After watching the terrific new film, “Spotlight”, it occurred to me that there are similarities between this movie’s theme and that of the classic 1940’s movie “Gaslight” (where the husband attempts to drive his wife mad by invalidating her perception of reality)  and even to  the ‘investigative reporting’  in my own book, “Emotional Incest in Group Psychotherapy—A Conspiracy of Silence”.                    The premise of all three is that abuses of power, by revered authority figures  leads to the psychological, and at times, to the physical deterioration of its victims.  Incest, whether it is emotional or physical, is always  a secret.  Secrets are about power and control. Abuses of power and betrayal of trust occur together. The unspoken directive to the victim is: “Don’t talk about it!” The  process of  a systemic cover-up is so formidable that only an outsider is in the position to expose the conspiracy of silence. The maintenance of the status quo requires complicity  throughout all levels of the social system whether that system is as small as a family, an analytic training  institute or as large as The Catholic Church.  In the movie “Spotlight”, it was made clear that in addition to the Church, the victim’s family and friends colluded to protect the predators .  A conspiracy of silence cannot exist without this collusion.                                                                                                                                          Just like Brian Cameron (Joseph Cotton), the hero of “Gaslight”, the Spotlight team of the Boston Globe confronted the conspiracy of silence and gave brave victims the chance to come forward and tell their stories; thus providing them with the relief of talking about their pain and the opportunity to begin the healing process.