New Acropolis (Livraga)

1. Introduction

Version followed: New Acropolis as its national branches currently describe themselves (International Organization New Acropolis, IONA, with member associations), plus the introductory philosophy course as advertised by its London branch and described in one participant's personal blog account [uncertain: personal account]; critical material only as parliamentary and news sources are reported to state it.

What it is. New Acropolis (Nueva Acrópolis) is an international non-profit organisation that presents itself as a school of philosophy working in three areas: philosophy, culture and volunteering. Its US branches state it was founded in 1957 in Buenos Aires, Argentina, has "opened centers in more than 60 countries", and "is not affiliated to any religion or political party" [source: New Acropolis Chicago, Idealist profile]. The founder is Jorge Ángel Livraga Rizzi (1930–1991), an Argentine writer and lecturer who had been a member of the Argentine Theosophical Society before founding the school [uncertain: secondary, unverified]. Its India branch describes itself as an independent member of IONA, whose structure respects "the diversity, autonomy and initiative of each of its member associations" [source: New Acropolis India-affiliated page]. This is an organisation, not a therapy: this guide describes the organisation as it publishes itself and then gives the psychotherapist's procedures for clients who are members, are considering joining or leaving, have left, or are family members of members.

Its own account of change. New Acropolis states three principles: international fraternity grounded in respect for human dignity across racial, cultural, religious and social differences; the love of wisdom through the comparative study of philosophies, religions, sciences and arts; and the development of human potential so that people take a conscious, active part in society and nature [source: New Acropolis Chicago, Idealist profile]. The London course was advertised as treating philosophy as "a practical discipline" for leading "an authentic life" [source: London course listing, 2013]. In this framing, change comes from studying classical and Eastern wisdom traditions, applying them to one's character, and serving through culture and volunteering. Scholars are reported to describe the teaching as eclectic (Greek and Eastern philosophy, Neoplatonism, Hermeticism, Theosophy, esotericism, alchemy and astrology), with an expected difficult transition into an Age of Aquarius [uncertain: secondary, unverified].

The psychotherapist's core idea. The client's involvement is understood through what it means and does in their life (belonging, purpose, study, service, identity) and through the costs it carries (time, money, relationships, freedom to question). The therapist neither endorses nor dismisses the teaching, helps the client make informed, freely chosen decisions about their involvement, and treats any distress clinically on its own terms [synthesis].

Evidence status (one line). Esoteric and astrological claims in the curriculum (for example, cycles of history read from Indian ages and the zodiac, as one participant describes them) are claims of the tradition; no controlled research supports astrological prediction of historical or personal events [uncertain: not verified]. [source: one participant's personal blog account, 2015; uncertain: personal account]

2. Framework

2a. The organisation's published pathway

Entry: open events. Branches run public talks, philosophy seminars (including for World Philosophy Day), cultural events and volunteering activities [source: New Acropolis Chicago, Idealist profile; uncertain: secondary, unverified for World Philosophy Day].
Introductory course. The London branch advertised "Philosophy – The Art of Living" as 16 weekly sessions, with a free first evening of 2 hours 30 minutes, and a fee of £130 (£95 concession) in 2013 [source: London course listing, 2013; fees and format may have changed]. In the US the introductory course has been offered under the name "Explorations"; one participant describes 16 weeks containing 13 lectures, two brief one-to-one sessions with the instructor and one session of exercises with classmates, presented as a way for non-members to decide whether to join [source: one participant's personal blog account, 2015; uncertain: personal account].
Course content as one participant reports it. Part 1 ("know thyself"): models of the human being, such as a Greek body–soul–mind model and an Indian seven-layered model; Part 2: society and the individual's role in it; Part 3: a philosophy of history; further lectures on Buddhism (Four Noble Truths, Eightfold Path), Tibetan Buddhism drawing mainly on Blavatsky, Plato's forms of government, and astrological cycles [source: one participant's personal blog account, 2015; uncertain: personal account]. The organisation's own curriculum is not published in the sources consulted [uncertain: not verified].
After the introduction: membership and further study. Advanced courses reportedly include psychology, history of philosophy and symbology [uncertain: secondary, unverified]. Members' bylaws are reported to require regular volunteering (a monthly minimum of hours, with more for members who cannot pay monthly fees) [uncertain: secondary, unverified].
Structure and leadership. IONA groups national member associations with a governing board of their representatives and a decentralised financial system, as reported from the organisation's own resolutions; Delia Steinberg Guzmán is reported as honorary president and Carlos Adelantado Puchal as president from 2020 [uncertain: secondary, unverified]. A 1976 leaders' handbook (Manual del Dirigente), as summarised by secondary sources, described a pyramidal hierarchy of commands and councils from a world command down to branch chiefs [uncertain: secondary, unverified]; whether that structure still applies is not established in current published sources [uncertain: not verified].
Founder's books. Livraga's published works are reported to include a novel about initiation in Atlantis (Ankor, el discípulo, 1972), a first-course manual (Manual de primer curso, 1978) and an esoteric study of nature spirits (1985), among others [uncertain: secondary, unverified].

2b. The psychotherapist's phases [synthesis]

No source gives session counts or a therapy protocol for this population; the phases below are clinical synthesis and their length follows the client's needs.

Engagement and position-finding. Goal: learn where the client stands (curious newcomer, committed member, member with doubts, recent leaver, long-term ex-member, worried relative) and what they want from therapy. Move on when the client's own goal is stated in their words.
Assessment and formulation. Goal: cultural formulation of the client's involvement; mapping time, money, roles and relationships in the group; screening for coercive-control indicators, mood, anxiety, trauma and psychotic symptoms without treating belief as pathology. Move on when you and the client share a written formulation that includes what the involvement gives and what it costs.
Working phase (by position). Members: values clarification, boundary-setting and informed choice. Doubters: decisional work at the client's pace. Leavers: grief, identity reconstruction, rebuilding networks, meaning-making, trauma treatment where indicated. Families: maintaining connection and reducing conflict. Move on when the presenting goals are met or the client's position changes (re-formulate if it does).
Consolidation and ending. Goal: relapse-prevention-style plans for pressure points (recruitment approaches, anniversaries, contact from former peers), a support network outside therapy, and an ending that models a non-hierarchical, freely chosen relationship.

3. Guiding principles

Describe, do not label. Use the client's and the organisation's own words ("school", "course", "member", "volunteering"); quote critical labels only when attributed. Practical meaning: never call the group a "cult" in your own voice or in notes [synthesis].
Neutrality about belief, clarity about harm. The teaching is the client's to accept or reject; what you assess is functioning, freedom of choice and safety. Practical meaning: ask "how is this affecting your life?" rather than "is this true?" [synthesis].
Client self-determination. Joining, staying, reducing involvement or leaving are the client's decisions. Practical meaning: no exit agendas, no recruitment, no persuasion either way [synthesis].
Meaning first. Many people join for real goods: study, friendship, purpose, service, culture. Practical meaning: name and respect these before exploring costs, and help a leaver keep what was valuable [synthesis].
Attend to power. The organisation is described in secondary sources as hierarchical with teacher–student formalities [uncertain: secondary, unverified]. Practical meaning: ask about authority relationships specifically (who decides, what happens if you disagree) [synthesis].
Evidence-based reporting of controversy. Parliamentary listings, government statements and news reports are reported as what those bodies said, with dates; the organisation's responses are given too. Practical meaning: if a client asks "is it dangerous?", share what named sources said and what you observe in their own life, not a verdict [synthesis].
Cultural humility and spiritual competence. The client's spiritual and philosophical life is part of their culture. Practical meaning: use the Cultural Formulation Interview and its spirituality, religion and moral traditions supplementary module [uncertain: not verified]; draw on published spiritual and religious competencies for psychologists (Vieten et al., 2013) [uncertain: not verified].
No dual role. The therapist is not a teacher, initiator, fellow student or opponent of the group in therapy. Practical meaning: do not attend the client's courses, debate the curriculum, or teach philosophy in session; disclose and manage any personal connection to the group or its critics [synthesis; see the profession's ethics code, https://www.apa.org/ethics/code, uncertain: not verified].
Do not reproduce internal material. Internal handbooks and member-only teachings are discussed only as the client chooses to describe them; the therapist does not seek out or circulate confidential material [synthesis].
Safeguarding over neutrality where children are involved. Practical meaning: concerns about a child's welfare are handled under local safeguarding law regardless of the family's beliefs [synthesis].
Diagnosis without pathologising. Where distress meets no disorder threshold, ICD-10-CM Z65.8 ("Other specified problems related to psychosocial circumstances") lists "Religious or spiritual problem" as an inclusion term [source: Unbound Medicine ICD-10-CM Z65.8]; DSM-5-TR wording [uncertain: not verified].

4. Intervention inventory

New Acropolis publishes no therapeutic procedures; its own activities (lectures, study, cultural events, group exercises, volunteering) are described in section 2a. The interventions below are the psychotherapist's procedures for working with clients connected to the organisation. Unless a source is tagged, they are clinical synthesis [synthesis].

4.1 Position-finding and goal-setting

Purpose / when: First session(s), with anyone who mentions New Acropolis, to learn their relationship to it and what they want from therapy.
Steps: (1) Ask an open question about the group's place in their life. (2) Place them, with them, on a simple map: interested, student on the introductory course, member, member with doubts, leaving, left, family member. (3) Ask what they want therapy to help with; record it in their words. (4) Clarify that you will not tell them to join, stay or leave.
Example language (illustrative): "You mentioned the philosophy school. Tell me what part it plays in your life right now, and what you would like our work to help with."
Watch for: Clients testing whether you will judge them (from either side); relief when neutrality is stated; a goal that is really a family member's goal. Working when the client states a goal of their own.

4.2 Meaning-of-involvement interview

Purpose / when: Early, and whenever involvement changes, to understand what the group gives the client.
Steps: (1) Ask how they first came (talk, course, cultural event, volunteering). (2) Ask what drew them and what kept them. (3) Explore which principles matter most to them (fraternity, love of wisdom, developing potential) [source: New Acropolis Chicago, Idealist profile]. (4) Ask what they have learned or valued (participants describe valuing the "know thyself" material and a friendly environment [source: one participant's personal blog account, 2015; uncertain: personal account]). (5) Summarise the goods back to the client.
Example language (illustrative): "What does studying there give you that you were not finding elsewhere?"
Watch for: Unmet needs (loneliness, loss, search for purpose) that the group meets; idealisation with no space for any reservation; or only negatives, which may reflect shame or anger. Working when the client can describe both what they value and what they wish were different.

4.3 Cultural Formulation Interview with the spirituality module

Purpose / when: Assessment phase, to place the involvement within the client's cultural, religious and family context.
Steps: Use the DSM-5-TR Cultural Formulation Interview core questions (cultural definition of the problem, perceptions of cause, context and support, help-seeking) and its supplementary module on spirituality, religion and moral traditions, in your own words [uncertain: not verified]. Ask about the client's family religion, how relatives view the group, and how the group's teaching shapes their understanding of their difficulty.
Example language (illustrative): "How would your teachers at the school understand what you are going through? And how would you put it yourself?"
Watch for: Conflicts between the group's frame and the family's religion; explanations of distress as a personal failing on the path; the client's own view being hard to separate from the group's. Working when the formulation includes the client's own explanation.

4.4 Involvement map: time, money, roles, relationships

Purpose / when: Assessment, and when the client reports strain, to make the practical footprint visible.
Steps: (1) On paper, list a typical week: classes, study, volunteering, cultural events, administrative roles. (2) List money spent: course fees (the London introductory course was advertised at £130 in 2013 [source: London course listing, 2013]), monthly fees, events, books, travel, donations. (3) List relationships inside and outside the group, and how often the client sees each. (4) Ask how each has changed since joining. (5) Ask which items the client chose freely and which feel required (bylaws reportedly set minimum monthly volunteering hours [uncertain: secondary, unverified]).
Example language (illustrative): "Let's sketch an ordinary week and month. I'm not judging any of it; I'd like us both to see the whole picture."
Watch for: Debt, missed work or study, neglected caring responsibilities, outside friendships shrinking, sleep loss. Working when the client sees the footprint clearly and can say which parts they want to keep.

4.5 Authority and dissent inquiry

Purpose / when: Assessment of coercive-control indicators, without labelling the group.
Steps: Ask, in neutral terms: (1) Who decides what you study, wear, do and when? (2) What happens when someone questions a teacher or leaves a class early? (Reported internal rules include a ban on criticising leaders, standing when a teacher enters, and formal dress at official events [uncertain: secondary, unverified]; ask about the client's actual experience rather than assuming these apply.) (3) Can you discuss doubts with outsiders? (4) Are you asked to keep any teachings or materials private? (5) Have you been told what will happen if you leave? Record answers verbatim.
Example language (illustrative): "If you strongly disagreed with something a teacher said, what would you do, and what do you think would happen?"
Watch for: Fear of consequences for questioning; secrecy from family; guilt or shame framed as spiritual failure; pressure linked to fees or volunteering; isolation. Absence of these is equally important to record. Working when the client can reflect on authority in the group without either defending or attacking it reflexively.

4.6 Differential assessment without pathologising belief

Purpose / when: Whenever unusual beliefs, intense fear or functional decline appear.
Steps: (1) Separate shared teaching from personal experience: a belief taught to the whole group (for example, a difficult coming Age of Aquarius [uncertain: secondary, unverified]) is a cultural belief, not a delusion. (2) Ask whether fellow members would recognise the client's version of the belief. (3) Screen for depression, anxiety, OCD-type scrupulosity (fear of moral or spiritual failure, compulsive checking of conduct), trauma symptoms, mania and psychosis using your usual measures. (4) Ask about sleep, eating and functioning. (5) Where distress is mainly about belief or community without disorder, consider ICD-10-CM Z65.8, which lists "Religious or spiritual problem" [source: Unbound Medicine ICD-10-CM Z65.8].
Example language (illustrative): "Is this something the others in your group would also say, or is it something you have come to on your own?"
Watch for: Idiosyncratic elaborations, command experiences, grandiosity, sleep collapse (consider urgent psychiatric review); apocalyptic fear driving panic or despair. Working when you can say what is shared belief and what is clinical problem.

4.7 Sharing publicly reported information on request

Purpose / when: Only when the client asks what is known about the organisation, or when informed consent to a major commitment is at stake.
Steps: (1) Ask what they already know and why they are asking. (2) Offer attributed facts with dates, for example: a French parliamentary commission (1995) and a Belgian parliamentary commission (1997) included the organisation in annexed lists of groups, and France abandoned public lists in 2005 [uncertain: secondary, unverified]; a 2014 news report quoted France's inter-ministerial anti-sect mission (MIVILUDES) as saying the government still regarded it as a "cult" under surveillance [uncertain: secondary, unverified]; a 2020 newsletter of the International Cultic Studies Association reported a Spanish research network's view of the group as "this esoteric cult" [source: ICSA Today 2020]; critics have alleged far-right sympathies, which the organisation officially rejects, condemning Nazism, racism and political extremism [uncertain: secondary, unverified]. (3) Give the organisation's own account alongside (non-political, non-religious, philosophy, culture and volunteering [source: New Acropolis Chicago, Idealist profile]). (4) Return to the client's own experience.
Example language (illustrative): "I can tell you what some official bodies and journalists have said, with dates, and what the organisation says about itself. What matters most is how this fits with what you've seen."
Watch for: The client hearing information as your verdict; defensiveness; using information to bolster an already-made decision. Working when the client weighs sources and their own experience.

4.8 Values clarification and decisional balance

Purpose / when: Members with doubts, or anyone facing a major commitment (deeper membership, leadership role, large payment).
Steps: (1) Elicit the client's core values independent of the group. (2) List benefits and costs of staying, reducing involvement and leaving, in the client's words. (3) Rate importance, not just number. (4) Identify information still needed. (5) Agree that no decision is required in session.
Example language (illustrative): "Let's put down what each option would give you and cost you, as you see it. There's no deadline here."
Watch for: Urgency imposed from either side; a decision made to please the therapist; ambivalence that swings weekly (normal, keep it open). Working when the client can state a decision and their reasons in their own terms.

4.9 Boundary planning for continued involvement

Purpose / when: Clients who want to stay but reduce strain.
Steps: (1) From the involvement map, pick one limit (hours, money, a role). (2) Rehearse saying it to a teacher or coordinator. (3) Predict responses and plan replies. (4) Review what happened next session. (5) Treat the group's response as information.
Example language (illustrative): "What would a sustainable amount of volunteering look like for you this month? How would you put that to your coordinator?"
Watch for: Guilt after setting limits; pressure framed as spiritual failure; reports that the limit was respected (important, record it). Working when the client holds limits with manageable distress.

4.10 Practical planning for leaving

Purpose / when: Clients who have decided to leave.
Steps: (1) Clarify how they want to leave (stop attending, written resignation, conversation with a teacher). (2) List practical ties: payments, standing orders, roles, keys, materials, shared housing or work with members, social media groups. (3) Plan responses to contact from former peers. (4) Identify at least two outside supports for the first weeks. (5) Plan for anniversaries of group events and for recruitment-style approaches.
Example language (illustrative): "What are the practical threads that still connect you, and which do you want to cut first?"
Watch for: Fear of reprisal (assess realistically, document specifics); loneliness spike after leaving; urge to return during crisis. Working when ties are closed in the client's chosen order and supports are in place.

4.11 Post-departure grief and identity reconstruction

Purpose / when: Recent and long-term leavers.
Steps: (1) Name the losses: friends, routine, purpose, a worldview, status in the group. (2) Normalise mixed feelings (grief, relief, anger, embarrassment). (3) Sort the group's teachings into keep, discard and undecided piles in the client's own judgment. (4) Explore who the client was before and wants to be now. (5) Build new sources of meaning (study, art, service) chosen freely.
Example language (illustrative): "It makes sense to miss parts of it and be angry about other parts. What from those years do you want to keep?"
Watch for: Black-and-white rejection of everything learned; shame about having joined ("how could I?"); depression. Working when the client can tell their story coherently, with both gains and losses.

4.12 Trauma-informed treatment for religious or group-related harm

Purpose / when: Leavers or members with intrusive memories, hypervigilance, guilt or fear tied to group experiences.
Steps: (1) Screen for PTSD and complex trauma. (2) Stabilise first (grounding, sleep, routine). (3) Use an evidence-based trauma therapy you are trained in, adapting language to avoid the group's terms if they are triggering. (4) Address guilt or shame cognitions about spiritual failure or betrayal of the group. (5) Address any internalised rules (dress, deference, speech) that still constrain daily life.
Example language (illustrative): "When that thought about letting the group down comes, what does it tell you about yourself? Let's look at it together."
Watch for: Re-traumatisation if processing starts before stability; dissociation in sessions. Working when intrusive symptoms fall and the client acts on their own rules.

4.13 Rebuilding the social network

Purpose / when: When most friends were in the group.
Steps: (1) Map current contacts outside the group. (2) Identify lapsed relationships the client wants to repair. (3) Plan small, regular contact steps. (4) Consider interest-based groups that meet needs the group met (philosophy reading groups, volunteering, cultural activities). (5) Discuss whether and how to stay in touch with friends still inside.
Example language (illustrative): "Which of the things you loved there could you find somewhere you choose freely?"
Watch for: Replacing one all-consuming group with another; isolation. Working when the client has several independent sources of contact.

4.14 Working with family members

Purpose / when: Parents, partners or adult children worried about a relative's involvement.
Steps: (1) Hear the family member's concerns and fears. (2) Clarify what they actually know versus fear. (3) Coach respectful, curious contact: ask about the relative's experience, avoid ultimatums and attacks on the group. (4) Keep the relationship warm and the door open. (5) Address the family member's own distress. (6) Discourage coercive interventions; if they ask about "deprogramming" or forced removal, explain that you cannot support coercion [synthesis].
Example language (illustrative): "Your relationship with your daughter is the most important thing you can protect right now. What would help her feel she can always talk to you?"
Watch for: Escalating conflict pushing the relative further in; family members seeking a diagnosis of the relative; confidentiality if both are clients (avoid seeing both individually). Working when contact is regular and less conflicted.

4.15 Children and safeguarding

Purpose / when: When a child is involved through a family member's membership or youth activities.
Steps: (1) Ask about the child's schooling, health care, friendships, rest and freedom to refuse activities. (2) Note any teaching given to minors that the child describes as frightening or demeaning (a 1997 Spanish press report alleged racist teaching to minors by a teacher connected to the group [uncertain: secondary, unverified]). (3) Apply local safeguarding procedures if there is a welfare concern. (4) Respect the child's assent and the parents' rights in non-harmful participation.
Example language (illustrative, to a parent): "Tell me what your son does there and how he feels about it."
Watch for: Restricted outside contact, missed medical care, fear-based discipline. Working when concerns are clarified or appropriately referred.

4.16 Working with course material the client brings

Purpose / when: When the client uses ideas from the course (Greek or Indian models of the self, Stoic or Buddhist ethics, concentration exercises, astrological cycles of history [source: one participant's personal blog account, 2015; uncertain: personal account]) to understand themselves.
Steps: (1) Ask what the idea means to them and how it helps. (2) Use it as reflective material in their words. (3) Where an idea drives distress (e.g., fear of a coming crisis), explore the feeling and the evidence they rely on. (4) Do not teach, correct or extend the doctrine.
Example language (illustrative): "You mentioned the idea of the self as several layers. Which layer feels most troubled at the moment?"
Watch for: The therapy turning into a philosophy seminar; the therapist being drawn into debate. Working when ideas serve the client's goals.

4.17 Referral and community resources

Purpose / when: When needs exceed your competence or the client wants peer support.
Steps: (1) Offer psychiatric review for psychotic, manic or severe depressive symptoms. (2) Offer trauma specialists. (3) Mention independent information or support networks for people affected by high-demand groups, such as the International Cultic Studies Association [source: ICSA Today 2020] and the Inform database founded at the LSE [uncertain: not verified]. (4) Offer legal or financial advice routes for disputes over money. (5) If the client wishes, involve leaders of their own religious community.
Example language (illustrative): "Some people find it helpful to talk with others who have been in similar groups. Would you like information about that?"
Watch for: Partisan resources that pressure the client; overload of information. Working when the client uses resources of their choosing.

4.18 Therapist self-check and boundaries

Purpose / when: Throughout.
Steps: (1) Note your own views about philosophy schools, esotericism and campaigners against new religious movements. (2) Disclose and manage any personal connection (membership, a relative inside, campaigning). (3) Do not attend group activities with the client or recruit/counter-recruit. (4) Seek consultation when you notice strong reactions. (5) Keep notes descriptive and free of labels.
Example language (illustrative): "I don't have a stake in whether you stay or go. My job is to help you see clearly and decide for yourself."
Watch for: Rescuing, contempt, or fascination. Working when supervision confirms balanced practice [synthesis; profession's ethics code at https://www.apa.org/ethics/code, uncertain: not verified].

5. Handling problems

All guidance in this section is clinical synthesis unless tagged; no source addresses therapy with this population specifically [synthesis].

Client defends the group and suspects you of hostility. Restate neutrality; ask what they have heard about therapists' views of groups like theirs; focus on their goals, not the group. Do not bring up controversy unless asked (4.7).
Client wants you to confirm the group is harmful (or harmless). Decline a verdict; offer attributed information (4.7) and return to their own observations: "What have you seen with your own eyes?"
Stuck ambivalence about leaving. Normalise; return to decisional balance (4.8); try a time-limited experiment (reduce hours for a month) rather than an all-or-nothing choice; review what the experiment showed.
Non-adherence to agreed limits. Explore what happened with curiosity (pressure, guilt, wanting to belong); revise the plan to something smaller (4.9); watch for shame that makes the client hide lapses from you.
Overwhelm after leaving. Slow the pace; prioritise sleep, routine, one or two safe contacts; postpone deep trauma processing until stable (4.12); assess suicide risk using standard practice if hopelessness is present, with crisis plans and lethal-means counselling as indicated.
Apocalyptic fear. Where the client fears a coming crisis taught as part of the tradition [uncertain: secondary, unverified], explore the fear rather than the doctrine; screen for anxiety and OCD-type patterns; if checking or reassurance-seeking dominate, consider exposure and response prevention as clinical guidelines describe it, with consent and pacing.
Rupture after a client feels judged. Name it, take responsibility for your part, invite correction, and re-check that your stance is neutral; consider supervision.
Family pressure on the therapy. If a relative demands you get the client out, clarify roles and confidentiality; offer the relative separate support (4.14) with another clinician.
Client reports serious wrongdoing (abuse, financial fraud, harm to minors). Follow local reporting and safeguarding duties; help the client access legal advice; document carefully. Name individuals in records only as the client reports them; do not make public statements.
Therapist's own reactions. Fascination with esoteric material, contempt, or a rescuing impulse: take to supervision (4.18).
Client invites you to an event or course. Decline warmly and explain why the boundary helps the work.
Client wants to integrate course practices into therapy. Work with meaning (4.16); do not lead or adopt the group's exercises in session.
Concerns about political material. If the client reports teaching that disturbs them (for example racist or authoritarian ideas), explore their reaction and values; record what they describe; do not attribute views to the whole organisation, which officially condemns racism and political extremism [uncertain: secondary, unverified].
Client seeks a diagnosis for being in the group. Explain that belonging to a philosophical or spiritual group is not a disorder; where relevant, describe Z65.8 "Religious or spiritual problem" [source: Unbound Medicine ICD-10-CM Z65.8].

Sources

Web pages:

New Acropolis Chicago – nonprofit profile (Idealist) – the organisation's own self-description, principles, founding, reach.
About New Acropolis (Empowering Real Change, New Acropolis India-affiliated) – IONA membership, member-association autonomy, centres in over 60 countries.
Philosophy – The Art of Living (London course listing, 2013) – introductory course format and fees, 2013.
One participant's personal blog account of the US "Explorations" introductory course (2015) [uncertain: personal account, unverified] – course structure and content as that participant describes them.
ICSA Today, vol. 11 no. 1 (2020), "Esoteric and New Age" news roundup
Z65.8 – Other specified problems related to psychosocial circumstances (Unbound Medicine, ICD-10-CM)
New Acropolis (Wikipedia) – secondary; used only for points marked [uncertain: secondary, unverified] (structure, leadership, parliamentary listings, MIVILUDES statement, bylaws, criticism and the organisation's response).
Jorge Ángel Livraga Rizzi (Wikipedia) – secondary; founder's dates, Theosophical background, books [uncertain: secondary, unverified].

Referenced but not verified:

French National Assembly commission of inquiry on sects (1995) and Belgian Chamber parliamentary inquiry (1997), listings as reported [uncertain: not verified].
2014 Vice (Spanish edition) report on a former member and MIVILUDES comment; 1997 El País report on teaching to minors [uncertain: not verified].
Scholarly profiles cited in secondary sources (Holland in Melton & Baumann, Religions of the World, 2010; Clarke, New Religions in Global Perspective, 2006; Goodrick-Clarke, Black Sun, 2003; Abgrall, Soul Snatchers, 2007) [uncertain: not verified].
DSM-5-TR Cultural Formulation Interview and its spirituality, religion and moral traditions module [uncertain: not verified].
Vieten, C., et al. (2013). Spiritual and religious competencies for psychologists. Psychology of Religion and Spirituality [uncertain: not verified].
American Psychological Association, Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct, https://www.apa.org/ethics/code [uncertain: not verified].
Inform (information network on new religious movements, founded by Eileen Barker at the LSE) [uncertain: not verified].

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