rrmoderator wrote: "Bert Clanton: You admit. "I have never seen written documentation of HAI's financial status..." End of discussion on this point. You know nothing other than whatever you are told." End of discussion on *all* points. [...] I don't expect to see this message in the Forum.
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

rrmoderator wrote: Of course a study done by an LGAT by itself internally would not be objective and I didn't mean that. Let me clarify this. "No LGAT, that I aware of, has ever gone through the process of commissioning/funding a study to be done by an independent researcher, peer reviewed and then published by a reputable journal, which focused on objectively measurable result
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

rrmoderator wrote: "Bert Clanton: You seem to be something of an LGAT junkie, going from one to another." I think that it would be fair to say that between 1987 and 1989, I was an LGAT junky. My experience with the "hard" LGAT was in 1975. "Not all LGATs are the same regarding how they may hurt people, some are worse than others. But all LGATs pretty much
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Back in the days before my surrogate sex partner in sex therapy recommended HAI to me, I had been a participant in three other kinds of LGATs. I'd classify them into two categories: "hard" and "soft". The techniques and exercises used in "hard" LGATS are the ones that resemble those used in brainwashing: assault on identity, guilt, self-betrayal, breaking point,
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Sparky wrote: "Question: When the sales staff/interns sign you up at a participant's first HAI meeting, is the new participant expected to sign a waiver against action toward HAI for any reason such as waiving your rights? (mental trauma/breakdowns, marital destruction, etc.) come to mind. LGATs require this and I am wondering if HAI does the same." I can only speak out
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

All HAI interns are volunteers who do what they do without pay. HAI was until very recently a for-profit corporation--whose success at actually making a profit was fairly marginal at best. That HAI has lasted for 41 years in such circumstances speaks to the feeling of many HAI "graduates" that it is worth supporting. HAI has just achieved non-profit status, with all the rights and pr
Forum: Large Group Awareness Training, "Human Potential"

Clarification: [...] I am not, and never have been, a member of HAI's leadership team. HAI leadership consists of the Board of Directors of the HAI corporation and the body of facilitators. I am an intern. An active intern is just an unpaid volunteer who does logistical support at workshops and heads small group exercises at workshops. Interns are not involved in any way in HAI's
Forum: Large Group Awareness Training, "Human Potential"

Hi, all! I changed my mind. I'm back with you.
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

As for HAI being an organization whose sole purpose is the perpetuation of workshops: if that were the case, its marketing efforts would not consist predominantly of word-of-mouth [...] [...] I believe that there are three kinds of response that people have to HAI workshops. For a substantial majority of participants, enough benefit accrues that they praise the organization and like to pal ar
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

I've changed my mind. I will continue to post here after all. But please PM me if you like, folks. Sparky wrote: "I have been breathlessly following the terrific exchanges between Bert Clanton and rrmoderator. This is a terrific look into the HAI organization and I am grateful for the honest back-and-back. Thank you for your clear and honest postings, Bert Clanton! It is
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Hi, all! Since I've now sent more than 10 postings, I'm now eligible to send and receive PM's. I'd enjoy receiving them, and will usually reply. But I'm now temporarily discontinuing posting to the Forum: I'm just spending too much of my time doing that. Bert
Forum: Large Group Awareness Training, "Human Potential"

rrmoderator wrote: "You are supporting the points of fact once again. HAI is a "peer group" or as you admit "an orgainzation" with a "Board of Directors is an organized group. The facilitators are salaried employees of the corporation, and in that respect I suppose you could say that they're part of HAI as an organization. Interns and assistants are volunt
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

rrmoderator wrote" "Now let's look at the way you responded to the criteria listed for coercive persuasion and thought reform. Much like the members of well-known "cults" you at times felt that a simple denial was a meaningful response." Yup. If you say that HAI does X, and my experience is that HAI doesn't do X, I think that "But HAI doesn't
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

rrmoderator wrote: "The liabilities and your response is very revealing. Thanks." You're very welcome. "It's good to get someone intimately involved in an LGAT to disclose information about the inner workings of the group through a public message so that people can better understand the organization before becoming initially involved. For example, your rep
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

rrmoderator wrote: "Your attempt here at apologies is based upon your personal experience" Absolutely. Twenty-plus years of it. All the levels twice as a participant: once as a new participant, and the other with a sweetheart; a couple of levels again recently as a participant; and about sixty as an intern. Are you really implying that my personal experience of HAI unfits me to ex
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Here I'll be quoting a recent posting by rrmoderator, and interpolating my comments: "The key factors that distinguish coercive persuasion from other training and socialization schemes are: 1. The reliance on intense interpersonal and psychological attack to destabilize an individual's sense of self to promote compliance " Attack of any kind is simply and completely
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

SFBMoore wrote: "Bert: I want to congratulate you on your naievety....and you said it yourself....It takes people with your rose colored glasses to keep HAI going, and they have found the fool in you. How much of your money have you parted with over the many years?" I *must* indeed be a fool if after twenty years of association with HAI, having attended every level as a partic
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

One thing that I really don't understand is how, on the one hand, some folks here claim that they had very damaging experiences at higher levels of HAI workshops, but on the other hand, seem also to be saying that they attended several of the higher levels. Perhaps I misunderstand what they're saying--but why didn't they stop going to the workshops after the first level that really
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

DayDreamer wrote: "Have you gone to the Large Group Awareness section of this site? There are three HAI related threads there, one of which is quite long and contains experiences of those of us who have actually gone to HAI workshops, and the problems we have experienced therein. " Yes I have. "I have some serious issues with what goes on and what is expected at HAI work
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

REASONS NOT TO ATTEND A HAI WORKSHOP You may be quite uncomfortable at a HAI workshop if any of the following is true: 1. You believe that nudity in a workshop setting would be morally wrong, inherently sexually provocative, or dangerous to your psychological health. 2. You believe that declining to prohibit or censure a particular activity or lifestyle is equivalent to recommending or
Forum: Large Group Awareness Training, "Human Potential"

I can only share out of my own experience of HAI. And that's exactly what I did in my analysis of HAI , in the context of its possible cultish characteristics. I fully admit that I was not omnipresent in HAI, and there may well have been things going on that I wasn't aware of. My perspective, as I shared it, was based only on what I saw happening; and I believe that in twenty years of c
Forum: Large Group Awareness Training, "Human Potential"

I received an email this morning, informing me that my Cult Education Forum account has been approved. Assuming that this means that I can now post to the Forum, I attempted to do so. But when I did, I got a return message saying again that I can't post until I register. What am I doing wrong? Bert Clanton
Forum: Tech support for this board

Hi! I've been a HAI "intern" (i.e., assistant) for twenty years, plus a few months. I have a perspective on HAI that I think ought to be expressed here. I'm going to do this in two separate postings. The first will talk about the widely recognized characteristics of organizations that are generally considered to be cults, and will cite my own experience of HAI with respect
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

I have been a HAI "intern" (i.e., assistant) for twenty years, plus a few months, and I have a perspective on HAI that I think should be presented here. But I'm having difficulty posting here. The forum doesn't seem to recognize the fact that I've registered, and that I've received email notification that my registration was approved. So this particular posting
Forum: Large Group Awareness Training, "Human Potential"