MrRING
Android Futureman
- Joined
- Aug 7, 2002
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I recently started listening to a new podcast called Good Cult that has some interesting things to say about the self-help group Lifespring.
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/good-cult/id1643228328
The description of the show:
The current Wikipedia page on Lifespring has plenty of detail on lawsuits related to the trainings:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lifespring
And coverage of ex-members - Ginni Lamp Thomas is the wife of US Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/good-cult/id1643228328
The description of the show:
The thing is, I can remember this group being talked about back in the day, but I hadn't thought about them for years. The suicide that they cover in the first episode was of somebody who went to the training, which stirred up so many dark things about his past that shortly after attending the meeting he stripped naked and jumped from the top of a building.River Donaghey grew up in a cult. Or at least that’s what some people called it. His parents called it a “personal-growth seminar group.” Its leader called it “one big happy family.” But there was a dark side to the world River grew up in. One he never heard about as a kid.
In the 1970s and 80s, a self-help company called Lifespring took America by storm. Hundreds of thousands of people walked out of Lifespring as true believers, convinced that the seminars had the power to change the world. But dozens of trainees claimed that after taking a seminar, they had a psychotic break. Some spent months in the hospital. Others attempted suicide. And at least four people died.
River spent the past year digging into the bizarre, untold story of Lifespring and its controversial leader: a convicted felon turned New Age guru named John Hanley. What he uncovered made him question everything he thought he knew about his childhood. And about the seminars that are still changing lives—and ruining them—to this day.
The current Wikipedia page on Lifespring has plenty of detail on lawsuits related to the trainings:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lifespring
A video on Lifespring from it's heyday:Lifespring claims to have trained more than 400,000 people through its ten centers across the country. A number of lawsuits were filed against Lifespring (personal communication with trainers), including two cases in which deaths allegedly resulted from trainings. Lifespring settled most of the suits.
In one case an asthmatic was allegedly told that her asthma exacerbation was psychological and later died from the exacerbation. The lawsuit was settled for $450,000, and Lifespring admitted no wrongdoing. In another case a man who could not swim was made to jump into a river and drowned. This case was also settled out of court.[22] Many suits said the trainings placed participants under extreme psychological stress.
The Washington Post published an article about the company in 1987.[4] It quotes Hanley as saying, "If a thousand people get benefit from the training, and one person is harmed, I'd can it. I have an absolute commitment for having this training work for every person who takes it." However, according to the Post, by 1987 Hanley and other Lifespring executives had known for more than a decade that some people were not suited for this level of personal inquiry. As evidence, the Post cited:
- Talk among top company officials about how to make the trainings less harsh while maintaining their effectiveness
- Dozens of reports submitted to Hanley in the late 1970s and early 1980s by Lifespring staff about participants who became panicky, confused, or nervous
Over time, the training company began qualifying students and required doctors' signatures for people who might require therapy rather than coaching.
And coverage of ex-members - Ginni Lamp Thomas is the wife of US Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas:
Steve Hassan leads a meeting for former cult members. Ginni Lamp (Thomas) speaks at 17:40 about her involvement in Lifespring. Ginni Lamp married Clarence Thomas in 1987 and then officially became Ginni Thomas. I apologize for not clarifying that previously. Many of the major former member activists speak at this meeting including Joe Szimhart, Paul Martin, Carol Giambalvo and more. It was a time in history where it was 10 years from the Jonestown assassination of Congressman Leo J. Ryan and murder of over 900 Americans (over 300 were children). We were pushing for a Cult Awareness Week to create more knowledge and awareness about destructive authoritarian cults.
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