ok so i was looking thru myspace for psi i found this group the "teen experience staff" group, the leader posted this video on google something called the Teen experience staff spider game.....disturbing to say the least if you can get thru the whole video, who would send their kid to this place? If anybody ever duct taped my teen up like this i would hope the police got them before my husband did. What are these kids on?

[video.google.com]

Ok, it it just me or is this all starting to fit a patern of behavior for these people?

And it is scary that a police officer and a lawyer can be conned by PSI. What happens when they return to work or home and recruit other to these seminars?

In Brisbane (Australia), I know of Magistrates (aka Judges) who have been to the Landmark Forum and then try to get the other staff signed up.

So .... if you are going to court against Landmark and their variants, then you need to check that those adjudicating the case haven't been compromised.

John

Jeri442,
I can't count the number of people I know who have had similar problems as you that have participated in the Impact Trainings in Bluffdale, Utah. Myself included. You have my empathy.

I found this on factnet. Two posts. Thought I would copy it here and update this thread and show PSI is still causing problems with peoples lives. One felt from the start there was something wrong and the other who was involved and got out of it.


Username: gr8writr
Post Number: 1
Registered: 12-2006
I attended a PSI Basic Seminar "graduation" this month and walked away with a negative feeling, and wonder for a brief moment, if there was something wrong with me as everyone else appeared to overly jubilant. There was a high in at that "sales pitch" that actually brought me back to the days of Life Spring, EST, and every motivation sales training seminar I ever attended. To date,TM, which is a discipline I still find quite useful never, ever, made me feel so pressured. I mean, isn't that the point, to free yourself from all those pressures?

So I'd like to hear from some of you, as I now find myself close friends with two couples who have recently finished "basic" and are now considered "staff" and have even signed up for training up to the one year discipline. And although I've made it quite clear that I gained the same basic knowledge in the self-help motivational courses that I took in the '80s -- courses that they've never expereinced, then why put so much pressure so me to experience the one and only seminar training that they've ever taken?

They deny needing quotas, but I found online a testimonial from a previous PSI person who debunks that myth and, the myth about just how rich is "for profit" organization really is. But these were dated and I'm looking for current comments.

So I welcome any input, suggestions, and facts, as I just
ran into one of these couples last night and one of them
couldn't resist saying, "How much I'd get out of "the training." So as you can imagine, this is really putting a strain on me and I'm afraid of what it will do to a friendship that I really value. But... I have no desire to take part in PSI training so... help... please!

gr8writr,

There is nothing wrong with you for feeling the way you did after attending the PSI Basic Seminar "graduation". PSI Seminars is, afterall, a "for-profit" business wanting to sell you something.

I did both the Basic and PSI VII last year and decided PSI Seminars was not for me. I am a strong proponent of personal growth and was not comfortable PSI Seminar's approach to it. When "looking at yourself", there needs to be a "process" involved; a chance to let feelings, new understanding, etc. "sink-in". At both the Basic and PSI VII, I found this "process" to be missing, due to constantly "shifting gears" with new activities. As for "quotas", the only one I know of is in PLD, the 90-day program. Participants are required to "sign-up" (2) people for the Basic or they are dropped from the program. I also know that the individual facilitating the Basic receives a commission by signing up Basic participants for the "advanced" seminars (PSI VII and MLS/WLS).

Finally, as for your "friends", if they truly value the relationship, whatever decision you make will be acceptable to them. I am still friends with the person who turned me on to PSI, though we now "agree to disagree" on the matter. As a side note, I was in a relationship at the time I was involved with PSI. My "then" girlfriend was a big fan of the organization and had been through all of the seminars. When I told her of my decision, it effectively ended our relationship. I survived being rejected by her and am glad I stayed true to my feelings.

Good luck and trust yourself.

One reason people stay in cults even when the experience is deeply painful is that it can be far more psychologically painful to admit to being unreasonable and wrong. For me, throwing off mind control was a matter of education and time. I learned that what keeps people in difficult and painful situations is an unwillingness to admit that they might have made poor choices. Before long I applied the same logic to my marriage. James and I were married in July 1998. Shortly thereafter, he started drinking heavily. We fought about it for a year, and then I left. Eventually we agreed that without Vistar, we never would have married.

Jeri and Joann I found this on another site. I found item 6 to be of interest.


DANGER SIGNS OF HARMFUL NEW AGE INFLUENCE

While many people seem to benefit from New Age seminars and training programs in terms of becoming more self-confident, relaxed, or creative, a significant number (as indicated in the accompanying article) suffer very serious negative consequences. Whether the programs are required or recommended by the corporate management, or entered into by the employee's own volition independently of his company, EAPs need to be prepared to intervene if necessary. In order for the EAP to be able to be effective in helping such individuals neutralize these effects, he or she must be able to recognize the danger signs. A few of the more common are the following:

1. Radical change in personality or behavior. Change is normal with any religious, philosophical, political, or social "conversion," but the key here is the word "radical." Has the person gone from being a quiet introvert to being an outgoing extrovert? Has he or she suddenly begun talking about new ideas or using new words or expressions such as enlightenment, holistic, human potential, transformation, transpersonal, transcendental, life force, etc. (these terms are not in themselves "bad" or proof of New Age involvement, but they can be the first clues of it.)

2. Severe depression or anxiety. These symptoms can be indicators of posttraumatic stress disorder, sometimes experienced by participants in New Age seminars. These disorders can be triggered by negative episodes undergone during sessions of guided imagery or "past-life regression" often included as part of such seminars. Both depression and anxiety are often accompanied by an inabilty to concentrate, chronic distraction, and inappropriate emotional response.

3. Confusion about reality, values, or knowledge. Since New Age programs are designed to "transform" the way one views and relates to the world as well as to the tasks at hand, the transformational process can result in a disjuncture between the individual and everything else that makes it difficult to determine what is real, valuable, or true. The New Age insistence that "we create our own reality" can, when inculcated by means of hypnotic or assaultive techniques, cause one to suffer psychotic episodes.

4. Diminishing or loss of critical thinking skills. The basic Eastern-mystical concept of the unity of all things includes as one of its corollaries that there are no distinctions between truth and falsehood, right and wrong, good and evil. In fact, Eastern/New Age teaching generally attempts to invalidate Aristotelian logic in toto, so that "A" can also be "not-A." This, if carried to the "logical" conclusion, makes nonsense out of language, and meaningful communication becomes impossible. A typical New Age statement is, "That may be your reality, but it's not my reality."

5. Sudden onset of a series of physical ailments. As Singer and Ofshe have found (see article), radical thought reform programs can cause a variety of physical as well as psychological problems. These include strokes, heart attacks, ulcers, and lowered resistance to communicable diseases. The EAP needs to be alert to these as they can be signs of psychological distress brought on by these types of training programs.

6. Marital or other relationship discord. Seemingly normal "spats" between spouses, siblings, or parents and children can be precipitated by attendance at a New Age (or other) seminar or program. The radical transformation or conversion that often occurs frequently produces a fanatic out of the convert, whether the conversion is to New Age thinking or Christian fundamentalism. Unconverted relatives normally find it difficult to endure the religious/metaphysical obsessions of the fanatic. EAPs should be prepared to inquire discreetly of the employee who is experiencing such discord at home to find out if the cause may be of this nature.

Thank you for your words.

I feel like such a fool for being that stupid and gullible. I can't even begin to explain my behavior after coming back from PSI 7. I see someone suggested a book on another posting that might explain what I did, even though there was no excuse. I should have known better.

I wished I could make even the slightest amends, with not only my ex-husband, but my family and friends. I have tried to explain what I experienced but I get rejected and the explainations have no meaning to them. I don't even understand this myself.

Jeri442, sorry that what's happened to you has but as someone's said earlier, at least you're out of it now.

When someone you know dies, there are recognised steps in the grief process, including blaming yourself, that people will need to move through to let go from the event that occured ( no choose your reality for that one )

So what I'm saying is that it's natural to blame yourself, but it's also unfair. Anyone is somewhat succeptable to direct or indirect suggestion (hypnosis / nlp / prayer, etc) and as such you were really no more than a pawn in the game for the LGAT

Really no more than a wallet with legs in fact. That's not meant as a cruel jibe moreover that's the reality behind each LGAT/church. I believe the phrase used in the US is 'bait & switch' and these organisations appear to have it down perfectly.

Healthy resolution of a 'problem', if one ever existed could have been carried out whilst in your safe home environment, wheras LGATs rely on pulling you out of your reality and into theirs.

They will succeed 99% of the time since we all carry fears and insecurites that a clever sales rep will twang and then offer salvation ( the pain pleasure elements as in the dentists chair scene in film the Marathon Man pictures this perfectly )

I think that some people 'might' benefit from some of the techniques but I strongly question the financial and emotional cost incurred in their approach.

So use whatever mediums you can to let out your feelings - you're not bad - just someone that's been cruelly manipulated by a money machine and spat out when you were considered all spent.

I've found that reading through the posts here and following the external links has added tremendously to my understandings of LGAT - and I thought I knew a fair bit already.

Good luck

Brian

Your Help is Needed!
The highly respected talk show, The Montel Willams Show, is looking for 2nd generation ex-cult members to do a show on educating the public of the dangers and damage caused by these groups and the struggles of recovery after leaving.

If you were born into a destructive non-secular high control group or brought there as a child, they would like for you to help.

If you are interested, please call 212-830-0316 as soon as possible. The taping will be very soon and all expenses are paid.

IMHO
Factnet

The Montel Williams Show