Hi to all....WHAT (if anything) has helped those of you attracted to LGATS?....I have taken a weekend and week long seminar at the Option Institute (about 10 years ago) and am now considereing going to Landmark Education.....I did not stop myself from going to OI so I am vulnerable....I did not have a bad experience at OI at all.....It was quite pleasant but the courses are too expensive and they continued to contact me for years to take more courses.....I do understand it is a business....Also, how is therapy (paying for a counselor) to learn how to deal with emotions/problems etc any different than the LGAT (provided one does not have a psychotic break)?....Thanks

Here's a suggestion: every time you feel the urge to attend a LGAT, visit this website and do some reading on the many LGAT threads. The posters here are not lying, but you can make up your own mind about whether or not attending a LGAT is going to do you more harm than good.

The therapists versus LGAT question is simple, therapists are trained to do the job and are generally accountable, LGATS are staffed by slick snake-oil salesmen whose only interest is in taking your money and avoiding accountability.

Here's a starter guide for using the site:

[www.culteducation.com]

You will find a breakdown of the thought reform techniques used in LGATs here:

[www.culteducation.com]

Oh and by the way, anybody who claims they have become successful as a result of attending the LGATs is telling porkies. It is a scam, the only ones who benefit are the owners.

Worth risking a psychotic break for ???

Stoic is 100% correct. If you feel "weakness" and a desire to sign-up once more for ANY LGAT, come here first.

If reading isn't enough, post your feelings and ask for help. The LGAT threads are very well collowed by both the members here and the moderators.

Someone WILL get back to you ASAP and help you overcome your urges through back-and-forth contact.

You can also PM (private message) members. I have grazed the outskirts of LGATs but my slowly developed skepticism of ANY group or church claiming "enlightenment" has kept me away (thankfully to my sanity and my wallet).

Find members with first-hand experiences in LGATs and start a dialogue.

We are all here to help.

Also decide not to spend one dollar on that stuff for 1 year, or 5 years.
But it does take some experience in the school of hard knocks it seems, to realize that buying wishful thinking for thousands of dollars, only liberate you of thousands of dollars, and a possible mental breakdown.


Study the TECHNIQUES of the LGAT seminars in great detail.

And lets face it, 99% of all the content from every LGAT is now on Torrent networks. Of course, listening to it can be dangerous, it can suck a person into going to a seminar.


Lastly, find some healthy "self-improvement" stuff. Cognitive psychology by good professional can be a bit helpful to some.
Some people enjoy CBT, (some don't) and there are many ways to use that material for very low cost, books from the library.
This book is at every library, simple, but some good stuff in there.

"Mind Over Mood website a mental health resource for the public featuring the established principles of Cognitive Behavior Therapy" www.mindovermood.com

"People who are dissociated live in great peace. But this is only because they have blocked their negative feelings. The enlightened person resolves his negatives feelings, and thus his peace is not false."

People who left OI (Option Institute) after many years did have psychotic breaks. Perhaps you can only pretend to be happy for so long.

Option Institute/Kaufman Family were only about making money, not about helping people.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/20/2010 12:33AM by retting.

I would just add that for the "peak experience" that LGAT events offer, try some hard exercise. Something that really gets your heart rate up, like running or riding a bike up a hill, or some big all-day job around the house, like a big gardening or maintenance project. Wear yourself out physically (within healthy limits of course) and you will get the endorphin rush that will feel great, and the kind of healthy fatigue that will help you drop off to sleep with no trouble. Plus you'll get the usual benefits of the exercise, and it costs practically nothing.

First I would like to say a BIG THANKS to all who have posted in this thread in response to my opening post....A sincere thank you to help me overcome this attraction/interest in LGATs...
Stoic: I have not had the best luck with professional therapists....Many just discuss the past (childhood and too much analysis)....Also, the one that I did connect with and benefit the most from actually taught a lot of Sai Baba principles.....Over the years this has bothered me...That is why I started hunting for another LGAT all these years later.....I wil be taking AntiCults advice and looking into CBT

Sparky: What groups within LGAT did you get interested in?...Now that you have not gone to a program have you looked into other type(s) of therapy or self-improvement?

AntiCult: You made a great suggestion about studying the TECHNIQUES of LGAT seminar...Is there a report or article that breaks down the advertising that LGATs use to get one interested and then what actually happens during the training and also explains that the "positive" results and "breakthroughs" are nothing more than placebo or catharsis of built up feelings and issues?.

Retting: It has ben very hard to find negative and critical experiences of The Option Institute...I never went back because the courses are too expensive for me and also I did not have a great breakthrough or transformation....I actually caught myself, during the last day of the seminar, thinking well I NEED another seminar or 2 before getting the transformation but then changed my mind due to costs..I had NO IDEA at that time what the volunteers went through.....I did not see any bad things going on but that was because I was a participant.....I did get a little disillusioned when I found out that the Kaufmanns best friends (at the time about 10 years ago) who worked for them quit....
The one thing that did strike me about OI was the idea that it is our BELIEFS that fuel unhappiness/depression/anxiety....I think the CBT would be helpful as I am open to this philosophy......

I think there are many factors that draw one to LGATs and hopefully, once those factors are addressed then teh attraction will go away....Like many people looking for ways to feel better about themselves, their life experiences, etc I have gotten caught up in the illusion that a LGAT could teach me the tools that I was not taught.....

Thanks again to EVERYONE here on RR.....

Quote
JayJoseph
Sparky: What groups within LGAT did you get interested in?...Now that you have not gone to a program have you looked into other type(s) of therapy or self-improvement?

.....

I never went to therapy, but if you feel you need to get some reaffirmation and guidance then a LICENSED and TRAINED therapist is all I would recommend going to.

I agree with Sparky that if you seek a therapist, only go with someone who is licensed and trained.

However (and it's a big one!) I was seeing a licensed (in my area the term is 'registered', but same difference) and trained therapist and it was a freaking disaster and trying to sort out the whole experience is what led me to this site. (There were some cult-ish deceit and manipulation tactics going on that I knew nothing about. ) I've done a lot of research on psychotherapy since and unfortunately even training and licensing do not necessarily make a responsible, competent therapist. It's been an issue since the beginning of psychotherapy, literally going back decades. I can send you a list of books and articles that discuss this, if you're interested.

I would say, JayJoseph, that you are probably pretty much OK as you are. Whatever LGATs appear to offer, you can probably get for yourself in much healthier ways. You've got enough smarts to know that LGATs are bad news, and you found your way here, so you can probably figure out ways to deal with stress, etc.

Be careful of the psychologists as well, some have done the LGATs and actively promote them... they are only human (the psychologists) and of course, they get a good stream of business from the lgats.

So check the background of the psychologist first if you must have one. If they are boring you with childhood bollocks, get a Jungian analyst - the work on dreams which are at least more entertaining.


On a positive note - I agree with that other person... exercise, good food, carefully selected friends, time and attention to some of the beautiful parts of nature in this world... all the good things that come for free.