dyer@wivax.UUCP (Stephen Dyer) (06/06/84)
[maybe this is now out of place in 'net.singles'--I have cc'ed this
to 'net.misc'. Should there be any significant follow up, perhaps it's
best to place it there.]
>Before you ask, I have not taken any of these courses.
Then on what do you base your authority?
Though I find myself in the odd position of defending 'est', I do want
to take exception to the statement that it teaches that "it's not your
fault." I never got that from the training; indeed, if anything the
est line is that "it IS your fault" because you, the individual, are
responsible for your own experience of the world. (Before the flamers
start dissecting this, let me say that this is more an existential
point-of-view than a description of physical reality.)
The whole biz about 'suffering' is ludicrous. No one at an est training
is required to stand before an audience to dissect their personal lives--
indeed, most of the time there is little communication between the people
taking the training; one mainly listens to the 'trainer'. The bathroom
stories are somewhat true: there are several scheduled bathroom breaks
during the day, plus a dinner break. People with medical problems
which would entail more frequent food or bathroom breaks are allowed to
do so. Otherwise, you agree to follow the scheduled breaks. Or you
don't enroll. It wasn't any big problem for me or anyone else present--
I had heard the horror stories, and it was a non-issue during the training.
A final comment: I wouldn't recommend any of these programs as a substitute
for therapy, because nothing is "magic" no matter how much you pay. est
(and presumably its clones) might be thought of as the self-help analogue
to the technical seminars that are given in fields like data communications
("Learn X.25 for $600")--it won't make you an expert (read: well-rounded
person) but it may help you to understand the field if you take it
seriously (read: you CAN get value out of these programs if you have the
right attitude.)
--
/Steve Dyer
decvax!bbncca!sdyer
sdyer@bbncca.ARPA