Fornits
Treatment Abuse, Behavior Modification, Thought Reform => CEDU / Brown Schools and derivatives / clones => Topic started by: Awake on October 22, 2008, 10:06:18 PM
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To this day many former students are deeply divided as to their feelings about Cedu. This intense experience has produced many protractors and detractors. In order to discuss this topic it is important to understand the history and development of the program.
Mel Wasserman was a former Synanon cult member who developed the Cedu program using the Synanon model and included various elements of psychology and new age philosophy as well as maintaining a controlled environment that isolated it from any outside information and influence.
The program was structured in a way that precisely followed the methodologies described by Robert Jay Lifton. Robert Jay Lifton was one of the early psychologists to study brainwashing and mind control. He called the method used thought reform, and offered the following eight methods that are used to change people's minds.
Milieu control
All communication with outside world is limited, either being strictly filtered or completely cut off. Whether it is a monastery or a behind-closed-doors cult, isolation from the ideas, examples and distractions of the outside world turns the individuals attention to the only remaining form of stimulation, which is the ideology that is being inculcated in them.
This even works at the intrapersonal level, and individuals are discouraged from thinking incorrect thoughts, which may be termed evil, selfish, immoral and so on.
Mystical manipulation
A part of the teaching is that the group has a higher purpose than others outside the group. This may be altruistic, such as saving the world or helping people in need. It may also be selfish, for example that group members will be saved when others outside the group will perish.
All things are then attributed and linked to this higher purpose. Coincidences (which actually may be deliberately engineered) are portrayed as symbolic events. Attention is given to the problems of out-group people and attributed to their not being in the group. Revelations are attributed to spiritual causes.
This association of events is used as evidence that the group truly is special and exclusive.
i.e. knowledge about the program could only be known through progression.
Confession
Individuals are encouraged to confess past 'sins' (as defined by the group). This creates a tension between the person's actions and their stated belief that the action is bad, particularly if the statement is made publicly. The consistency principle thus leads the person to fully adopt the belief that the sin is bad and to distance themselves from repeating it.
Discussion of inner fears and anxieties, as well as confessing sins is exposing vulnerabilities and requires the person to place trust in the group and hence bond with them. When we bond with others, they become our friends, and we will tend to adopt their beliefs more easily.
This effect may be exaggerated with intense sessions where deep thoughts and feelings are regularly surfaced. This also has the effect of exhausting people, making them more open to suggestion.
i.e. confession in raps, telling story, propheets, writing assignments
Self-sanctification through purity
Individuals are encouraged to constantly push towards an ultimate and unattainable perfection. This may be rewarded with promotion within the group to higher levels, for example by giving them a new status name (acolyte, traveller, master, etc.) or by giving them new authority within the group.
The unattainability of the ultimate perfection is used to induce guilt and show the person to be sinful and hence sustain the requirement for confession and obedience to those higher than them in the groups order of perfection.
Not being perfect may be seen as deserving of punishment, which may be meted out by the higher members of the group or even by the person themselves, who are taught that such atonement and self-flagellation is a valuable method of reaching higher levels of perfection.
i.e. purity could only be gained by confession within the group.
Aura of sacred science
The beliefs and regulations of the group are framed as perfect, absolute and non-negotiable. The dogma of the group is presented as scientifically correct or otherwise unquestionable.
Rules and processes are therefore to be followed without question, and any transgression is a sin and hence requires atonement or other forms of punishment, as does consideration of any alternative viewpoints.
i.e. propheets were kept secret and claimed to be infallible.
Loaded language
New words and language are created to explain the new and profound meanings that have been discovered. Existing words are also hijacked and given new and different meaning.
This is particularly effective due to the way we think a lot though language. The consequence of this is that the person who controls the meaning of words also controls how people think. In this way, black-and-white thinking is embedded in the language, such that wrong-doers are framed as terrible and evil, whilst those who do right (as defined by the group) are perfect and marvellous.
The meaning of words are kept hidden both from the outside world, giving a sense of exclusivity. The meaning of special words may also be revealed in careful illuminatory rituals, where people who are being elevated within the order are given the power of understanding this new language.
See Cedu lingo list: http://wiki.fornits.com/index.php?title=CEDU_lingo (http://wiki.fornits.com/index.php?title=CEDU_lingo)
Doctrine over person
The importance of the group is elevated over the importance of the individual in all ways. Along with this comes the importance of the the group's ideas and rules over personal beliefs and values.
Past experiences, beliefs and values can all thus be cast as being invalid if they conflict with group rules. In fact this conflict can be used as a reason for confession of sins. Likewise, the beliefs, values and words of those outside the group are equally invalid.
Dispensed existence
There is a very sharp line between the group and the outside world. Insiders are to be saved and elevated, whilst outsiders are doomed to failure and loss (which may be eternal).
Who is an outsider or insider is chosen by the group. Thus, any person within the group may be damned at any time. There are no rights of membership except, perhaps, for the leader.
People who leave the group are singled out as particularly evil, weak, lost or otherwise to be despised or pitied. Rather than being ignored or hidden, they are used as examples of how anyone who leaves will be looked down upon and publicly denigrated.
People thus have a constant fear of being cast out, and consequently work hard to be accepted and not be ejected from the group. Outsiders who try to persuade the person to leave are doubly feared.
Dispensation also goes into all aspects of living within the group. Any and all aspects of existence within the group is subject to scrutiny and control. There is no privacy and, ultimately, no free will.
i.e. Threat of being sent to Ascent or other program for wrongdoings.
Robert Jay Lifton, Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism, W.W. Norton & Co., Inc., 1963.
Lifton's Brainwashing Processes
Robert Jay Lifton was one of the early psychologists to study brainwashing and mind control. He called the method used thought reform. From an analysis of two French priests who had been subjected to brainwashing, he identified the following processes used on them:
Assault on identity
Aspects of self-identity are systematically attacked. For example the priests were told that they were not real Fathers. This has a serious destabilizing effect as people lose a sense of who they are. Losing the self also leads to weakening of beliefs and values, which are then easier to change.
GuiltConstant arguments that cast the person as guilty of any kind of wrong-doing leads them to eventually feel shame about most things and even feel that they deserve punishment. This is another piece of the jigsaw puzzle of breakdown.
Self-betrayal
When the person is forced to denounce friends and family, it both destroys their sense of identity and reinforces feelings of guilt. This helps to separates them from their past, building the ground for a new personality to be built.
Breaking point
The constant assault on identity, guilt and self-betrayal eventually leads to them breaking down, much as the manner of the 'nervous breakdown' that people experience for other reasons. They may cry inconsolably, have convulsive fits and fall into deep depression. Psychologically, they may effectively be losing a sense of who they are and hence fearing total annihilation of the self.
Leniency
Just at the point when the person is fearing annihilation of the self, they are offered a small kindness, a brief respite from the assault on their identity, a cigarette or a drink. In those moments of light amongst the darkness, they may well feel a deep sense of gratitude, even though it is their torturer who is offering the 'kindness'. This is another form of Hurt and Rescue, albeit extreme.
i.e. acceptance of others by group. “I don’t judge you.”
The compulsion to confess
Having being pulled back from the edge of breakdown, they are then faced with the contrast of the hurt of potential further identity assault against the rescue of leniency. They may also feel the obligation of exchange in a need to repay the kindness of leniency. There also may be exposed to them the opportunity to assuage themselves of their guilt through confession.
The channeling of guilt
The overwhelming sense of guilty and shame that the person is feeling will be so confused by the multiple accusations and assaults on their identity, that the person will lose the sense of what, specifically, they are guilty of, and just feel the heavy burden of being wrong.
This confusion allows the captors to redirect the guilt towards what ever they please, which will typically be having lived a life of wrong and bad action due to living under an ideology which itself is wrong and bad.
Reeducation: logical dishonoring
The notion that the root cause of their guilt is an externally imposed ideology is a straw at which the confused and exhausted person grasps. If they were taught wrongly, then it is their teachers and the ideology that is more at fault. Thus to assuage their guilt, further confession about all acts under the ideology are brought out. By mentally throwing away these acts (in the act of confession) they also are now completing the act of rejecting the whole ideology.
Progress and harmony
The rejection of the old ideology leaves a vacuum into which the new ideology can be introduced. As the antithesis of the old ideology, it forms a perfect attraction point as the person flees the old in search of a contrasting replacement.
This progress is accelerated as the new ideology is portrayed as harmonious and ideally suited to the person's needs. Collegiality and calm replaces pain and punishment. The captors thus contrast in visible and visceral ways how wonderful the new ideology is as compared to the sins and the pain of the old ideology.
Final confession and rebirth
Faced with the stark contrast of the pain of the past with the rosy glow of the future that the new ideology presents, the person sheds any the final allegiance to the old ideology, confessing any remaining deep secrets, and takes on the full mantle of the new ideology.
This often feels, and has been described by many, as a form of rebirth. It may be accompanied by rites of passage as the person is accepted and cemented into the new order. The rituals will typically include strong statements made by the person about accepting the new ideology fully and completely, swearing allegiance to its leaders. Saluting flags, kissing other artefacts and other symbolic acts, all solemnly performed, all anchor them firmly in the new ground.
Robert Jay Lifton, Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism, W.W. Norton & Co., Inc., 1963.
CONVERSION TECHNIQUES
Conversion to a different way of thinking and different beliefs appears in many different situations. Although the techniques here are drawn from studies of brainwashing and cult conversion, they are surprisingly common, at least in more acceptable forms, in many other groups and organizations.
• Breaking sessions: that pressure a person until they crack.
• Changing values: to change what is right and wrong.
• Confession: to leave behind the undesirable past.
• Entrancement: open the mind and limit rational reflection.
• Engagement: that draws a person in.
• Exhaustion: so they are less able to resist persuasion.
• Guilt: about the past that they can leave behind.
• Higher purpose: associate desirability with a higher purpose.
• Identity destruction: to make space for the new identity.
• Information control: that blocks out dissuading thoughts.
• Incremental conversion: shifting the person one step at a time.
• Isolation: separating people from dissuasive messages.
• Love Bomb: to hook in the lonely and vulnerable.
• Persistence: never giving up, wearing you down.
• Special language: that offers the allure of power and new meaning.
Thought-stopping: block out distracting or dissuading thoughts.
Mel Wasserman also borrowed heavily from Synanon and its founder Charles E. Deiderich. Claims have been made that Mel named the school CEDU to stand for Charles E. Deiderich University, rather than “see what you do and do something about it.” A look into Synanons’ history gives insight into the therapeutic underpinnings of Cedu.
Synanon, is the first ever self help--no doctors-- drug rehabilitation program, founded by Charles "Chuck" Dederich Sr. (1913–1997) in 1958 in Santa Monica, California.
It went from the first ever no doctor involved self help drug rehab (Synanon I), to a building of a new society in Synanon cities to lead the world into the 21st Century (Synanon II), to becoming a self-claimed religion (Synanon III). Eventually followers took on the paranoia of its founder, Synanon developed the Imperial Marines and commenced a Holy War against its enemies. Its ultimate doom came when Dederich and members tried to kill by means of a de-rattled rattlesnake in the mailbox, Pacific Palisades lawyer Paul Morantz who was battling Synanon in the court and trying to expose the Foundation for criminal conspiracies.
Deiderich volunteered for a Dr. Keith Ditman LSD experiment and felt he had a cathartic break through and now understood the world and that good and bad were the same. He studied on his own in a library and his AA speeches changed from typical religious overtones to a psychological/philosophy slant.
Dederich preached "Act as If" which meant do not try to reason as to what Synanon asks they do; as thinking got them there, just trust what they were told and act as if it is right.
Synanon emphasized living a self-examined life, as aided by group truth-telling sessions known as the "Synanon Game." Control over members occurred through the "Synanon Game." The "Game" could be considered a therapeutic tool, likened to group therapy; or a social control, in which members humiliated one another and encouraged the exposure of one's innermost weaknesses, or both. Members were to confess in games and no secrets were allowed. Synanon instituted "containment" which was disallowing contact with outsiders. One was to participate only in Synanon. Synanon’s goal, Dederich said, was to lead the world into the 21st Century. Dederich experimented with environmental manipulations so as to recreate the heightened awareness and inner discoveries he experienced while taking LSD. To recruit needed non addict club members, Dederich created The Trip, forerunner of Werner Erhard’s est training, which was a combination of group psychotherapy, coercive persuasion, mysticism and old fashion spiritual revival. Dederich designed an efficient program of individual emotional breakdowns followed by a mass group euphoria all designed to re-educate individuals into the Synanon II philosophy and lifestyle. It was first offered to the selected few as an honor, but the entire population was eventually targeted. Dederich called it an "insight producing" experience. Dederich said: "At the end of this rainbow, there will be a pot of gold. Through dissipation, or long hours of activity without very much sleep, we hope to bring about in you a conscious state of inebriation... we want to get you loaded without acid.” A Shepherd led them through candle-lit and incense-burning corridors to a locker room filled with rows of Army cots with name cards. Each person stripped and put on white robes. Watches were taken as time was no longer important. Women removed all makeup and jewelry, a symbolic stripping of past selves. The Guides, all experienced game players, turned each group from enthusiasm to a depression and defeat, wallowing in its collective shame. Sitting in comfortable green armchairs, they made the dope fiends tell their tales of drugs, rape, crime and beatings. The squares were pushed to confess their prior loneliness and despair. The games turned on one than another. Disoriented by lack of sleep, each was moved to the point of intense disillusionment. Aids, who did their homework, provided ammunition to the Conductors on each Tripper. Everyone was to cop-out (confess to past sins). The result was implantation of a common bond and sense of ideals, all identified with Synanon. Each Tripper was to write a paper on some feeling or admission. A big shot would advise the Trippers they were not really chosen as an honor, but each was really selected because each was a resister, thinking he or she knew better the direction Synanon should go, part of the "dummies that hold Synanon back." "Maybe," Dederich said, "one day we will just put dingbats like you against the wall and wash them off and bring them back into the human race." Dederich would elsewhere declare that if you kept people up long enough you can make them believe anything. At eight a.m. Monday hand in hand the Trippers went down the corridor toward the sounds of band music. Now in a ballroom the Trippers were surrounded by hundreds of cheering, clapping Synanites. The Trippers, many of whom had been awake for 65 or more hours, were hugged and cheered. A hoop-a-la began (Synanon’s dance). Everyone bonded. All had pain. One just had to surrender to Synanon. Despite the Trip conversion success, the old-timers, the Retired Dope Fiends, aka The Walking Dead, remained a problem. As the alcoholics had not wanted change. Curing dope fiends was what they wanted. Dederich placed them in a 72 hour game ("stew") and harangued them for not seeing his vision. Later the "flies" (Dederich trained youngsters) took over the attack. When all were exhausted Dederich returned and offered forgiveness for surrender. October 10, 1978, two Synanon members placed a de-rattled rattlesnake in the mailbox of attorney Paul Morantz in Pacific Palisades, California. Morantz had successfully brought suit on behalf of a woman abducted by Synanon, winning a $300,000 judgment, obtained release of children, gave information to the press and lobbied (defeating) another Synanon bill written by Herschel Rosenthal. The snake bit Morantz but did not kill him. A drunken Dederich was arrested on December 2 in Lake Havesu.
http://www.rickross.com/reference/synanon/synanon9.html (http://www.rickross.com/reference/synanon/synanon9.html)
http://www.motherjones.com/news/feature ... ustry.html (http://www.motherjones.com/news/feature/2007/09/how_a_cult_spawned_the_tough_love_teen_industry.html)
http://thestraights.com/theprogram/synanon-story2.htm (http://thestraights.com/theprogram/synanon-story2.htm)
…But the Cedu program contained other elements as well. Deiderich developed Synanon using the philosophies of Werner Erhards’ “Erhard Seminar Training” or Est. When Mel Wasserman developed Cedu he included elements of Lifespring. Both of these Large Group Awareness Training seminars (LGATs) were packaged to be sold to large corporations as being a unifier and motivator of employees and to aid employers in achieving the maximum potential from their workers. In fact, Wasserman purchased the rights to use Lifespring and modified it in order to create CEDUs’ final workshop, The Summit.
What are these organizations and where did they come from? Lifespring and Est were born out of the new age Human Potential Movement of the 60’s and 70’s.
The human-potential movement is a term used for humanistic psychotherapies that first became popular in the 1960s and early 1970s. The movement emphasized the development of individuals through such techniques as encounter groups, sensitivity training, and primal therapy (primal scream).
The "Human Potential" movement is a branch of the "New Age" movement that is especially packaged to be acceptable to corporations, government, small businesses, and the educational establishment in the form of "motivational seminars" or "Learning to Learn skills".
Its principles are based on eastern mysticism and the occult, but the terminology has been changed to sound scientific and psychological.
Claiming that humans have unlimited or infinite potential, the goal then becomes to achieve this infinite potential.
• This is accomplished by rejecting traditional beliefs that limit us and avoiding any negative thoughts.
• The subconscious must be reprogrammed by daily affirmations, positive thinking, and constant self-talk (e.g., "I am great, I am wonderful, I will achieve!").
• The ability to be reprogrammed can be enhanced by consciousness altering techniques that create a state of higher suggestibility, such as meditation, visualization, guided imagery, and other inward looking activities. These are also promoted for stress reduction.
"Self" is said to be the source of all success and each person can "take responsibility" to "create his own reality".
Encounter group — A form of humanistic therapy in which participants meet with a trained leader to increase self-awareness and social skills through emotional sharing and confrontation.
Primal therapy — A form of humanistic therapy that originated in the 1970s. Participants were encouraged to relive painful events and release feelings through screaming or crying rather than analysis.
Sensitivity training — A form of humanistic group therapy that began in the 1950s. Members participated in unstructured discussions in order to improve understanding of themselves and others.
The Human Potential Movement is a loose chain of several hundred psychological supermarkets in which a customer can buy almost anything their heart desires: Sensitivity Training, Interracial Encounters, Creative Divorce Workshops, Heterosexual Body Sandwiches, Nude Psychodrama, Attack Therapy, Vomit Training.
The Human Potential Movement opened the door for traditional psychology to break away from its therapeutic norms, boundaries and ethics and allowed for its broad based application to groups of people seeking self help and therapy.
The Human Potential Movement was a response to the creation of Humanistic Psychology most notably due to an American psychologist named Abraham Maslow. He did this by coining the term “self-actualization” and positing that it was factually a human need in the field of psychology. Traditional psychology would discount this theory and categorize it simply as an opinion or belief, but it gained enough notoriety to be accepted firmly as truth by some and then there were others that purposely abused its’ stature. By placing this idea alongside the widely accepted psychology as defined by persons such as Freud it gained unearned credibility. Maslow popularized the concept of self-actualization, based on his study of exceptionally successful, rather than exceptionally troubled, people. Selecting a group of "self-actualized" figures from history, including Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865), Albert Einstein (1879-1955), and Eleanor Roosevelt (1884-1962), Maslow constructed a list of their characteristics, some of which later became trademark values of the human potential movement.
In addition Maslow developed a theory, again presented as fact, describing supposed human needs and listing them in a hierarchal format. The achievement of each need could only be met by meeting the requirements of the previous needs on the pyramid. The needs are listed as follows:
Self-actualization
Self-esteem
Belonging (to a group)
Safety (shelter, removal from danger)
Physiological (Health, food, sleep)
What the pyramid suggests is that one’s self esteem and ability to attain self actualization are dependent on ones position among a group. Self evaluation thus is determined by the group setting one is surrounded by. As an individual, realization of this goal is not possible. For employees to believe in such a concept creates a valuable situation for employers, hence the popularity of LGATs such as Lifespring and Est.
As well as the integration of the above stated information analysis of the propheets would indicate that Mel Wasserman developed much of it from traditional psychology as well. Through simply comparing and contrasting similarities can be seen. For instance in analyzing The Truth propheet a patchwork quilt of ideas can account for its’ creation.
The Truth
Those who have been through the truth know that it used imagery to describe ones perfect self as a chrome ball that has been tarnished by painful events and wrongdoings in ones childhood. The goal then was to recognize those events and react in an emotional catharsis for the purpose of cleansing the soul and becoming pure. This would relate to concepts presented by Sigmund Freuds’ theories of etiology.
Sigmund Freud attributed mental or neurotic disorders to deep-seated or hidden psychic motivations. The unconscious played the primary role in Freud's approach. According to Freud, the person in conflict was unaware of the cause because it was too deeply embedded in an inaccessible part of the mind. Freud postulated that the occurrence of previous traumas, unacceptable feelings, or wanton drives enacted a defense mechanism that enabled this burial into the unconscious. As a means of survival, a person might push such unsavory thoughts and memories as far from the conscious mind as possible. Childhood, according to Freud, was the time when many repressed motivations and defense mechanisms began to thrive. Without control over their own lives, children have no way to resolve such emotions that include frustration, insecurity, or guilt. These emotions essentially build up while the child's personality is developing into adulthood. Every psychological disorder from sexual dysfunction to anxiety might be explained after talking about the repressed feelings a person has harbored since childhood.
Then there are other elements to the propheet that suggest that New Age ideas from the Human Potential Movement were included. Primal Scream, which John Lennon helped to popularize (coincidence?), was present as participants were directed to undergo a forced emotional catharsis to remove the tarnish from the chrome ball. Many could claim it was effective, but the act of screaming results in exhaustion and hyperventilation which in turn produces a euphoric effect on the participant. As well screaming and heightened emotional states affect the brain in the same way as exercise in that it prompts the release of endorphins, serotonin, adrenaline and dopamine. Before you can understand your emotions it helps to understand what causes them. Our brains and endocrine system are a veritable narcotics factory, producing an array of natural chemicals that act as stimulants, depressants or pain-killers:
• adrenaline prepares the body for fight or flight: your heart starts pounding, your pupils dilate, you start to sweat and get "butterflies" as your digestive system switches off;
• endorphins, natural pain-killers many times stronger than morphine, are released by the pituitary gland;
• dopamine, released in the middle area of the brain, is chiefly responsible for pleasurable sensations;
• anandoline, a canabinoid, stimulates the appetite;
• PEA, a natural stimulant, performs in a similar manner to amphetamines such as speed;
• melatonin controls your sleeping patterns and stimulates the immune system; and
• serotonin is believed to play important roles in a number of areas: sexuality, anxiety and depression.
So the perception that one has experienced a moment of spiritual cleansing can be easily misunderstood by the participant due to the pleasant “high” produced after such an experience.
As well aspects of Liftons thought reform studies are applicable. For instance, in The Truth, it began with disclosing events from childhood that were painful (i.e. death in the family, abandonment , name calling) that were supposedly for addressing traumatic moments. But as the propheet progressed participants were pressured to reveal deep secrets about ones’ self that could be considered an act of self betrayal. For instance the questions initially posed were, “How were you hurt when you were a child?” And progressed to, “What is it that you can’t tell anybody about?” After being led down a path of openness and sharing as well as engaging in various acts (tactile drills, guided imagery) that produced exhaustion psychological defense systems had been dismantled for many of the participants. This resulted in many disclosing things about themselves that crossed a personal boundary and thereby betraying themselves. To return to Liftons’ studies:
Self-betrayal
When the person is forced to denounce friends and family, it both destroys their sense of identity and reinforces feelings of guilt. This helps to separates them from their past, building the ground for a new personality to be built.
Breaking point
The constant assault on identity, guilt and self-betrayal eventually leads to them breaking down, much as the manner of the 'nervous breakdown' that people experience for other reasons. They may cry inconsolably, have convulsive fits and fall into deep depression. Psychologically, they may effectively be losing a sense of who they are and hence fearing total annihilation of the self.
Confession
Individuals are encouraged to confess past 'sins' (as defined by the group). This creates a tension between the person's actions and their stated belief that the action is bad, particularly if the statement is made publicly. The consistency principle thus leads the person to fully adopt the belief that the sin is bad and to distance themselves from repeating it.
Discussion of inner fears and anxieties, as well as confessing sins is exposing vulnerabilities and requires the person to place trust in the group and hence bond with them. When we bond with others, they become our friends, and we will tend to adopt their beliefs more easily.
This effect may be exaggerated with intense sessions where deep thoughts and feelings are regularly surfaced. This also has the effect of exhausting people, making them more open to suggestion.
The Truth propheet set the stage for the participants further progress in the program. It was re-visited time and time again in every propheet, in the telling of ones story, and in raps. In general the pressure put on the students to re-affirm their confessions, to themselves and publicly, depended on whether or not they were following the program or not (in agreement or not). Essentially any wrongdoing no matter how big or small was attempted, by staff, to be corrected by re-addressing this unrelated but painful confession as punishment. (i.e. are you living your lie or your truth? One or the other, no in between.)
In terms of the effect Cedu had on students it would be far from accurate to suppose that a highly diverse group of pre-adult participants in various stages of development would or could respond universally to this kind of psychological experimentation. In an environment devoid of licensed therapists practicing a random collection of powerful psychological tactics upon a variety of subjects it is likely that the results will be chaotic.
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I can't say I've ever heard it all pulled together so well. You have my deep appreciation.
As someone who has developed a contempt for the practice of behavior modification through programming as well as a grudging respect for it's immense influence, I wonder about the even earlier influences such as Alcoholics Anonymous.I know that Diederich participated in that program prior to setting off toward his own ends. I also wonder how such practices have gained such wide spread acceptance.
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And Hey....Did Dederich read Robert J. Lifton's book on thought reform and totalism before or after he conceived of Synonon?
or ever?
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Wow, this explains a great deal about PDAP to me. I typed PDAP and Synanon into google and here is what I got, http://http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/0/133/ripoff0133362.htm. Ciao
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Will post the link, will post under "Awake" - thank you for the diligent and detailed work!!
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http://liamscheff.com/daily/2008/04/30/ ... mment-8612 (http://liamscheff.com/daily/2008/04/30/whats-a-cedu/#comment-8612)
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The Human Potential Movement is a loose chain of several hundred psychological supermarkets in which a customer can buy almost anything their heart desires:
• Sensitivity Training,
• Interracial Encounters,
• Creative Divorce Workshops,
• Heterosexual Body Sandwiches,
• Nude Psychodrama,
• Attack Therapy,
• Vomit Training.
You know what? I really do hate, hate, hate my parents. You know all these books were published on est and lifespring and synanon by the mid and late 80s.
Which of these **didn't** we do? They always threatened us with "Nude Psychodrama"!! I think we did everything else, including the "divorce workshops" as they broke up every couple that potentially had feelings for one another (unless it was Dan Earle, or another male staff, and a student).
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Is anyone here familiar with the practices or seminars of a place called the Landmark Forum?
http://www.skepdic.com/landmark.html (http://www.skepdic.com/landmark.html)
Knew someone that went through this and was a different person afterwards. It stunk of cult and brainwashing, not to mention how hard they tried to recruit me.
As a Cedu Survivor, a wanted none of it. Am interested if anyone else knows anything about this.
Thanks,
~JP~
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I, too, was aggressively recruited by two family members. Here is a really funny way to find out the real deal about it: http://www.youtube.com/user/bradbavarde (http://www.youtube.com/user/bradbavarde)
I have two family members involved in it. They went pretty high up the pyramid, and are still somewhat involved. Anytime they go to a refresher, just watch out. Suddenly you get Landmarked all to hell.
As someone who was been in three placements, I have no desire to even go to a "graduation". Avoid it at all costs.
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I was living in a med-large East Coast city, just a couple years out of the Cedu nonsense, and working at a pretty awful little job.. the assistant manager started to talk to me about going to this great program she was in... I listened, openly, then leerily, as she described the 'openness' she was experiencing in 'the Forum.'
She asked me to go, to visit, to see... it would be free to visit (and so I asked how much the next time)...
200, 400 dollars, per weekend seminar, or more.
Then a roommate got involved - not a friend, just one of the early 20s horrible 'share-the-rent' roommate situations - he was going, and spoke about how interesting it was, (but the money, I believe, would keep him from going back).
But Marta, I believe was her name, the asst. manager, became a big convert. I think she was trying to lose a few pounds at the time. I suppose she found a way to lose, or gain, or spend something.
Many years later, a young woman who I was talking to (who struck me more or less as a lesbian, but who kept intimating interest in me), would always talk to me about.. The Forum!!! Kept asking me to go. I asked for some paperwork, a brochure - it was the same Cedu-lite nonsense. Some intrusive self-abuse, some diminishing of personal boundaries in service to some barely reforming hack drug addict, who will tell you how they turned their life around...
It reminds me of that uber-douchebag Wayne Dyer, who peddles his absolute crap on PBS - I mean, PBS hosts his late night sell-a-thons, these 'forum' sessions, where he, or some other jackerf, tells a crowd of Minnesotans how to "self-actualize" by "believing" and "knowing" things to be the way you "really, really, really know they should be," or some varation on the theme of absolutely ungrounded, soft-headed, absolutely narcissistic santa-claus variety prayer.
I'm very spiritual, myself, but self-actualization does involve living in reality, getting of the old fat arse, and dealing with everything required to make projects work. Not just closing your eyes really REAALLLY hard, and saying "I wish I wish I wish!"
Maybe somebody's been through the Forum, and can spill the details. The story goes that Mel Wasserman bought the rights to LIFESPRING (a related 'product'), and we all did that in the ridiculous, truly, Summit. The silly letdown of all silly letdowns, the magical end of the Cedu line.
Thank God.
-
I was living in a med-large East Coast city, just a couple years out of the Cedu nonsense, and working at a pretty awful little job.. the assistant manager started to talk to me about going to this great program she was in... I listened, openly, then leerily, as she described the 'openness' she was experiencing in 'the Forum.'
She asked me to go, to visit, to see... it would be free to visit (and so I asked how much the next time)...
200, 400 dollars, per weekend seminar, or more.
Then a roommate got involved - not a friend, just one of the early 20s horrible 'share-the-rent' roommate situations - he was going, and spoke about how interesting it was, (but the money, I believe, would keep him from going back).
But Marta, I believe was her name, the asst. manager, became a big convert. I think she was trying to lose a few pounds at the time. I suppose she found a way to lose, or gain, or spend something.
Many years later, a young woman who I was talking to (who struck me more or less as a lesbian, but who kept intimating interest in me), would always talk to me about.. The Forum!!! Kept asking me to go. I asked for some paperwork, a brochure - it was the same Cedu-lite nonsense. Some intrusive self-abuse, some diminishing of personal boundaries in service to some barely reforming hack drug addict, who will tell you how they turned their life around...
It reminds me of that uber-douchebag Wayne Dyer, who peddles his absolute crap on PBS - I mean, PBS hosts his late night sell-a-thons, these 'forum' sessions, where he, or some other jackerf, tells a crowd of Minnesotans how to "self-actualize" by "believing" and "knowing" things to be the way you "really, really, really know they should be," or some varation on the theme of absolutely ungrounded, soft-headed, absolutely narcissistic santa-claus variety prayer.
I'm very spiritual, myself, but self-actualization does involve living in reality, getting of the old fat arse, and dealing with everything required to make projects work. Not just closing your eyes really REAALLLY hard, and saying "I wish I wish I wish!"
Maybe somebody's been through the Forum, and can spill the details. The story goes that Mel Wasserman bought the rights to LIFESPRING (a related 'product'), and we all did that in the ridiculous, truly, Summit. The silly letdown of all silly letdowns, the magical end of the Cedu line.
Thank God.
-
Basically, you would be replicating what you did in CEDU. Stay away from it, unless you want that glassy-eyed cult look to you. Really look at the videos on youtube.com. That guy sums it up in a hilarious manner. Personally, I have no desire to tell some sad story aloud to a group only to be called an asshole or jackass. Been there, done that, never again.
-
…I believe this will go a long way to understanding what the Cedu prgrm was all about.
Brainwashing and behavior modification: components, history and CEDU
(Hypnotherapy, Neuro-Linguistic Programming, Rational Emotive Behavioral Therapy, etc.)
In researching the history of behavior modification and CEDU various connections can be made as to their origins.
Brainwashing (also known as thought reform or as re-education) consists of any effort aimed at instilling certain attitudes and beliefs in a person — beliefs sometimes unwelcome or in conflict with the person's prior beliefs and knowledge,[1] in order to affect that individual's value system and subsequent thought-patterns and behaviors.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brainwashing (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brainwashing)
This is a basic definition of brainwashing. But as to its methods and effectiveness it lacks in describing, as much has yet to be agreed upon and accepted as fact. Regardless, there is still a lot of information that documents its history.
-
The Birth of Conversion:
Brainwashing in Christian Revivalism in 1735.
Conversion is a "nice" word for brainwashing...and any study of brainwashing has to begin with a study of Christian revivalism in eighteenth century America. Apparently, Jonathan Edwards accidentally discovered the techniques during a religious crusade in 1735 in Northampton, Massachusetts. By inducing guilt and acute apprehension and by increasing the tension, the "sinners" attending his revival meetings would break down and completely submit. Technically, what Edwards was doing was creating conditions that wipe the brain slate clean so that the mind accepts new programming.
Charles J. Finney was another Christian revivalist who used the same techniques four years later in mass religious conversions in New York. The techniques are still being used today by Christian revivalists, cults, human-potential trainings, some business rallies, and the United States Armed services...to name just a few.
The way to achieve conversion are many and varied, but the usual first step in religious or political brainwashing is to work on the emotions of an individual or group until they reach an abnormal level of anger, fear, exitement, or nervous tension.
The progressive result of this mental condition is to impair judgement and increase suggestibility. The more this condition can be maintained or intensified, the more it compounds. Once catharsis, or the first brain phase, is reached, the complete mental takeover becomes easier. Existing mental programming can be replaced with new patterns of thinking and behavior.
I want to point out that hypnosis and conversion tactics are two distinctly different things--and that conversion techniques are far more powerful. However, the two are often mixed...with powerful results.
--Dick Stuphen World Congress of Professional Hypnotists Convention in Las Vegas,--
An indisputably common thread noted in the application of brainwashing tactics is inducing highly emotional states in the subject. History will more often describe high anxiety and fear, but more recent evidence shows that any state of high emotion is equated with greater suggestibility. There is concrete evidence for why this is so.
The combination of electrical activity of the brain is commonly called a Brainwave pattern, because of its cyclic, 'wave-like' nature. Our mind regulates its activities by means of electric waves which are registered in the brain, emiting tiny electrochemical impulses of varied frequencies, which can be registered by an electroencephalogram. These brainwaves are known as:
Brainwave Frequency
Beta 14 - 40 cps. Fully Awake and Alert Generally associated with left-brain thinking activity - conscious mind.
Alpha 8 - 13 cps. Relaxed, Daydreaming Generally associated with right-brain thinking activity - subconscious mind- a key state for "relaxation".
Theta 4 - 7 cps. Deeply Relaxed, Dreaming Generally associated with right-brain thinking activity - deeper subconscious to superconscious Access to insights, bursts of creative ideas - a key state for "reality creation" through vivid imagery.
Delta 0.5 - 3.5 cps. Dreamless. Generally associated with no thinking- unconscious / superconscious. Access to non-physical states of existence - a key state for healing, "regeneration" and "rejuvenation".
In general, we are accostumed to using the beta brain rythm. When we diminish the brain rythm to alpha, we put ourselves in the ideal condition to learn new information, keep fact, data, perform elaborate tasks, learn languages, analyse complex situations. Meditation, relaxation exercises, and activities that enable the sense of calm, also enable this alpha state. According to neuroscientists, analysing electroencephalograms of people submmited to tests in order to research the effect of decreasing the brain rythm, the attentive relaxation or the deep relaxation, produce signficant increases in the levels of beta-endorphin, noroepinephrine and dopamine, linked to feelings of enlarged mental clarity and formation of rememberances, and that this effect lasts for hours and even days. When you go into an altered state, you transfer into right brain, which results in the internal release of the body's own opiates: enkephalins and Beta-endorphins, chemically almost identical to opium. It is an ideal state for synthetic thought and creativity, the proper functions of the right hemisphere. As it is easy for the hemisphere to create images, to visualise, to make associations, to deal with drawings, diagrams and emotions, as well as the use of good-humour and pleasure, learning is better absorbed if these elements are added to the study methods.
The lower your brainwave cps, the more is your awareness turned toward your subjective experience, toward your inner world and the more effectively are you able to use the power of your mind to create changes in your body. With each lower state you become more fully aligned with the source of power within you, with your unconscious, or if you prefer, with that part of you that is greater than you (your body).
Generally in Beta state, your attention is focused outward. In alpha it begins to turn inward, and in theta and delta it goes further and further inward. The deeper you go, the more effectively are you able to enter your subconscious.
You can imagine that at the borderline between Beta and Alpha States is a doorway to your subconscious mind, and the doorway consists of what is hypnosis referred to as your "critical faculty".
Your left brain activity means that you are in full beta consiousness, which is associated with analysis, filtering and processing information, and critical thinking. The alpha wave right brained activity is associated with emotion, creativity, and unconscious thought. Everyone goes in and out of beta and alpha consiousness many times a day based on our conditions, surroundings and activities, and which state you are in can make a great deal of difference as to how suggestable we are.
Dick Stuphen says once one is in an alpha state (right brain) they are at least 25 times as suggestable than in full beta consiousness. This claim can be backed in numerous ways such as that right brained activity and connection with the unconscious is the focus of meditation, yoga trance states, hypnosis and hypnotherapy. This is why it is important to appeal to the subjects right brained activities when trying to persuade them.
Hypnosis and hypnotherapy are connected with brainwashing and CEDU, specifically the combination of hypnotherapy and Rational Emotive Behavioral Therapy, or REBT. First it is necessary to describe the roots of behavior modification in the creation of REBT.
“Rational Emotive Behavioral Therapy was created by Dr. Albert Ellis, whose understanding of human behavior is indisputable to hypnotherapists whose main concern is changing peoples belief systems. It’s [REBTs’] only weakness is that it deals with intellect rather than with emotions. REBT used in conjunction with trance states is very effective.”
-Miracles on Demand, The radical short-term hypnotherapy of Gil Boyne. Charles Tebbets.-
In the mid 1950’s Dr. Albert Ellis, a clinical psychologist trained in psychoanalysis, became disillusioned with the slow progress if his clients. He observed that they tended to get better when they changed their ways of thinking about themselves, their problems and the world. Ellis reasoned that therapy would progress faster if the focus was directly on the clients beliefs, and thus Rational Emotive Behavioral Therapy was born. Here are the fundamentals of REBT:
It boils down to one basic concept: when an emotion (for example, fear) follows an event (for example, encountering turbulent air in an airplane), the event itself isn’t the full cause of the emotional reaction.
“What?” you say.
Well, let’s stop here and consider the way it seems to happen:
Event> Emotion> Behavior
Actually, here’s the way it does happen:
Event>Belief>Emotion>Behavior
That is, a belief comes between the event and the emotion. For example, when you first experience turbulence in an airplane, you might say to yourself, “Oh, no! Now we’re going to crash!” And so you feel afraid, and you develop the symptoms of an anxiety disorder.
But consider what would happen if your immediate thought was, “Wow! This is fun!” You would feel a completely different emotion than fear, wouldn’t you? Well, that’s the idea behind cognitive psychology. If you change the thinking, you change the emotional outcome—and when you change the emotional outcome, your outward behavior will change as well.
Albert Ellis used a variety of techniques to be used in changing the clients belief system including cognative techniques such as:
Rational analysis- Analysis of specific episodes to teach the client how to uncover and dispute irrational beliefs identified first in session and then a homework plan would be developed.
Catastrophe scale- This was used to determine the level of ‘awfulizing’ the client experiences.
Reframing- A strategy to get bad events into perspective by re-evaluating them as ‘disappointing’ or ‘concerning’ rather than ‘awful’ or ‘unbearable’.
…Imagery Techniques:
Worst Case Imagery-
…and Behavioral Techniques:
Exposure- Enter the client in behavior they would normally avoid.
Shame attacking- The client enters into behavior they feel results in disapproval.
Stepping out of Character- i.e. a perfectionist would deliberately perform sub- standard actions.
Much more detail on REBT can be found here
http://www.rational.org.nz/prof/docs/Intro-REBT.pdf (http://www.rational.org.nz/prof/docs/Intro-REBT.pdf)
Around the time REBT was developed hypnotherapy was gaining popularity and the practices were combined. (note these therapies were offspring of Humanistic Psychology and its ‘client centered approach to therapy’.). Perhaps the most prominent figure in hypnotherapy is Milton Erickson.
Milton Erickson was renouned for his unconventional approach to psychotherapy and hypnosis resulting in a very unique and effective style of performing hypnotherapy. His style of hypnotism was called ‘conversational hypnosis’. Unlike the general stereotypical understanding of hypnosis where direct suggestions are given (i.e. you are getting sleeeepy), Ericksonian hypnotherapy uses more of what it is called indirect suggestions. Indirect suggestions are much harder to resist because they are often not even recognized as suggestions by the conscious mind, since they usually disguise themselves as stories or metaphors. An example of an indirect suggestion is "… and perhaps your eyes will grow tried as you listen to this story, and you will want to close them, because people can, you know, experience a pleasant, deepening sense of comfort as they allow their eyes to close, and they relax deeply." This would all be said in such a way as to mark out key words and phrases (indicated here in italics) by subtle shifts in the tone of voice. The person's unconscious awareness thus responds to these "embedded commands."
Think about the following scenario: A child of say four or five years of age is carefully carrying a full glass of milk to the dinner table. The amateur parent of the child warns in a stern voice, "don't drop that!" The child looks up at the parent, stumbles a bit, drop the glass, and spills milk everywhere. The now angry parent yells, "I told you not to drop that! You're so clumsy. You'll never learn!"
As unintentional as it may be, this scenario is an example of hypnosis, complete with induction, suggestion, and post hypnotic suggestion. The powerful authoritative voice (the parent), having created and utilized through indirect suggestion ("don't drop that!), an altered state (trance), has issued a direct post-hypnotic suggestion ("You're so clumsy. You'll never learn"). "Post-hypnotic" because, if the child accepts the suggestion (and children often do), he or she will always see him/herself as clumsy. This post-hypnotic suggestion by the parent may well adhere to the directive in the future, sabotaging the child's success.
Ericksonian hypnosis and hypnotherapy has become a school of thought studied broadly. More here… http://ericksonian.com/milton-erickson.html (http://ericksonian.com/milton-erickson.html)
As well Erickson was a keystone figure in the development of Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP).
NLP was co-created by Richard Bandler and linguist John Grinder in the 1970s through observation and imitation of gestalt therapist Fritz Perls[3], family systems therapist Virginia Satir[4] and psychiatrist Milton H. Erickson. Bandler and Grinder studied Erickson and his methods of communicating and sought to break down the effective processes resulting in the development of NLP.
What is Neurolinguistic Programming (NLP)?
Breaking down the word itself, helps to explain what it is. “Neuro” comes from the Greek word neuron—the nervous system—“the mind” through which our experience is processed. “Linguistic” comes from the Latin word lingua—or language. It indicates that neural processes are represented, coded and ordered to create meaning. “Programming” indicates how components of a system are organized to create patterns of activity and/or behavior.
So, NLP is a practical application of how people think and act. It works with how people store information in the mind, how communication takes place within and how to make changes in it all, if desired, to create new feelings and experiences. It can be described as “software for the brain” and can be used to successfully facilitate change.
Currently NLP is becoming extremely popular and a variety of training courses are offered internationally. Much of the science behind it is patented and protected. Just one example of a program offering training in this area and psychotherapy can be viewed here. http://www.wellness-institute.org/Certification.htm (http://www.wellness-institute.org/Certification.htm)
They offer:
The Heart-Centered Hypnotherapy model combines:
Humanistic psychology (Gestalt, TA)
Developmental psychology (inner child)
Behavior modification (classical and NLP)
Hypnotherapy (traditional & Ericksonian)
A Heart-Centered holistic approach into a brief, deeply healing new psychotherapy.
NLP was a “child” of the Human Potential Movement as explained in this article by a current proponent interested in revitalizing it with new knowledge of the use of NLP. http://self-actualizing.org/articles/NL ... of_HPM.pdf (http://self-actualizing.org/articles/NLP_as_a_child_of_HPM.pdf)
The early roots of the Human Potential Movement consisted of a large variety of new approaches to psychotherapy holding the theory that experiencing any or all therapies would inevitably lead to “self-actualization”. But the real focus of the HPM was to encourage success, as being successful was reasoned to be the key to self actualization. Seminars such as Lifespring (influential in the development of CEDU) were sold to companies as training for employees. In these seminars the beliefs of the employees were challenged in order to promote more success driven behavior. An example of what they preach would be, “What’s really getting in the way of your success? It’s your beliefs! Stop telling yourself you can’t do it! Stop telling yourself you’re not confident enough to work that better position in your company! Stop telling yourself you’re not the type of person who can be a millionaire! You want to be able to help other people and the best way to do that is to help yourself!”
Just one example of the type of “self-help” the HPM has developed can be seen in this “prescription for success” The Millionaire Secret. http://www.mind-trek.com/milliona/tl13f.htm (http://www.mind-trek.com/milliona/tl13f.htm) (note that it describes ‘psychological reversal’ in a manner that suggests there is a psychological problem with the learner, hence achieving its goal of relating the information.)
At this point some may question why it would be such a bad thing to put such emphasis on “positive thinking” in order to achieve, as the Human Potential Movement focuses on. I think it is best described by Albert Ellis, creator of REBT, in his description of “psychological reversal”.
The Negatives of Positive Thinking
Ellis (personal communication, 1986) commented:
“Reversals are also dangerous. If you tell yourself I will always do badly and therefore am no good and you reverse that to I will always do well and therefore I am OK, the second statement is just as false as the first. If you go through my books, A New Guide to Rational Living and A Guide to Personal Happiness, you will see several techniques of giving up negative ideas without going to the extremes of positive thinking, which are also deceptive and dangerous.”
--
The worst possible misuse of positive thinking is to make it a tool of brainwashing. In destructive cults, the leaders may use a watered down version of positive thinking. For example, if followers try to point out problems in the group, the leaders might tell them that their words are "negative" and that they must "think positive." Don't question, don't think rational. Similar brainwashing goes on in many areas of mainstream life. Companies may withhold information or try to convince their employees to ignore glaring contradictions. Brainwashing may go on in families, where family secrets are covered up. Advertising is another good example of covert brainwashing: if everybody else likes this product, you should too. Ads may convince you that something is wrong with you that the product will fix.
It is vital that people understand the whole philosophy of positive thinking. Enforced happiness is a form of repression. Society would take on Orwellian overtones if everyone had to measure up to a standard of optimism no matter how bad things got.
The following is taken from a paper written by a practitioner of Humanistic psychology and deals with the topic of psychological reversals and the progression of psychological problems into mental illness. (As a former Cedu student I find our expected behavior to have a glaring emphasis on just how to exacerbate psychological problems.):
Journal ofHumanistic Psychology, Vol. 30 No. 1, Winter 1990 107.131 © 1990 Sage Publications, Inc.
FURTHER THOUGHTS ON
PREVENTING MENTAL ILLNESS
KARL ERICSON
“The reason psychological problems may lead to as severe a condition as mental illness is because of the self-feeding nature of mental illness, in which psychological problems lead to other problems and feed the problems they originated from either directly or indirectly (Ericson, 1986).
In order to understand how psychological forces alone might be able to cause mental illness, it is helpful to consider the similarity of mental illness to a viral infection. In a viral infection, viruses multiply at an exponential rate, but the immune system develops defenses at an exponential rate as well and so can overcome the infection. If the viruses have too much of a head start or if the immune system is not functioning properly, one can develop a serious disease. In a viral infection the host’s cells end up producing the virus. Similarly, in mental illness the mind starts generating problems that feed it. Mental disorders often start when a person is faced with too many problems that overcome the defenses and escalate into disease in a fashion similar to viral infections. There are many psychological analogies that can be drawn to an unhealthy environment that increases the likelihood of a disease progressing. An important analogy to consider is that it is possible that a person becomes prone to negative self-motivation, such as self-criticism for failure, if others motivate him or her with negative motivations such as threats and criticism.
Realistic thinking usually leads to a better reality. Becoming more realistic in one’s thinking leads one to deal more effectively both with external problems and the internal stresses they lead to and so leads to a better reality for oneself. Even if a false belief allows one to feel better in the short term, it is likely to hurt one in the long term.
Our moods are often influenced by thoughts, desires, and beliefs that we are unaware of and can become aware of through self diagnosis. We subconsciously may exaggerate threats and fears that, if we were aware of consciously, we would keep in perspective. This may be because our subconscious thought processes are not as critical and as logical as our conscious ones, and although consciously we may wish to be accurate in our perceptions, subconsciously our desire to believe certain beliefs may be stronger than our desire to he accurate in our perceptions.
The mind in response to these motivating forces creates additional forces toward motivation. For example, if one has the motivation to achieve something, the mind might tell itself, "It will be terrible if I don’t achieve my objective," thus creating a perceived threat and generating the motivation to remove that threat by working hard at achieving, which was the original motivation. This example of motivating oneself generates pessimism, because it says that things will be terrible if one does not achieve. Thus generating motivations of this type is a force toward negative thinking.
The defensive mechanisms of the mind are by nature self-destructive. All defenses are costly and thus potentially self-destructive, especially if they divert effort from other productive activities. In mental illness the damage created by inappropriate defenses can be greater than any actual threat.
An example of a self-destructive defense mechanism would be defending one’s self-concept by believing that those who disagree with oneself are hostile, rather than benefiting from their judgment. If this belief has not become too ingrained, a friendly environment should be able to shake it. Defensive mechanisms can be a force toward cognitive errors. For example, magnifying a threat to oneself to motivate oneself to deal with it is a way in which one distorts one’s picture of reality for defensive purposes.
The most effective motivation to tie positive thinking to is the one that is leading one to generate the negative thought in the first place. For example: If the threat of failure is leading oneself to feel fear in order to motivate oneself to take defensive action, the most effective motivation to tie to not being afraid would be the motivation to overcome that threat. This could be done by telling oneself, "My best chance of overcoming the threat of failure that I face is to perform well, and I’ll perform better if I am not anxious." I shall call the motivations used in this way "therapeutic motivations."
Negative emotions are useful and good up to the point that they motivate us to take action to defend ourselves against threats. But the negative effects they have can be worse than the threats they were meant to defend against and can actually make it harder for oneself to deal with those threats and to achieve one’s objectives.
Self-concept is a barrier to immoral behavior. A basic way in which the mind gets around this barrier is by thinking worse of others than is true. Then it believes the immoral actions it is doing to others are right. Self-diagnostic questions such as, "Do I want to think so and so is wrong? and Would it hurt my self-concept if I believed that so and so was right and I was wrong?" can help one become aware of such immoral self-deception.
When I was mentally ill I used to hear hostile voices. "Hear" is really an incorrect term, but it is the common way to describe the experience among the mentally ill. "Sense" voices would be a better way to describe it. What I think happened is that my mind was in high gear because it was trying to defend itself. The side effect of being in high gear was that I started to sense random, disorganized thoughts or "mind noise," which my mind then turned into hostile voices because my emotionally paranoid frame of mind made it seem reasonable that there were voices. It seemed that the voices must belong to those responsible for the threat that I faced and thus must be hostile, and that it was imperative for me to understand what they said.
a fundamental cause of anxiety is the fear people have that if they are not anxious they will not be motivated to deal with their problems. Beck and Emery never mention that people unconsciously use anxiety to motivate themselves.
Defense mechanisms even exist in which one attacks one’s self-concept in order to protect it. I have criticized myself for failing, in effect telling myself, "I am not you, you are a failure. I am very critical of you and therefore am not responsible for your failure." I am not the only who has used this defense mechanism. I remember watching a pole-vaulter failing to vault over a bar. Every time he failed he cursed himself and put himself down. I think he was trying to protect his self-concept, because by cursing himself he was in a sense saying to himself, "I am not you; it’s your fault that I can’t vault over the bar, not mine." In addition, he may have been trying to motivate himself to perform better through self-criticism. I have caught myself criticizing myself for not living up to my standards to motivate myself to live up to them. An equally bizarre defense that I have found myself using often is dealing with the anxiety that something bad will happen by convincing myself that it will. Once I am convinced that it will happen, I do not have to be anxious about it happening anymore, because there is nothing I can do about it. This defense has the unhappy side effects of creating pessimism and sapping my will to try and prevent the bad thing from happening.
A misconception I had that led to a self-defeating defense mechanism is that in order to be liked, one has to be superior, act as if one is omniscient, and be domineering. These misconceptions led to behavior that caused people to develop contempt for me. My defense against people’s contempt for me was contempt for them. and so a vicious cycle was created. The belief that I had to be superior led to the slightest failure traumatizing my self-concept. I think I developed the misconception that I had to be superior, because when I was a child I thought I was being rejected for being weak. It may be that desire for high self-concept also fed my believing myself superior.
Generating anxiety is a way of motivating oneself to deal with a threat. Generating anxiety about one’s abilities is a way to make oneself more careful, but it generates insecurity. This insecurity can be felt by others and leads them to doubt a person’s abilities. Thus such a defense in an employment situation can be very harmful. From a social point of view people want to avoid insecure people, because being around insecure people makes them feel insecure.
A danger of defending against a misconception with another misconception is that once one’s attention is diverted to the second misconception, one becomes unaware of the first, so it is less likely that one will ever correct the original misconception unless one uses self-help.
Low Self-Concept
1. Believe self inferior to others.
2. Believe self worthless.
3. Believe self bad.
4. Self-hate.
5. Blame self for one’s failures.
6. Believe one is alone in facing problems such as depression and rejection, and that one is alone in having the weaknesses that one has, that one is defective and inferior because of them.
7. Believe one deserves to suffer if one doesn’t achieve or work harder.
8. Believe that if others disapprove of oneself, one is no good.
9. Believe one deserves to fail if one fails, one deserves to suffer if one suffers, and one deserves to lose if one loses. Believe "I suffer therefore I’m bad" or "I fail therefore I’m bad."
It might be of use to the practitioner interested in cognitive behavior or RET to be aware of the usual 15 styles of distorted thinking:
1.Filtering: This is a process where a person takes the negative detail and magnifies it while filtering out all positive aspects of a situation. For example, "1 could have enjoyed the convert except that it started late."
2.Polarized Thinking: Things are black or white; good or bad. You're either perfect or a failure, there is no middle ground. For instance, stating that you are either with me, for me, or against me.
5.Catastrophizing: You expect a disaster to happen. You notice or anticipate a problem and are always concerned with the "what ifs." For instance, what if tragedy strikes again; or. what if it happens to me. For example: "We haven't seen each other for two hours, what if the relationship is falling apart."
6.Personalization: When you think that everything people do or say, is necessarily related to you or that they react to you. You constantly compare yourself to others and always evaluate yourself to find out how you fare. For instance: "Quite a few people here seem smarter than I am."
11.Emotional Reasoning: Believing that what you feel must be true automatically. If you feel stupid or boring, then you must be stupid or boring. For instance: stating "I feel depressed, life must be depressing."
14.Being Right: You are continuously proving that your opinions and actions are correct. Being wrong is unthinkable and you will go to any lengths to demonstrate that you are right. For instance: "I don't care what you think, I am going to do it again exactly the same again because I know I am right."
How do we recognize distorted thinking? There are basically two sings to alert us to a presence of distorted thinking:
1. The presence of painful emotions, such as feeling nervous, angry, depressed, annoyed at oneself, and re-experiencing those feelings over and over again.
2.The constant ongoing conflicts with people about whom you care. Becoming aware of how the person justifies one's conflicts. Albert Ellis stated in his book 'Reason and Emotion in Psychotherapy', that "all hypnosis is the result of the self talk." Ellis, as well as other writers, such as Artaoz, stated in his works on hypnosis and sex therapy, that "neurotic suffering is caused by an irrational or negative type of self hypnosis." Maladaptive emotions and self-defeating behavior stem from uncritical acceptance of one's negative self talk."
-- http://www.primechoice.com/philosophy/s ... icle2.html (http://www.primechoice.com/philosophy/shelp/karlericson/article2.html)
At this point it is a good idea to re-visit some of the ideas behind hypnosis. Essentially the most important elements in successfully inducing hypnosis and trance states are 1) Engaging the subject in Right-brained ‘alpha’ activities to allow for more direct communication with the unconscious mind, and 2) To bypass the ‘critical factor’ of the left-brained ‘beta consiousness’ that analyzes and filters information and suggestions. There are a number of techniques used to facilitate the successful induction of these two categories.
Conversational hypnosis, and Neuro-Linguistic Programming, has a laundry list of tactics used to accomplish the task of increasing the subjects suggestability and shift belief systems. Generally this would consist of appealing to a persons creativity and emotions. Erickson, pioneer of conversational hypnosis, gave indirect suggestions to clients through story telling, speaking metaphorically, formulating improper sentences (to confuse the conscious mind while the portion of the sentence carrying the message bypassed scrutiny), and focusing on words with multiple meanings (i.e. right meaning right or yes.). Without going too deeply into them here is a list of some persuasion tactics used.
How Emotional Triggers Can Boost the Impact of Your Hypnosis
Emotional Triggers are a very powerful part of what you will be doing as a hypnotist. They are an unconscious response that is triggered within the body to develop a physical or emotional behavior. As a hypnotist you will want to be able to imbed these triggers in your subjects so you will have the ability to produce behaviors in them.
Post hypnotic triggers are emotional triggers that can be set by a hypnotist within another individual to create a specific reaction. Many times these triggers are created by environments and sometimes they are created unintentionally by other people. No matter how they come about they are there and they can be created by you.
Emotional triggers that are created by our environments naturally occur on a daily basis. This can be something as simple as hearing a song that brings back specific memories of a time in your life. Any time you hear that particular song you are instantly taken back to a certain memory or set of memories. When this happens you are reliving the memory as you think of the events and feelings it brings to mind.
How to Use Post Hypnotic Suggestions in Hypnosis
Post hypnotic suggestions are the next tool in line for you to add to your set of skills in Conversational Hypnosis. These are very powerful suggestions that will give you the ability to place a suggestion of a behavior or action that will take place whether you are present or not. Post hypnotic suggestions are used to get things done when they need to be done without the hypnotist’s presence. .
What post hypnotic suggestions can do for you and your subject is to access a behavior when it is demanded. This happens as you use a trance to suggest a behavior that will take place when a specific trigger goes off in the person’s mind. This tool is successful and powerful in the nature that it works in the same ways in which your unconscious mind works. The natural way the mind remembers to do a thing, a thought occurs, a trigger, and then the action that goes along with it is performed.
A great example of this is when a person stops using an addictive substance, such as alcohol or cigarettes. Often they will find that their willpower is in check until they are reunited with situations in which the addictive substance was involved in.
Now that you have selected a behavior and a trigger to set off that behavior in the future you are ready to continue on with condition number three. Condition number three is to bypass the consciousness. If you do not do bypass the consciousness then the probability that the conscious mind will interfere with the action taking place is much greater.
Bypassing consciousness is going to create the urge to do the behavior. It will make the suggestion of the action a compulsive one, much like the compulsion to smoke the cigarette even though logic says ‘you’ve made it this far, don’t smoke that cigarette’. This bypassing of the consciousness will ultimately compel the person to do the action regardless of the resistance they may display initially.
This is the nature of the unconscious mind, it really relates back to the access state principal as well. As you make the suggestion in trance when the time is right for the action to take place the person will partially slip back into the trance that it was suggested in. This is important because you must really pay attention to the trigger you are setting for this whole process to work correctly.
So your trigger essentially must be one that will set off the state of trance that was involved when the trigger was set, otherwise the trigger will not successfully trigger the correct suggestion.
Reframing in Hypnosis
It is important to know that frames are very powerful and will be a valuable tool as you practice your Conversational Hypnosis.
A frame is the standard of reference that people use to measure the meanings of all the things around them. It is also important to keep in mind that frames are different for everyone and that there are different ways in which to present and look at each different frame.
The power of frames in hypnosis is great because you are learning to change, preset and extinguish frames based on the language you use, both physically and verbally.
Reframing in hypnosis is going to be another powerful aspect of the idea of frames. This will be another important way for you to change and overpower the frames of others to impact a positive outcome with in your hypnosis practice.
There are different ways in which you can control and manipulate frames. There are essentially four options you have, to maintain your frame, preframe, reframe and deframe. Of the four framing options maintaining your frame and preframing are the most important and powerful in Conversational Hypnosis.
Sensory Descriptions & Stories – The Key to Improving Your Hypnosis
. One of these techniques is to include sensory rich descriptions and stories to your inductions. Now you have already been introduced to this in the art of asking deep meaningful questions that compel you’re subject to dive further and further into the experience you are asking about.
This is similar in the way that you are asking a question to get the person thinking about a certain thing, when you do this you are actually getting them to recreate that experience within them. The same happens when you use sensory rich descriptions and stories. At some level you are requesting that they access a similar state and really get into it to access those experiences.
….. This just to give an impression of the tactics.
And looking into Brainwashing will reveal a host of other tactics as well.
How Revivalist Preachers Work
If you'd like to see a revivalist preacher at work, there are probably several in your city. Go to the church or tent early and sit in the rear, about three-quarters of the way back. Most likely repetitive music will be played while the people come in for the service. A repetitive beat, ideally ranging from 45 to 72 beats per minute (a rhythm close to the beat of the human heart), is very hypnotic and can generate an eyes-open altered state of consciousness in a very high percentage of people. And, once you are in an alpha state, you are at least 25 times as suggestible as you would be in full beta consciousness. The music is probably the same for every service, or incorporates the same beat, and many of the people will go into an altered state almost immediately upon entering the sanctuary. Subconsciously, they recall their state of mind from previous services and respond according to the post-hypnotic programming.
Watch the people waiting for the service to begin. Many will exhibit external signs of trance--body relaxation and slightly dilated eyes. Often, they begin swaying back and forth with their hands in the air while sitting in their chairs. Next, the assistant pastor will probably come out. He usually speaks with a pretty good "voice roll."
The "Voice Roll" Technique
A "voice roll" is a patterned, paced style used by hypnotists when inducing a trance. It is also used by many lawyers, several of whom are highly trained hypnotists, when they desire to entrench a point firmly in the minds of the jurors. A voice roll can sound as if the speaker were talking to the beat of a metronome or it may sound as though he were emphasizing every word in a monotonous, patterned style. The words will usually be delivered at the rate of 45 to 60 beats per minute, maximizing the hypnotic effect.
The Build-up Process: Inducing Altered States
Now the assistant pastor begins the "build-up" process. He induces an altered state of consciousness and/or begins to generate the excitement and the expectations of the audience. Next, a group of young women in "sweet and pure" chiffon dresses might come out to sing a song. Gospel songs are great for building excitement and involvement. In the middle of the song, one of the girls might be "smitten by the spirit" and fall down or react as if possessed by the Holy Spirit. This very effectively increases the intensity in the room. At this point, hypnosis and conversion tactics are being mixed. And the result is the audience's attention span is now totally focused upon the communication while the environment becomes more exciting or tense.
Assured Continuation: Fleecing the Flock
Right about this time, when an eyes-open mass-induced alpha mental state has been achieved, they will usually pass the collection plate or basket. In the background, a 45-beat-per-minute voice roll from the assistant preacher might exhort, "Give to God...Give to God...Give to God...." And the audience does give.
Bonding by Fear and Suggestion
Next, the fire-and-brimstone preacher will come out. He induces fear and increases the tension by talking about "the devil," "going to hell," or the forthcoming Armegeddon.
In the last such rally I attended, the preacher talked about the blood that would soon be running out of every faucet in the land. He was also obsessed with a "bloody axe of God," which everyone had seen hanging above the pulpit the previous week. I have no doubt that everyone saw it--the power of suggestion given to hundreds of people in hypnosis assures that at least 10 to 25 percent would see whatever he suggested they see.
Testimony: Creating Community Spirit
In most revivalist gatherings, "testifying" or "witnessing" usually follows the fear-based sermon. People from the audience come up on stage and relate their stories. "I was crippled and now I can walk!" "I had arthritis and now it's gone!" It is a psychological manipulation that works. After listening to numerous case histories of miraculous healings, the average guy in the audience with a minor problem is sure he can be healed. The room is charged with fear, guilt, intense excitement, and expectations.
Miracles
Now those who want to be healed are frequently lined up around the edge of the room, or they are told to come down to the front. The preacher might touch them on the head firmly and scream, "Be healed!" This releases the psychic energy and, for many, catharsis results. Catharsis is a purging of repressed emotions. Individuals might cry, fall down or even go into spasms. And if catharsis is effected, they stand a chance of being healed. In catharsis (one of the three brain phases mentioned earlier), the brain-slate is temporarily wiped clean and the new suggestion is accepted.
For some, the healing may be permanent. For many, it will last four days to a week, which is, incidentally, how long a hypnotic suggestion given to a somnambulistic subject will usually last. Even if the healing doesn't last, if they come back every week, the power of suggestion may continually override the problem...or sometimes, sadly, it can mask a physical problem which could prove to be very detrimental to the individual in the long run.
Six Conversion Techniques
Cults and human-potential organizations are always looking for new converts. To attain them, they must also create a brain-phase. And they often need to do it within a short space of time--a weekend, or maybe even a day. The following are the six primary techniques used to generate the conversion.
Isolation Intimidation, Deprivation and IndoctrinationThe meeting or training takes place in an area where participants are cut off from the outside world. This may be any place: a private home, a remote or rural setting, or even a hotel ballroom where the participants are allowed only limited bathroom usage. In human-potential trainings, the controllers will give a lengthy talk about the importance of "keeping agreements" in life. The participants are told that if they don't keep agreements, their life will never work. It's a good idea to keep agreements, but the controllers are subverting a positive human value for selfish purposes. The participants vow to themselves and their trainer that they will keep their agreements. Anyone who does not will be intimidated into agreement or forced to leave. The next step is to agree to complete training, thus assuring a high percentage of conversions for the organizations.
They will usually have to agree not to take drugs, smoke, and sometimes not to eat...or they are given such short meal breaks that it creates tension. The real reason for the agreements is to alter internal chemistry, which generates anxiety and hopefully causes at least a slight malfunction of the nervous system, which in turn increases the conversion potential.
The "Sell It By Zealot" TechniqueBefore the gathering is complete, the agreements will be used to ensure that the new converts go out and find new participants. They are intimidated into agreeing to do so before they leave. Since the importance of keeping agreements is so high on their priority list, the converts will twist the arms of everyone they know, attempting to talk them into attending a free introductory session offered at a future date by the organization. The new converts are zealots. In fact, the inside term for merchandising the largest and most successful human-potential training is, "sell it by zealot!"
At least a million people are graduates and a good percentage have been left with a mental activation button that assures their future loyalty and assistance if the guru figure or organization calls. Think about the potential political implications of hundreds of thousands of zealots programmed to campaign for their guru.
Be wary of an organization of this type that offers follow-up sessions after the seminar. Follow-up sessions might be weekly meetings or inexpensive seminars given on a regular basis which the organization will attempt to talk you into taking--or any regularly scheduled event used to maintain control. As the early Christian revivalists found, long-term control is dependent upon a good follow-up system.
Wearing Down Resistance
Alright. Now, let's look at the second tip-off that indicates conversion tactics are being used. A schedule is maintained that causes physical and mental fatigue. This is primarily accomplished by long hours in which the participants are given no opportunity for relaxation or reflection.
Increasing Tension
The third tip-off: techniques used to increase the tension in the room or environment.
Introducing Uncertainty About Identity
Number four: Uncertainty. I could spend hours relating various techniques to increase tension and generate uncertainty. Basically, the participants are concerned about being "put on the spot" or encountered by the trainers, guilt feelings are played upon, participants are tempted to verbally relate their innermost secrets to the other participants or forced to take part in activities that emphasize removing their masks. One of the most successful human-potential seminars forces the participants to stand on a stage in front of the entire audience while being verbally attacked by the trainers. A public opinion poll, conducted a few years ago, showed that the number one most-fearful situation an individual could encounter is to speak to an audience. It ranked above window washing outside the 85th floor of an office building.
So you can imagine the fear and tension this situation generates within the participants. Many faint, but most cope with the stress by mentally going away. They literally go into an alpha state, which automatically makes them many times as suggestible as they normally are. And another loop of the downward spiral into conversion is successfully effected.
Jargon
The fifth clue that conversion tactics are being used is the introduction of jargon--new terms that have meaning only to the "insiders" who participate. Vicious language is also frequently used, purposely, to make participants uncomfortable.
Lack of Humor: No Release, No Resistance
The final tip-off is that there is no humor in the communications...at least until the participants are converted. Then, merry-making and humor are highly desirable as symbols of the new joy the participants have supposedly "found."
Cults: A Captive Course in Stockholm Syndrome
Cult gatherings or human-potential trainings are an ideal environment to observe first-hand what is technically called the "Stockholm Syndrome." This is a situation in which those who are intimidated, controlled, or made to suffer, begin to love, admire, and even sometimes sexually desire their controllers or captors.
But let me inject a word of warning here: If you think you can attend such gatherings and not be affected, you are probably wrong. A perfect example is the case of a woman who went to Haiti on a Guggenheim Fellowship to study Haitian Voodoo. In her report, she related how the music eventually induced uncontrollable bodily movement and an altered state of consciousness. Although she understood the process and thought herself above it, when she began to feel herself become vulnerable to the music, she attempted to fight it and turned away. Anger or resistance almost always assures conversion. A few moments later she was possessed by the music and began dancing in a trance around the Voodoo meeting house. A brain phase had been induced by the music and excitement, and she awoke feeling reborn.
The US Marines as a Brainwashing Cult
Before I go on, let's go back to the six tip-offs to conversion. I want to mention the United States Government and military boot camp. The Marine Corps talks about breaking men down before "rebuilding" them as new men--as marines! Well, that is exactly what they do, the same way a cult breaks its people down and rebuilds them as happy flower sellers on your local street corner. Every one of the six conversion techniques are used in boot camp. Considering the needs of the military, I'm not making a judgement as to whether that is good or bad. IT IS A fact that the men are effectively brainwashed. Those who won't submit must be discharged or spend much of their time in the brig.
Steps in the Decognition Process
Once the initial conversion is effected, cults, armed services, and similar groups cannot have cynicism among their members. Members must respond to commands and do as they are told, otherwise they are dangerous to the organizational control. This is normally accomplished as a three-step ˜ Decognition Process.
Alertness reduction
Step One is alertness reduction: The controllers cause the nervous system to malfunction, making it difficult to distinguish between fantasy and reality. This can be accomplished in several ways. poor diet is one; watch out for Brownies and Koolaid. The sugar throws the nervous system off. More subtle is the "spiritual diet" used by many cults. They eat only vegetables and fruits; without the grounding of grains, nuts, seeds, dairy products, fish or meat, an individual becomes mentally "spacey." Inadequate sleep is another primary way to reduce alertness, especially when combined with long hours of work or intense physical activity. Also, being bombarded with intense and unique experiences achieves the same result.
Programmed Confusion
Step Two is programmed confusion: You are mentally assaulted while your alertness is being reduced as in Step One. This is accomplished with a deluge of new information, lectures, discussion groups, encounters or one-to-one processing, which usually amounts to the controller bombarding the individual with questions. During this phase of decognition, reality and illusion often merge and perverted logic is likely to be accepted.
Thought Stopping
Step Three is thought stopping: Techniques are used to cause the mind to go "flat." These are altered-state-of-consciousness techniques that initially induce calmness by giving the mind something simple to deal with and focusing awareness. The continued use brings on a feeling of elation and eventually hallucination. The result is the reduction of thought and eventually, if used long enough, the cessation of all thought and withdrawal from everyone and everything except that which the controllers direct. The takeover is then complete. It is important to be aware that when members or participants are instructed to use "thought-stopping" techniques, they are told that they will benefit by so doing: they will become "better soldiers" or "find enlightenment." (marching, meditation, chanting)
Shock and Confusion
The Hare Krishnas, operating in every airport, use what I call shock and confusion techniques to distract the left brain and communicate directly with the right brain. While waiting for a plane, I once watched one operate for over an hour. He had a technique of almost jumping in front of someone. Initially, his voice was loud then dropped as he made his pitch to take a book and contribute money to the cause. Usually, when people are shocked, they immediately withdraw. In this case they were shocked by the strange appearance, sudden materialization and loud voice of the Hare Krishna devotee. In other words, the people went into an alpha state for security because they didn't want to confront the reality before them.
In alpha, they were highly suggestible so they responded to the suggestion of taking the book; the moment they took the book, they felt guilty and responded to the second suggestion: give money. We are all conditioned that if someone gives us something, we have to give them something in return--in that case, it was money. While watching this hustler, I was close enough to notice that many of the people he stopped exhibited an outward sign of alpha--their eyes were actually dilated.
? http://www.serendipity.li/sutphen/brainwsh.html (http://www.serendipity.li/sutphen/brainwsh.html)
CONVERSION TECHNIQUES
• Breaking sessions: that pressure a person until they crack.
• Changing values: to change what is right and wrong.
• Confession: to leave behind the undesirable past.
• Entrancement: open the mind and limit rational reflection.
• Engagement: that draws a person in.
• Exhaustion: so they are less able to resist persuasion.
• Guilt: about the past that they can leave behind.
• Higher purpose: associate desirability with a higher purpose.
• Identity destruction: to make space for the new identity.
• Information control: that blocks out dissuading thoughts.
• Incremental conversion: shifting the person one step at a time.
• Isolation: separating people from dissuasive messages.
• Love Bomb: to hook in the lonely and vulnerable.
• Persistence: never giving up, wearing you down.
• Special language: that offers the allure of power and new meaning.
• Thought-stopping: block out distracting or dissuading thoughts.
(So not to overload this thread I’ll leave out Robert Lifton, but if you haven’t reviewed his thought reform theories yet it would be critical knowledge at this point.)
http://changingminds.org/techniques/con ... reform.htm (http://changingminds.org/techniques/conversion/lifton_thought_reform.htm)
http://changingminds.org/techniques/con ... ashing.htm (http://changingminds.org/techniques/conversion/lifton_brainwashing.htm)
So, to put it plainly, I think the above information might serve as the tip of the iceberg into understanding what exactly brainwashing and behavior modification is all about. At this point I’m going to make an assumption as to the viability or effectiveness, I’m just acknowledging that this is the information that surrounds these topics.
What I will say though, is that even if brainwashing is not real (effective), there is no doubt in my mind that the CEDU program was developed specifically to serve those exact purposes.
CEDU PROPHEETS and TOOLS
Propheet
A 24 hour workshop. Named after Khalil Ghbiran's "The Prophet". Passages from the prophet are read at one point in each propheet. During the Wasserman years, there were 7 propheets and two workshops. The propheets employed sleep-deprivation, humiliation, occasional exposure to large variations in temperature, guided imagery, loud and repetitive music, regression therapy, bizarre ritual, and forced emoting. This normally resulted in a feeling of euphoria and exhaustion after the experience. Certain propheets actually caused students to temporarily lose their voice. Propheets contained exercises which used metaphor to convey their message. Each propheet, with the exception of the last one, also consisted of disclosures and a lengthy rap (see below) where everyone in the room was spoken to. The students are "allowed" what appears on the surface to be a one hour nap the next day. However, staff walk amongst the kids as they try to fall asleep on the floor, and when they notice that the last one has fallen asleep, they wake up the students and tell them that the hour nap is over. After you complete a propheet, you are sworn to secrecy. However, you are allowed to speak to students who have already been through the experience. The list of propheets are The Truth, The Childrens, The Brothers Keeper, The Dreams, The I Want to Live, The Values and The Imagine. The two, multi-day workshops, are the I & Me and the Summit. They employ similar techniques, but the structure is very different, and the intensity is stepped up significantly. The last workshop, the Summit, was based on the Large Group Awareness Training seminar Lifespring. Wasserman purchased the rights to use the workshop at his own school, in addition to adding his own exercises.
The Pendulum
A tool in the truth propheet. The passage from The Prophet that is focused on in the truth is "To the extent that you feel your sorrow, you will feel your joy." This is depicted in the truth propheet by a pendulum, which swings from one side, which is sorrow, to the other, which is joy. Whatever Gibran's intent, CEDU ideology translated this as meaning that, in order to feel any happiness, the student must be made as miserable as possible first.
[edit] Your Chrome Ball
A tool in the truth. Your chrome ball was supposed to represent you at birth; pure and unsullied. Students are told that throughout their life, their ball has been dirtied and tarnished by things such as bad experiences, people treating you poorly, and you doing things you felt ashamed of. (Which leads into disclosures in the disclosure circles. See below.)
[edit] Disclosure Circles
An exercise in the truth propheet. Students are divided up into two groups, one each run by a staff. They sit around in a circle, and everybody goes around and confesses to things that they have done in the past that they feel bad about, in addition to copping out to any dirt. As the night progresses, students are pressured to come up with more and more dirt, even if the student says they don't have any more. This often leads to fabricated confessions.
[edit] Your Truth
A tool/concept from the truth propheet. "Your truth" meant what you were, essentially. Part of the CEDU ideology was to oversimplify identity by assigning your persona basic labels. Some examples of assigned truths would be "honest" or "beautiful".
[edit] Your Lie
This is the other side of the "your truth" label, and was assigned to you in the rap section of the truth propheet. After your indictment, which normally consisted of how you deny your truth every day, you are assigned what is "your lie", which was normally a blunt and brutal accusation of your negative behavior. Some examples of this are "Liar", "Victim", "Cripple", "Slut" and "Faggot".
Your Little Girl/Boy
A tool/concept from the children's propheet. This propheet was geared towards getting the students in touch with their "inner child." One way of doing this was to give more tangibility to the concept. As such, students are required to come up with a name for their little boy or girl. This name was supposed to be a pet name your parents had for you when you were young. This tool also falls into the category of "identity labels" that the CEDU propheets employed.
[edit] Dyads
A propheet/workshop exercise where two students face each other in chairs, and engage each other, while being coached by the staff. Normally involves a lot of screaming, repetitive chanting/shouting (Such as "Mommy made me ____ . Daddy made me ______.") and regression. Dyads are used primarily in the children's propheet, the Summit workshop, and during trust counseling.
Turning your back
An exercise from the brother's keeper. Students are paired up and take turns turning their back on each other.
[edit] Pushing away
An exercise from the brother's keeper. Students are paired up and take turns shoving each other. The exercise was supposed to signify how you push people away every day.
Your Nightmare
One of the exercises in the dreams propheet. The concept was that your nightmare was how you were before you came to RMA... i.e. your image. Students are given a black crayon and a piece of paper, and are required to draw a picture of themselves as this nightmare. After everyone is finished, they all mill around and look at each others' drawings. Then they are required to sit in front of their own nightmare for an extended amount of time and ruminate over it. They are then talked to about it in the propheet rap.
[edit] Your Dream
This is the identity label from the dreams propheet. Prior to being bestowed with this label, there is an exercise where students are required to cry about when their dream died. You are then supposed to come up with what your dream was. It was then written on a golden paper star.
http://wiki.fornits.com/index.php?title=CEDU_lingo (http://wiki.fornits.com/index.php?title=CEDU_lingo)
I’m not about to list each and everyone of the many and unusual (to say the least) “agreements” or go into lengthy detail about all the propheets and raps. But anyone who reviews the Cedu lingo list should be able to make various connections between it and the information presented in this paper.
So what was the intention of the program? In my opinion the main purpose for the “Tools” were for the purpose were for implanting a belief system into the unconscious mind that literally sought to override the critical left-brained ‘beta’ state of consiousness hence (in theory) leaving students in a maintained state of suggestability. As well I believe the tools were a way that enabled them to re-frame the entire reality of the students in a rigid black and white system of judgement that (if functiong properly) would serve to set in motion a self-feeding mental dysfunction such as described previously:
“Defense mechanisms even exist in which one attacks one’s self-concept in order to protect it. I have criticized myself for failing, in effect telling myself, "I am not you, you are a failure. I am very critical of you and therefore am not responsible for your failure." I am not the only who has used this defense mechanism. I remember watching a pole-vaulter failing to vault over a bar. Every time he failed he cursed himself and put himself down. I think he was trying to protect his self-concept, because by cursing himself he was in a sense saying to himself, "I am not you; it’s your fault that I can’t
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....Just a little something to finish this off. If you have been to Cedu and don't believe they have associated your emotional triggers with their programming let me ask you a few questions.
What's your lie?
What does your little kid look like?
How are you using your Brothers?
What's your nightmare?
How are you choosing death?
What's your thinking telling you?
Admit it. You can't help but be mentally sent inwards. You understand what the questions are asking when anyone else on the street would not have a clue how to respond.
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I am so glad you're Awake.
thanks.
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Duuude!!! That reasearch freakin' rocks....
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Awake wrote:
....Just a little something to finish this off. If you have been to Cedu and don't believe they have associated your emotional triggers with their programming let me ask you a few questions.
What's your lie?
What does your little kid look like?
How are you using your Brothers?
What's your nightmare?
How are you choosing death?
What's your thinking telling you?
Admit it. You can't help but be mentally sent inwards. You understand what the questions are asking when anyone else on the street would not have a clue how to respond.
Hi, Awake. If you don't mind my asking, what might be typical answers to questions like these? How do I, um, decode this to better understand it?
Auntie Em
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Auntie Em: All of these questions are posited in propheets. The typical answer is bludgeoned into you by the end of it. You may venture your own, but basically the staff members bait and switch until you accept their version of the correct answer. Some students were adept enough to guess what the staff wanted them to say and just handed it over on a platter straightaway - problem was, we still had to eat what was spoon fed. If they asked you the following questions, there is an expectation of the "right" answer.
What's your lie? (never mind - we'll make up another one; or we'll just exploit and distort your story to our benefit)
What does your little kid look like? (some pitiful, neglected wastrel who needs to be re-nurtured into a Stepford child).
How are you using your Brothers? If you're using it to snitch, bully, and humiliate, you're doing a good job!
What's your nightmare? Cedu. Definitely Cedu.
How are you choosing death? Whenever I deviate from The Program.
What's your thinking telling you? It wants to tell you to fuck off... but let me re-phrase so we can move on to the next victim.
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Thanks, Shanlea,
I thought it sounded familiar from what I'd read about the Propheets marathon sessions. Interested to also hear more from you or others about what you understood the "right" answers were.
Auntie Em
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Is anyone here familiar with the practices or seminars of a place called the Landmark Forum?
http://www.skepdic.com/landmark.html (http://www.skepdic.com/landmark.html)
Knew someone that went through this and was a different person afterwards. It stunk of cult and brainwashing, not to mention how hard they tried to recruit me.
As a Cedu Survivor, a wanted none of it. Am interested if anyone else knows anything about this.
Thanks,
~JP~
"Landmark Education" aka "Landmark Forum" aka "The Forum" is the same technology and personnel of est with the screaming reduced (too many lawsuits). Werner Erhard had to disappear (tax evasion problems with the US government), and sold the technology to his old trainers. For a time it was run by his brother, (Name?) Rosenberg, though I don't know how long that lasted.
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Awake wrote:
....Just a little something to finish this off. If you have been to Cedu and don't believe they have associated your emotional triggers with their programming let me ask you a few questions.
What's your lie?
What does your little kid look like?
How are you using your Brothers?
What's your nightmare?
How are you choosing death?
What's your thinking telling you?
Admit it. You can't help but be mentally sent inwards. You understand what the questions are asking when anyone else on the street would not have a clue how to respond.
Hi, Awake. If you don't mind my asking, what might be typical answers to questions like these? How do I, um, decode this to better understand it?
Auntie Em
That’s a pretty complex answer… but I’ll try the first one.
Think about the worst thing you’ve ever done or worst thing you think about yourself, and it has to be the absolute last thing you would ever tell anybody about. Are you thinking about it? well, that’s not the one, there’s something else…more… more…don’t cheat yourself out of this… keep going… no that’s not it, which one is it you can’t say outloud? ok what’s that right there? Ok that’s it, you’ve got it. Describe it. How bad does it feel? Now think about what others might be saying about you for it. What are they calling you? Now pick the word(s) that hurt the most. What is that word? That is your lie.
It’s a good question actually, because giving an answer to someone who does not know makes me realize that the question is metaphorical, and therefore one posed to the unconscious mind. Typically you would hear, “How are you living your lie?” Translated to a direct question it would be asking, “What is it about your actions that are contributing to your negative beliefs about yourself?” However the question is deeper than that, because it is a trigger word associated with the worst feelings and judgements you have about yourself. If you were being confronted on even the most minor of infractions, such as breaking bans (communicating w/ someone you’re not allowed to), the question would be asked. “What does that say about your choices? Are you living your Truth or your Lie?” of course you could not answer that you were living your Truth because you broke an agreement and therefore made a bad choice, so you were living your lie. So within a group the question was understood metaphorically, but your “Lie” was also a trigger word associated with the emotion (shame, fear, guilt) that was attached to your worst judgement as linked to the confession. And then another “tool” in the Truth propheet was that “to the degree you feel your sorrow is to the degree you feel your joy.” Meaning that when you felt bad you were supposed to give into the feeling. Essentially they encouraged students to focus, on and therefore magnify, their emotions.
From then on it is a chain reaction.
Your little kid (the perfect you) looks as though he/she is suffering from the pain of forcing the judgement of your lie on him/her because of your decision. A staff might ask "What does your little kid want to say to you right now?" and a fairly common reply would be, "Stop fucking up you peice of shit!"
You can’t be a friend (use your brothers) because a good friend can only look out for others if they are taking care of themselves. You are betraying them or "turning your back."
You are creating your nightmare (worst possible life outcome) over your dream.
And you are choosing the pain of death instead of instead of the joy of life…….etc. etc.
It is all black and white with the tools.
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It seems you have come to many of the same conclusions I have. Outstanding research and explanations, BTW.
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Is anyone here familiar with the practices or seminars of a place called the Landmark Forum?
http://www.skepdic.com/landmark.html (http://www.skepdic.com/landmark.html)
Knew someone that went through this and was a different person afterwards. It stunk of cult and brainwashing, not to mention how hard they tried to recruit me.
As a Cedu Survivor, a wanted none of it. Am interested if anyone else knows anything about this.
Thanks,
~JP~
Intimately. Propheets were developed from est (now called Landmark forum) and LifeSpring, among other influences.
A documentary on Landmark can be found here:
http://www.caic.org.au/index.php?option ... &Itemid=12 (http://www.caic.org.au/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1243&Itemid=12)
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Thank you, that does help me understand. Funny/ironic/creepy how this can sound like "help," yet be so destructive.
This comment stood out for me:
"However the question is deeper than that, because it is a trigger word associated with the worst feelings and judgements you have about yourself."
I had an inkling that's what "your Lie" was about, but as you describe it, it's more abusive than what I was thinking. IMO, group therapy has a place in this world, but as a forum for revealing extremely personal information,it is inappropriate, abusive. If vulnerable young people are forced through group pressure to reveal intimate, shameful experiences, that carries huge potential for trauma. Add to that the concept that your worst thoughts or actions are "not bad enough," that's just crazy. And if I put 2 and 2 together with other posts here, the staff were getting off on making you reveal more, and more, and more--and that you all often felt compelled to make something up to appear to dig deeper.
Okay, this helps me understand. I understand now more than ever that this is mind-bending abuse.
And I think part of the point of your earlier post is that life becomes a virtual mine field of trigger terms, questions, and thoughts such as these.
Take care, Awake.
Auntie Em
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Em, this is exactly right. You were pressured to keep topping your "worst" until the story you give is either distorted, or possibly fabricated. You just don't stop until the staff is satisfied with your answer. It could really be the worst - but then, it shouldn't be exploited with glee. The other thing is that even though our existence was tightly controlled, we had to listen to staff "facilitators" talk about their worst. They would give excruciating details on past acts such as gang rape, fecal play, and specific, detailed masturbation practices. How am I supposed to feel safe, as a teenager, with that information? How could I not feel vulnerable? I can't laugh with a 16 year old boy over a comic strip, but I have to listen to an adult's details of creating his own masturbation toy? I won't even get into the emotional safety of sitting with a staff member who took part of a gang rape.
The weird thing with staff members is that sometimes, the MINUTE a teenaged girl graduated, he already had his hooks into her. Kinda sick.
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One of the questions that sticks out in my mind was during the I and Me, during the run, the only way you cuold stop running was if they gave you the right answer when they asked what "Me" was feeling. That was horrid. You had to guess and guess and guess what they wanted without coming across as guessing. I don't even remember what the "right" answer was, but I do remember I finally got it (I was likely last in my peer group) and when I got to sit down in Emerson, everyone was crying and snotting all over the floor and I thought to myself- are they crying because they're exhausted, or are they really feeling something right now? I was totally exhausted and numb, but had to force myself to cry to be like the others in fear that I'd get pointed out, once again.
As for the disclosures never being enough....boy do I relate to that!!! I was a depressed, anorexic teenager whose worst disclosure was that I ran away with my school books and got caught. Yes, I lied to my parents, yes, I had boyfriends, but honestly......that was NORMAL for kids my age. Talk about having to get creative about how I worded my disclosures to keep from lying. What a freaking nightmare.
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Shanlea wrote:
The other thing is that even though our existence was tightly controlled, we had to listen to staff "facilitators" talk about their worst. They would give excruciating details on past acts such as gang rape, fecal play, and specific, detailed masturbation practices. How am I supposed to feel safe, as a teenager, with that information? How could I not feel vulnerable?
This is so wrong it makes my blood run backwards. (I wonder if the GAO knows this kind of thing goes on.) No, there's no way you could feel safe with that. It's over the line/inappropriate for anyone to share that kind of information with another person if it is unwelcome, and completely over the top for a "counselor" to discuss that kind of information with a student. Un freaking believable.
The weird thing with staff members is that sometimes, the MINUTE a teenaged girl graduated, he already had his hooks into her. Kinda sick.
Do you mean the staff member would attempt to enter into a sexual relationship with the student? That's horrible.
Auntie Em
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Auntie Em: What I shared about staff disclosures was not isolated. It was part of the whole program - it was entirely systemic. So, we heard it all--stories of them being victims, and stories of them being perpetrators... and just stories of a sexual nature that was in appropriate. The gorier, the more detailed, the better. It was glorified revelry.
I can think of four students who immediately entered relationships with staff. No, five. And those are only the ones I know. A few of these guys were twice their age, married, etc.
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Instructional video on how to use cult mind control. Informative and twistedly funny. Must see!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mnNSe5XYp6E (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mnNSe5XYp6E)
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Instructional video on how to use cult mind control. Informative and twistedly funny. Must see!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mnNSe5XYp6E (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mnNSe5XYp6E)
That's one of my favorites.
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I came across some material that should be pretty interesting. Most of this comes from the Journal of Humanistic Psychology. First is a transcript of a speech given by Abraham Maslow, lead figure in the Human Potential Movement alongside Carl Rogers, while at the Synanon branch in NY called “Daytop” where he talks about his impression of their “therapy” and essentially tries to sell them on the idea for growing the model to become a social psycho-therapeutic proffesion. 2nd is a paper about Maslows colleague Carl Rogers and his involvement with CIA mind control experiments. 3rd is a paper about the common practice of using catharsis as a tool in human potential encounter groups. And 4th is a review of practice and research in marathon groups. These are all excerpts from the papers.
Synanon and Eupsychia. Journal of Humanistic Psychology 1967; 7; 28
These are excerpts from a speech given by Abraham Maslow, leading figure in the Human Potential Movement alongside Carl Rogers, at the Synanon branch in NY, Daytop Village, Staten Island, N. Y., on August 14, 1965. Synanon is a community run by former drug addicts to which addicts come to be cured. (Cedu was started in ’67. Also in 67' Synanon adopted the idea of lifetime therapy and became a self-proclaimed utopian community.)
What I have read about Synanon, as well as what I saw last night and this afternoon, suggests that the whole idea of the fragile teacup which might crack or break, the idea that you mustn't say a loud word to anybody because it might traumatize him or hurt him, the idea that people cry easily or crack easily or commit suicide or go crazy if you shout at them - that maybe these ideas are outdated.
I've suggested that a name for this might be "no-crap therapy." It serves to clean out the defenses, the rationalizations, the veils, the evasions and politenesses of the world. The world is half-blind, you might say, and what I've seen here is the restoring of sight. In these groups people refuse to accept the normal veils. They rip them aside and refuse to take any crap or excuses or evasions of any sort.
Well, I have been asking questions, and I have been told that this assumption works fine. Did anybody ever commit suicide or crack in any way? No. Has anyone gone crazy from this rough treatment? No. I watched it last night. There was extremely direct talking, and it worked fine. Now this contradicts a whole lifetime of training, and that makes it terribly important to me as a theoretical psychologist who has been trying to figure out what human nature is like in general. It raises a real question about the nature of the whole human species. How strong are people? How much can they take? The big question is how much honesty can people take. There are all sorts of games cooked up to cover the truth, but the truth is that the average American citizen does not have a real friend in the world. Very few people have what a psychologist would call real friendships. The marriages are mostly no good in that ideal sense as well. You could say that the kinds of problems we have, the open troubles - not being able to resist alcohol, not being able to resist drugs, not being able to resist crime, not being able to resist anything - that these are due to the lack of these basic psychological gratifications. The question is, does Daytop supply these psychological vitamins? My impression as I wandered around this place this morning is that it does.
It seems possible that this brutal honesty, rather than being an insult, implies a kind of respect. You can take it as you find it, as it really is. And this can be a basis for respect and friendship. I remember hearing an analyst talking a long time ago, long before group therapy. He was talking about this honesty too. What he was saying sounded foolish at the time, as if he was being cruel or some-thing. What he said was that "I place upon my patients the fullest load of anxiety that they can bear." Do you realize what that implies? As much as they can take, that is what he is going to dish out, because the more he can dish out, the faster the whole thing will move. It doesn't seem so foolish in the light of experience here.
On the new social therapy. This is a thought which may turn out to be of professional interest to you. There is a new kind of job opening up that is an activist's job, and it is one that demands experience rather than book training. It is a sort of a combination of an old-fashioned minister and a teacher. You have to be concerned with people. You have to like working with them directly, rather than at a distance; and you have to have as much knowledge of human nature as possible. I have suggested calling it "social therapy." Well, this seems to be developing very gradually over the last year or two. The people who are doing best are not the people with Ph.D.s and so on; they are the people who have been on the streets and who know what it is all about themselves. They know what they're talking about. They know, for example, when to push hard and when to take it easy. With the sudden effort to try to teach the illiterate how to read; and of psychiatry to help people to maturity and responsibility; and so on, there is already a great shortage of people to do these jobs.
Well, one of the interesting things about Daytop is that it is being run by people who have been through the mill of experience. You people know how to talk to others in the same boat. And this is a job; it may be a new type of profession.
On the current social revolution. I could give you a half hour of examples of the way it takes place in different spots. There is a revolution going on. There are some spots which are more growing points than others; but they are all growing in the same Eupsychian direction, that is in the direction of more fully human people. This is going on in education as well. I think that it would be possible, if we got together and pooled all the experiences, bad and good, that we could all pool together, to take the skin off the whole damn educational system. But we could also rebuild it. Well, this is explosive because it demands a human reality, human needs, and human development, rather than a sort of traditional heritage from a thousand years ago which is outdated. It is difficult to speak about Eupsychian education. I think that you can contribute some with the thought that I suggested to you that you consider this as a sort of pilot experiment.
On encounters. May I tell you something. I've been in only one encounter group - last night - and I don't know how I would react if I'd been in that thing for a long time. Nobody has ever been that blunt with me in my whole life.
A major research question. That raises a question that I am asking around here. It is a very important question, and you don't really have the answer, I guess. The question is why do some people stay and others not? That also means, if you take this as a kind of educational institution, how good will it be for how much of the population? How many customers do you expect? How many people won't it work for? You know, the people who never show up do not get counted as failures. You people here overcame a hurdle, you overcame a fear. What is your theory about the people who don't jump over the fear? What is the difference between them and you? This is a practical question, since you people will be the graduates who will be running places like this somewhere else in the future. Then you must face the problem of how to make a larger percentage stay. I report to you that by comparison with that picture that procedure - what happens here is that the truth is being dished out and shoved right in your face. Nobody sits and waits for eight months until you discover it for yourself. At least the people who stay can accept it, and it appears to be good for them. That is in contradiction to a whole psychiatric theory.
From the kind of talking that we did last night, I very definitely have the feeling that the group would feed back things that you could not get in a hundred years of psychoanalysis from one person. Talking about what somebody looks like and what you look like to somebody else, and then having six other people agreeing about the impression you give, is revealing. Maybe it is not possible to form your own identity or a real picture of yourself unless you also get the picture of what you look like to the world. Well, that is a new assumption. In psychoanalysis that assumption isn't made. What you look like to other people isn't taken into account.
After you get over the pain, eventually self-knowledge is a very nice thing. It feels good to know about something rather than to wonder about it, to speculate about it. "Maybe he didn't speak to me because I'm bad, maybe they behaved that way because I'm bad." For the average man, life is just a succession of maybes. He doesn't know why people smile at him or why they don't. It is a very comfortable feeling not to have to guess. It is good to be able to know.
Below are excerpts from a paper about Carl Rogers, co-founder of the Human potential Movement With Maslow. It is taken from the Journal of Humanistic Psychology so it is biased in favor of Rogers, but still revealing.
Carl Rogers and the CIA
Journal of Humanistic Psychology 2008; 48; 6 originally published online Oct 24, 2007;
Carl Rogers was a pioneer and leader in the humanistic psychology movement. Although his many professional activities and accomplishments are well known, the story of his association with the Society for the Investigation of Human Ecology—a front organization for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)—is barely known and has never been explored in any depth. This article attempts to tell that story in the context of America during the 1950s, Rogers’s academic career, and the mission of the CIA.
Symbolic of Rogers’s stature in the world of psychology in the 1950s was his historic debate in 1956 with the leading figure in the behaviorist school of psychology, B. F. Skinner (Rogers & Skinner, 1956; Skinner, 1948, 1968). On that occasion, Rogers warned of the growing danger of governments using the behavioral sciences to exercise more effective control over their citizens. In his conclusion, Rogers stated,
“It is my hope that we have helped to clarify the range of choice which will lie before us and our children in regard to the behavioral sciences. We can choose to use our growing knowledge to enslave people in ways never dreamed of before, depersonalizing them, controlling them by means so carefully selected that they will perhaps never be aware of their loss of personhood.” …… (Rogers & Skinner, 1956, p. 1064)
What Rogers did not mention and what virtually no one at the time knew was that while Carl Rogers was voicing these noble sentiments and was becoming arguably the leading spokesperson for the emerging movement in humanistic psychology, he was also working with the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
1977 that John Marks, of the Center for National Securities Studies in Washington, D.C., dramatically exposed the CIA’s involvement in mind control and behavior control research. Marks’s book, The Search for the “Manchurian Candidate”: The CIA and Mind Control, appeared in 1979 and included additional information on Rogers’s involvement. Also of interest was psychological knowledge that might help the CIA understand “brainwashing,” that is, techniques to change a person’s belief, control a person’s thought processes, or get a person to carry out the controller’s wishes.
Agency officials were convinced that the Soviet Union and communist China had, or might soon have, powerful brainwashing techniques and witnessed the 70% of 7,190 American Korean War prisoners held in China who made confessions, denounced their country, or signed petitions against the U.S. role in the war, many of whom even held on to their beliefs after they were repatriated to the United States (Marks, 1979; Thomas, 1989). Hence, the CIA was committed to doing whatever it took to learn as much as possible about psychological processes that might facilitate or resist brainwashing and other forms of psychological persuasion.
Thus, within a few years of its creation, the CIA was involved with drug experiments, the use of hypnosis, and behavior-control programs, activities that continued for many years (Marks, 1979).
Ross (2000) documented that MKULTRA was the umbrella for 149 “subprojects” that covered
a wide range of topics, including but not limited to the effects of LSD and other drugs, hypnosis, stress, and sensory deprivation. In many of these projects, the participants were unknowing or unwilling participants—research that would be illegal or at least highly unethical today.
Although some scientists were funded without knowledge of CIA and MKULTRA backing, Rogers seemed to have top-secret clearance for his work and knowledge of the CIA connection (Ross, 2000). Why would the CIA want to give money to Rogers to study “the correlation of psychological and physiological variables in personality and personality change,” as he described it in his annual report?
Rogers’s work with schizophrenics outside the CIA context might seem worthwhile and admirable. However, this same work, when placed in the context of CIA mind control, may, to some, stain Rogers’s image or raise questions about his motivations or ethics.
As Rogers explained his motives to Greenfield (1977), “ It seemed as though Russia was a very potential enemy and as though the United States was very wise to get whatever information it could about things that the Russians might try to do, such as brainwashing or influencing people. So that it didn’t seem at all dishonorable to me to be connected with an intelligence outfit at that time. I look at it quite differently now. (p. 10)”
Or perhaps he knew the general content of the research but not the details. For example, a proposal might request funding to study the effects of LSD on the self-disclosure or memory of college students, but it seems unlikely that the full board would be told that the college students were to be duped into the experiment and not informed that they would be receiving an experimental drug.
Catharsis in Human Potential Encounter
Journal of Humanistic Psychology 1974; 14; 27
In this article I shall focus on the rediscovery and use of catharsis in human potential encounter groups. I have chosen a limited topic. Catlarsis is but one aspect of contemporary encounter (Rogers, 1970; Schutz, 1967), and encounter itself is but one of many practices being explored by human potential practitioners (Peterson, 1971). Catharsis is not common to all human potential work. But its use is more widespread than in encounter groups. Practitioners of bioenergetics (Lowen, 1971), the Synanon game (Yablonsky, 1965), primal therapy (Janov, 1971) and gestalt therapy (Perls, 1969) utilize catharsis. From my point of mew, catharsis is a relatively easy and reliable way to produce a peak experience (Maslow, 1962), a period of self-transcendence. During this period, healing and personal growth take place more quickly than usual. Healing, personal growth, and self-transcendence loosely define the goals and purpose of the human potential practitioner. The range and scope of these myriad vehicles of transpersonal experience and exploration can best be judged through inspection of the Esalen Institute catalog or the more general listing made by Peterson
(1971).
Catalog of the Ways People Grow
In the discussion that follows, I shall focus attention on one such
practice: the use of human potential encounter groups to promote healing,
growth, and transcendence. Even more specifically, I shall emphasize the
use of catharsis in such groups, since I believe that catharsis is the most
frequent and valued tool for entry into transcendental realms of
experience.
CATHARSIS IN ENCOUNTER
Frequently in the course of an encounter group, participants experience a cathartic release of pent-up emotions or tension followed by an unusual, even ecstatic, sense of well-being-a feeling of having been cleansed or reborn. In this postcathartic state, conditions for healing, growth, and transcendence exist to an unusual degree: psychosomatic symptoms fall away, insights into personal behavior come easily and naturally, and a transcendent sense of union with cosmic order is common. But it is true that transcendent experience is the crown of the group experience. There exists no easier way to produce transcendent experience in a group of participants than through catharsis, assuming that we forego the use of psychedelic drugs.
Psychoanalysis, too, began with an exploration of catharsis or abreaction used to relieve hysterical symptoms. Freud (1963) describes his early work with Breuer: &dquo;We led the patient’s attention directly to the traumatic scene in which the symptom had arisen, endeavored to find the mental conflict inherent in it and to release the suppressed affect [p. 44].&dquo; Freud calls this &dquo;the cathartic method.&dquo;
I cannot say with authority why religious enthusiasts or psychoanalysts began their movements with catharsis. But encounter group leaders have explored it because catharsis is easy to produce, is dramatic to behold, and achieves remarkable short-term effects.
In encounter, we produce catharsis in a wide variety of ways. Each method has, I believe, historical precedent, although we as group leaders rarely realize these antecedents and frequently believe that we merely stumble upon our practices. For the sake of clarity, I shall divide these methods into three general dynamic categories: first, the resistance to free expression may be weakened, rather like attacking the walls of the tea kettle; second, the impulse-seeking expression may be strengthened, as if we turned up the heat under the kettle; third, we may &dquo;trigger the complex&dquo; which is an act of making conscious the tea kettle, the cork, and the steam all at one instant.
In actual practice, these three dynamics are not necessarily used in pure form. Usually combinations are invoked, if only because the encounter context and the immediate history of the moment may contain elements of all the approaches I have identified. Thus a person whose defenses are weakened through excessive or prolonged excitation may be triggered into a release simply by observing another person express some emotion. In the first case, the forces of control are reduced: fear, prolonged excitation, fasting, sleep deprivation, sensory deprivation or sensory bombardment, deprivation of customary drugs such as nicotine, unaccustomed physical stress or exercise, exposure to the elements, or exposure to physical extremes such as cold and hot water all enhance the probability of catharsis in encounter group members. Nearly everyone in a five-day group will cathart if the third day is a day of fasting and no nicotine. A 24-hour fast makes everyone a bit light and giddy and very susceptible to the emotional content of encounter, that is to say, very easily triggered.
Beyond chanting, there exist many other energy-raising procedures including rhythmic breathing, imagery exercises, risk-taking games like follow-the-leader or truth-or-consequences, and even gentle or harsh bodily postures and actions which directly yield tremors and then shakes and finally epileptoid release.
Yet when encounter group leaders and members put a premium on the cathartic act, there is a temptation to push people to cry, to become angry, or to confess some sin or other. While such pressures fail more often than not, they set up an unpleasant atmosphere in the group room.
POSTCATHARTIC PERIOD
Following the massive emotional release of catharsis, a person typically, but not inevitably, experiences an ecstasy, then a depression, and finally a return to normal. This relationship between a peak experience followed by a valley experience, a depression, resembles the postparturant depression following childbirth, the letdown that may follow a festival or holiday, or the state following ecstatic sexual union.
The blissful state arises no matter how catharsis comes about. This state of bliss, this mini-satori, however transient, is sought and cherished by encounter practitioners and participants alike. We seek and desire this cleansing and rebirth, and we patronize encounter groups as one of the few institutions in our middleclass subculture fostering such experiences.
The symptoms of this first stage of the postcathartic period are virtually identical to those described by Maslow (1962) in his study of peak experiences.
In brief, the postcathartic individual appears radiant, even luminous, to others. The eyes are unusually clear; muscles are relaxed yet energized; physical movement and verbal expression are graceful, even beautiful, and very much to the point. Inner symptoms include a remarkable sensitization to color and sound; an unusual perception of somatic events; a pervasive feeling of energy; and a feeling of profound well-being, ease, and familiarity within the ongoing, existential flow of life.
All of the unusual powers or abilities attributed to ecstatic states of being are confirmed in encounter experience. The postcathartic person has an unusual number of coincidences and other intimations of paranormal perception or comprehension. Healings and other so-called miracles or gifts are manifested. Psychological, somatic, and spiritual pathology may be suddenly washed away as if disease were in some way antithetical to the radiant state. The pragmatic consideration for group leaders is this: during the postcathartic radiant period, remarkable conditions favoring healing and growth obtain. We call this good working space. In good working space, change occurs easily.
Laski (1970) has described the similarities between religious conversion, the psychoanalytic ab reactive event, and political uses of brainwashing following cathartic breakdown of customary controls. In each case, for better or worse, a person’s entire belief system may be quickly and radically altered.
In human potential work, we say that the postcathartic individual has been deconditioned or unprogrammed and may be reconditioned or reprogrammed according to new beliefs and values. At this impressionable time, a person may readily fall in love, accept another person’s value system, or reaffirm an essential faith in personal values and beliefs. It is as if the participant were returned to the neonatal state, open and susceptible to the imprinting process described by ethologists. Because the postcathartic radiant person may be so impressionable, even unconscious values of the group leader or cultural event which produced the catharsis may be adopted. The responsibility of any programming agent is very great.
Ordinarily the radiant, charismatic, ecstatic state does not last. The glow dims. The capacity for insight is lost. The experience fades into memory. This loss deeply disappoints those who believed that they had been permanently enlightened by what was, in fact, a transitory peak experience. After the peak, all too often comes a depression, a valley, as it were, to match the peak. In traditional mysticism, this depression has been called &dquo;the dark night of the soul (Underhill, 1955).&dquo; During the dark night of the soul, all the old discomfort may reappear, sometimes in exaggerated form.
Early psychoanalysts noted the fact that the wonderful effects of catharsis were not lasting. They especially noted that symptoms reappeared. Encounter group leaders, too, have become increasingly conscious of the disadvantages of catharsis. Even though catharsis produces peaks easily, the effects of these peaks seem random; no one can tell who will really change and who will merely taste the possibility for change.
But, even worse, the emphasis on catharsis leads practitioners and participants alike to seek ever more potent blowouts in the illusory hope of finally discovering the permanent high. We became addicted to a model of growth and transcendence based on the concept of the sudden satori.
Above all, we have not given up the postcathartic period of good work space in which insight and change can happen so effortlessly and quickly. But we have adopted disciplines to help prepare for that state of being and to help maintain it when the group has dispersed.
We have on the right hand a science and a technology and on the left hand a developing practice of spiritual growth, feeling, and intuition (see Ornstein, 1972). Our task is to bring the two hands together into a synthesis of the material and the spiritual realms of existence.
The Marathon Group: A Review of Practice and Research
Norman G. Dinges and Richard G. Weigel
Small Group Research 1971; 2; 339
The marathon group represents the culmination of a convergence of two separate but related developments in the practice of therapy or training in groups: group psychotherapy and sensitivity training. The beginnings of group psychotherapy have been attributed to primitive healing ceremonies, or to Mesmer at the Baquet (Hill, 1961).
The National Training Laboratories’ sensitivity training movement started in 1946, and included principles derived from group dynamics, psychotherapy, and philosophy. It has been oriented toward facilitating learning of a special type; increased sensitivity toward group processes, increased awareness of the character of one’s own group participation, and increased ability to deal with a variety of group situations (Stock, 1964).
Casriel and Deitch (1968) state that the only productive group leader is the one who is capable of becoming personally involved in the group dynamics. Consistent with the position of Bach and Stoller, the leader has the dual responsibility of guiding the group members’ participation and revealing his own views and feelings. Bernhard (1968a) sees the marathon as a technical and personal challenge to the therapist’s own authenticity. She presents her function as one of commitment to interact with group participants as a person, but also as a technician in keeping the group on the course of significant therapeutic work. This is accomplished by using group pressures productively to change self-sabotaging attitudes and behaviors. She reports that her own experience as a marathon therapist-participant, although often emotionally painful, had taught her that tearing down defensive structures leads to emotional growth, and furthermore, resulted in a radical change of life style for her.
Bach (1967b) echoes Stoller’s concern that leaders be well trained, and decries the &dquo;wild&dquo; marathons conducted by unprofessional, untrained group leaders. He stresses the importance of the leader having the skill not only to facilitate candid communication among the members, but also to make full therapeutic use of the resultant tensions that emerge during the group meeting.
First, true feelings are to be shared as clearly and transparently as possible with the expressor responsible for keeping the group attention on himself; second, no holds are barred in giving feedback to the expressor; and third, making people feel better is not the purpose of the marathon. One of the most strongly emphasized rules is that expression of feelings in the here-and-now and their sharing is to be the mode of participation.
As a function of the extended session length, other new variables are added (e.g., sleep deprivation, fatigue, the &dquo;special event&dquo;) which presumably accentuate or generate other therapeutic effects within the marathon (e.g., high group cohesiveness; &dquo;peak experiences&dquo;).
Brainwashing. It should be noted that concerns about the fatigue factor have contributed to attacks on the marathon as being a form of &dquo;brainwashing&dquo; (e.g., Hollister, 1969; Let Freedom Ring, 1968). That there are apparent similarities in technique between brainwashing and therapy in general (Dolliver, 1971), and between brainwashing and the marathon must be acknowledged. Cecil A. Edie has noted, in a personal communication in 1969, some of the similarities, and he points out that a number of investigators have reported that brainwashing takes place after the individual is worn down to a state of physical and psychological exhaustion.
The wearing-down process most typically takes place by physiological stress resulting from fatigue, food deprivation, disease, and pain. It is thought that prisoners capitulate because of hypersuggestibility induced by the state of physiopsychological exhaustion. The captors refuse to recognize any of the prisoner’s previous roles and deny him all information from outside the prison. This may parallel the unacceptability of marathon group members to make use of roles and defenses they characteristically use outside the group, and the typical marathon rule of denying outside contact once the group has begun. Once the prisoner has lost his identity and role, he becomes motivated to change-to find a role and identity acceptable to those around him. Edie suggests that there is a parallel between the change of identity observed in brainwashing and the marathon group, and that in both cases the change is in the direction acceptable to those performing the treatment.
Kobler (1969) reports that sleeping during Synanon-type marathons lasting for 48 hours is discouraged in order to reduce emotional resistance.
GROUP ISOLATION AND COHESION ’
Dies and Hess (1971) have noted the substantial agreement among marathon leaders (i.e., Bach, Mintz, Stoller) that there is great group cohesiveness in marathon groups; certainly more than is observed inconventional time-interrupted group therapy.
Hoff (1970) asked seven participants several open-ended questions after the conclusion of a 24-hour marathon. In response to the question, &dquo;What effect has the marathon had on your life at this point?&dquo; the members said,
I changed and have had a very valuable therapeutic experience without drugs ... an opening up of my own problems. I also feel a little less inhibited with other people.... I know more about myself now than I did before. I’m more aware of my defenses, which was my major reason for going. I’m still unable to cope with these, though.... I have been &dquo;here and now&dquo; almost at will, continuously for two weeks.... I feel very much shaken by the experience, but I also feel stronger. I’ve learned a lot about myself, and I like that.... It has given me quite a bit of self confidence, calmed me down inside, made me think of others who have problems too. It has helped me to find myself as a person and drop some of the phony ideas I had of myself.... I feel I’m more aware of the gimics [sic] I use to keep people at a distance and why I seem to feel the need to do this [Demos, 1970: 14-15].
Coulson (1970b: 25) tells of a university faculty member who was disappointed by the failure of colleagues to follow through on the achievements of a weekend encounter group. &dquo;It was shattering to me to see that every single person in the group returned to his same role after the encounter group, the masks are all on again.&dquo;
Ellis (1969) suggests that the basic encounter method breeds narcissism and emotional elitism, is too hedonistic, diffuse, and inefficient, and in the long run is anti-therapeutic.
The most comprehensive compilation of criticisms of the group movement has been presented by Howard (1970). She notes that critics have claimed that groups:
(1) cause stirring wonderful things to happen, but the effects of these are not valid because they do not last; (2) use ridiculous jargon; (3) are pointless; . (4) invade privacy; ’ ’ (5) are anti-intellectual; (6) cheapen real emotion; (7) are guilty of phoniness; (8) lead to emotional elitism; (9) may get to be a cult; ( I 0) hypnotize their members; ( I 1 ) can be run by charlatans who are corrupt or mediocre; (12) foster sexual promiscuity; ( 13) encourage physical violence; , (14) do psychological damage; ( 15) are a hotbed of junkies and dope addicts; and (16) can be fatal.
Stoller, the foremost systematizer of the marathon, had far too short a period to develop his views. We are told (Kovacs, 1971: 12) that Stoller &dquo;wanted to develop a new kind of growth center where all these techniques [i.e., psychotherapy, gestalt exercises, body movement techniques, encounter phenomena, and the myriad other burgeoning techniques which characterize our field] could be integrated in a sequential, systematic fashion and tied together by an organized theoretical system he was developing.&dquo;
It would be unfortunate for the potential of the marathon to be unintentionally squandered by overzealous and indiscriminate application in contexts and for individuals for whom it is not appropriate. This is particularly important since there are already concerns among professionals and laymen alike about the potential intentional misuse of the marathon for devious purposes, such as brainwashing.
Finally, despite the maelstrom of controversy, it is important to keep in mind that there is potential for future society to benefit greatly from wise use of the marathon group. &dquo;It appears that we have a tornado in a bottle, wondering how we can best release its power for the good of mankind, yet fearful for its potential misuse&dquo; (Day, 1970: 423).
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Maslow wrote: "you people will be the graduates who will be running places like this somewhere else in the future"
Sadly, he was right about this.
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In human potential work, we say that the postcathartic individual has been deconditioned or unprogrammed and may be reconditioned or reprogrammed according to new beliefs and values. At this impressionable time, a person may readily fall in love, accept another person’s value system, or reaffirm an essential faith in personal values and beliefs. It is as if the participant were returned to the neonatal state, open and susceptible to the imprinting process described by ethologists. Because the postcathartic radiant person may be so impressionable, even unconscious values of the group leader or cultural event which produced the catharsis may be adopted. The responsibility of any programming agent is very great.
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In human potential work, we say that the postcathartic individual has been deconditioned or unprogrammed and may be reconditioned or reprogrammed according to new beliefs and values. At this impressionable time, a person may readily fall in love, accept another person’s value system, or reaffirm an essential faith in personal values and beliefs. It is as if the participant were returned to the neonatal state, open and susceptible to the imprinting process described by ethologists. Because the postcathartic radiant person may be so impressionable, even unconscious values of the group leader or cultural event which produced the catharsis may be adopted. The responsibility of any programming agent is very great.
If I can make an analogy, there is a breadth of conservativism and liberalist views within the area of humanistic psychology and even in the human potential movement regarding how it should be practiced and its ethical boundaries. Generally from what I have read, It seems the Cedu program was the antithesis of what most practitioners of humanistic psychology believe in. And in that respect it also seems to have adopted the exact processes that humanistic psychology practitioners warned against.
That being said, I wonder if Mel Wasserman was even creative or smart. All these papers were published right as Cedu was created. Maybe Mel just subscribed to the right publication (and Charles Deiderich).
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........ I guess I shouldn't call them "practitioners" of Humanistic Psychology since they only come in 2 types, religious zealots or straight up grifters. The true believers have accepted "self actualization" (the cornerstone of Humanistic Psychology) as a valid concept and the grifters make use of it as a tool of manipulation. Ironically the reality of this concept can be seen by using one of their most common "tools", the double bind.
In broad terms, a double bind (first identified under that name by Gregory Bateson) is a set-up where someone phrases their communication in such a way that whoever they're talking to is caught in a "no win" situation, or an "illusion of choice." For example….
“Would you like to try on a suit or a coat?” (You will try on one of either a suit or a coat.)
“That coat looks good on you. Do you prefer the red one or the blue one?” (You will prefer one of these coats.)
“Wonderful! Will that be cash of credit?” (You will buy this coat.)
(from Wikepedia) in Zen Bhuddism "A student can be asked to present to the master their genuine self, "Show me who you really are". According to Watts, the student will eventually realize there is nothing they can do, yet also nothing they cannot do, to present their true self."
…. Some basic examples of double binds. But they also can function in other, even more covert ways.
http://www.ex-cult.org/fwbo/DoubBind.htm (http://www.ex-cult.org/fwbo/DoubBind.htm)
Ex. A double bind offers some kind of benefit as its bait. With the FWBO, the bait is the promise of personal and spiritual growth.
On offer are: greater understanding and kindness; mental calmness, clarity and focus; and greater self-confidence and positivity. How could anyone refuse?
Of course, a person could refuse, but then that might be taken to imply arrogance on their part. Refusal could be taken to imply that they believe they are already perfect, that they have already achieved their full potential for understanding and kindness, etc. That's already a little bit of a double bind.
However, the double bind only starts to kick in once a person takes the bait, once they start to feel that there are aspects of their lives they would like to improve, and that they might benefit from following a course of study and training, with the FWBO or any other organisation offering to teach people how to realise their full potential.
They don't need to have absolute faith in the group's teaching, only to give it some degree of credence, or at least the benefit of the doubt.
In general, groups offering to teach people how to develop their full potential, will put forward the idea that the reason why they are failing to realise their true potential, is because they are subject to certain psychological or cognitive or emotional blocks and obstacles, which they may be unaware or unconscious of. These obstacles block their energy and cause frustration and unhappiness.The group's teaching can help them to become aware of and then overcome these obstacles.
Different organisations have different ideas about the nature of the obstacles which hinder personal growth. In the FWBO, they are said to be the result of unconscious conditioning, ignorance, fear of change, etc. In a Christian based group such as the Moonies, any doubts or reservations which a student may have about the group's teaching, may be blamed on Satan putting evil thoughts into the student's mind in order to try and prevent them from reaching towards God. In Scientology, such doubts or reservations may be ascribed to the influence of 'engrams', unconscious conditionings from past lives which block the student's energy and awareness.
In a way it doesn't much matter which factors the group identifies as the reasons why a person might have failed to realise their full potential. The two key ideas are that a person has unrealised potential, and that the group's teaching can enable them to overcome any unconscious hindrances and realise that potential. These two ideas together form a potential double bind.
The double bind works in the following way: If you believe you might be failing to live up to your true potential, because of unconscious conditioning or similar factors, then what do you do about it? Do you:
(a). Give in and accept the situation?
or
(b). Try and break free of your conditioning?
You can of course refuse to answer the question. However, if your answer is (b), then this implies some agreement with the idea that you are 'conditioned'. To the degree that you accept that idea, to that degree you have entered into an insoluble paradox and double bind.
The paradox is: how can you attempt to break free when any or even all of your thoughts and actions may be at least partly the result of 'conditioning' (or pride, or ignorance, etc.)? If you decide on a course of action on your own account, how can you be sure that your decision isn't partly or wholly the result of your 'conditioning' (or of some other unconscious factor). How can you be sure that you are actually making a free decision, and that you haven't simply been conditioned and programmed to act in a particular way?
If a person accepts that they are conditioned to some degree, and they want to break free of their conditioning, then logically they cannot really do it by themselves, because the chances are that they will simply go round in circles, unconsciously repeating their own conditioned behaviour. They need some external help and guidance, from a teacher who has already broken through their own conditioning (to some extent at least), and who has a good understanding of the processes involved in this kind of breakthrough.
This is the whole point of setting up this kind of paradox and double bind - to make a person think they need a teacher, so that they then become dependent on the teacher. Potentially the teacher can then misuse this power, without ever being held responsible for any psychological harm their teaching may cause their students.
If they are failing to thrive, they cannot be sure where the problem lies. Does the problem lie with their own understanding and practice, or with the group and its teaching? Should they have faith and persevere, or should they drop out?
They are in a double bind because, having accepted that they might be subject to ignorance or unconscious conditioning to some degree, they can never really be sure that any doubts or reservations they may have about the group's teaching, aren't simply the product of their own unconscious conditioning. And they can never be sure that valuable insights will definitely not result from attending the next training course or residential weekend offered by the group. Or from the next course after that.
On the other hand, if they decide to drop the training and leave the group, they can never be sure that they aren't making a terrible mistake. They can never be sure in their own minds that their doubts about the quality of the teaching are reasonable and justified, nor can they prove to anyone else that their concerns are justified (because of the nature of the double bind, and because double binds work on a subjective and psychological level, and leave no objectively verifiable physical evidence to reveal their existence).
In short, they can never prove that they are right, and the group is wrong. This is one of the reasons why many religious/human potential type groups are effectively unaccountable to any outside authority for any psychological harm their teaching may cause their students.
Using the double bind system, anyone can set themselves up as a personal growth teacher, with very little risk of ever being held responsible for any psychological damage their teaching might cause their students. Indeed, with non-accountability, low overheads, and the availability of tax-exempt religious charity status, the personal growth/spiritual fulfillment market provides an ideal business opportunity for the unscrupulous and the deluded to milk their students.
And there you have it. Self-actualization is the ultimate double bind.
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Does anyone remember staff talking in this particular way? I remember one staff that no question WAS using these techniques.
“When that decision sounds right to you what do you see as being the most important for you so you can feel good about that?”
“I hear what you are saying and looking at your improvement I think that opening up is something you should feel good about.”
“I don’t see that. I see you as covering yourself up and not hearing what others are saying.”
If you do read this.
Practical Magic:
A Translation of Basic Neuro-Linguistic Programming into
Clinical Psychotherapy (1980)
Each person is considered to have a most highly valued representational
system for each experience. (Kinesthetic<tactile,emotional>, Auditory, Visual) So, for some, seeing is literally believing, for others, how things
sound is the key, and for others still, if something feels good it is
worth doing. Listening to the predicates in a client's speech is just one reliable
way to determine which representational system is dominant in his
consciousness at a given time. In keeping with my strategy to present the most elegant number of
steps, however, I want to offer you the class of non-verbal accessing cues that people in my seminars find easiest to learn and verify with their senses—that of eye scanning patterns.
Once students in training seminars become adept at recognizing
lead systems (via eye scanning patterns) and primary representational
systems they typically report that the people they have been
observing seem and sound like they process information through
a whole sequence of representational systems and not just one or
two. I usually compliment them on their ability to sense that
human beings often generate their subjective experience through
both simple and elaborate chains of representational systems. In
NLP (NLP Vol. 1, Dilts, et al, 1980.) these sequences are referred
to as "strategies."
By now you have had the opportunity to see, hear, and feel the
effectiveness of matching predicates and pacing the representational
systems of your clients. An even more powerful step is to
pace sensory experience as it is sequenced in strategies, that is,
matching representational system predicates in the spontaneous
order that they are offered. For example: "I see what you mean and,
talking about it really feels right". The strategy runs: External-Vi-Ai-Ki (Visual internal, Auditory internal, kinesthetic internal)
Since the predicates reveal the organizing strategy of that person
at the particular moment in time, a response that is packaged
in the same sensory order—see to hear to feel—will constitute a
profound and largely unconscious pace.
Your response might thus run, "It looks as if our discussing your
problems will really help you get a grasp on them." If a client comes
to you for the first time wanting help, her accessing cues and
speech patterns revealing the above strategy (V -»A -> K), you could
package all of your verbal output to accommodate the sequence she
is using: "I'll be glad to see you show up regularity for interviews.
We can discuss your goals and feel our way onto solid ground that
will help you make the changes you want." If the client has been
adequately matched and paced non-verbally, your sequencing of
information to fit her strategy will work like a key slipping into the
tumblers of a lock, opening up a greater sense of trust and rapport.
Another effective way to package information using strategies is
to present what you have to communicate in the reverse order of
a person's sequence.
Having "thought back" through your steps, she will end up
at her own first step (V) and can proceed through her own most
comfortable strategy to answer the question. This enables you to
pace and retrieve resources at the same time.
Reversing strategies is a very good way to motivate people,
whether in therapy, education, business, or elsewhere. If two people
with reversed strategies are interacting they will be constantly
motivating each other. To reverse someone's strategy might be analogous to turning the crank on a wind-up toy
and setting it loose.
In general it can be expected that:
1. pacing the strategy produces the minimal steps necessary
for intimacy (rapport).
2. reversing the strategy results in motivation for the learning
or learning for the motivation given.
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I'm convinced that Charles Manson has something to do with these programs. Maybe Synanon in Santa Monica (Manson was in LA). I watch those YouTube videos and he's go alot of the same lingo and concepts that these places taught. I'll tell you too that going through that crap really screwed me up, 20 years later and I still have to battle off the flashbacks of being "on center" or whatever.
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I don't know much about Manson, but 1967 seems to have been a big year for cults, LGATs. Supposedly this is when Werner Erhardt split apart from Scientology to develop EST, Hubbard developed the Sea-Org of which it's members signed a billion year contract, Synanon went from a drug rehab to a "utopian community", and (on wiki) this was when Mansons "rise of the family" occured.... and of course Cedu was developed as well at this time.
I watched some of those youtube Manson videos and heard some language I recognize. At one point he demonstrates his musicianship by singing (like a complete psychopath) and then stops, and for a moment he and the interviewer are silent. Then he says,” Interrupts your patterning doesn’t it? Brings you on center.” This is consistent with what Neuro-Lingustic Programming (NLP) deems as a “pattern interrupt”. It is something that your knowledge/expectations cannot predict nor react to with an outcome in mind. In NLP this would be a tool used to make the subject more suggestible (accepting of direction). Manson also says,” I’m always new. Every moment I’m a new person. I’m not a machine.” I think this relates to the Human Potential Movement’s idea of “Self-Actualization”. It is the belief that to be fully human is to accept that life is a never ending process of evolution and change.
Of course I can not prove it, but I would be willing to bet that a book was written in the mid-late 60’s that was an explicit manual for mind control, and that it was kept from the public due to its content save for a few underground circulations. I have been reading over some old research on the Esalen institute (Big Sur, CA 1962-P) where they conducted many strange experiments with groups of people. Esalen was probably the epicenter for the development of many new “innovative” psychologies growing during that time(NLP was modeled from several of this institutions promintent psychologists).
The one thing that remains constant throughout the TTI programs, LGAT’s (est, Lifespring), Synanon, and most all of the explosion of psychotherapeutic approaches coming out of the Humanistic Psychology era, is the presence of sensitivity training in various forms. Focused on individual/group change through group processes.
1955-1959: Sensitivity training, an extension of T-group ideas, was being explored at the UCLA School of Business Administration in California and in other locations as part of the expansion of the National Training Laboratories. Sensitivity training was developed by a german behavioral scientist/Gestalt practitioner who fled during the Nazi collapse and headed the National Training Labratories.
The Period of Innovation
1958-1966: Frederick (Fritz) Perls, Laura Perls, Paul Goodman, Ralph Hefferline, and others developed Gestalt therapy in New York; it became popular after Fritz Perls moved to the Esalen Institute in California around 1966.
1963-1966: Marathon (time-extended) group therapy (mainly for personal growth); Frederick Stoller, George Bach, Elizabeth Mintz.
1963-1966: Eric Berne developed his method of Transactional Analysis.
1963-1966: Michael Murphy and Richard Price organized Esalen Institute just south of Big Sur, California. It was the prototype of the "growth center," and hundreds sprouted up around the country (and some overseas) over the next decade. These centers became the focus of the human potential movement, which was a marriage of humanistic psychology and T-group methods.
1967: Will Schutz, at Esalen, combined many modes of therapy with the process of the basic encounter group psychodrama, bioenergetic analysis, sensory awakening, guided fantasy, and a variety of action techniques, many of which were ultimately based on Moreno's methods.
1967: Synanon "games" opened to the public as a form of encounter group in Santa Monica, a seaside suburb on the west side of Los Angeles. Synanon was started in 1958 as a drug abuse treatment center by Charles Diedrich. These games were just short of being violently confrontational, and some of this approach generalized to contaminate parts of the encounter group movement.
1968: Hindu gurus, swamis, and Eastern spiritual teachers and disciplines were becoming fashionable, in part stimulated by the support of the Beatles for the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and his system of transcendental meditation. The use of psychedelic agents added to metaphysical interest, and group therapies began integrating transpersonal issues.
In the 1960s, a number of other forms of psychotherapy became relatively popular, and some of these approaches were applied in group contexts: family therapy (involving several families at a time); art, movement, and other expressive therapies; Arthur Janov's primal therapy; William Glasser's reality therapy; and the like.
Kurt Zadek Lewin (September 9, 1890 - February 12, 1947), a German-born psychologist, is one of the modern pioneers of social, organizational, and applied psychology. Lewin is often recognized as the "founder of social psychology" and was one of the first researchers to study group dynamics and organizational development.
Lewin had originally been involved with schools of behavioral psychology before changing directions in research and undertaking work with psychologists of the Gestalt school of psychology. Lewin often associated with the early Frankfurt School, originated by an influential group of largely Jewish Marxists at the Institute for Social Research in Germany. But when Hitler came to power in Germany in 1933 the Institute members had to disband, moving to England and then to America. In that year, he met with Eric Trist, of the London Tavistock Clinic. Trist was impressed with his theories and went on to use them in his studies on soldiers during the Second World War.
Later, he went on to become director of the Center for Group Dynamics at MIT. While working with at MIT in 1946, Lewin received a phone call from the Director of the Connecticut State Inter Racial Commission requesting help to find an effective way to combat religious and racial prejudices. He set up a workshop to conduct a 'change' experiment, which laid the foundations for what is now known as sensitivity training. In 1947, this led to the establishment of the National Training Laboratories, at Bethel, Maine. Carl Rogers (figurehead of the Human Potential Movement and heavily involved in the CIA mind control experiments of MK-Ultra) believed that sensitivity training is "perhaps the most significant social invention of this century."
An early model of change developed by Lewin described change as a three-stage process. The first stage he called "unfreezing". It involved overcoming inertia and dismantling the existing "mind set". Defense mechanisms have to be bypassed. In the second stage the change occurs. This is typically a period of confusion and transition. We are aware that the old ways are being challenged but we do not have a clear picture as to what we are replacing them with yet. The third and final stage he called "freezing". The new mindset is crystallizing and one's comfort level is returning to previous levels. This is often misquoted as "refreezing" (see Lewin K (1947) Frontiers in Group Dynamics).
Adherents of Lewin, such as psychologist Ed Schein, who studied brainwashing techniques in Korea, admitted that it was modeled on Pavlov’s brainwashing techniques. In an introduction to one of his papers on Sensitivity Training, Schein says that this method includes “coercive persuasion in the form of thought reform or brainwashing as well as a multitude of less coercive, informal patterns.”
….. All that said I am pretty convinced at this point that the Human Potential Movement was not just some guys’ crazy, but well meant, philosophy gone wrong. I think it was created for the specific purpose of dissolving the unity among the groups (religious, political) in the U.S.. By introducing the belief in “Self-Actualization” it is promoting a mass group “unfreezing” process by encouraging the search for the “true self”.