I am interested in the Sterling Institue's Woman's weekend. My aunt recomended it. I distrust what a man can tell me about being a woman. It's like having a male OBGYN, they just dont know. I am really interested though because my Aunt loved it and met all her friends there. But their web site is vague.
Can any one tell me anything?

Dont bother attending. For Christs sake Im so sick of all these God Damn LGATS. Exactly what could they possibly freaking offer? Long story short: If you are a real loser the Sterling Wives Club will exploit that weakness and prey on your insecurity. They will make you realize what a loser you are only to tell you that YOU are the reason you are such a big loser. Talk about stinking snake oil salesmen. Then realizing that you are a weak and insecure person they will tell you that YOU can change the things in your life that you dont like if you can escape from the patterns you as an individual established that made you such a loser to begin with. Big freaking lesson eh? And if Im not mistaken the whole nerve racking, self destructive, potentially mental breakdown inducing seminar will run you close to 300$. If you want to pay three big ones for advice you can find on the lids of low fat yogurt be my guest. Just love yourself for who you are not who the Sterling bitches think you should be. Then think about straightening your Aunt out...

Well, I have never attended Sterling. The people I knew in landmarkland looked down on Sterling because they thought he was stealing their material. But being familiar with LGATs, I can shed a light on a few things.

Dissolving barriers really means changing your perspectives. What you need to ask yourself is do you really want/need to change your entire perspective on how you see yourself and your life. These LGATs really all say the same thing, mainly it's your fault and you can change it. They don't give any concrete advise on how to really change anything in your life. There are almost no strategies that can be meaningfully applied to improving whatever aspects of your life you might be unsatisfied with. These groups prey on our needs for self-improvement.

You stated your aunt met all her friends there. What happened to the friends she had before she attended is the question I would ask her. Most likely she had friends from before, but they didn't agree with views she adopted since attending Sterling making them on non-speaking terms. It happens all the time with LGATs. In fact I thinks it's an unwritten requisite.

Your aunt should be able to describe what she learned from them in a very concrete way. She should be able to tell you specifically what happened during the weekend. If she can't recall any specifics, if she insists you need to attend to experience it fully, and/or if she uses words/language in the wrong context, then you should stay away, far away from Sterling.


You can look up info about Sterling on www.culteducation.com under the Group Information Database link.

Samsoxfan,

I do not have direct experience with Sterling, however, I recall a thread a while back on them. The board has gone through some changes, but I believe if you go up to the menu to the right of the title, CULT EDUCATION FORUM, clicking on search will allow you to search all the past threads for info on first-hand experiences with Sterling.

Hope

If you listen to Templar you will be terribly misled.

It wrote---

"Just love yourself for who you are not who the Sterling bitches think you should be. Then think about straightening your Aunt out..."

I'm married to one of those "Sterling bitches" and can tell you she is a wonderful wife and mother.
She is also a great nurse that takes care of sick people that can't care for themselves . Our relationship flourishes and I give her all the credit. She seems decidedly less bitchy after her weekly meeting with "the girls." Even if I give her reason to be so on many occassions.

Unlike what some have suggested in some of the posts here, she is not a "Stepford Wife." She is fiery, emotional and passionate. The women in her group are all different from each other.

Trust your Aunt before listening to anonymous no-it-alls on this board. Above all, trust yourself.

If you want to know what Justin Sterling talks about in the Women's Weekend he wrote a book. Ask your Aunt about it. She can probably provide you with a copy. My wife has it and I read it to be "informed." I also checked out this website and must say it totally misrepresents what Sterling is about.

I have not nor do I plan to do the Men's Weekend. So I would understand it if you chose not to do it. But it seems to help some of the people I know with their marriages. No guarantees. Don't expect miracles.

And it's more than $300, to bad Templar is wrong about that also. But your aunt has probably already told you that.

Alexis was guessing what your aunt's life might be like when she said----

"You stated your aunt met all her friends there. What happened to the friends she had before she attended is the question I would ask her. Most likely she had friends from before, but they didn't agree with views she adopted since attending Sterling making them on non-speaking terms. It happens all the time with LGATs. In fact I thinks it's an unwritten requisite."

Almost none of my wife's friends are involved with Sterling. She sometimes becomes friendly with one or two of the women involved in herFamily of Women "program." I once asked her why she wasn't more friendly with some of the women in her group. She told me that wasn't the purpose of the meetings. She likes her old friends and almost never talks about Sterling with them.

Be careful of advise from people that are just guessing as to what it is all about. And I have no idea what goes on that those meetings. She tells me it's confidential.

The Sterling Institute of Relationship is essentially a spin-off of EST, though it incorporates various aspects of its format from controversial writer Robert Bly ("Iron Man") and John Gray ("Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus).

For more information about John Gray see [www.culteducation.com]

"Sterling Husband" is attempting to mislead visitors to this site and those concerned about loved ones affected by this group and its leader. If he hasn't done the Sterling Weekend it sounds like he is in denial and simply doesn't want to know the facts, which are well-established.

See [www.culteducation.com]

Note that the above page is filled with first-hand accounts from people that are not guessing. They have completed the weekend and/or experienced the effects of Sterling.

The group generates frequent complaints and has caused divorces, breakups and strained family relationships.

Justin Sterling, who is the founder and continues to control the Sterling Institute of Relationship has no recognized training in relationship training/counseling. He was convicted for fraud and his real name is Arthur ''Artie'' Kasarjian.

Sterling was once reportedly involved in EST, from which he apparently derived the basic structure and format for his weekend seminar.

Sterling is a high school graduate and runs the Institute for profit, and it has made him a multi-millionaire. He has no recognized credentialed expertise to recommend him other than his personal experience, which is a marriage that ended in a bitter divorce and supervised visitation of his only child, due to abuse allegations apparently believed by authorities.

His weekend seminar is a large group awareness training (LGAT) format that includes a naked bonding ritual for the men. All seminars are videotaped and many of the male participants have expressed concern that Sterling has tapes of them naked.

See [www.culteducation.com]

Every participant must sign off on paperwork before attending that relinquishes any rights to their image and allows Sterling to videotape. It also enforces confidentiality, much like Landmark Education.

Sterling has been described as a misogynist.

See [www.culteducation.com]

Also see [www.culteducation.com]

He seems to feel women must submit to men.

See [www.culteducation.com]

After attending the Weekend many men and women, much like "Esties" or "Landmark junkies," become Sterling devotees. They then attend support groups, volunteer and are often involved in recruiting.

See [www.culteducation.com]

Also see [www.culteducation.com]

There have been critical articles published about Sterling by Details Magazine, San Jose Mercury News and reports run by NBC News in NYC and LA. They were all negative and feature critical information. Sterling admitted his criminal conviction on NBC News.

One man interviewed by NBC News had a nervous breakdown. Again, this is not unlike reports about EST/Landmark.

Sterling has the same inherent issues or problems that most LGATs share.

See [www.culteducation.com]

I was retained for two professional interventions regarding Sterling. They were both successful. One was a man and the other a woman.

Again, I found Sterling very much like EST/Landmark, and can easily understand why people say the organization "brainwashes" participants.

I would not recommend Sterling to anyone under any circumstances and feel it is a destructive and potentially dangerous organization.

"Sterling Husband" is right about one thing. The Sterling Weekend costs more than $300.00, actually more than double that amount. And there are other costs, both financial and emotional, that continue after that.

IMO--It's not worth the price, and appears to be pretty worthless.

Quote
sterlinghusband
Alexis was guessing what your aunt's life might be like when she said----

"You stated your aunt met all her friends there. What happened to the friends she had before she attended is the question I would ask her. Most likely she had friends from before, but they didn't agree with views she adopted since attending Sterling making them on non-speaking terms. It happens all the time with LGATs. In fact I thinks it's an unwritten requisite."

Almost none of my wife's friends are involved with Sterling. She sometimes becomes friendly with one or two of the women involved in herFamily of Women "program." I once asked her why she wasn't more friendly with some of the women in her group. She told me that wasn't the purpose of the meetings. She likes her old friends and almost never talks about Sterling with them.

Be careful of advise from people that are just guessing as to what it is all about. And I have no idea what goes on that those meetings. She tells me it's confidential.

She stated in her post that her aunt "met all her friends there." My response was based off her original post, not on the assumption her aunt met all her friends there. There was no guessing involved. Since I saw people drop their friends on a regular basis after attending LGATs, there was no guessing involve in that conclusion either.

More importantly sterlinghusband is alluding to the compulsion that someone has to "experience it" to understand it. Totally false.

Wow!! More than 300 bills. The price of snake oil is out of control these days.

Well perhaps it is morally wrong to allow a fool to keep their money.

I'm not married to a Sterling Maid, or remotely aware how much a sucker would pay to have thier will broken and their mind bent.

I guess the more you pay the better the product right?

If you read any of the testimonials compiled on Rick's database you will see that Sterling is about male dominance, female subservience and getting other women to attend Sterling.

I said it before and I'll say it again; Love yourself for who you have become throughout your life's experiences. Accept the imperfections you may precieve and realize that life was not meant to be a pleasure cruise.

Sterling, Landmark, NXIVM, PSI7, all that garbage is a load of dangerous nonsense, youre playing Russian roulette with your emotional center when you expose yourself to covert hypnosis, NLP and thought reform procedures, which is precisely why you have to sign a waiver to attend.

People have been known to suffer nervous breakdowns as a result of LGAT technology.

For those groups it's not about helping other people 'find happyness in thier lives' its about $$$ and numbers.

In the end if you go, you will find yourself one day doing what your aunt did to you; unwittingly become a walking advertisement for Sterling and ruining the life of someone you love.

The Sterling womens weekend costs $795.00.