Werner Erhard and Associates

Infobox Company
company_name = Werner Erhard and Associates
company_
company_type = Private sole proprietorship"Accordingly, Werner Erhard and Associates ("WEA") was established as a sole proprietorship in February 1981." Erhard v. IRS, 1995. http://www.assetprotectionbook.com/erhard.htm Retrieved 2007-10-05] (defunct)
foundation = February 1981
location = San Francisco, California, USA
key_people = Werner Erhard (Founder)
industry = Personal development, Large Group Awareness Training
products = Seminars, workshops
revenue =
operating_income =
net_income =
num_employees =
homepage =
footnotes =

Werner Erhard and Associates, also known as WE&A or as WEA, operated as a commercial entity from February 1981 until early 1991. It replaced Erhard Seminars Training, Inc. as the vehicle for marketing, selling and imparting the content of the "est" training, and offered what some people refer to as "personal-growth" programs. Initially WE&A marketed and staged the "est" training (in the form of the "est" seminars and workshops), but in 1984 it introduced a modified, shortened and less intensive introduction to Werner Erhard's teachings, dubbed "The Forum". [
Anthony Gottlieb: "Heidegger for Fun and Profit", in "The New York Times", January 7, 1990. Online transcript at http://www.rickross.com/reference/forum/forum3.html, retrieved 2007-07-21]

In 1991 Erhard sold the assets of WE&A to a group of employees, who later formed Landmark Education. Erhard then retired. [ [http://www.wernererhard.info/career.html "Site by Former Associates committed to providing accurate and reliable information about Werner Erhard"] . Retrieved 2007-09-09] and left the United States.

Timeline

For additional Information, see Werner Erhard and "est".

* February 1981: Werner Erhard and Associates (WE&A)set up [ [http://www.wernererhard.info/career.html "Site by Former Associates committed to providing accurate and reliable information about Werner Erhard"] . Retrieved 2007-09-09]
* 1984: WE&A replaces the est training with "The Forum" [
Anthony Gottlieb: "Heidegger for Fun and Profit", in "The New York Times", January 7, 1990. Online transcript at http://www.rickross.com/reference/forum/forum3.html - retrieved 2007-07-21]
* 1991: Erhard sold the assets of WE&A to a group of employees, who later formed Landmark Education.

Evaluations of "The Forum"

In their self-published book "Self Realization: The est and Forum Phenomena in American Society", Espy M. Navarro and Robert Navarro stated:

What is a fact is that the collective experiences of over 1,400,000 human beings who have gone through either the est training or the Forum series, and each of their particular contributions that have resulted from these experiences have certainly had an impact on America and the world.
Werner Erhard, without any formal credentials, degrees or advanced educational training used his innate intelligence, intuition and insight to promote self-awareness in the United States. In the 1970’s he was right for the times — in synch with the fledgling "me generation." By the time that he had retired the est training in 1984, and when he left the Forum in 1991, almost 750,000 people had undergone the courses that he had developed and marketed ... providing one of the best and quickest opportunities available to radically alter one’s life. The importance of the est training and the Forum series, especially in the United States, is in the form of individual contributions that have transformed and enabled the people of this nation to enjoy a new level of spirituality, empowerment, perception and enhancement of their personal enlivenment and contribution. [
Espy M. Navarro and Robert Navarro, [http://www2.xlibris.com/bookstore/book_excerpt.asp?bookid=14026 "Self Realization, The est and Forum Phenomena in American Society"] , Xlibris Corporation, October 2002, ISBN 1-4010-4220-1]

A scientific study, commissioned by Werner Erhard and Associates and conducted by a team of psychology professors, concluded that attending the Forum had minimal lasting effects — positive or negative — on participants' self-perception. The research won an American Psychological Association "National Psychological Consultants to Management Award" in 1989cite book
last = Fisher
first = Jeffrey D.
authorlink = Jeffrey D. Fisher
coauthors = Silver, Chinsky, Goff, Klar
title = Evaluating a Large Group Awareness Training
publisher = Springer-Verlag
date = 1990
location =
pages = 142
url =
doi =
id = ISBN 0-387-97320-6 , ISBN 978-0387973203
Page. vii. -- "The research reported in this volume was awarded the American Psychological Association, Division 13, National Consultants to Management Award, August 13, 1989."] .

The results of the research study appeared in two articles in the "Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology" in 1989 [cite journal
last = Fisher
first = Jeffrey D.
authorlink = Jeffrey D. Fisher
coauthors = Silver, Chinsky, Goff, Klar, Zagieboylo
title = Psychological effects of participation in a large group awareness training
journal = Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology
volume = 57
issue =
pages = 747–755
publisher =
date = 1989
url =
doi =
id = ISSN|0022-006X
accessdate = ] , and in 1990 [cite journal
last = Klar
first = Yechiel
authorlink = Yechiel Klar
coauthors = et al.
title = Characteristics of Participants in a Large Group Awareness Training
journal = Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology
volume = 58
issue = 1
pages = 99–108
publisher =
date = February 1990
url =
doi =
id = ISSN|0022-006X
accessdate = ] , and in 1990 in a book titled "Evaluating a Large Group Awareness Training".
J.D. Fisher, R. C. Silver, J. M. Chinsky, B. Goff and Y. Klar, "", Published by Springer-Verlag, October 1990, ISBN 0-387-97320-6. ]

See also

* "Semi-Tough": a satirical movie spoofing Erhard Seminars Training
* Werner Erhard
* "60 Minutes and the Assassination of Werner Erhard: How America's Top Rated Television Show Was Used in an Attempt to Destroy a Man Who Was Making A Difference", by Jane Self. Houston, Texas: Breakthru Publishing, 1992. ISBN 0-942540-23-9
* "Outrageous Betrayal: The Dark Journey of Werner Erhard from est to Exile", by Steven Pressman. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1993. ISBN 0-312-09296-2

References

External links

* [http://www.skepdic.com/est.html est and Werner Erhard] , "The Skeptic's Dictionary"