I will be hoping and praying for you!
The discovery people were the same way. 90% of her group was in a state of crisis from one thing or another, but they all seemed to think discovery was their salvation. I tried to point this out to her but she couldnt see it. They were losing their jobs, divorcing, being abandoned by old friends...
Its crazy.
The discovery training CULT is growing in the Austin area also I hear. They are even meeting at a Hilton down there. I am amazed the Hilton hotel group will allow their name to be associated with them.
Good luck! Please let us know what happens.

As a friend once said Stop D! Now


EC

I'm so pissed, he has been doing so amazing in so many aspects of his life, he's been like a different person, whole, happy...I have helped him see that first of all he is complete just as he is and that happines is a choice and happiness comes from being grateful, content...to be satisfied is state one must know how to live in to know happiness...and therefore our relationship has been growing as well, I thought this part of his life had passed and now with one damned phone call he is confused...I'm so worried about him/me /us...I'm scared...but then again, maybe it has, maybe this visit, by the grace of God, will open his eyes, I can but pray it will...I read these posts and it makes me sick to know these evil people are hurting so many and getting away with it...money, everything is about money...we have so much and this Nation is an all time low on the happiness meter...duh...fingers crossed/prayers for my truly wonderful man..that he will be one of the ones who survived

Update...he returned from the funeral in Dallas better than ever...no talk at all of M3...our realtionship grows even stronger...there is hope....don't give up on those you love...I never confronted him but one time..let him figure it out, just stayed close by and reinforced my belief in him...and in myself...

My son was involved in Millenium3. Please, don't think for a moment that this is anything other than an evil scam. They cynically employ mind control techniques to exploit the vulnerabilities of (mostly) young people, to cause them great harm, FOR MONEY. It is true that early on the front people, being victims themselves, may know little of the scam. It’s also true that there is an initial high and apparent (illusory) physiological improvement. It's part of the pathology.

Do your research. Read about Mind Dynamics, Lifespring - M3 is a Lifespring clone, est, Landmark, etc. Learn of the utter lack of qualifications of these putative experts. Understand that the founding fathers of these self-improvement cults are convicted felons and con men.

"Dr." John Hanley, Sr., the founder of Lifespring, obtained his BA in economics from the University of Wisconsin in 1973, four years after he obtained his mail fraud conviction for selling nonexistent janitorial franchises. “Doctor” Hanley received his “Ph.D.” from Columbia Pacific University, generously described as "an unaccredited nontraditional distance learning school," shut down by the State of California

The 1960's saw an increase in the use of medically supervised group therapy sessions to treat a variety of mental illnesses. Con men and hucksters came up with a new con.

Take the time to read about the LGAT or “personal awareness training” cons. Here are some suggested search terms to get you started:

“William Penn Patrick, "Leadership Dynamics Institute," “Holiday Magic,” “Alexander Everett,” “Mind Dynamics,” “Werner Erhard Seminars Training,” "est," "est: the Steersman Handbook," "A Door to Door Mind Salesman," Landmark or "Landmark Forum" or "Landmark Education," "Dare to be Great" motivational course, LGAT or "Large Group Awareness Training," "mass therapy encounter group," "Pathology as Personal Growth," "Report of the APA Task Force on Deceptive and Indirect Techniques of Persuasion and Control," "White Collar Cults, they want your mind . . . and your money, and six of your friends," "cults of the afflicted."

You might throw in "mail fraud" and "pyramid scheme" "Bestline soap powder."

Please excuse the inadvertent use of "physiological," I meant "psychological."

Oh I am well aware(hence my handle) of all of, I've been researching this stuff for over a year..good news is he is free of them and has, one by one, stopped returning calls from hi 'friends' he made there...point is, it isn't hopeless..I have 4 good friends that have over the years gotten caught up in one of these LGATs from ole Werner himself to M3 to Forum...I never knew until they saw me going through this with my boyfreind...because none of them like to even think about those years now, much less talk about it

I did my basic and advanced several months ago. The sickening thing is that I actually felt a emotional release and were emotionally high for some time. They really pushed you to sign up for the next course and stay connected. The moto was: life is about giving and giving and giving. I saw the volunteers there exhaust themselves to the point that they really were physically burned out and thought they were actually helping other people in need. I could see the tears in their eyes when we completed the courses. Now come to think of it, it was just sickening. I was very depressed and had various problems in my life, that was the reason I got sucked in so easily. Damn, it was like a mental rape and nobody deserves that. I was so physically exhausted so vulnerable to peer pressure and their suggestions that I actually did a lot things that I thought I would have never done in my entire life. They really appealed to your emotions telling me I was defensive and numb. I told my friend who referred me there that it was a pyramid scheme and sick, he actually told me that I was still easily driven and clinging on my past way of thinking. He said " stop being so judgmental, be more acceptable and loving, we should be all outward focused, stop being selfish." He actually got referred by his dad. This is really sick. I have never encountered this kind of mind control or mind manipulation. All I felt was being hurried, so no time to think. I didn't take the third course only because I had time conflict otherwise, I probably would have. In my group of around 26 people, only two people including me didn't choose to take it due to time conflicts. They really had a way of penetrating your though process. I was defensive and I was told I wasn't connected to my emotions. I always to more research online, so I came across this forum and youtube videos. People were talking about how Landmark was being a cult, and a lot people actually criticized the guys who exposed landmark. This millenium 3 is more sickening, they have more exercises that will even more deeply engrave the false beliefs into your mind. I can't believe the kind of things I did when I was there. They really prey on the people who were going through some kinds of emotional crisis. I think everyone in my group was in some kind of crisis. A lot of young people too in our twenties and even late teens. They really know a way to get you to pour out your emotions and traumatic events. I think people who got out should talk about it here more to support each other.

Quote
Katy
Any Info about them I want to know before I start
the basic My Daughter is taking there course now .
Thank You,
Katy

Katy, I live in the Dallas metroplex. The information I have received about this group is that it is very similar to the Forum or Landmark. I would urge you not to get involved.

Wendy



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/14/2008 10:44PM by rrmoderator.

wendyjduncan:

Please don't post personal links.

It has been 15 months since my boyfriend was swept up into M3 and about 10 months since he started to pull away...I sat back feeling helpless as I did massive research on these 'programs' and found more and more that scared me ..research that consisted of Internet(which led me to this forum) friends that I confided in that to my utter shock nearly every one (all from different walks of life) admitted they too at one time had been involved ...from landmark/forum... to EST...and the advice I got was pretty much the same..1. don't give up on him 2. don't pressure him 3. he will have to figure it out on his own and will take 1-2 years and to just continue to be who I am...and 4. prepare to be dumped as they will, when they figure out he can't recruit me, convimce him I will keep him from his 'potential' since I don't 'support' M3....and it all happened..1-4...when he finally 'dumped' me I dropped off a huge package of info I printed off of the Internet about these programs..along with a letter from me, both about what I knew from my friends and how much I believed in him and that in time i knew he would 'get it'...he kept it for a coupkle of weeks and then dropped it off on my doorstep..which not only told me he rejected it but also told me he read it...mission accomplished...as hard as it was on me he kept in touch for 3 months until I finally just couldn't take it and stopped returning his emails/calls/texts...2 weeks later he came back tail between his legs...i knew better than to ever bring M3 up, I had been warned he might have ahard time, if ever, being able to openly admit how duped he was because to him it would be how 'stupid' he was...it was best to let it lay...he had a few connections with friends in his 'class' and everytime he brought them up I pretty much ignored what he was saying about them...as the months ticked by he began to tire of their constant drag on him and I could see it was annoying him as he was putting his life back in order and they were not...I understand those people are victims too but also know that people like that are, as Oprah calls them, 'emotional vampires'...we all must remember that anyone who truly wants to help in atime of emotional crisis won't be charging you money for it..they are just there for you..because it is you that they see clearly, even when you can't see it yourself so clearly