Posted by smoky on August 17, 2000, at 14:50:39
In reply to Re: Should I attend?, posted by noa on August 16, 2000, at 14:37:52
> Landmark Forum is formerly EST, I believe, the name having been changed because of bad publicity in the 80s.
>
> I can't say whether such a program is a good idea for you, but I know that I had friends who were involved in a similar one called Lifespring(it had been referred to as the "gentle EST") , and they were caught up in a sort of pyramid sales scheme. It is run by salespeople, not professionals in psychology. It consumed their lives and their friendships with non-participants really suffered, because they were constantly trying to sell us on the idea.
>
> Years ago I read an article on it, and the participant observers who wrote the article, for a respected journal, said it was based mostly on peer pressure to agree with the facilitators. People who disagreed were shamed.
>
> I don't know if this is the same article, but perhaps you might like to read this one, citation from pubmed below.
>
> BTW, after a few years went by, my friends recontacted me and resumed the friendship, apologizing for how they acted while involved in Lifespring.
>
> Also, BTW, I believe in the late 80s and early ninties, Lifespring was in the news because of law suits. This may be why such programs ask about mental illness on the application.
>
> http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=6622602&dopt=AbstractMy friends noted that this is also a branch of EST. I could see that part of it is peer pressure, but of course if I asked my friends whether they felt pressured to do it would they agree or are they really going this whole heartedly? I know some have already spent over a thousand dollars on additional courses. I think that's what makes me sort of leary about the whole thing.
poster:smoky
thread:10674
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20000811/msgs/43168.html