ABSTRACT
Thinking on the metaphorical level about psychotherapy umbrella organizations shows how wedded therapists are to either maternal or paternal models for political organizations and the state itself. On a personal level, citizens are faced with the pluralistic task of aligning many internal voices and self-images with the wish and need to speak with one voice and recognize themselves as an integrated being, a unified citizen. Many citizens are probably committed in their own minds to dialogue, to straddling the divide between Truth and truth, but the psychological difficulties associated with maintaining a tolerant attitude cannot be minimized. The fragmentation and dispute within a state, as each group fights for the general acceptance of its viewpoint, seems, on the surface, to be the very opposite of what is usually regarded as pluralism. Many people see the state as the container of everything in a society, or at least of everything 'political' within a society.
