A T-group or training group (sometimes also referred to as sensitivity-training group , human relations training group or encounter group ) is a form of group training where participants (typically between eight and fifteen people) learn about themselves (and about small group processes in general) through their interaction with each other. They use feedback, problem solving, and role play to gain insights into themselves, others, and groups.
41-458: Experimental studies have been undertaken with the aim of determining what effects, if any, participating in a T-group has on the participants. For example, a 1975 article by Nancy E. Adler and Daniel Goleman concluded that "Students who had participated in a T-group showed significantly more change toward their selected goal than those who had not." Carl Rogers described sensitivity training groups as "...the most significant social invention of
82-406: A "detailed written plan" that does not vary from one training to the next. In his book Life 102 , LGAT participant and former trainer Peter McWilliams describes the basic technique of marathon trainings as pressure/release and asserts that advertising uses pressure/release "all the time", as do " good cop/bad cop " police-interrogations and revival meetings . By spending approximately half
123-583: A 1982 peer-reviewed article published in Annual Review of Psychology , sought to summarize literature on the subject of LGATs and to examine their efficacy and their relationship with more standard psychology . This academic article describes and analyzes large group awareness training as influenced by the work of humanistic psychologists such as Carl Rogers , Abraham Maslow and Rollo May . LGATs as commercial trainings took many techniques from encounter groups . They existed alongside but "outside
164-469: A call for "objective and rigorous research" and stating that unknown variables might have accounted for some of the positive accounts. Psychologists advised borderline or psychotic patients not to participate. Psychological factors cited by academics include emotional " flooding ", catharsis , universality (identification with others), the instillation of hope, identification and what Sartre called "uncontested authorship". In 1989 researchers from
205-500: A few hours to a few days. Forsyth and Corazzini cite Lieberman (1994) as suggesting "that at least 1.3 million Americans have taken part in LGAT sessions". In 2005 Rubinstein compared large-group awareness training to certain principles of cognitive therapy , such as the idea that people can change their lives by reinterpreting the way they view external circumstances. In the 1997 collection of essays Consumer Research: Postcards from
246-452: A number of group types. Many varieties of T-groups have existed, from the initial T-groups that focused on small group dynamics , to those that aim more explicitly to develop self-understanding and interpersonal communication. Industry also widely used T-groups, particularly in the 1960s and 1970s, and in many ways these were predecessors of current team building and corporate culture initiatives. A current T-group version that addresses
287-399: A peer-reviewed review of studies published in 1975 concluded that "No study yet published provides a basis for concluding that adverse effects arising from sensitivity training are any more frequent than adverse effects arising in equivalent populations not in groups". Nancy Adler Nancy Elinor Adler (July 26, 1946 – January 4, 2024) was an American health psychologist . She was
328-624: Is a variation of the NTL T-groups, since it shares the values and experiential learning model with the classic T-groups. A commercialized strand of the encounter group movement developed into large-group awareness training . Other variations popular in the late 1960s and early 1970s included the nude encounter group, where participants are naked, and the marathon encounter group, where participants carry on for 24 hours or longer without sleep. "Encounter groups, in contrast to T-groups, are far less concerned with group dynamics. Instead, they focus on
369-410: Is significantly impaired". Lieberman's 1987 study, funded partially by Lifespring, noted that 5 out of a sample of 289 participants experienced " stress reactions" including one "transitory psychotic episode". He commented: "Whether [these five] would have experienced such stress under other conditions cannot be answered. The clinical evidence, however, is that the reactions were directly attributable to
410-635: The National Academy of Medicine (NAM). Adler received the APA Distinguished Scientific Award for the Applications of Psychology in 2009. The award cited her "research on reproductive health examining adolescent decision-making with regard to contraception, conscious and preconscious motivations for pregnancy, and perception of risk for sexually transmitted diseases, and for her groundbreaking insights into
451-881: The National Training Laboratories (also known as the NTL Institute) that was created by the Office of Naval Research and the National Education Association in Bethel, Maine , in 1947. First conceived as a research technique with a goal to change the standards, attitudes and behavior of individuals, the T-group evolved into educational and treatment schemes for non-psychiatric patient people. A T-group meeting does not have an explicit agenda, structure, or expressed goal. Under
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#1732798798516492-621: The University of California, Santa Cruz prior to joining the faculty of UCSF. In 1980, she served a term as the President of Society for Environmental, Population, and Conservation Psychology (APA Division 34). Adler has chaired multiple NAM committees and workshops on subjects including the Deepwater Horizon oil spill , sexually transmitted diseases , psychosocial treatments for cancer patients, and women's health . Adler
533-491: The University of Connecticut received the "National Consultants to Management Award" from the American Psychological Association for their study: Evaluating a Large Group Awareness Training . Psychologist Chris Mathe has written in the interests of consumer-protection , encouraging potential attendees of LGATs to discuss such trainings with any current therapist or counselor, to examine
574-463: The human potential movement —which claim to increase self-awareness and to bring about desirable transformations in individuals' personal lives . LGATs are unconventional; they often take place over several days, and may compromise participants' mental wellbeing. LGAT programs may involve several hundred people at a time. Though early definitions cited LGATs as featuring unusually long durations, more recent texts describe trainings lasting from
615-813: The "claimed benefits" of Large Group Awareness Training actually take the form of "a kind of therapy placebo effect". Jarvis described Large Group Awareness Training as "educationally dubious" in the 2002 book The Theory & Practice of Teaching . Tapper mentions that "some [unspecified] large group-awareness training and psychotherapy groups" exemplify non-religious "cults". Benjamin criticizes LGAT groups for their high prices and spiritual subtleties. Specific techniques used in some Large Group Awareness Trainings may include: LGATs utilize such techniques during long sessions, sometimes called " marathon " sessions. Paglia describes "EST's Large Group Awareness Training": "Marathon, eight-hour sessions, in which [participants] were confined and harassed, supposedly led to
656-768: The American Psychological Association (APA) subsequently rejected and strongly criticised the 1986 DIMPAC report, which included large group awareness trainings as one example of what it called " coercive persuasion ". In 1997 the APA characterized Singer's hypotheses as "uninformed speculations based on skewed data". It stated in 1987 that the report generally lacked "the scientific rigor and evenhanded critical approach necessary for APA imprimatur." The APA also stated that "the specific methods by which Drs. Singer and Benson have arrived at their conclusions have also been rejected by all serious scholars in
697-500: The LGAT as referring to programs claiming "to increase self-awareness and facilitate constructive personal change". Coon further defines Large Group Awareness Training in his book Introduction to Psychology . Coon and Mitterer emphasize the commercial nature of several LGAT organizations. Lou Kilzer, writing in The Rocky Mountain News , identified Leadership Dynamics (in operation 1967–1973) as "the first of
738-553: The Leadership Institute of Seattle (LIOS) Applied Behavioral Science Graduate Program he made T-groups a core requirement of the curriculum, and he did the same when founding and leading the ALCOA Corporate leadership program from 1990 to 2005. Throughout Crosby's Organization Development career he has used T-groups in numerous business culture change and performance improvement initiatives, most famously during
779-573: The Lisa and John Pritzker Professor of Medical Psychology at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), and director of UCSF's Center for Health and Community Sciences. Adler was known for her research on health behaviors , health disparities , and social determinants of health . Adler was the director of the MacArthur Foundation 's Research Network on Socioeconomic Status and Health from its foundation to December 1996. She
820-771: The NTL-tradition, the T-group is always embedded in a Human Interaction Laboratory, with reflection time and theory sessions. In these sessions, the participants have the opportunity to make sense of what's happening in the T-group. Encounter groups are also controversial because of scientific claims that they can cause serious and lasting psychological damage. One 1971 study found that 9% of normal college students participating in an encounter group developed psychological problems lasting at least six months after their experience. The most dangerous groups had authoritarian and charismatic leaders who used vicious emotional attacks and public humiliation to try to break participants. However,
861-717: The PECO Nuclear turnaround following the shutdown of Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station for human performance issues by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in 1987. Crosby and his associates still lead T-groups in public workshops and in businesses. Another recent version of the T-groups is the Appreciative Inquiry Human Interaction Laboratory, which focuses on strengths-based learning processes. It
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#1732798798516902-738: The PhD Program in Social Relations at Harvard University in 1968 and was mentored by Herbert Kelman , an expert on social influence and cognitive dissonance. For her 1974 PhD thesis titled "Reactions of Women to Therapeutic Abortion: A Social Psychological Analysis" Adler interviewed women before and after having a therapeutic abortion (a pregnancy termination for medical reasons such as fetal abnormalities, as opposed to one for non-medical reasons such as financial worries). She found that women's reactions were generally positive and reflective of healthy coping strategies. Adler taught at
943-462: The breakdown of conventional ego, after which they were in effect born again ." Finkelstein's 1982 article provides a detailed description of the structure and techniques of an Erhard Seminars Training event—techniques similar to those used in some group therapy and encounter groups. The academic textbook, Handbook of Group Psychotherapy regards Large Group Awareness Training organisations as "less open to leader differences", because they follow
984-459: The century". The concept of encounter as "a meeting of two, eye to eye, face to face," was articulated by J.L. Moreno in Vienna in 1914–15, in his " Einladung zu einer Begegnung " ("Invitation to an Encounter"), maturing into his psychodrama therapy. It was pioneered in the mid-1940s by Moreno's protege Kurt Lewin and his colleagues as a method of learning about human behavior in what became
1025-571: The domains of academic psychology or psychiatry. Their measure of performance was consumer satisfaction and formal research was seldom pursued." The article describes an est training, and discusses the literature on the testimony of est graduates. It notes minor changes on psychological tests after the training and mentions anecdotal reports of psychiatric casualties among est trainees. The article considers how est compares to more standard psychotherapy techniques such as behavior therapy , group and existential psychotherapy before concluding with
1066-602: The edge , discussing behavioral and economic studies, the authors contrast the "enclosed locations" used in Large Group Awareness Trainings with the relatively open environment of a " variety store ". The Handbook of Group Psychotherapy (1994) characterised LGAT as focusing on "philosophical, psychological and ethical issues" relating "to personal effectiveness , decision-making , personal responsibility , and commitment." Psychologist Dennis Coon's textbook, Psychology: A Journey , defines
1107-560: The feedback task in the hands of the participants. Using Wallen's model and behavioral skills, the participants are encouraged to give and receive feedback throughout the process, both while they are in the T-group, and in other reflective and skill building activities. Crosby was first a T-group participant in 1953, and was mentored by Lewin associates Ken Benne, Leland Bradford and Ronald Lippitt. Crosby, worked closely with Mr. Wallen from 1968 to 1975, co-leading several National Training Laboratories T-groups during that time. When Crosby founded
1148-654: The field." Singer sued the APA, and lost on June 17, 1994. Despite the APA rejection of her task-force's report, Singer remained in good standing among psychology researchers. Singer reworked much of the DIMPAC report material into the book Cults in Our Midst (1995, second edition: 2003), which she co-authored with Janja Lalich . Singer and Lalich state that "large group awareness trainings" tend to last at least four days and usually five. Their book mentions Erhard Seminars Training ("est") and similar undertakings, such as
1189-419: The genre psychologists call 'large group awareness training'". Leadership Dynamics directly or indirectly influenced several permutations of large-group transformation trainings. Werner Erhard (successively associated with Erhard Seminars Training (est or EST), WE&A and Landmark Education ) trained as an instructor with Mind Dynamics. Michael Langone notes that Erhard Seminars Training (est) became in
1230-438: The guidance of a facilitator, the participants are encouraged to share emotional reactions (for example, anger, fear, warmth, or envy) that arise in response to their fellow participants' actions and statements. The emphasis is on sharing emotions, as opposed to judgments or conclusions. In this way, T-group participants can learn how their words and actions trigger emotional responses in the people they communicate with. There are
1271-468: The importance of psychological processes in explaining why socioeconomic status is associated with physical health." Other awards include: In 1975, Adler married Arnold Milstein. They collaborated on research and had two daughters together. Adler died of pancreatic cancer on January 4, 2024, at age 77. Large-group awareness training The term large-group awareness training ( LGAT ) refers to activities—usually offered by groups with links to
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1312-440: The individual, on getting each group participant to talk about and express his feelings as deeply and spontaneously as possible." This type of training is controversial as the behaviors it encourages are often self-disclosure and openness, which many people believe some organizations ultimately punish. The feedback used in this type of training can be highly personal, hence it must be given by highly trained observers (trainers).. In
1353-483: The issue of openness is the "Tough Stuff™" workshop of Robert P. Crosby and his associates. Crosby trainers carefully focus the group on their experience of their immediate interactions and group dynamics, and away from openness in the form of personal stories. Applying the behavioral communication model of John L. Wallen, The Interpersonal Gap , the participants are given a structure for talking about and learning from their interactions. The Crosby T-group also puts much of
1394-513: The large group awareness training." In 2003 the Vatican reported its study results about New Age training courses: New Age training courses (what used to be known as "Erhard seminar trainings" [EST] etc.) marry counter-cultural values with the mainstream need to succeed, inner satisfaction with outer success ... In Coon's psychology textbook ( Introduction to Psychology ) the author references many other studies, which postulate that many of
1435-547: The participants to make them more susceptible to the trainer's message, whether in the participants' best interests or not. Although extremely critical of some LGATs, McWilliams found positive value in others , asserting that they varied not in technique but in the application of technique. After commissioning a report in 1983 by the APA Task Force on Deceptive and Indirect Methods of Persuasion and Control (DIMPAC) chaired by anti-cult psychologist Margaret Singer ,
1476-494: The popular mind the archetype for LGATs. While working for Holiday Magic , Lifespring founder John Hanley attended a course at Leadership Dynamics. Chris Mathe, at the time a PhD candidate in clinical psychology , wrote that most of the current commercial forms of Large Group Awareness Training as of 1999 were modeled after the Leadership Dynamics Institute. "Large Group Awareness Training",
1517-576: The principles underlying the program, and to determine pre-screening methods, the training of facilitators, the full cost of the training and of any suggested follow-up care. One study noted the many difficulties in evaluating LGATs, from proponents' explicit rejection of certain study models to difficulty in establishing a rigorous control group . In some cases, organizations under study have partially funded research into themselves. Not all professional researchers view LGATs favorably. Researchers such as psychologist Philip Cushman, for example, found that
1558-419: The program he studied "consists of a pre-meditated attack on the self". A 1983 study on Lifespring found that "although participants often experience a heightened sense of well-being as a consequence of the training, the phenomenon is essentially pathological", meaning that, in the program studied, "the training systematically undermines ego functioning and promotes regression to the extent that reality testing
1599-403: The time making a person feel bad and then suddenly reversing the feeling through effusive praise, the programs cause participants to experience a stress-reaction and an " endorphin high". McWilliams gives examples of various LGAT activities called processes with names such as "love bomb", "lifeboat", "cocktail party" and "cradling", which take place over many hours and days, physically exhausting
1640-567: Was best known for her research demonstrating that people with more education and higher incomes, as well as a belief that they have higher social status than others, are healthier and live longer than less privileged people. Adler was a fellow of the American Psychological Society (APS) and the American Psychological Association (APA), as well as a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and
1681-617: Was the director of the Evidence for Action (E4A), a UCSF health program funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation . Adler was born in Manhattan on July 26, 1946. Her father was a salesman and clothing manufacturer and her mother was a teacher. The family later moved to Denver. Adler completed her undergraduate studies at Wellesley College , where she conducted research with Claire Zimmerman. She entered