Editing Erhard Seminars Training (section)

=== Controversy ===
In 1976 psychologist Dr. Daniel Fullman called est more of a [[Get-rich-quick scheme|money making scheme]] than a practical way to provide therapeutic help.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Hostetler |first=Harold |date=4 April 1976 |title=Expanding the Mind: Real--or a Hustle? |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/honolulu-star-advertiser/170398850/ |access-date=15 April 2025 |work=Honolulu Star-Advertiser |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref> Dr. Leonard Glass, a clinical professor of [[psychology]] at [[Harvard University]], alleged in 1983 that participants of est showed "severe emotional problems, notably psychosis, which occurred in the midst of or shortly after EST training."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Rodgers |first=Ann |date=16 July 1983 |title=Life Training or Brainwashing? EST: The Story Behind Erhard Seminar Training |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/concord-monitor/170397799/ |access-date=15 April 2025 |work=Concord Monitor |pages=13}} and {{Cite news |date=16 July 1983 |title=EST |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/concord-monitor/170397911/ |work=Concord Monitor |pages=14 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref> A participant of an est seminar sued the organization in 1985 over [[negligence]] and [[fraud]],<ref>{{Cite news |date=6 December 1985 |title=$5 Million is Sought for Est 'Breakdown' |work=The Evening News |page=2 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-evening-news/170401878/ |archive-date= |access-date=15 April 2025 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref> and est has been accused of mind control and labeled a cult by critics who said that it exploited its followers by recruiting and offering numerous "graduate seminars."<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/29/fashion/the-return-of-werner-erhard-father-of-self-help.html|title=The Return of Werner Erhard, Father of Self-help|last=Haldeman|first=Peter|date=2015-11-28|work=The New York Times|access-date=November 6, 2017|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

In 1985, a group of psychology researchers studied participants of the Forum, which had just evolved from est and was classified as a [[Large Group Awareness Training]] course. These researchers compared their outcomes to a [[control group]] of non attendees.  They published their results in the book ''[[Evaluating a Large Group Awareness Training]]''. They found that while participants had a short-term increase in [[internal locus of control]], or the belief that one can control their own life, no long-term positive or negative effects on the study participants' [[self-perception]] were detected.