I so appreciate this forum! I attended the landmark forum and advanced course last fall. I had researched landmark before attending, but didn’t find much. Pressures of life and some negative experiences with landmark have caused me to research landmark again. Glad I found this website. So far here is my experience with LGAT.
Large Group Awareness Training (LGAT)is a thing and Landmark is one of these groups. LGAT generally weave sales and recruitment into their transformation curriculum. But the sales training is covert or hidden. I see in landmark the covert sales training curriculum that is meant to transform members into sales reps for the landmark business. The sales training curriculum is a hidden curriculum entwined within the curriculum of transformation. If members do not succeed in selling and recruiting people into landmark, they fail at transforming their own lives, according to landmark. This is what I am recovering from. It is a dangerous tactic.

Like I said, I took the advance course last fall, each day was about 10 hours long on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. It left me feeling beat up. It took me days to recover from the three days of incongurincies in the lecture, demands that we attend with zoom on and engaged during the 10 hour days, harsh leader who discredited our individual internal guidance system and demanded obedience (keeping my word which amounts to committing to what ever assignment they give).

During the advance course we were assigned to a small group of 6 people over the long week-end. The small group met in breakout rooms at least once each day. A group leader volunteered from among us. I anticipated connection and processing transformation with the small group, instead what dominated the experience was the small group leader being held accountable for everyone starting on time and with our zoom video on after each break. She and the group member were called out in front of the big group for anyone who was not logged on with video on. We were told that we let the group leader fail if we did not start on time and have our video on. Who leads a transformational training course this way!
By Sunday I was exhausted. I had been working two jobs for 4 months and renovating my house every week-end for 4 months. I needed to take a couple of hours for myself on Sunday ( they were 10 hour days), but didn’t because of the pressure from the landmark leader. The brutality was life sucking.

During landmark sessions I heard double talk from the leaders. I heard gaslighting. Members are given assignments at the end of each session, which almost always includes sharing our landmark experience with 1 to 3 other people. We had less than 12 hours to complete the assignments during the advanced course and were blamed for not keeping our word (not doing all of the assignment)and for not be committed to our own transformation.

The covert, high pressure sales training and expectations to recruit people into the program were too much for me. I hear the discrepancies from the leaders between the part of the training that is for transformation and the training that is sales focused. The covert curriculum and pressure on members to sell Landmark to friends, family and strangers is brutal.

People can experience transformation with landmark, but they are simutaniously being brain washed by the hidden curriculum to sell and recruit for landmark business. Their success in landmark is based on their ability to sell, not transforming their lives.
Landmark could benefit someone who works in sales and wants to increase their sales or who wants to build their own business. But if you are looking for transformation that includes compassion, caring and connection, Landmark is not the place to go.

Quote
If members do not succeed in selling and recruiting people into landmark, they fail at transforming their own lives, according to landmark.

That's really the crux of it and though I've never attended Landmark (I know several people who have) I suspect this kind of Pavlovian reinforcement is inherent throughout the programme. This is what exposes the true face of Landmark: it's a multi-level marketing scheme except that they don't pretend that the "distributors" are going to make any money.

I think the notion that people can experience transformation is one that needs further scrutiny. Though I'm sure the soap that Amway sell is effective on grease and grime, that's not the core of their business, it's built on continual downline growth and most distributors probably make a loss (some ending up in credit card debt) before they quit.

That's what's so insidious about LGATs. With an MLM at least you can measure progress (or lack of it) over time in dollars. With LGAT the measurement is your self-image which they are constantly manipulating through gaslighting (and positive or negative reinforcement as reward/punishment for how well you meet recruitment targets). If you're not succeeding the solution is to give Landmark more of your money.

What really needs highlighted is that people running LGATs are not qualified, they have no credentials to be playing with psychotherapy-type techniques. They're no more than pyramid salesmen. If any of it was legit you would be able to do courses like these in colleges or in the psychology departments of leading universities. And some colleges do provide courses in personal development - but they are accredited and probably a lot cheaper than most LGATs

I've been on this message board over 20 years and can tell you Landmark did produce one item in abundance:

Trolls.

Persistent, devious, vicious, threatening and deceitful trolls.

Your experience with Landmark is valid - they just want you to sell their training without paying commission or salary. It’s a scam. My wife went through a similar experience and came to the same conclusion after going through three sessions, and she felt used and foolish for falling for it.

Considering how dangerous the training can be on mental health and relationships, hopefully Landmark got only your money and time.