A good friend of mine recently joined "personal dynamics" and has tried hard to make me join. Knowing these kinds of groups I refused, but I'm very concerned for her.
I could find very little information on this particular LGAT (other then being an off shot of Mind Dynamics.
Does anyone know how dangerous this group is and should I try to "rescue" her?

Any feedback would be appreciated.

Check list for potential difficulties:

1. Is there a charismatic leader who cannot be directly approached or criticized ?

2. Is the organization transparent or opaque ?

3. Do they state their claims about life, human nature, or "reality" as infallible or unquestionable truths ? Or do they frame their beliefs as mere hypotheses and imperfect understandings ?

4. Do they engage in language games or do they speak in clearly accepted ordinary words that mean what they do to the ordinary reasonable person ?

5. Do they accept people as they are or do they aim to "transform" core identity ?

6. Do they see themselves as special, apart from, or unusually enlightened relative to day to day humanity ?

Any of the above should be a red flag.

Thanks nutrino.
My friend would only speak in generalities like:
this is a life altering experience, I should have went there a long time ago, they can show you how to overcome all the difficulties you have in your life etc.....
Myself, I have never attended any session so it's very difficult to tell if any of the red flags actually exists.

Quote
motty
My friend would only speak in generalities like:
this is a life altering experience, I should have went there a long time ago, they can show you how to overcome all the difficulties you have in your life etc.....

There are additional red flags in what your friend tells you.

- speaking in generalities -- they should be able to give you specific examples, and not tell you "I can't describe it (or I would ruin it for you) -- you have to experience it for yourself."

- saying it is a "life altering experience" and the general "it can overcome all your life's difficulties (and wash the dishes too and let the dog out, etc.)." NOTHING on Earth can do all this. This is the honey that attracts the ants and then traps them.

Sounds like your BS detector is telling you this is bad news. I would encourage you to listen to it -- it's probably correct!

Hope this helps.

-lightwolf

Motty,

Just wondering what happened. My friend took the first two Personal Dynamic courses about a year ago. He has never been the same, though he said he could see some bull in the second, so didn't go into the Leadership, thank God.

He met "the love of his life" there the second or third day, so credits PD with that. I believe he's still under it's influence. He's much more self-centered and cold than he was before he went in.

We have been slowly working back to the friendship we had before PD, not sure it will ever be the same. There's a distrust we still have with each other that began when he returned and tried to get me to go to the graduation, and I let him know what I thought of the whole thing. We now have an unspoken agreement never to talk about PD. I have a feeling I'm one of the lucky ones, though it doesn't feel that lucky.