Psychiatric disturbances associated with Erhard Seminars Training: II. additional cases and theoretical considerations

In a previous article, the authors reported on 5 individuals who developed psychoses after participation in Erhard Seminars Training (est). Two additional cases are reported, and the combined case material is discussed in terms of group and psychodynamic theories. The authoritarian est leadership style may mobilize in trainees an overdetermined and pathological reliance on identification with the aggressor. Such a mechanism may be central to the production of psychiatric casualties, particularly in individuals with defective ego boundaries. Future controlled research is necessary to ascertain the rate of occurrence of psychiatric disturbances associated with est and to test the authors' hypotheses.