Therafields:
The Rise and Fall of Lea Hindley-Smith’s
Psychoanalytic Commune
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by Grant Goodbrand
ECW Press, Toronto, 2010
300 pp., illus, $32.95 hardcover
Therafields is the remarkable story of a unique commune that flourished in the Toronto area in the 1970s. Founded by the charismatic Lea Hindley-Smith, who had no formal training in psychoanalysis, the community had nine hundred followers and a flourishing real estate empire that included houses, farms, and vacation property.
Many of those involved lived communally and were engaged in intensive group therapy while building and running a large organic farm and other enterprises. But like many communes of that era, this one was destined to founder. Scandal, infighting, financial collapse, and the matriarch’s own physical and mental breakdown sealed Therafield’s fate.
The book is written by a former insider who admires Hindley-Smith’s apparent intuitive genius but spares no criticism when describing the weaknesses of her movement. Among the most devastating faults was the fact that despite Hindley-Smith’s insistence on complete honesty from her followers, she had fabricated her own life story and her credentials. The final chapter contains surprising revelations about who Hindley-Smith really was.
Therafields is at times heavy with the historic minutiae of administration and finance, but when the story turns to the triumphs and tragedies of the main characters involved it makes for good reading.
— Nelle Oosterom (Read bio)
Nelle Oosterom is the Senior Editor of Canada's History magazine.