northernrefugee39 been googling and found www.cultnews.com/?p=2176 and this:
The Forum is a large group awareness training developed out of its forerunner The Erhard Seminars Training [known as Est]. The creator of Est, Werner Erhard, studied many personal development traditions ranging from Buddhism to Scientology. He realised he could combine insights from several sources to develop a training, to be held under rigourous conditions and designed to induce in participants shifts towards fresh realisations about the way their life has functioned, and realisations about what it is possible for them to be. Such shifts are not readily obtainable in ordinary life because most people are too cocooned by self-comforting habits and ways of being; habits of avoidance, denial, defensiveness, and so on.
The 60-hour training was designed to be so compelling that it would need no marketing, apart from the enthusiasm of graduates - who would ensure a steady flow of clients. And so it has been. The Est training, which the writer experienced in the early 80s, was replaced by the Forum as a shorter and less rigourous version of Est [which had been criticised for being too tough]. The Forum, misleadingly called a seminar, is run worldwide by the Landmark Education Corporation of San Fransisco, headed by Werner Erhard's brother.
The basic ideas behind the Forum probably would be discoverable by a combination of introspection and careful reading. But the difference that really makes a difference - and this is what you get if you buy yourself a place in the Forum - is the powerful setting in which the training is delivered, and that will include having a trainer [referred to as the leader] of considerable ability and expertise. It is an exceptional experience to be part of what happens in a large group of any kind - but especially one like the Forum in which the participants share a common intent and goal. The various rules and boundaries that the Forum organisers set up and insist upon [how my fellow Est participants and I coped with those were deeply illuminating to witness] make for a uniquely super-charged atmosphere. Then there are the Forum's fundamental processes around which the training revolves, processes which have been carefully honed over the years, and still are being.
Most large group awareness trainings are psychological in character. But they are very far from the psychology and style of founding fathers such as Freud and Jung. The Forum is an extreme example of Constructivist Psychology in action. But it is not the polite Personal Construct Theory of George Kelly [the founder of Constructivist Psychology].
As a constructivist myself I appreciate the constructivism in the Forum and I also like that it seeks to have people disidentify from their problems. I see dis-identification as a key task in psychology and as the master life-skill [see Advaita in Psychotherapy]. The Forum is not psychotherapy, but it is something which may well be used by psychotherapy clients who could do with a more of a nudge than a psychotherapist would consider it appropriate to deliver.
Various books have been written about the experience of Est and several accounts of the Forum can be found. I would advise against reading any of these because they might reduce the impact of what you may gain as insights - and that would be to lose quite a bit of the point of the Forum.
Some people say that the training begins with one's first exposure to Landmark Education staff. Anglo-Saxons are unlikely to appreciate the strongly up-beat and pushy style of some of the Landmark sales team. Waverers can be given so persuasive a hard sell as to wipe out any chance of a sign-up. That is partly why Landmark Education has been described as an "intense enrolling environment" [see Safeguards when Dealing with Landmark]. It is worth not being put off by any pushiness: try seeing that as no more than something skilfully to be sidestepped without being shunted into irritation, or worse.
SAFEGUARDS AND RESERVATIONS
I am positive about the Forum, but reservedly so, because I do not know how efficient the screening process is that is meant to let in only the psychologically well. The Forum is powerful and it should not be taken by anyone whose mental health is anything but firmly balanced and well-established, nor by anyone who is not good at looking after themselves or managing strong peer pressure. If you have any doubt about its suitability for you then you should consult a mental health professional [see The Awareness Page FAQ].
If you are in psychotherapy, and your therapist approves of you doing the Forum, then you are unlikely to be unbalanced by the powerful techniques that the Forum uses - some participants would say that losing balance was exactly what they needed. Some maybe, but for the rest there are some issues, covered below, it would be sensible to think over.
If you take the Forum then some degree of ego-inflation is almost certain. For most non-narcissistic people this will be a short-lived matter, and it will be no problem if you have generous and understanding associates.
After the Forum your friends may experience you as obnoxiously accurate when you tell them how bits of their lives do not work properly, and as you spell out what they should do about it. Forum people tend to call this coaching.
If you feel that situations or people are limiting you, then after the Forum you may feel it would be simplest to discard them. I am sure the Forum does not intend such an escapist result.
Do not be mesmerised by the cost of the Forum - what are you worth? Concerning the richness of the organisation - that does not have to be relevant, unless you say so.
One of the main philosophic differences between psychotherapy and the Forum is that the meanings people give to things are dismissed by Forum people. That is more useful than you might think [see Advaita in Psychotherapy] but your non-Forum associates may not enjoy having their meanings dismissed by you - if you do that.
The Forum creates an in-group atmosphere partly by using certain jargony words [which they call a new use of language] to refer to its foundation principles. Thomas Leonard says of jargon that too often people seem to "become" these principles rather than simply applying and enjoying them [see The Top 10 Concepts]. Your associates are unlikely to enjoy having their ears bent with Forum-speak - unless they find it funny. It does sound bizarre out of context.
The Forum is the opening offer of Landmark Education. You will be expected to take other more expensive programmes, and you will be pressured to sign up before you leave.
There are many rigidities connected with the Forum, and Forum leaders are powerful authority figures. If you are likely to have problems with that then it would be sensible to suspend any dislike for the time being.
If you take the Forum you will hear many stories of seemingly intractable problems being resolved within hours of the end of the training. For an example known to me see Undoing Scapegoating, the section entitled An Impressive Undoing.