I have a book on the Sedona Method, and it seems fairly innocuous, at least as presented there. It's basically a way of getting in touch with emotions and then 'releasing' them. Releasing reminds me of the Buddhist doctrine of non-attachment. I found it somewhat beneficial.

Whether Sedona seminars or whatnot are equally innocuous is another matter, but in any event, I have to give them credit for publishing their material in a book. I think publishing your ideas demonstrates some degree of openness and integrity, unlike some other LGATs -- *cough* Landmark *cough*.

I've done a Sedona Method weekend seminar in NYC with David Ellzey and I found the techniques very helpful during the weekend itself. However, afterwards I got lazy and stopped practicing them. They tell you at the end to pick a partner and call them during the week to practice the exercises, but my partner and I only spoke once afterward and let it drop.

I still get emails about different Sedona Method workshops, but other than that, no pressure to attend. I have asked twice to be removed from the mailing list, mainly because I moved to another state, but no big deal - I just delete the emails.

I had some New Age friends involved in Sedona Method, which is how I heard about it. IMO, It's hard to judge each of these types of groups individually, because so many people in New Age circles have done every LGAT there is (Landmark/Forum, Nexus, Sedona, Family Constellations, The Work/Byron Katie, etc.) - that makes it hard to distinguish between the different ones, because a lot of the same themes/phrases get used by these same people in each group they attend.

Yes, my overall experience of the Sedona method was that it was relatively innocuous (i.e., no hard sell, no pressure to reveal personal information, etc.). However, it does promise "transformation" and solutions to problems (even long-standing ones) in a short period of time. Also, I had a hard time with some of the material in the series of books "Happiness is Free," particularly with some of Lester Levenson's talks. I also question whether "letting go of the ego" is really such a desireable goal and whether this not just another form of "sacrifice and denial of the self" in order to be a good and holy person. I also question placing the emotions on a scale (similar to Scientology) with apathy, grief, and anger at the lower end and courageousness, peace and joy at the upper end. I think all of our emotions are necessary to our growth as a human being and having a scale, even if unintentionally, creates a sense that some emotions are better or more desireable to others and that we should strive to eliminate the "lower" emotions while only experiencing the "higher" emotions.

I did the Sedona method daily for over a year and, while I did gain a better understanding of the nature of emotions, I did not experience any kind of a major breakthrough. Unless you count the breakthrough of letting go of the Sedona Method.

QE

I was concerned when my husband started reading The Sedona Method and listening to Larry Crane's Release Technique tapes last fall. It sounded like they were teaching people how to dissociate.

My husband is generally very uncomfortable with "negative" feelings so I could understand the lure of something that promises to get rid of them quickly and easily.

He wanted me to listen to the tapes, which I did. And the weekly tele-conferences where all kinds of miracles are reported, (making millions by doing nothing but "releasing"). People who were having trouble with the method were told they were "trying to figure it out" and "in resistence". This really troubled me.

It seems they disable listening to your feelings by telling you that it is not important to know what your feelings are about- just release them. (Your feelings lie to you, they say). Then they disable the mind by telling you that one of your problems is trying to figure things out. Should some doubt arise anyway, you are told that you need to "release your resistence."

I couldn't find anything much negative about the group either, but still had concerns. My husband went to a week long seminar after Christmas. (I declined the invitation to join him.) I was further concerned when I spoke to him during the week and learned they were going all day and all evening. All meals were with other attendees. My husband reported that he was sleeping only a few hours each night and feeling euphoric. Uh Oh!

I had tried all along to acknowledge the positive points in the program so when he got home (he had purchased yet another program) while at the seminar. This one was about goal setting and I told him I was interested in looking at the workbook and listening to the CD's and see if it might be of use to me. He told me that Larry said "People don't benefit from the course unless they pay for it" so he would need to check with Larry to see if it would be okay for me to use the materials or if I would need to buy my own. I was shocked. (My husband is a fairly wealthy man, while I am a struggling working woman.)

My husband said Larry isn't in it for the money. I pointed out that if that were true his company would be a non-profit corporation, which it is not. I had already told my husband I had found that Larry Crane had purchased mailing lists from investment newsletters so he is targeting people who at least can afford that and presumably have some money to invest.

My husband seems vacantly euphoric most of the time. He has "releasing pals" he spends a an hour on the phone with every day, in addition to the weekly teleconferences. He tells me of new miracles (called "gains") which he does not question in the least.

So far as the goals course, the philsophy is "if it's not effortless, its not the thing you want to be doing". Needless to say, my husband is doing absolutely nothing on any of life's less fun, but necessary tasks.

I just felt a responsibility to share my experience because, for my husband at least, it hasn't been innocuous. Okay, yes there has been some good, but I was raised mormon and I think there is some serious mind control going on in that religion, yet I can acknowledge there are some very positive things about the mormon culture. I think the Sedona Method/Release Technique is potentially hazardous.

Question Lady,

Thanks for sharing about the Sedona Method. The work I did with the Sedona Method was with Hale Dwoskin's tapes. I even did a weekend workshop with Hale at the Omega Institute in Rhinebeck, NY. Sorry to hear that the Sedona Method/Release Technique is affecting your husband so negatively. I really appreciate that you chose to share this experience, because it is extremely difficult to find any criticism of a lot of these new age "gurus." I have done search after search on the Internet trying to find any "critical" information about the Sedona Method or any of the teachers and there appears to be none to be had. The information about these types of courses is not balanced because it is so overwhelmingly positive.

Again, thanks for sharing.

Sincerely,
Question Everything

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question lady
I was concerned when my husband started reading The Sedona Method and listening to Larry Crane's Release Technique tapes last fall. It sounded like they were teaching people how to dissociate.

My husband is generally very uncomfortable with "negative" feelings so I could understand the lure of something that promises to get rid of them quickly and easily.

I think you are right about the dissociation, which is a form of insanity. No responsible or ethical pyschologist or psychiatrist would teach or train or encourage anyone to ignore their feelings by wishing them away. It's the same type of magical thinking that appeals to certain immature, escapist or avoidant personality types and not therapeutic in any sense. Though it is certainly helpful to be able to regulate one's emotional responses, to dial back one's ire or counter one's sorrow, it's not healthy to pretend they don't exist, that they are important, or that they are just inconvenient sensations that can be mentally disposed of. I think during most of these sorts of training programs, those who practice the techniques are really just relegating the emotions to some psychological basement where they pile up into some sort of critical mass that may or may not come back to haunt them in destructive ways. I'd be extremely worried about these closeted concerns. Psychological health involves full recognition of one's internal workings, the emotional content of one's thoughts, and an emotional "literacy." These programs and techniques simplify complex human problems and dumb-down the potentially dazzling spectrum of creative or adaptive responses we might otherwise come up with.

(Sounds like he might be a candidate for "anger management" or some other legitimate emotional education.)


Ellen

Ellen,

Your comment makes me wonder whether some sort of licensing and regulation is needed, just as for counselors. How do they get around it? These people are clearly dealing with people's emotions and thoughts.

Perhaps it is difficult to draw a bright line between what is and is not psychological counseling. Maybe selling books & CD's isn't counseling, but personal contact would seem to cross that line. Is anyone aware of any attempts to regulate these sort of "self help" services ?

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question lady
Ellen,

Your comment makes me wonder whether some sort of licensing and regulation is needed, just as for counselors. How do they get around it? These people are clearly dealing with people's emotions and thoughts.

Perhaps it is difficult to draw a bright line between what is and is not psychological counseling. Maybe selling books & CD's isn't counseling, but personal contact would seem to cross that line. Is anyone aware of any attempts to regulate these sort of "self help" services ?

No. I don't think it'll ever happen. Not as long as they can skate through the gray area between "awareness," "self-help," pop-psychology, and religion. I'm surprised, frankly, that legitimate, traditional therapists haven't complained en masse about these shysters but curiously, many have endorsed the "programs." I think there's as much chance of these folks being regulated as the purveyors of get-rich-quick schemes, multi-level-marketing pyramids, or no-money-down real estate investment seminars. The hawkers of snake-oil have pretty much free rein in this culture of the quickie-fix, E-Z route to riches, and instant mind-cure. I guess they may serve some corrective function for the gullible, careless, foolish, and/or uninformed or overly-trusting.


Ellen

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question lady
he would need to check with Larry to see if it would be okay for me to use the materials or if I would need to buy my own. I was shocked. (My husband is a fairly wealthy man, while I am a struggling working woman.)

Forgive me if this is a bit off-topic, but I'm a bit puzzled by this statement. If you are married, then aren't you both either rich or poor? How can he be rich and you be struggling financially if you are married? Wouldn't it be normal for a married couple to share one set of tapes? Can't he just buy the tapes for you if he wants to you have them that badly?

question lady...it seems that "Larry" has really got his meat-hooks into your husband. You can be certain that at this week long (!!) seminar, Larry now also knows that your husband is wealthy. A week long LGAT seminar is an extremely dangerous thing.

Its a real warning sign to me, that Larry has already got himself between you and your husband in that your husband has seemed to bought into the nonsense about everyone buying their own tapes. (this is simply a device to try and stop people from buying one set, and making copies for others, and cutting into their sales! They use GUILT to try and stop piracy).

Everything else aside, this Sedona business of ignoring one's emotions is just idiotic, and does not work. There is a book out there about the Sedona Method, and there is really nothing to it.

As we all know these things are very complex, but I hope your husband will wake-up and see what is happening.
You might find a way to communicate with him in a way he understands.
For instance, most men know that the world contains plenty of people trying to "rip you off". Especially men who have money, that is, if they made it themselves and did not inherit it, or get it in a lottery, etc. (that's not to say they can't be conned, doctors are classic victims for investment cons, as they are too naive about the world.)

I don't know, if it were me, I would look for inconsistencies, and then just point out where the CON is happening.
I have said to people flat-out, when I see the [b:52b892c2d6]proof [/b:52b892c2d6]of it, that they are getting scammed-conned-duped. If there is proof of this, then many people will listen, especially men who have that "scam" button in them. That is, there is a part of them that can tune-in to being scammed, and then realize what is going on.

It sounds like your husband is a nice "fish" and "Larry" has got his hook in him, and is reeling him in.
I don't know, many men respond best to brutal and ugly reality...as in...

"uh...you know this clown Larry is out to scam you for as much coin as possible...right? He makes used car salesman look like Mother Theresa..here are the facts....".
(but you need hard evidence and proof to pull it off)..

My opinion.