not all-knowing. This really bothered me while reading, as I felt that many things and interpretations, while being potentially true, were just that, unsubstantiated interpretations presented as truths.
However... the book has the advantage of existing and it did make me curious about the whole Therafields story and I hope I'll learn more about it (I mean: psychoanalysis+commune+post-vatican 2 priests+organic farming= wt* was that?!?!?)
Warning: I may have a bias against the book due to my intense distrust of psychoanalysis... don't trust me!

[Kelsey · Rating 1 out of 5]

i was really excited when i picked up this book at the library; i live in an intentional farm community and find the idea of a psychoanalytic commune very interesting.

but, to put it plainly, this book is terribly written.