Hello all, my name is Morgan, and I am a former staff member of Sterling Institute.

I was the first male staff person, and I attended the very first men's seminar, in January of 1981. I was directly instrumantal in shifting the focus of Justin's work with men, from being more manageble by women, toward achieving a fuller sense of themselves as men.

In looking up the Sterling information on this forum, after paying little or no attention to Justin's antics for many years, I was appalled by what I read. It is plain to me that the work has degenerated since I was with the institute, and I believe that I know why.

I'll begin by addressing the comments addressed by the board to mdiman, relative to his posts concerning the organization and the seminars.

To say that Sterling Institute is a private for profit company says nothing. So is Alcoa Aluminum, General Motors, and your local corner grocery store. Making a profit is not an indicator that something is wrong, though the implication seems to be otherwise.

As to the fact that Arthur 'Archie' Kasarjian is now known as Justin Sterling, that says nothing, either. The name change was legal, open and above board, and Justin has been using his new name, publically, for at least 27 years. He is 'known as' Justin Sterling because that is his legal name.

Did anyone ever have a problem with the fact that the actor, Cary Grant, started out in life as Archibald 'Archie' Leach, or that John Wayne's 'real' name was Marion Morrison? Really, folks, this should be a non-issue.

It is, of course, possible that Justin changed his name to put his past behind him. I knew him very, very well, and worked very closely with him, and at no time did he ever mention being in trouble with the law. Perhaps he was simply ashamed of what he did, and wished to distance himself from it. Nothing wrong with that, either.

I was familiar with, and directly responsible for, every aspect of seminar production, and I had previously produced large events for EST. I speak with an authority that no one on the board possesses, when I say that the only elements of EST structure that were used were those that facilitated the physical production of the seminar. These were pre-entry administrative procedures on the morning of the first day, the rigid scheduling of meal and bathroom breaks, traffic control within the seminar room, and the standards of conduct for the seminar assistants.

These elements were so structured because they worked efficiently to provide a sense of safety for the participants. When someone has the courage to stand up and share their personal challenges with the group, the last thing they need is people milling about, or going back and forth to the bathroom.

None of the content of the EST 'Training' had any place in our work.

Make no mistake, I am by no means an apologist for Justin Sterling. I consider the man to be seriously flawed, and something has clearly gone awry in the work since I left in late 82'.

The people who are moved to consult this site for information about the institute deserve better than implication and inuendo. They deserve the facts, as clearly presented as possible. I know that you do your best to see that those facts are provided, but the assumptions are counterproductive.

Back in 81'/82', Some of John Grey's ideas did appear in Justin's work, and may still be there. Robert Bly's influence was brought in by me, as a means of supporting men in achieving a fuller sense of themselves as men. From what I have been reading here, and from what I have heard from others over the intervening years, I have no doubt that Mr. Bly would be appalled by what Justin has done with it.

It's true that Justin is not licensed as an M.F.C.C., at least as far as I know. I do remember that he earned a degree while I worked there - a Doctorate, actually - from some school, and that, for a time, he was ocassionally referred to as Dr. Sterling. Evidently, he no longer feels a need for the credential.

That said, I know many unlicensed/undegreed people who do excellent work with those in need of personal healing and growth work. I also know those who, while fully licensed and degreed, are fairly incompetent.

Licences and degrees, then, are no guarantee of quality, nor is their absence necessarily something to fear.

As to the experience that Justin brings to the work, he began in this arena by counseling women, individually, on matters of relationship. What made him consider doing so is unknown to me. He put the first women's weekend together using that experience, supplemented by - I'm not joking - conclusions he had reached while watching TV soap operas.

It's really quite amazing that he was able to piece together a philosophy for relationships that worked as well as it did. You see, the content of the women's weekend has changed, too, judging by the input from women on this forum.

As he went along, of course, he gathered large amounts of information from the women who took the seminars. That was the whole purpose of audio and video taping. Between seminars, Justin spent most of his time sequestered with a TV and the tapes from previous seminars, reviewing women's responses to the material.

Also, the camera feeds were routed to a large screen at the front of the room. In that way, participants seated toward the back of the room could clearly see people who were talking about their lives toward the front, and vise-versa. All of the input that we received from participants indicated that they appreciated the presence of the cameras, once they got used to them.

That Justin and his wife divorced is nothing special, either. Things can happen in relationships that no amount of 'technology' can prevent , so divorce, in and of itself, does not negate the philosophy. Justin, however, did not follow the philosophy he espoused.

I knew his wife, Alexandria, as she had been on staff, off-and-on, while I worked there. Because I was very familiar with the way Justin treated women, I was sorry to hear that they were married, for I knew what she was up against.

As to allegations of child abuse, I am not qualified to speak, other than to say that Justin had no qualms about directing verbal abuse at the adults around him.

This was Justin's message to women, in the early seminars: "If you want to have a relationship that works, find a man that you are willing to take on as a 'project' and manage him so that he gets what he wants. But be sure that you manage him so that he only wants what you want him to want."

Men were told, on the other hand, that they should: "find a woman who would take them on as a project, surrender to her management, and make sure that she managed them so that they got what they wanted."

I know, it had serious flaws, but it was well received back then, by both men and women.

Except for the occasional 'shouting down', when Justin was challenged too strongly, the participants, both men and women, were treated respectfully. In those days, the men and women were taught to appreciate and celebrate each other. It seems that this is no longer the case.

Now, we come to the matter of Justin's conviction for a felony. No doubt, he did what he did and, no doubt, he paid some sort of penalty for it. This being the United States of America, I am forced to take the view that he paid his debt to society and, as far as I am concerned, that should be the end of it.

Bad press? That's no valid measurement, either. I used to put on initiation weekends for men, and women, separately, that were nothing like Justin's work. No abuse, no shouting down, no pressure to conform, none of the elements that people find so disturbing in Justin's work. In fact, none of that is at all necessary.

In any case, a man approached me to do a story about my work for the San Francisco Chronicle. He was a staff photographer, and he would be bringing a reporter with him. They would be full participants in the event.

I readily agreed, and they went through the following weekend event. Both men did indeed participate fully, and both were visibly moved by their experience.

When the story appeared in tha paper, I was appalled. The article was largely a slur on the work. When I next talked with the photographer, he apologized. He told me that the newspaper editor had directed the reporter to write a story that was biased against men's work.

So, by itself, bad press is not a valid indicator, either. Magazines and newspapers thrive on controversy, not truth.

And now to the famous naked videotaping. The first such event came about spontaneously, while I was working for Justin. It happened at the request of the men in the seminar, and was designed by them, as a means of bringing those who hadn't 'gotten it' yet, into a fuller sense of themselves as men.

The first group - about 100 men - were the 'initiators', and the remaining 50 or so were the 'initiates'. Justin and I had no idea what the form of the ritual would be, but we were confident that the initiates would be treated respectfully, as we had made that a condition of the event.

The initiates entered the room blindfolded, and fully clothed. The rest of the men were nude, and had grouped themselves around a collection of drums that we had rented for them. A signal was given, and the drumming and dancing began. A couple of men danced through the group of initiates, and flipped their blindfolds off.

One by one and in very short order, all but one of the initiates had shed their clothes and joined the dance. The remaining man finally did so as well. At no time was any attempt made to coerce those men. They just went for it, in full-out celebration of themselves.

Of course, since we videotaped everything that happened in the seminars, the cameras were rolling, and the men all new it. They simply didn't care. Justin has obviously continued to hold such rituals, though I cannot speak about the presence of coercion, since I do not attend.

As for those men who feel embarrased by male nudity, or fear to be filmed in the nude, I have one thing to say: Don't take your clothes off, no matter what anyone else tells you to do.

Let's face it: if you aren't secure enough in youself to stand your ground, then you probably aren't yet ready for an initiation. That doesn't make you less than the other men in the seminar. It just means that, right now, it may not appropriate for you.

For information as to what is done with the videotapes, I refer you to the copy of the release form you have included in your information. It says: I understand that the Weekend may be photographed, videotaped and/or audiotaped, and The Sterling Institute of Realationships and A. Justin Sterling do hereby have my permission to use the photographs, videotapes and/or audiotapes for archival purposes, and shall not be used for public exhibition or commercial exploitation.

They only way that it could be any clearer would be to change the words "may be" to "will be". Anyone who has read the release form and signed it has to have come to terms with it, or they shouldn't have signed it.

The only other thing that I would change on the release form would be the confidentiality agreement. Agreeing to protect the confidentiality of other participants is fine, and necessary. To be required not to talk about your own experience, however, is absurd.

All in all, the release form is a pretty straightforward document. As you can see, these forms are mailed to participants before the weekend. That means that they are available for careful scrutiny by the participants themselves, as well as any other parties they care to ask for input.

There is such a thing as due diligence, and it behooves potential participants to do their homework, such as consulting this site. The release form is as clear as it is possible to be about the intensity of the weekend, and the potential for 'damage'.

The document says, under 'assumption of risk': "I understand that the Sterling Women's weekend is physically, emotionally and mentally demanding, because the hours are long, the content is very intense, etc. . ". "I understand that not all of the risks associated with the weekend are known or predictable, etc . ". "I have carefully assessed my own physical, emotional and mental strength, and endurance, and have, after careful deliberation, concluded that I am able to and wish to participate, etc . ". "I understand and acknowledge that there are psychological, emotional, and even physical risks to me and I knowingly and voluntarily assume all of those risks".

Folks, it doesn't get any clearer than that. The document exists in this form, not only to protect Justin and the institute, but the participants as well. Due diligence isn't a luxury, here. It's a necessity. Anyone who signs this document is stating that they are both ready and willing to experience whatever comes up. If they are not, for whatever reasons, they should not sign it, and they should not participate.

Now, we come to Justin's philosophy for relationships, as it stands today, the so-called $50 tips. Though there is a small grain of truth in a few of them, as a whole they are as clear an indication of how far Justin's work has deteriorated since I worked with him as it is possible to read. It is also the clearest statement that I have ever seen about how Justin treats the women in his life. I know this because I was part of Justin's 'inner circle' and I repeatedly watched him do it.

It is a bankrupt philosophy, period. Though there may be some who are able to successfully apply these ideas in their relationships, on the whole I would say, "Don't try this at home".

As to mdiman's assertion that the weekend was an initiation into manhood, my reply is that he doesn't know what he is talking about. No doubt it was a powerful experience of male bonding, but male bonding and manhood are two very different things.

A male who follows Justin's philosophy for relationship is no man at all. At best, he is a 'pseudoman', still far more a boy than a man. Neither can a male who goes around making commitments to other men, continually proving his manliness by 'keeping his word' to the males in his group at the expense of his family life, be rightfully called a man.

A male who still feels that he has to prove himself to other men is not yet a man, no matter how much he protests otherwise. Males who actually are men have no need of proving themselves, to other men or anyone else. You would think that would be obvious, but evidently it's not.

Justin is unable to initiate males into manhood because he has never made the transition himself. When I knew him, he openly admitted a profound distrust of men, and it was obvious from watching him squirm to avoid other men socially, that not only did Justin distrust men, he feared them as well.

Perhaps Justins works with men in the way that he does because he wants desperately to feel like the man that he knows - inside - that he is not. I can't speak for him, of course, but that's how it looks from here.

mdiman's putting down of the people who complain about Justin has no merit whatsoever. Whatever they experience is every bit as real for them as his experience is for him. Belittling them, as boys do, is simply another sign that he hasn't yet reached the maturity of manhood.

As for the distress that some women have expressed here, about their mates' absence from the home in pursuit of 'bonding with and supporting other men', I'll say this. Justin never invests his energy, attention or funds in anything that doesn't produce more enrollments for his seminars.

Just as he learned while participating with EST, the Family of Women, and the Men's Division exist solely to bring new people into the fold. I know that Justin says otherwise, and I know that the participants believe otherwise, but I also know Justin, very, very well.

If you are , for whatever reason, emotionally, mentally or physically fragile, don't sign up for the Sterling seminars. You will just be setting yourself up for a fall.

If you feel ready, however, you might consider otherwise. There is much of value in the seminars, and much that is not. If you are someone who is able to sift through the information and keep only what works for you, then you might be able to glean a great deal from a Sterling weekend.

I am immensly proud of the work that I did with Justin Sterling. I am equally proud that I have nothing to do with the institute today.

As with everything in life, 'you pays your money and you takes your chances'. Just be sure that you make an informed decision.

Regards, Morgan C. P. C. C., C. C. H. T.