The term large-group awareness training (LGAT) refers to activities—usually offered by groups with links to the human potential movement—which claim to increase self-awareness and to bring about desirable transformations in individuals' personal lives.[1] LGATs are unconventional; they often take place over several days,[2][3] and may compromise participants' mental wellbeing.[4][5]
LGAT programs may involve several hundred people at a time.[6] Though early definitions cited LGATs as featuring unusually long durations, more recent texts[which?] describe trainings lasting from 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".[7]
The training is composed of successive sessions on Wednesday night, Thursday night, Friday night, Saturday day and night, Sunday day and night, a Tuesday night post-training session ten days after graduation, and a post-training interview.
LGATs typically take place over the course of three to five days or over sequential weekends. The time spent in the trainings is intensive, normally consisting of 12 to 15 hour days.
lieberman
was invoked but never defined (see the help page).Haaken 1983
was invoked but never defined (see the help page).The groups I'm talking about are est (and its more recent descendant, The Forum) and Lifespring, both of which use structured activities; involve several hundred or more participants and one central leader ...
Lieberman suggests that at least 1.3 million Americans have taken part in LGAT sessions.