By the way, that "article" about Michael Beckwith by his friend Alex Benzer is beyond a puff-piece. [www.huffingtonpost.com] Its also intellectually dishonest, highly manipulative, persuasive, directional, and is a PR piece to try and get more members for Agape in person, and online.

For example, he says: "you're not required to practice anything, perform any rituals, or subscribe to any kind of dogma. ... At Agape, you could just show up to services any time, drink in the spiritual sustenance, and go back the way you came. Nothing to buy, nothing to believe, no one to accost you."

That is simply not true, and is manipulative, and intellectually dishonest.
When people run these patterns on you, their goal is to CHANGE YOU, so you do NOT go back the way you came. Don't fall for that one.
And New Thought "treatments", which is what they do eventually, are an extreme dogma.
Nothing to buy? Are you joking? Michael Beckwith even in his book immediately starts trying to hammer on you to buy his "Visioning" programs.
Beckwith even has the stones to try and claim he invented Visioning!


By the way, Alex Benzer has also inserted quite a bit of Persuasion in his PR piece for Michael Beckwith, and Benzer is pretty good at it.
Notice how he constantly frames Michael Beckwith in a particular manner, with presuppostions.
Notice how he says "Dr. Michael" when Beckwith is not a "Dr." and then attributes a list of ideas to Beckwith, all of which have been copied from others, mainly Ernest Holmes.
There is no attribution to where those so-called ideas came from, and those ideas will be analyzed here, point by point.

This paragraph by Alex Benzer also has some embedded persuasion tech inside it.

QUOTE: "Some people think of Agape as church for people who don't go to church; others attend it as an inspirational supplement to their own denominational services. Wherever people come from - young or old, skeptic or believer, jaded or eager, from all color and creed - Agape tends to embrace them. This is because Dr Michael seems to have this uncanny ability to talk about exactly what you need to hear at that moment. "

Well that is very well written persuasion, suggestive, subtle, not too direct. It suggests that you are welcome if you don't go to church, or go to church! That's everyone! Agape also "embraces" you (hint of a love-bombing). His last sentence is the best written.
"Dr Michael seems to have this uncanny ability to talk about exactly what you need to hear at that moment".

First, he says "Dr" for authority, when Michael is NOT a "Dr. Then he gives the suggestion that he is UNCANNY and tells you exactly what you need to hear at the moment. That is directly from hypnotherapy. A hypnotherapist says...I am now going to suggest that what I am saying is just what you near to hear now at this moment.
It makes the suggestion much more powerful, due to your Projection.

And the dozens of recordings Alex Benzer has of Beckwith that he listens to all the time, how much were those? Donations? Barter? Talk about an embedded command to buy dozens of Beckwith's CD's of him talking and persuading you all day long.


And notice there is NOT ONE SINGLE SKEPTICAL OR CRITICAL WORD about Michael Beckwith in his PR article. Its all about persuading you to go to Agape, or watch it online, which leads to the Agape online store of course to buy the Visioning package!
We'll analyze the Agape products next.

Notice at the end, he gets STRONGER in the persuasion and declares that Beckwith is
QUOTE: "is a spiritual teacher for our times for all those seeking to become their best possible selves. He is a teacher of teachers".
Notice how he went from more tentative, to more declarative and grandiose.

Then he gives the final command:
QUOTE: "this week is a good time to get familiar with him through "The Answer is You" PBS special. I have a feeling you'll enjoy the experience."

You see, that is basic language programming from hypnotherapy. THIS WEEK IS A GOOD TIME.....YOU'LL ENJOY THE EXPERIENCE.
That is direct from Dr. Milton Erickson style of suggestions from hypnotherapy.
So yes, he is quite talented and more subtle at the hypno-language persuasion stuff that originated in hypnotherapy and was adapted with advanced persuasion techniques.

But why are they running these hypno-persasion patterns on you, in such a well-written way? Why the subtle grooming and persuasion process, and suggestions to join the group?

Yes, the world is full to bursting with the hypno-persuaders, some more talented than others. Some even try it here, saying things like...
yeah...sometimes he says some far-out stuff.

DON'T BE DUPED.
He is saying "far-out" stuff, like Byron Katie says far-out stuff, as he knows humans can believe anything, and its a grooming process of belief modification. The far-out stuff, is to lead people into their own unconscious areas, and that is what hypnotherapy and hypno-persuasion is about. The more "far-out" they are going, the more dangerous it can be.

So why are they persuading you, and where are they leading you, and why?
Why the persuasion methods and tricks?

Don't they know as soon as you see 10 rats, you know there are 100 rats near-by?
As soon as you see 10 persuasion tricks, its time to carefully look for the other ones you can't see yet.

This week is a good time to get familiar with these advanced hypno-persuasion techniques through carefully analyzing the PR piece written about Michael Beckwith.
I have a feeling you'll enjoy the experience of deconstructing persuasion engineering.

Quote


Blech, look at the outrageous shilling and manipulation for Beckwith by this guy Alex Benzer...
Another "hypnotherapist" who understands how to persuade others, just like James Ray and Beckwith.
Alex Benzer also like to mix in sexuality with his hyno-persuasion, just like James Ray.
There are so many of these "hypno-persuaders" out there.

Michael Bernard Beckwith: A Spiritual Teacher for Our Times
by "Dr." Alex Benzer, Tao of Persuasion, Tao of Sexual Mastery, hypnotherapist
[www.huffingtonpost.com]


Also search Google for:

michael beckwith skeptic


There should also be complaints about Beckwith in comments on blog's about him.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/27/2009 03:54PM by The Anticult.

Double-yikes.
Check out the website for The Tao of Persuasion by Alex Benzer. [www.taoofpersuasion.com]

This freaking webpage is LACED and MEGA-LOADED with the same hypno-persuasion stuff, top to bottom.
He starts out with an identical tech used by James Ray...and opens with a LOADED QUESTION.

The website even fakes a date that makes it seem the page was just written yesterday, as it then changes if the page is reloaded. Right from the top, you are being deceived about the DATE the page was written!! (that is to bring you more into the present moment as you read it)

He starts by saying where you are which is from hypnosis, and then goes right into trance-language...

QUOTE: "As you are sitting down and reading these characters on a screen, I invite you to take a mental break from what you were doing for the next five minutes or so.."

That is hypno-trance 101 folks...right out of NLP book. As you are doing _____ and reading these words in the book (screen)....INVITE mental break 5 minutes...
That is a soft-pitch to rapidly put you into a trance-state.
Then he says about CHANGE YOUR LIFE, another suggestion.

Then it starts with a STORY.
That is how you persuade people, with a hypno-story, with autobiographical details.

Out of time for now, by the Tao Of Persuasion webpage will show you many of the techniques being used by the hypno-persuaders, and those they work with.

Michael Beckwith uses all the same techniques, just with a different wrapper.

Out of time, but check out the bottom of the webpage www.taoofpersuasion.com with the NLP Presuppositions, Decision Strategies, written persuasion, its all there.
And many of those techniques are EMBEDDED in the Huffington Post story.

The nerve.

Can anyone find an MD or Dr. accreditation or license for Dr. Alex Benzer in California?
Nothing is coming up on the Dr. search sites.

Even if the license were expired or "whatever" there would still be a listing.
Supposedly the medical doctorate is from UC San Diego School of Medicine.

No license for any BENZER comes up in California.

Here is a thread about the sleazeballs aka The Seduction Community, who use and try to use the same techniques on people.

The Game" "Pickup Artists" and "The Seduction Community" [forum.culteducation.com]

Well, well well.
As one peruses the reading list of the "mysterious Dr" Alex Benzer, it points to the usual suspects in hypnotic NLP persuasion, who's techniques can clearly be seen in the writing, top to bottom.
Including Persuasion Engineering.

These are the exact same persuasion techniques used by James Arthur Ray, and Byron Katie [forum.culteducation.com] as well as Michael Beckwith, and many others.

They don't want you to know they do these techniques, as when you understand them, they don't work, and then they can't sell you their beliefs, products, or services at such inflated prices.


________excerpt quote for educational analysis and research____________

[www.taoofpersuasion.com]
Reading List for the Tao of Persuasion

Required Reading

Influence: Science and Practice, 4th Edition, by Robert Cialdini, Ph.D.

My Voice Will Go With You: The Teaching Tales of Milton H. Erickson, edited by Sidney Rosen

Actual teaching tales from Milton Erickson, MD, the father of modern therapeutic hypnosis.


Highly Recommended Reading

The Art of Seduction, by Robert Greene


Get Anyone to Do Anything, by David J. Lieberman, Ph.D.

The ultimate no-nonsense guide to getting people to take action (which is how I define persuasion). ...


Persuasion: The Art of Getting What You Want, by Dave Lakhani

A former cult member and military man, Lakhani provides an insider's account of how persuasion works (in contradistinction to manipulation) and builds the framework for his Persuasion Equation.
....

Unlimited Selling Power: How to Master Hypnotic Selling Skills, by Donald Moine

A very practical handbook for applying NLP and hypnosis techniques to any kind of selling. Another essential component of every persuasion library.


Persuasion Engineering, by Richard Bandler and John LaValle

A seminar transcript from two persuasion masters, including the co-creator of NLP.


Getting Everything You Can Out of All You've Got, by Jay Abraham

Jay Abraham is one of the true masters of marketing. His words are as good as gospel, and in this book he discusses the same ideas that he covers in the $10,000+ seminars. A must-read for anyone who's serious about persuasion and marketing.


Figuring Out People, by Michael Hall and Bob Bodenhamer

This is the definitive NLP text on meta-programs. Hall and Bodenhamer cover all the basic metaprograms and their uses as well as many more you have never even thought of. Essential part of a complete NLP library.


TRANCEFormations, by Richard Bandler and John Grinder

30 years after its publication, this is quite possibly still the best introduction to NLP and hypnosis on the market today. It's what got me started on NLP, hypnosis and persuasion, and in retrospect, I should have made it a course requirement. It's in the format of a seminar transcript, so it goes by very quickly. Highest recommendation.

_______________QUOTE EXCERPT____________________________

There are some reports that the name Alex Benzer name does not come up as a Harvard alumnus in the database.

Isn't it more than a bit strange that someone who runs around blowing their own horn from the housetops, advertising themselves as going to Harvard in every single webpage they write on, would not come up in the Harvard database?

Besides, all of this type of "name dropping" where someone who is promoting themselves, drops names of schools they may have attended, or may even have flunked out of, tells more about what they person is trying to do to YOU.
They are trying to get credibility by association in your mind, and social proof.

Its why Michael Beckwith insists on being called "Dr." when he does NOT have a doctorate, or even a real PhD, its a New Age Hon. piece of paper they hand out to anyone.
Like Joe Vitale, he also calls himself a "Dr", Dr. Joe Vitale, when he literally bought some piece of junk off the internet.
But they don't care, they know if they stick a "Dr." in front of their name, even a fake one, then some people "respect" them without thinking about it. They don't think about how its going to look when their fake "Dr" gets exposed though.


So anyone who is celebrity name-dropping, or educational name-dropping in all of their marketing materials makes themselves suspect. Why so insecure and manipulative?
Its just like how James Arthur Ray constantly used to say he worked as a salesperson for IBM, or whoever. Its just a way to try and gain some credibility.

But usually when you do some proper research into the name-droppers, things are not as they are trying to make them appear to you.

Quote
The Anticult
This week is a good time to get familiar with these advanced hypno-persuasion techniques through carefully analyzing the PR piece written about Michael Beckwith.
I have a feeling you'll enjoy the experience of deconstructing persuasion engineering.

When would NOW be the best time to start learning to analyze these advanced persuasion techniques of the den of thieves from The Secret?

I'm glad you're diving into Beckwith. I've been skeptical of him mostly because of his associations with the other scammers from The Secret, but have never looked more deeply.

I can see some points within Benzer's reply, mostly that evidence is needed to make any strong claims either way, but I mostly reside on the skeptical side of the fence with any persuasive characters or marketing buddies of James Arthur Ray. After all, The Secret was nothing more than an infomercial for all these shady characters who declare themselves experts on spirituality and right living through cultivating greed.

Yes, that was modeling the NLP manipulative persuasion patterns copied from the written text of Alex Benzer.

Of course we all agree that evidence is required.
Michael Beckwith gives zero evidence for any of his extreme claims, like healing disease with his techniques. Its up to Beckwith and Benzer to provide the evidence, as they are the ones who are making the claims and the money.
Those who don't provide evidence for their claims generally try to turn that around on others and say its up to them to disprove everything. In fact that is misdirection.

Its like if someone said they have a purple people eater in their basement. We say, so prove it to us, not with stories, not with testimonials, we want proof you have a purple people eater in the basement. (like allowing scientists from independent universities into the basement for repeated testing).
They say, you can't prove I DON'T have a purple people eater in the basement.

In reality, its up to those who are making the claims, like Beckwith and Benzer, to prove the claims they are making. If they don't, then all their claims are worthless.

And so far in this small thread, there has been about a dozen specific points of evidence showing the persuasion techniques, and manipulation techniques being used by Alex Benzer.

Another SERIOUS point of questioning about Alex Benzer, is that the PR materials say he is a Certified Clinical Hypnotherapist? Certified with who?
It does not appear posted clearly on his website. Who is he certified with?
Can anyone see it anywhere?
Where is the information listing which clinical hypnotherapy association he is certified with?
What is going on with this guy?


For that one point alone, in terms of hypnotherapy, Alex Benzer would get lower than an F-.
Worse, there are articles online where Benzer is talking about rapid hypnotic Induction, and people going out in 5 minutes. This shows his interest in rapid Induction.
Combine that with the Persuasion and manipulation, and that is very very concerning.

From the perspective of someone with training, and the evidence so far, Alex Benzer should be AVOIDED completely in terms of hypnotherapy. You don't know what he is going to do to you.

Any proper hypnotherapist has all of their licensing and credentials openly posted, so you can see if there are complaints about them, and check them out.

Also, ALWAYS AVOID any so-called hypnotherapist who makes their living in the Persuasion game, or also are deeply into advanced NLP.
Alex Benzer also says he is a NLP Master Practitioner. (Just like Stever Robbins!).

These guys can royally screw your head around, and you won't know what hit you.
Even someone highly trained in this area would COMPLETELY AVOID so-called hypnotherapists like this, as you have no idea of what they are doing to you when you are "out" and in a relaxed hypnotic state.
Never allow them to lead you into a trance state in their presence.

If you don't have years of training, you have to be extremely careful even if they are simply talking to you in person or on the phone, as the advanced hypnosis techniques appear like basically normal conversation.

Trained experts avoid putting themselves in vulnerable positions with these guys, at all costs. That is a fact.

Speaking of evidence, is there anyone reading this thread who can contact Harvard, UCSD, or Cambridge to verify the marketing information being used by Alex Benzer?

Please correct any errors, but it appears the marketing material of Alex Benzer says he has an

- MD from UCSD (University of California, San Diego) [www.ucsd.edu]
(so far the name Alex Benzer does not come up as having a medical license in California).
Questions? Contact the Transcripts/ Verifications Department
[www.ucsd.edu]


- a Harvard Grad '93.
Another websites says Alex Benzer has an "AB from Harvard College".

- MPhil from Cambridge University?


So far, the name Alex Benzer is not coming up in the Harvard alumni database.
If anyone has any contacts at these locations, could you please research it?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/28/2009 11:41PM by The Anticult.

There is also an Alex Benzer with SocialEngine.net and Webligo, looks like a different person?


Its also very very interesting that Alex Benzer, "Dr. Alex Benzer" does not seem to exist before 2009?
Nothing on Usenet, can't see anything on Google.
Can anyone find anything before 2009-2008?
Search Google for:

"Alex Benzer"

"Dr. Alex Benzer"

Curiouser and curiouser.



Could someone also contact Huffington Post and ask them to verify the educational credentials being advertised for Alex Benzer?
_____________QUOTE____________________________
[www.huffingtonpost.com]
Dr Alex Benzer is the author of the just-released The Tao of Dating: The Smart Woman's Guide to Embracing Your Inner Goddess & Finding the Fulfillment You Deserve and The Tao of Dating: The Thinking Man's Enlightened Guide to Success with Women.
He holds an A.B. from Harvard College, an M.D. from the University of California San Diego School of Medicine, and an M.Phil. from Cambridge University.
He is a Certified Clinical Hypnotherapist and NLP Master Practitioner.
He has consulted for Fortune 100 companies and maintains a hypnotherapy practice in Los Angeles. He is committed to helping you become the best possible version of you.
You can find his blog at www.taoofdating.com.
His books are available only through his website at www.taoofdating.com/women and www.taoofdating.com/men.
Feel free to follow him on Twitter (@dralexbenzer) or write to him directly.