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Related: Culture Forums, Support ForumsWhat's the modern equivalent of EST?
Did anyone do EST (Erhard Seminar Training) in the 70s or 80s?
It was before my time, but it sounds very interesting. Is there some contemporary self help thing that's similar to that?
Just curious. Thanks!
NYC_SKP
(68,644 posts)Just by her ways over the phone.
But I didn't have any greater exposure to it than that.
Mr.Bill
(24,292 posts)She was crazy as a loon.
David__77
(23,402 posts)I've had a few odd mental moments over the years when I had a sense of "realization," and I was probably pretty loony, but extremely fulfilled feeling.
Mr.Bill
(24,292 posts)She was having high school kids over to her apartment to smoke pot with her. The way the laws were back then, she would have spent decades in prison for that if caught. She was allowing students to smoke cigarettes in her classroom. The administration put a stop to that and suspended her for awhile. She thought she was a hero to the students, which I guess she was, and that's all the justification she needed. She was 25 years old and acting less mature than her students. If you can call that happy, I guess she was happy. But very irrational and immature. I often wonder what ever happened to her. She only taught there for two years. She would be about 68 years old now.
aint_no_life_nowhere
(21,925 posts)and they required a polygraph test. An independent contractor hired by them gave me the test right outside the store in her van. The test lasted about 10 minutes but the lady virtually trapped me in the rear of her van, telling me about EST and the fact it was the greatest thing in the universe to attend their seminars. I humored her for a couple of hours that seemed endless in the back of that van and she was so excited and adamant that she be allowed to recruit me as a convert that I would have had to overpower her to make my way from the cushions at the rear where I was sitting Indian style past her to the front of the van. That's finally what I had to do to get out of there, forcibly removing her hands from me as I pushed past her to escape. I had the impression that I was in the presence of a truly intense and exalted religious fanatic. A couple of years later, my cousin asked me to visit his wife to find out why she had suddenly gone off the deep end, deciding to divorce him out of the blue and start seminars with another California cult-like group called "Insight". I got the same impression of dealing with someone completely foreign to everything I could relate to.
Mr.Bill
(24,292 posts)is spent being trained to recruit other people.
cliffordu
(30,994 posts)Starry Messenger
(32,342 posts)Pretty much the same people, just a different name.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Landmark_Forum
The format has been copied by others, and the technique is referred to as "LGAT" or Large Group Awareness Training.
My father has been in this scene for 20 years and I'm biased against them, so anyone be aware in advance before they reply with good things to say.
David__77
(23,402 posts)I know it's personal. I actually found Landmark while I was looking and was considering signing up for a 3-day seminar. I must be in a weird mood with too much money on my hands....
Starry Messenger
(32,342 posts)At best. It turned my father into someone totally without empathy and with an inability to communicate in other than tech-speak.
Otherwise, I think these days it's pretty easy to find the lessons online for cheaper and without the coercive nature of the workshops themselves.
It's based on the same business model as Scientology, so there's that. These links go into more detail:
http://www.skepdic.com/landmark.html
http://www.skepdic.com/lgsap.html
steve2470
(37,457 posts)A sexual abuse victim was in mine. The forum leader's message was...ok..it happened, get over it.
Not very therapeutic whatsoever, and downright anti-therapeutic. It is NOT a substitute for high quality long-term therapy.
Duer 157099
(17,742 posts)but that won't stop me from offering an opinion. I'm going to go with NLP as the current trendy thing.
RedCloud
(9,230 posts)Iggo
(47,552 posts)MicaelS
(8,747 posts)The doctrine emphasizes the importance of personal empowerment, proposing that it is God's will for his people to be happy. The atonement (reconciliation with God) is interpreted to include the alleviation of sickness and poverty, which are viewed as curses to be broken by faith. This is believed to be achieved through visualization and positive confession, and is often taught in mechanical and contractual terms.
It was during the Healing Revivals of the 1950s that prosperity theology first came to prominence in the United States, although commentators have linked the origins of its theology to the New Thought movement which began in the 1800s. The prosperity teaching later figured prominently in the Word of Faith movement and 1980s televangelism. In the 1990s and 2000s, it was adopted by influential leaders in the Charismatic Movement and promoted by Christian missionaries throughout the world, sometimes leading to the establishment of mega-churches. Prominent leaders in the development of prosperity theology include E. W. Kenyon, Oral Roberts, A. A. Allen, Robert Tilton, T. L. Osborn, Joel Osteen, Creflo Dollar, and Kenneth Hagin.
Churches in which the prosperity gospel is taught are often non-denominational and usually directed by a sole pastor or leader, although some have developed multi-church networks that bear similarities to denominations. Such churches typically set aside extended time to teach about giving and request donations from the congregation, encouraging positive speech and faith. Prosperity churches often teach about financial responsibility, though some journalists and academics have criticized their advice in this area as misleading. Prosperity theology has been criticized by leaders in the Pentecostal and Charismatic movements, as well as other Christian denominations. These leaders maintain that it is irresponsible, promotes idolatry, and is contrary to scripture. Some critics have proposed that prosperity theology cultivates authoritarian organizations, with the leaders controlling the lives of the adherents. The doctrine has also become popular in South Korea; academics have attributed some of its success to its parallels with the traditional shamanistic culture. Prosperity theology has drawn followers from the American middle class and poor, and has been likened to the cargo cult phenomenon, traditional African religion, and black liberation theology.
Xyzse
(8,217 posts)I have no idea what that is.
Taverner
(55,476 posts)Even the same people in charge, minus Ehrhardt