Psychiatry, Vol 46, August 1983 By Janice Haaken, Ph.D. and Richard Adams, Ph.D.

A Participant-Observation Study of Lifespring Training

This paper presents an overview of a Lifespring Basic Training workshop from a psychoanalytic perspective. Basing our conclusions on a participant-observation study, we argue that the impact of the training was essentially pathological. First, in the early period of the training, ego functions were systematically undermined and regression was promoted. Second, the ideational or interpretive framework of the training was based upon regressive modes of reasoning Third, the structure and content of the training tended to stimulate early narcissistic conflicts, and defenses, which accounted for the elation and sense of heightened well-being achieved by many participants.

A major contemporary force in developing popular conceptions of the self has been the human potential movement, grounded in the premises and practice of " Third Force" psychology--humanistic psychology--which emerged in the 1950s and found increasingly widespread expression in the next two decades. The growth of the human potential movement has been both exponential and chaotic. In the realm of education and therapy it has created numerous gurus and schools and provided an array of techniques and procedures for the enhancement of personal growth. In the 1970s an effort was made by several persons, and groups to consolidate various practices into cohesive packages as training programs. These widely marketed programs, designed and organized to effect significant and positive changes in the lives of participants were first successfully initiated by Werner Erhard with est, and are now dominated by est and Lifespring. The investigation presented here focuses on the structure and processes of a Lifespring training program.

For the most part, literature which is available on " human growth" companies is limited to clinical impressions and journalistic reports of est. Clinicians have tended to focus on psychiatric risks associated with the training for some people (Kirsch and Glass 1977). Others have emphasized its efficacy as an adjunct to psychotherapy (Paul and Paul 1978). Anecdotal reports of Lifespring graduates are often enthusiastic, lending support to the organization's strong claims for the effectiveness of its training activities. Comments of graduates range from " It changed my life" to " It was extremely valuable." However, such global reports often lack specific content.

To date, there is no published material on Lifespring other than materials which are distributed by the organization. Follow up studies initiated by research associates of Lifespring Foundation suggest that the training increases " self- actualization" as measured by the Personal Orientation Inventory (Shostrom 1978). Although the Inventory provides an objective measure of the effects of the training, it poses typical scaling problems. The results are based on forced-choice questions whish restrict the range and content of responses. In addition, a response bias may be built into the scale: it is heavily laden with the language and values of the human potential movement and may merely be measuring a superficial familiarity with the training ideas. As Rosenthal (1978) pointed out in his review of empirical findings on encounter groups, participants tend to overstate, often in global terms, the extent of " personal growth" achieved.(p. 74)

The research upon which this paper is based was developed out of the need for a clearer and more detailed picture of the Lifespring phenomenon. The purpose of the paper is both descriptive and analytical. First, we describe Lifespring training: the participants and leaders, the structure of the training activities, and the techniques utilized. Second, we explain the effects during Lifespring training from a psychoanalytic perspective. We argue that although participants often experience a heightened sense of well-being as a consequence of the training, the phenomenon is essentially pathological. By pathological, we mean that the training systematically undermines ego functioning and promotes regression to the extent that reality testing is significantly impaired (Подобное обучение систематически подрывает функционирование эго и способствует регрессу в той степени, что тестирование реальности значительно снижается). This does not imply that participants suffer from lasting forms of psychopathology as a consequence of the training. The long-term effects of the training and its usefulness to participants in facing problems in living fall outside the scope of this phase of the study.

The interpretive framework adopted here is supported by several psychoanalytic premises concerning group behavior. In discussing the relationship between ego functions and group behavior, Freud noted that " intensification of the affects and the inhibition of the intellect" characterized " primitive groups" (1959 p 20). Primitive groups promote the blurring of ego boundaries and psychological merger with the group leader, who serves as an ego ideal for group members. (Фрейд отметил, что " интенсификацией эффектов и торможением интеллекта" характеризуются " примитивные группы". Примитивные группы способствуют размыванию границ эго и психологическому слиянию с лидером группы, который служит в качестве Эго-идеала для членов группы) By projecting ego and superego functions, e.g. the regulation and control of impulses, into the leader, members may express infantile aggressive and libidinal drives normally held in constraint. (Kernberg 1980 p212). (Проектируя Эго и Суперэго функции, например, регулирование и контроль импульсов, на лидера, члены могут выразить инфантильную агрессию и либидинальные побуждения, которые обычно ограничиваются) This psychological state may be described as regressive in that it is reminiscent of the experience of early childhood—the oceanic experience of oneness with the all-good, protective parent who mediates between the child’s immediate needs and the external world. (Это психологическое состояние может быть описано как регрессивное, оно напоминает опыт раннего детства - океанической опыт единства со всеблагим, защищающим родителем, который является связующим звеном между непосредственными потребностями ребенка и внешним миром.)

Regression, however, does not inevitably imply pathology. From a psychoanalytic perspective, many healthy and adaptive forms of human activity, such as falling in love (Grunberger 1979 pp 5-6) and artistic achievement (Kris 1964 p 28), require the capacity to regress, (Регресс, однако, не равен патологии. С психоаналитической точки зрения, многие здоровые и адаптивные формы человеческой деятельности, такие как любовь требуют способности к регрессу) When falling in love, one must be able to experience temporary states of psychological merger with another person and artistic achievement often involves access to impulses and irrational of primitive fantasies. In addition, the ability to work in groups or to engage in collective forms of social action requires the capacity to merge with the group ideals and group interests. The critical distinction in determining pathology in group members concerns the extent of regression – i.e., the dominance of primitive fantasies or impulses and the level of ego control maintained. (Критическое различие при определении патологии у членов группы касается степени регрессии - то есть, доминирование примитивных фантазий или импульсов и уровня контроля, поддерживаемого эго) By ego control, we mean the capacity for reality testing, for mobilizing adaptive defenses, for distinguishing between internal and external events, and for bringing affective states under rational control. (Под эго контролем, мы имеем в виду способность к тестированию реальности, для мобилизации адаптивных защит, для проведения различий между внутренними и внешними событиями, а также для приведения аффективных состояний под рациональный контроль)

Many of the encounter groups of the human potential movement have been described as regressive because of their disinhibited effects and their tendency to stress abandonment to strong emotions while disparaging reasoning and intellect (Back 1972, p 79; Schur 1976, pp48-53) The emphasis upon " getting in touch with your feelings" and " getting out of your head" may be of therapeutic value in encouraging participants to gain access to previously warded off impulses, a process which often occurs in successful forms of psychodynamic therapy. However, without an interpretive framework which reconciles affective states with objective reality and logical thought processes, such group cathartic experiences offer little opportunity for sustained therapeutic change and may, in fact, be psychologically damaging (Lieberman, Yalom, and Miles 1973 pp 167-209) (Акцент на " войти в контакт со своими чувствами" и " выйти из вашей головы" может иметь терапевтическое значение в деле поощрения участников, чтобы получить доступ к ранее отраженным импульсам, процесс, который часто встречается в успешных формах психодинамической терапии. Однако без интерпретирующей системы, которая примиряет аффективные состояния с объективной реальностью и логическими процессами мышления, такой групповой опыт предлагает мало возможностей для устойчивого терапевтического изменения и может, на самом деле, быть психологически разрушительным)