Quote
mazellan

Overall, my assesment:
Shallow and superficial (but 'that' concept is explored in great depth in the xxx course, only $500!), meaningless jargon loaded, some interesting tools and insights, annoying hard sell, really nothing that can't be gotten from a few well chosen books.

Quote

But a great sense of 'belonging' to a loving 'family'

Quote

I think if you familiarize with the philosophy and psychology behind the forum, then you'll probably escape unscathed .. Who knows, you might even make up with an estranged relative or come out of your shell or benefit in some other way .. My feeling is that if I can sit in a room for 15 hours for 3 straight days, I might as well visit Australia for the weekend..

Quote
glam

Honestly, it sounds like he cobbled together other people's accounts to sound "fair" at the beginning, though of course overall his review of Landmark is positive.

Quote
upsidedownnewspaper
My Landmark spruiker also signed up for Big Brother Big Sister program. Is there a link?

(It worried me a lot. She said things like, "I had a training course today on how to spot the kids who are being abused.")

Quote

... The new packet emphasizes scholarly articles because we believe that this area cries out for scientific research. Given the person-hours devoted to LGATs during the past two decades, it is astounding how little solid scientific research has been conducted. Indeed, there is not enough research to make any sweeping generalizations about this genre of training program. The research on est suggests that a small, though certainly not insignificant, percentage of participants were psychologically harmed by the training in ways that are detectable by standard measures of psychological distress. How much "subtle" harm occurs is still open to dispute.

[b:10529c3250]I know of no research, however, that convincingly demonstrates positive behavioral effects of these trainings. [/b:10529c3250] In my opinion, one of the best studies from a methodological standpoint was "Research on Erhard Seminar Training in a Correctional Institution" (Hosford, Ray, E., Moss, C. Scott, Cavior, Helene, & Kerish, Burton. Catalog of Selected Documents in Psychology, 1982, Manuscript #2419, American Psychological Association). Of 313 inmates who volunteered for est training in a Federal Correctional Institution, 150 were randomly selected for the training, while the balance acted as a waiting-list control group and were given scholarships to be used upon release. The groups did not differ on demographics or variables related to criminal history. They were given a full battery of psychological tests and biofeedback instruments, with half of the group pre-tested and half post-tested (to control for the possible contaminating effect of testing). Three-month and 12-month follow-ups were conducted to assess behavioral outcomes (incident reports, furloughs, work performance, etc.). Although the psychological tests reflected some positive change, these self-report changes did not manifest themselves in alterations in physiological measures or in actual behavior.

[b:10529c3250]The research and anecdotal evidence seem to indicate that LGATs are very successful at producing positive opinions about the trainings [/b:10529c3250]-- an outcome that the financial officers of every service business would value. However, whether or not they have a substantial positive effect on behavior that is not due to placebo factors, is still an unanswered question.

There are also a host of ethical questions that can be raised about how many of these trainings recruit new trainees and persuade graduates to continue to take more courses. We hope that the material in the new packet will help readers appreciate the complexity and subtlety of the issues raised by LGATs.

Quote

IMO--the only element Landmark lacks that precludes it from being called a "cult," is an ever-present totalitarian and charismatic leader. The other two elements of "thought reform" and exploitation or harm done are readily visible.