Landmark Worldwide

The term Landmark Education refers to the corporation Landmark Education LLC and to its commercial operations, which primarily involve the delivery of a series of motivational and self-development courses. Landmark Education LLC refers to the most well-known of its offerings as The Landmark Forum.

Landmark Education LLC and its supporters market the company's courses primarily to individuals, while the subsidiary Landmark Education Business Development provides training and consultancy to organizations.

Landmark Education and its methods evoke considerable controversy, with passionate opinions held both by supporters and by detractors.

Stated scope and claimed benefits

Landmark Education states that "[a] fundamental principle of its work is that people and the communities, organizations, and institutions with which they are engaged have the possibility not only of success, but also of fulfillment and greatness". Landmark Education makes that claim that "[i]n independent research, graduates of Landmark's programs report major positive results in the following areas:

• The quality of their relationships.
• The confidence with which they conduct their lives.
• The level of their personal productivity.
• The experience of the difference they make.
• The degree to which they enjoy their "personal life"(See Landmark Education's "Benefits" marketing).

Landmark Education states that it intends its courses for mentally healthy people and discourages potential participants who may have unresolved mental health issues which psychotherapy might more appropriately treat.

Landmark Education maintains both publicly and during the Forum that the Forum consists of an "inquiry", rather than providing a belief system or an ideology. While this can make course-content difficult to summarize, many who have attended the Forum enthusiastically cite benefits as claimed above.

Operation

Landmark Education courses generally take place in large, carefully-prepared rooms and involve 100 to 200 attendees listening to lectures, engaging in dialogue, and participating in exercises. Volunteer workers keep the room clean and tidy, set out the chairs in neat rows, replenish the drinking water and hand out any required supplies and notes. (See Kopp's academic analysis (Kopp, 2003) of the Landmark Forum milieu for an analysis of the delivery-setup and his conclusions - based on personal involvement - on the importance of Landmark Education's managing the minutiae of the environment.)

Landmark Education characterizes its courses as investigations into the ways in which human beings make decisions in response to their experiences in the past, and how these decisions then place constraints on how humans perceive the world and the people around them. Landmark Education suggests that, in identifying and taking responsibility for these decisions (rather than blaming factors beyond their control - other people, circumstances, etc.) the majority of course participants discover a freedom to act in previously unimaginable ways. The claimed results vary as much as the individuals who "get" them. Quoted outcomes range from the trivial (such as tidiness, punctuality, and personal organisation) to the dramatic (for example: reconciliation with an estranged divorced partner, starting a business which goes on to make millions). Numerous specific examples (and trenchant alternative views on outcomes) appear on many of the websites referenced below.

Landmark Education encourages prospective participants to define in advance an area of their life in which they wish to experience a "breakthrough" result, and to define it with sufficient detail to leave no doubt as to whether they accomplish this result. Landmark Education claims that a large majority of customers report getting the result they specified, and in addition receiving further unexpected benefits. For examples, see the surveys quoted below, and personal accounts on Landmark's websites and those of its supporters, referenced below. For counter-examples and refutations, see the debunking of the the surveys quoted below, and compare personal accounts published by less supportive persons.

Regarding philosophical aspects of the course content, supporters of Landmark Education have made comparisons with the ideas of historical and contemporary thinkers and schools such as Heidegger, Richard Rorty, Sartre, Fernando Flores and Westernized and popularized Zen. Others have suggested that Landmark Education has incorporated ideas from a wide range of philosophers from Socrates to Wittgenstein. Some suggest that Nothingness and meaninglessness form a key part of Landmark Education's existentialist foundation. Investigations into the background in which Landmark Education originated have documented links at that stage to Scientology thought and practices (Pressman, 1993: 25-31).

An eight-page article in the March 2001 edition of the journal Contemporary Philosophy hosted at the University of Colorado at Boulder and co-authored by Professor Steven McCarl and by Landmark Education Business Development CEO Steve Zaffron discusses philosophy and the Landmark Forum under the title "The Promise of Philosophy and the Landmark Forum" (McCarl et al, 2001). (This article provides a rare example of discussion of the course content of Landmark Education (aside from the course syllabus - one of Landmark Education's marketing documents.)

Operational statistics

Various estimates of the number of Landmark Education graduates and centers exist.

A quote from Charlotte Faltermeyer's 1998 article in Time magazine, as reproduced (without an attributed date) in the wernererhard.com website gives a figure of 300,000 since 1991.

The Internet Archive site presents some historical snapshots from Landmark Education's website:

Landmark Education's web-site as of 10 May 2000 linked to a Time magazine page of March 16, 1998, (Volume 151, number 10) where an article by Charlotte Faltermeyer estimated 300,000 graduates since 1991, and referred to Landmark Education's 42 offices in 11 countries.

Landmark Education's web-site as of 28 November 2002, in excerpting Charlotte Faltermeyer's Time magazine article of March 1998, claimed approximately 600,000 "seekers" as having taken the Landmark Forum since 1991, and referred to Landmark Education's 60 offices in 21 countries ("[u]pdated to reflect current 2001 numbers").

Landmark Education's web-site as of 29 July 2003, in excerpting Charlotte Faltermeyer's Time magazine article of March 1998, claimed approximately 600,000 "seekers" as having taken the Landmark Forum since 1991, and referred to Landmark Education's 60 offices in 24 countries ("[u]pdated to reflect current 2002 numbers").

Landmark Education's web-site as of 10 June 2004, in excerpting Charlotte Faltermeyer's Time magazine article of March 1998, claimed approximately 600,000 "seekers" as having taken the Landmark Forum since 1991, and referred to Landmark Education's 58 offices in 26 countries ("[u]pdated to reflect current 2003 numbers").

Landmark Education's web-site as of 1 April 2005, in excerpting Charlotte Faltermeyer's Time magazine article of March 1998, claimed approximately 725,000 Landmark Forum attendees since 1991, and 58 offices in 26 countries.

Landmark Education's web-site as of 7 February 2006, in excerpting Charlotte Faltermeyer's Time magazine article of March 1998, claimed approximately 758,000 "seekers" as having taken the Landmark Forum since 1991, and referred to Landmark Education's 58 offices in 26 countries ("[u]pdated to reflect current 2004 numbers").

Note that figures given relating to the Landmark Forum may not include attendance-figures relating to other landmark Education courses or to Landmark Education Business Development activities.

Note further that many Landmark Education graduates report repeating courses such as the Landmark Forum, with unknown impacts upon the statistics.

Courses

Landmark Education offers four principal courses, which it collectively markets as "The Curriculum for Living":

1. The Landmark Forum, three days and an evening, focused on "completing" participants' pasts. (Landmark people use the word "completing" in this sort of context in a specialised sense of coming to terms with events or interactions in the past such that they no longer limit what the individual sees as possible for them now and in the future. Typically this may involve (for example) apologising to someone, telling them that one no longer blames them for something, owning up to something, or asking someone for forgiveness). Landmark Education currently regards doing the Landmark Forum (or in some cases the predecessor est training) as a pre-requisite for registering into any other Landmark course, with the possible current exception of Landmark Education Business Development offerings.
2. The Landmark Forum in Action Seminar, a series of ten 3-hour seminars at weekly intervals (normally delivered free of charge to people who have completed the Forum within the previous year). The seminars review the material from the Landmark Forum and encourage participants to see how it may apply in practical terms to their own circumstances.
3. The Advanced Course, (formerly four days and an evening; three days and an evening since January 2006) focused on designing "a new future of freedom and self-expression" for participants' lives.
4. The Self Expression and Leadership Program (SELP) focused on giving practical expression to the "new future ... designed" [1] in the prerequisite Advanced Course. As one part of this course, each participant (including the program leader and the coaches) takes up a project in a community (not directly related to Landmark Education), such as a sports or social club, an extended family, a church group or a charitable undertaking.

Landmark Forums have taken place in at least 27 countries : Japan, Israel, India, the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Hong Kong, Romania, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Sweden, United Kingdom, South Africa, Kenya, Jamaica, United States, Canada, Mexico, Colombia, Australia and New Zealand.

Beyond the Curriculum for Living, Landmark Education offers the following other curriculums to supplement the Landmark Forum:

1. The Communication Curriculum, consisting of Communication: Access to Power, and Communication: Power to Create. These two courses focus on creating a "new model" of communication focused on creation rather than on surviving and fixing. (Note: While not formally a part of the Communication Curriculum, the Team, Management, and Leadership Program has the two communications courses as prerequesites and revolves heavily around the distinctions of the Communication Curriculum.)
2. The Wisdom Curriculum, consisting of various courses that take place over an extended period of time and which focus on the connection between childhood and adulthood.
3. Various seminar series which cover a large variety of topics, ranging from general topics such as excellence (the excellence seminar), integrity, extraordinary life ("creating the miraculous" seminar) and commitment, to specific subjects such as money, sex and intimacy (the relationships seminar), and fitness.
4. The Introduction Leader Program, six months in duration, which prepares participants to lead Introductions to the Landmark Forum. This course also forms the foundation of the training for Progam Leaders of all of Landmark's courses. Many participants report breakthrough results in confidence and public-speaking skills, whether they go on to lead Landmark events or not [2].

In addition to its regular courses, Landmark Education also presents free "Special Evening About the Landmark Forum" events. These offer an invitation for prospective customers to learn about the Landmark Forum, to experience an introduction to the Landmark Forum's work, and to register for the Landmark Forum.

Most courses include what Landmark Education refers to as "the evening session" or "the guest evening" that offers an intensification of the standard word-of-mouth marketing to guests, giving them an opportunity to participate in what Landmark Education refers to as the "technology" their friend or family-member has participated in. Landmark Education encourages the guests to participate in exercises from the course itself so they can get a sense of what the course offers.

Memberships, associations, affiliations

Landmark Education and its subsidiaries hold memberships in the following professional associations and organizations:

• American Society for Training and Development
• International Society for Performance Improvement
• American Management Association
• International Association for Continuing Education and Training (Membership Details) (CEU Qualifications)
• Academy of Management

Landmark Education qua education

Landmark Education expresses adherence to vaguely-defined principles of "non-linear education" and a study by the Talent Foundation has associated it with ideas of emotional intelligence. But Landmark Education does not appear to have produced published peer-reviewed work in the field of education or to have influenced mainstream educational theory. Landmark Education course instructors need not have any specific non-Landmark credentials, educational training or experience.

However, some organizations use Landmark Education as a provider of continuing education offering course credit. One such organization, the Phoenix Police Sergeants and Lieutenants Association, states that the Landmark Forum (in the language of the reference) "has been determined to qualify for POST continuing 43.5 training credits." (POST means "Peace Officer Standards and Training".)

Structure and financials

Structurally, Landmark Education as an organization comprises an international employee-owned company with more than half its offices in North America. Landmark Education employees and, in some cases, graduates from Landmark Education's courses own all the stock, with no single individual holding more than 3%. The company does not distribute dividends, so any profits go either to expand the operation generally worldwide or to subsidise courses in countries such as Kenya, South Africa and India (thus rendering them affordable to local populations of those countries).

As of 2005 between 70,000 and 80,000 people take the Landmark Forum annually, and around 50,000 take the various other courses offered.

Landmark Education reported revenues of $70 million for 2004.

History

Naming

Landmark Education Corporation ("LEC"), originally set up under that name in 1991, became "Landmark Education LLC" in February 2003.

Landmark Education Corporation acquired certain rights to the form and content of the course previously known as "The Forum" from Werner Erhard and Associates (WEA -- the corporate successor of Erhard Seminars Training - better known as "est" ). The new owners, some of them former staff-members of WEA, renamed the course "The Landmark Forum" and reduced the duration from two weekends to three full days plus an evening. Landmark Education states that further development of the course took place at that time, with further major re-design of the Landmark Forum in 1999, as well as continuous on-going adjustments in the light of experience.

During the re-naming (or transformation) of WEA into Landmark Education in 1991, the organization temporarily had incorporation as "Transnational Education" and as "The Centers Network," and as "Rancord Company, Ltd." in Japan [3]. Once the organizations became part of Landmark Education, the naming standardised and stabilised. All of the centers (offices) in the United States have used the name "Landmark Education" since 1991 ("Landmark Education Corporation" to 2003 and "Landmark Education, LLC" since 2003).

est and Landmark Education

Some commentators note the intellectual and/or functional inheritance by Landmark Education of its est predecessor. For example:

"It's not called est anymore, but you can still be ridiculed into self-awareness in just one expensive weekend" (Scioscia, 2000).

Pressman, comparing the Landmark Forum with the est course, states that the courses' "words and phrases ... had hardly changed" (Pressman, 1993: 267 - 268), and that a Landmark Education course-presenter equated the two courses with the phrase "when this work was first presented" (Pressman, 1993: 271 - 272).

But Pressman hints too at an alternative viewpoint, characterizing the Landmark Forum as "supposedly the same program" as est (Pressman 1993: 271 - 272).

Results

As noted above, Landmark Education claims that the majority of course participants report dramatic results in the areas of communication, confidence, personal relationships, productivity and effectiveness. On the other hand, others query such claims.

Post hoc?

Some critics dispute whether the Landmark Forum actually produces the reported results, and speculate that participants experience an improvement in their circumstances and wrongly attribute its cause to the Landmark Forum.

Michael Langone, in "Large Group Awareness Training Programs" (Cult Observer, v. 15, n. 1, 1998), states his opinion that people who currently have problems are the kind of people who sign up for seminars. Many people then have upswings and experience fewer problems, and many of these participants will attribute their sense of improvement to the program they've taken. See Regression toward the mean. But Langone speculates that much of their reason may exhibit post hoc thinking: the improvement happened during or after participation, but that participation did not actually cause the improvement, forming only the perceived cause of improvement. [4]

Supporters point to the scale and consistency of the results reported in the surveys and in many of the personal accounts discussed and referenced below, and suggest the implausibility of such widespread perceived benefits occurring entirely coincidentally, or of explaining them by selection bias. Many reported outcomes also link to a specific topic in Landmark Education's published syllabus.

Academic studies

An academic study commissioned by Werner Erhard and Associates concluded that attending a (pre-Landmark) Forum had minimal lasting effects, positive or negative, on participants' self-perception. (J.D. Fisher, R. C. Silver, J. M. Chinsky, B. Goff and Y. Klar Evaluating a Large Group Awareness Training: A Longitudinal Study of Psychosocial Effects Springer-Verlag, 1990, ISBN 0387973206). (This study won a 1989 American Psychological Association award.)

Charles Wayne Denison's Ph.D. research excerpt available online (Denison, 1994) involved interviewing Landmark Forum participants and reported predominantly positive outcomes.

DYG study

An analysis done for Landmark Education by Daniel Yankelovich, chairman of DYG, Inc., (Analysis of The Landmark Forum and Its Benefits) of a survey carried out by questioning 1300 respondents about six months after they had participated in the Landmark Forum concluded that:

• 95% of respondents report "practical value for many aspects" of life
• 94% of respondents saw the Forum as "likely to have enduring value"
• 93% of respondents saw the Forum as "well worth ... time and effort"
• 90% of respondents adjudged the Forum "well worth the cost"
• More than 90% of respondents who self-reportedly attended the Forum in order to gain "a better understanding of relationships and how they work" expressed satisfaction.
• Nearly every participant in the survey reported receiving unexpected benefits - ranging from 'ability to control weight' to 'achieving a specific educational or business goal'

What Landmark Education bills as the "full" report of the Yankelovich study states that "[a] survey was conducted of more than 1300 people who completed The Landmark Forum during a three-month period" [5] — leaving undefined such details as the period over which surveys and follow-ups may have taken place, the number of Landmark Forum courses involved, the exact numbers surveyed and the precise selection-method applied to participants and their distinction from non-participants.

Harris Interactive

A survey (whose date and methodology Landmark Education has not reported in detail) carried out by Harris Interactive for Landmark Education Corporation) concluded that:

• One-third experienced a significant increase (of 25% or more) in their incomes after completing The Landmark Forum. Of that group, 94% said The Landmark Forum directly contributed to the increase.
• Seven out of 10 people said they worried less about money and became more effective in managing their finances after completing Landmark's programs.
• Participants found they were working fewer hours, suggesting they achieved greater balance in their lives.

It remains unclear over what time duration Harris Interactive conducted this study.

University of Southern California

The University of Southern California Marshall School of Business carried out a case study into the work of Landmark Education Business Development (LEBD) at BHP New Zealand Steel. Landmark Education summarized: "The set of interventions in the organization produced impressive measurable results:

• Safety performance improved 50%
• Key benchmark costs were reduced 15-20%
• Return on capital increased by 50%
• Raw steel produced per employee rose 20%"

(Full report available from USC at (800) 447-8620. Case studies cost $3.00 each, plus shipping, handling, and applicable taxes.)

International Society for Performance Improvement (2005)

The International Society for Performance Improvement (ISPI) site contains a report of Landmark Education's involvement with improving safety at Minera Escondida Ltda, which ran the largest copper mine in the world and a workforce of 5,000 people. The ISPI report notes that when Landmark started working with Minera Escondida, that company had a total injury frequency rate of 23.7 accidents per million man-hours worked. Five months later, when Landmark had finished its program with Minera Escondida, the injury rate had reduced by over 50% to 11.5 accidents per million man-hours worked. ISPI reports that Landmark created this environment of improved safety. The ISPI awarded Landmark Education a "Got Results" award for its actions. [6]

"Technology" and Jargon

Landmark Education has accumulated specialised usage for some terms used in its courses and amongst those who have done those courses. Landmark Education intends such usages to enable graduates of the courses to communicate more succinctly and unambiguously with one another. The originators of the usages have never had the intention of causing bafflement, confusion or irritation by parading these terms to people unfamiliar with them, although doubtless this has happened on occasions.

Some common Landmark Education words and their specialised meaning appear below.

By technology, Landmark Education means "a set of conversational structures which reliably cause breakthrough results to be achieved".

• Breakthrough - (not greatly different from normal military usage) - an instantaneous shift in understanding or facility; as depicted colloquially by "the penny dropped", "an 'ah-ha' moment", "the lightbulb came on", "a Eureka experience".
• Complete (verb) - used in two senses:
  • a) roughly as in normal discourse, to do something in its entirety; and
  • b) a specialised sense of coming to terms with events or interactions in the past such that they no longer limit what the individual sees as possible for them now and in the future. Typically this may involve (for example) apologising to someone, telling them that one no longer blames them for something, owning up to something, or asking someone for forgiveness.
• Decision - used to differentiate from "choice". Landmark Education sees a "choice" as a free exercise of conscious will; whereas it uses the term "decision" to refer to selection made on the basis of limitations imposed by past experiences.
• Difference - as in "making a difference" i.e. causing a result which goes beyond (sometimes way beyond) what one might have seen as predictable based on past experience.
• Distinction - the grasp of an idea at a deeper and yet more practical level than the merely conceptual. For example, one might say that someone who can describe and explain balance has "balance" as a concept, whereas at the moment one learns to ride a bicycle, one "gets" balance as a distinction.
• Enrollment - very different from everyday usage: nothing to do with getting anyone to join anything or do anything; rather 'causing a new "possibility" (see below) to become present for another such that they are inspired'.
• Forum - the title of Landmark's principle course, although it constitutes a forum in the sense of a gathering of people where the comments and conversations of all pariticipants generate understanding.
• Get - the sudden, instantaneous, profound grasping of a "distinction" (see above) - not really greatly different from everyday usage as in, for example, "getting the joke", or in art appreciation "getting" Cubism, or in science "getting" relativity.
• Integrity - (not hugely different from everyday usage): being whole and complete, being truthful and honest, doing what one said one would do when one said one would do it. Landmark Education treats integrity as an issue of workability, rather than as good or bad, right or wrong. Landmark Education claims that integrity lies at the foundation of its work.
• Possible - whereas in everyday speech we [simetimes] use "possible" to refer to something which does not exist, and may not even exist in the future, within Landmark discourses a "possibility" consists of an idea freely created which exists in the present and provides a context in which new opportunities for action arise.
• Power - in the sense of personal effectiveness: what one says, comes to pass.
• Promise - much as in everyday speech, except that Landmark Education regards as an essential element of promising the giving of a time by when the promised action will have taken place.
• Registering - performing an action regarded as a commitment to a future course of action (for example: filling in an application form and paying a deposit); often used in the context of registering into a Landmark program, but by no means limited to that.
• Responsibility - a willingness to declare that one is the cause of one's situation and results in life, rather than circumstances, excuses or reasons.
• Transformation - the creation of a space in which "possibilities" (in the above sense) can be created.

Controversies

Critics of Landmark Education make accusations which generally fall into one or more of these areas:

• Questioning whether the courses do really produce worthwhile benefits (discussed in the section above)
• Suggesting that participating in the programs may have harmful consequences
• Speculating that the Landmark Education system may exploit customers (financially or otherwise)

"Cult-like" allegations

The Australian psychologist and author Louise Samways (sometimes dismissed as an anti-cult activist) included a section on Landmark Education in her book Dangerous Persuaders: An exposé of gurus, personal development courses and cults, and how they operate (Penguin, 1994; currently out of print) ISBN 0-14-023553-1. Samways makes no claim to have observed Landmark programs at first hand: she states that her book "evolved ... from thousands of personal stories told to me over many years by my patients and people attending my seminars and lectures. I have mentioned the names of groups and courses only where I have heard similar and consistent stories from many separate sources." (Samways seems to have a broad conception of what to classify as a "cult" (or "dangerous persuader"), as she discusses many organizations that some people might not generally describe as "cults", such as multi-level-marketing company Amway, as well as religious fundamentalism.)

Apologetics Index (an online Christian ministry providing research resources on what it considers cults, sects, other religious movements, doctrines, and practices) quotes one critic of the Landmark Forum as saying that it

"Might lead to personality disorders. You might become a zealot for the Forum or addicted to it by registering for more".[7]

The unidentified writer states that he/she has never participated in the Landmark Forum, making the conclusion a considered evaluation rather than a mere report of personal experience. He/she state his/her area of expertise. [8]

Brainwashing allegations

After taking the Landmark Forum, one customer, Martin Lell, wrote a book titled Das Forum: Protokoll einer Gehirnwäsche: Der Psycho-Konzern Landmark Education [The Forum: Account of a Brainwashing: The Psycho-Outfit Landmark Education], Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag, Munich, 1997, ISBN 3423360216. (This book has gone out of print, like all printed books dealing specifically with Landmark Education, and the publisher's web-site no longer notes Lell as one of their current authors.)

In the introduction to Lell's book, the writer and Diplompsychologin Bärbel Schwertfeger states:

The basic principle of the Forum rests on the three-step model: breaking down, changing, and fixing. This model, with which people can be made compliant step by step, was described by Eduard Schein as early as 1971 in his book Coercive Persuasion. Schein had intensively investigated the brainwashing programs in China in the 50s... It is fascinating how well Martin Lell succeeds in describing the process of his [own] brainwashing. (Lell, 1997: 10 - 11)

Landmark Education sued to have the word "brainwashing" removed from the sub-title of Lell's book. During a hearing in a German court, Lell admitted that:

...following completion of The Landmark Forum, he did not see a doctor, was not hospitalized, did not seek or obtain medication, and was not diagnosed by a medical professional as being brainwashed or having any mental problem.

The German court decided that "brainwashing" constituted a matter of opinion and not an assertion of fact and allowed the sub-title to remain. (Opinions in some other jurisdictions constitute constitutionally-protected free speech; false statements of fact in certain jurisdictions may subject the publisher to claims of defamation / libel.)

Traci Hukill, a reporter for Metroactive, participated in the Landmark Forum and wrote [9]

For me, it's almost impossible to observe The Forum's methods without the word "brainwashing" flashing across my intellectual radar screen every 15 seconds or so. (Hukill, 1998)

Landmark refers inquiries on the issue of brainwashing to a letter by Forum graduate Edward H. Lowell MD PA, an eminent New Jersey psychiatrist with expertise in the areas of cults and brainwashing who states in no uncertain terms that Landmark does not use brainwashing techniques [10]

"Brainwashing involves (1) intensive, forcible indoctrination aimed at destroying a person's basic convictions and attitudes and replacing them with an alternative set of fixed beliefs and (2) the application of a concentrated means of persuasion, such as repeated suggestion, in order to develop a specific belief or motivation. Necessarily involved are a kind of physical entrapment, power to inflict harm or detrimental effects, and secluding one from contact with friends and family. Not one of these exists in Landmark or any of its programs."

In 1999 Landmark Education asked Raymond Fowler, a psychologist and past President of the American Psychological Association, to evaluate the effectiveness, safety, and appropriateness of the procedures in the Landmark Forum. Speaking on his own behalf and not that of the APA, Fowler reported [11]

"I saw nothing in the Landmark Forum I attended to suggest that it would be harmful to any participant. ... the Landmark Forum is nothing like psychotherapy ... has none of the characteristics typical of a cult ... does not place individuals at risk of any form of “mind control” “brainwashing” or “thought control.”"

Eileen Barker explains the attractions for observers of explaining - using the concept of "brainwashing" - the behavior of those who join NRMs (Barker discussses the proto-Forum in NRM terms). (Barker, 1989: 17-19, 170-171).

Classification by various governmental agencies

In France, Landmark Education 'assistants' have the apparent legal status of volunteer unpaid workers.

Also in France, an agency of the French government, the Interministerial Mission for Awareness against Sectarian Risks (MILS) has classified Landmark Education as a secte (cult). It remains unclear what criteria the MILS uses to make this classification, and many of the organisations which it has so classified strenuously dispute the validity of such classification. Defamation lawsuits in the US and the Netherlands refute this French-language classification Regarding France, the US State Department noted in a 2002 report that the French legislation creating the MILS did not define the term "cult" and that the president of MILS had resigned in mid-2002 and that no replacement had emerged by the time of the US State Department's reporting deadline.)

On May 24, 2004, the France 3 show "Pièces à conviction" broadcast the investigative report "Voyage au pays des nouveaux gourous" ("Voyage to the land of the new gurus"). The next month, in June 2004, the French government (L’Inspection du Travail) investigated labor practices regarding "volunteer workers". Shortly thereafter, Landmark Education ended operations in France. (A short timeline in French.)

The Berlin State Senate report on Sects - their risks and consequences originally listed Landmark Education as espousing "a religious world view". The Berlin Senate subsequently retracted that, and re-classified Landmark Education as a "provider of life-assistance" (Anbieter von Lebenshilfe). (The literal translation of the word Lebenshilfe, "life help", does not accurately reflect the contexts in which speakers of German use Lebenshilfe.)

Theological implications

Paul Derengowski, formerly of the Christian cult-watch group Watchman.org, states that Landmark "has theological implications" (quoted in the Skeptic's Dictionary article on Landmark Education). The Apologetics Index (an online Christian ministry providing research resources on what it considers cults, sects, other religious movements, doctrines, and practices) maintains a page on Landmark Education. [12]

Religious issues

Landmark Education states that many clergy have attended the Forum and find no conflict between the Forum and their faith. Clergy and religious who have made statements supportive of Landmark Education include Father Gregg Banaga, Father Eamonn O'Conner, Sister Iris Clarke, Father Gerry O'Rourke, Father Basil Pennington, Episcopal Church Bishop Otis Charles, Rabbi Arnold Mark Belzer, and Sister Miriam Quinn, O.P..

Large Group Awareness Training?

Some commentators have described the Landmark Forum as a large group awareness training (LGAT) program, a view also espoused in a University of Denver Ph.D. dissertation by Charles Wayne Denison: "The Children of est: A study of the Experience and Perceived Effects of a Large Group Awareness Training (The Forum)" . Others question the usefulness of this categorisation. In a sense the LGAT label appears clearly accurate, as Landmark courses do take place in large groups, and aim to increase awareness. On the other hand the term does have pejorative overtones for some, and it does encompass a wide range of different organisations which may have little in common in their actual activities.

Lawsuits against Landmark Education in the United States

In the years since the emergence of Landmark Education in 1991, two customers (out of a total of over 800,000 world-wide) have brought their claims on the effects of the courses to court hearings in the un ited States of America, and in one case the jury ruled in favor of Landmark Education. Landmark Education's standard "course information form" (registration form) for use within the United States of America (as opposed to its form for use elsewhere) has, for several years, required any disputes to go to arbitration rather than to court. (The use of binding arbitration occurs commonly in the United States.)

1) In September 1989 Stephanie Ney attended "The Forum", conducted by Werner Erhard (doing business as Werner Erhard & Associates (WE&A)). In 1992 Ney sued Landmark Education Corporation (LEC) for $2,000,000, saying that three days after attending the Forum she "suffered a breakdown and was committed to a psychiatric institute in Montgomery County".[13] The trial court dismissed her suit on summary judgment. The appeals court affirmed, ruling that "although perhaps her participation in the Forum might have led in part to her psychotic reaction," Virginia law did not allow recovery for emotional injury unaccompanied by physical injury. [14]

In 1996, Art Schreiber, general counsel for Landmark Education, summarized Landmark Education's view of the case: "Out of more than 350,000 people who have participated in The Landmark Forum around the world, there has been only 1 person who filed a lawsuit. ... the United States District Court rejected Mrs. Ney's claims and ruled that The Forum did not cause her emotional problems." [15]

2) In 2002, Jeanne Been versus Jason Weed with Landmark Education as a cross-defendent. Jason Weed had a psychotic episode shortly after his participation in the Landmark Advanced Course and shot and killed a letter-carrier, Robert Jenkins. The United States government had jurisdiction because the case involved the killing of a government employee. Jason Weed was found not guilty by reason of insanity. At the sanity hearing, the witness for the United States Government, Dr. Harrison Pope, a Harvard Medical School psychiatrist and drafter of the DSM-III and DSM-IV stated,

"Weed's previous steroid use and participation in an exhaustive self-awareness program [the Landmark Advanced Course] the week prior to the shooting could be ruled out as causes of the psychotic break, leaving only 'very rare possibilities' as the triggering factors." [16]

3) In 1997, Tracy Neff sued Landmark Education, not over the content or effects of the courses, but alleging a Landmark Education center manager sexually assaulted her. Landmark lacked a sexual harassment policy at the time, but introduced comprehensive anti-harassment and anti-discrimination policies following this case, as well as detailed complaint procedures. The parties settled out of court.

Lawsuits initiated by Landmark Education in the United States

Since 1991, Landmark Education has filed a total of five lawsuits in the United States, in each case over issues of alleged defamation (not an opinion, but a false statement of fact). (For an alternative count and legal summary of Landmark Education litigation history, including events outside the United States of America, see the summary written by Peter L. Skolnik and Michael A. Norwick of Lowenstein Sandler PC, Roseland NJ (Skolnik and Norwick, 2006).) Some cases appear here discussed in chronlogical order as listed in the declaration of Art Schreiber (the Schreiber Declaration), filed May 5, 2005, at the US District Court of New Jersey, civil action 04-3022 (JCL).

1. Condé Nast Publications (1993)

In 1993, Landmark Education sued Self Magazine (Condé Nast Publications) for defamation. Defendants moved for summary judgement, which the court denied. Rather than stand trial by jury, Self Magazine issued a retraction.

2. The Cult Awareness Network / Cynthia Kisser (1994)

In 1994 Landmark Education sued Cynthia Kisser, the Executive Director of the original Cult Awareness Network, which had issued leaflets containing a list of purported "Destructive Cult Organizations" which included "The Forum" in that list. Under oath, Kisser stated that she did not hold the personal opinion that Landmark Education constituted a cult. [17] The executive board of the Cult Awareness Network subsequently (in 1997, following the transformation of the Cult Awareness network into a pro-Scientology organization in late 1996 ) issued a statement saying in part:

'CAN does not hold, and has never held the position that Landmark Education Corporation, or any of the programs of Landmark Education Corporation, including The Landmark Forum ("Landmark"), is a "cult" or "sect." '

[18]

3. Dr. Margaret Singer (1996)

In 1996, Landmark Education sued Dr Margaret Singer, an adjunct UC Berkeley professor and author of Cults in Our Midst (published in 1995) for defamation. Singer mentioned Landmark Education in her book: it remained unclear whether she labelled Landmark Education as a cult or not. Singer issued a retraction stating that she did not intend to call Landmark a cult nor did she consider it a cult. [19] Singer removed the references to Landmark Education from subsequent editions of the book. She also stated at deposition that the had "no personal, firsthand knowledge of Landmark or its programs."

Scioscia (2000) reports:

Singer says she never called it a cult in her book, but simply mentioned it as a controversial New Age training course. In resolution of the suit, Singer gave a sworn statement that the organization is not a cult or sect. She says this doesn't mean she supports Landmark.

"I do not endorse them -- never have," she says. Singer, who is in her 70s, says she can't comment on whether Landmark uses coercive persuasion because "the SOBs have already sued me once."

"I'm afraid to tell you what I really think about them because I'm not covered by any lawyers like I was when I wrote my book."

Singer will say, however, that she would not recommend the group to anyone.

4. Elle magazine - Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S. (1998)

In 1998, Landmark Education sued Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S. publishers of Elle Magazine for an allegedly defamatory article published in Elle magazine (August 1998), written by Rosemary Mahoney and entitled "Do you believe in Miracles?" (Mahoney, 1998). See the press release for the lawsuit from August 31, 1998. The court dismissed the claim without going to trial and Landmark chose not to appeal; Landmark received neither retraction nor apology.

5. Rick Ross Institute (2004)

In June 2004, Landmark Education filed a one million US dollar lawsuit against the Rick A. Ross Institute, claiming that the Institute's online archives did damage to Landmark Education's product. In April 2005, Landmark Education filed to dismiss its own lawsuit with prejudice on the grounds that a material change in case law regarding statements made on the Internet occurred in January 2005; see Donato v. Moldow, 374 N.J. Super. 475 (N.J. App. Div. 2005), which held an operator of an online bulletin board not liable for defamatory statements posted by others on his bulletin board, unless he made a "material substantive contribution" to the defamatory material. [20][21]

For the case against the Rick Ross Institute, Landmark Education also obtained expert-witness testimony of Dr. Gerald McMenamin, a professor and leader in the field of forensic linguistics, claiming that Rick Ross himself has authored many of the materials on www.rickross.com, though presented as anonymous third-party postings.

In December 2005, Landmark Education succeeded in withdrawing the lawsuit with prejudice to avoid paying legal expenses of the opposing council. Landmark Education issued a press release on the matter. The Rick Ross Institute responded.

Hard sell?

In 1996, Jill P. Capuzzo from The Philadelphia Inquirer, Weekend took the Forum and reported

"I made some eye-opening discoveries about myself and how I function in the world." However, she also stated that "One of the most irritating aspects of The Forum is the hard sell to sign up future participants." [22]

Other participants have had different impressions, for instance Dr Raymond Fowler has said:

"I was, along with everyone else in the group, encouraged to sign up for additional Forum sessions, but there was no coercion or high pressure sales. Participants were simply informed of the opportunities and told how to take advantage of them. In the months following the forum experience, I received, as I recall, two or three notices of forum opportunities and one telephone call which was cordial and non-coercive. I declined, because of time pressures, to attend any additional sessions and received no pressure to do so." [23]

Werner Erhard

Some critics regard Werner Erhard [24] as still "pulling the strings" at Landmark Education [25]. Werner's younger brother (Harry Rosenberg) serves as Landmark Education's current CEO, and their sister (Joan Rosenberg) acts as the Vice President of the Centers Division.

Landmark Education states that its programs have as their basis ideas originally developed by Erhard, but that Erhard has no financial interest, ownership, or management role in Landmark Education. [26]. The Schreiber Declaration states that Werner Erhard never received payment under the licensing agreement, and that he assigned his rights to someone else. In Stephanie Ney v. Landmark Education Corporation (1994) [27], the courts determined that Landmark Education Corporation did not have successor liability to Werner Erhard & Associates, the corporation whose assets Landmark Education purchased. This despite another case which did establish (via lawsuit) legal succession from Werner Erhard & Associates to Landmark Education (Pressman, 1993: 261 - 262).

According to Network Solutions, "LandmarkEducationCorporation" registered the domain name werner-erhard.com on February 11, 2000. The Internet Archive has an early snapshot of werner-erhard.com on March 1, 2001 titled "Werner Erhard and Landmark Education". This page has a similar layout and some paragraphs almost identical to a page from landmarkeducation.com on December 3, 2000 titled "Controversy Regarding Landmark Education and Werner Erhard". However, the current version of werner-erhard.com bear the copyright notice "Friends of Werner Erhard" and does not indicate a direct link with Landmark Education. (The current Landmark Education site refers the reader to a site with the same content, wernererhard.com, spelled without a dash.)

Prominent Landmark Education figures

Some of the following have or had management positions at Landmark Education:

• Harry Rosenberg, CEO of Landmark Education

• Mick Leavitt, President of Landmark Education

• Joan Rosenberg, Vice President of Centers Division

• Steve Zaffron, CEO of Landmark Education Business Development (LEBD)

• Art Schreiber, general counsel

• Brian Regnier, prominent course designer and Landmark Forum Leader

• Nancy Zapolski, PhD., VP of Course Development

• Charlene Afrfemov, Forum leader and founder of Lifespring

For those currently trained to lead the Landmark Forum (Landmark Forum Leaders), Landmark Education has provided a set of photographs.

See also

• human potential movement
• personal development
• self-help

External links

Legal documents

• Landmark Education registration as a Limited Liability Company

Corporate websites

• Landmark Education official website
• Landmark Education Business Development
• Landmark Education Business Development - Brazil (in Portuguese)
• Landmark Education Japan (in Japanese)
• Landmark Education Israel (in Hebrew)
• Landmark Education Netherlands (in Dutch)
• Landmark Education Germany (in German)

Generally favorable opinions on Landmark Education

• Over 26 media articles on Landmark Education - (on the Landmark Education corporate site, which has a financial and ideological bias)
• "The Promise of Philosophy and the Landmark Forum" - University of Colorado (Philosophy Professor Steven McCarl et al)
• The Tablet, an International Catholic Weekly (requires free registration)
• Blog About Landmark Forum Graduates
• The Scoop on Landmark - independent website
• An independent site written by members of the Landmark Team Management and Leadership Program
• My Landmark Forum - a list of sites by Landmark Education customers
• I Love Possibility: Landmark Forum graduates describe their experiences
• Landmark Forum Graduates on Yahoogroups

Various opinions on Landmark Education

Some of the following links contain views opposing the activities of Landmark Education, others express both supportive and critical views.

• Heidegger for Fun and Profit - some big-name antecedents of Landmark Education philosophy
• The Landmark Forum: Human Potential Groups - What Potential Indeed? - anonymous personal comment
• Skeptic's Dictionary
• Berlin Senate report - official State government analysis and references (in German)
• Swiss InfoSekta anti-cult movement (in German) (Includes one line about the Martin Lell book, see above.)
• What's this Landmark Thing? - anonymous personal comment
• Apologetics - a website of the Christian countercult movement
• Landmark Forum: Rants and Raves - links to various sites and discussion-forums
• Rants and Raves Live - various opinions and debates
• Usenet group: alt.fan.landmark - unmoderated long-running discussions from multiple points-of-view
• Steven Hassan's Freedom of Mind Center - seen by certain people as part of an "anti-cult movement".
• http://www.prevensectes.com/landmark.htm (in French) - site of the French anti-cult movement
• Link to ELLE Magazine article posted on Google - see the libel case above.
• Rick Ross - moderated forum and archive

References

• Apologetics Index: "Landmark Education page.
• Barker, Eileen: New Religious Movements: A Practical Introduction. London: Her Majesty's Stationery office, 1989.
• Denison, Charles Wayne: "The Children of est: A study of the Experience and Perceived Effects of a Large Group Awareness Training (The Forum)". University of Denver Ph.D. dissertation, 1994. Excerpt available online at Rick Ross Institute
• Fisher, J D; Silver, R C; Chinsky, J M; Goff, B and Klar, Y: Evaluating a Large Group Awareness Training: A Longitudinal Study of Psychosocial Effects Springer-Verlag, 1990, ISBN 0387973206.
• Hukill, Traci "The est of friends: Werner Erhard's protégés and siblings carry the torch for a '90s incarnation of the '70s 'training' that some of us just didn't get. Metro, 9-15 July 1998
• International Society for Performance Improvement report
• Kopp, Drew: "Invisible Bodies, the Disinherited, and the Production of Space in the Landmark Forum", 2003. (Retrievable as http://www.u.arizona.edu/~kopp/Finalmat3.pdf )
• Landmark Education LLC web site
• Langone, Michael: "Large Group Awareness Training Programs" Cult Observer, v. 15, n. 1, 1998,
• Lell, Martin: Das Forum: Protokoll einer Gehirnwäsche: Der Psycho-Konzern Landmark Education [The Forum: Account of a Brainwashing: The Psycho-Outfit Landmark Education], Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag, Munich, 1997, ISBN 3423360216 (out of print)
• Mahoney, Rosemary: "Do you believe in Miracles?". Elle magazine (August 1998). Available online at article Rick Ross Institute. Retrieved 19 March 2006.
• McCarl, Steven R; Zaffron, Steve; Nielsen, Joyce McCarl; Kennedy, Sally Lewis: "The promise of philosophy and the Landmark forum". Contemporary philosophy, March 2001: volume 23, 1numbers 1 and 2, pages 51 - 59.
• Pressman, Steven: Outrageous Betrayal: The dark journey of Werner Erhard from est to exile New York: St Martins Press, 1993. (out of print)
• Samways, Louise: Dangerous Persuaders: An exposé of gurus, personal development courses and cults, and how they operate Ringwood, Victoria: Penguin, 1994. ISBN 0-14-023553-1 (out of print)
• Scioscia, Amanda: "Drive-thru Deliverance: It's not called est anymore, but you can still be ridiculed into self-awareness in just one expensive weekend". Phoenix New Times, October 19, 2000. Online at phoenixnewtimes.com and at Rick Ross Institute.
• Skeptic's Dictionary
• Skolnik, Peter L. and Michael A. Norwick: "Introduction to the Landmark Education litigation archive". Online at

Rick Ross Institute - retrieved 19 March 2006.