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I will begin with some of the most disturbing exercises and give a brief description of some of these within Parts 1 and 2 of Gratitude Training. CRITICAL NOTE: Like Scientology, your most intimate and embarrassing secrets can and/or will be used against you should you become a dissenter.
First... I will show you what Gratitude Training would never tell you... people are pushed too far. There has been a heroin OD and this suicide below. One graduate is living behind a dumpster. I have seen multiple drug relapses.
Note: Gratitude Training is a business partner with "KavaSutra" which sells the highly addictive substance called "kratom." See below...
The "Love Bombing" exercises are integral for the survival of the cult. These are necessary to build up what was broken down, and it is euphoria of the "LOVE BOMBING" that follows the "TRAUMA BONDING" that creates the group euphoria and bonding. GROUP EUPHORIA/BONDING is the DRUG the cult uses to keep you hooked!! Ii is as addicting as heroin and like any addiction, it tells you many lies... the most important one being that you can never walk way.
No one stands in a better position than me (Mark M Robbins) to evaluate GRATITUDE TRAINING.
A) When I was in the "training" I was being broken down, trauma bonded, and love bombed to build me up... I was (seemingly) "family tight" with my community. What's not to love? Right?
B) BUT... WHAT HAPPENED WHEN I NOTICED THAT EVERYONE WAS FEELING SO GOOD?
1) That they served or worked for free
2) That people with money (like me) were pressured to pay for others
3) That the unpaid staff are neglecting their kids
4) That the unpaid staff are neglecting their jobs and responsibilities
5) That the unpaid staff is tricking you with their business suit attire when in fact in fact many are really struggling.
6) That young people are washing cars to help their friends "make tuition" instead of working legitimate "for pay" jobs.
7) That this program offers no alumni tuition support... no scholarships... no aid whatsoever!!
...AND WHEN YOU QUESTION THE BUSINESS PRACTICES THAT MIRRORS GRAPH BELOW...
- asked to leave immediately
- you are frozen out of all the groups
- the team you thought that loved you is branding you now as
"negative energy."
- and the group actually believes this despite having professed their unconditional love for you
- and they are told to ignore you and they actually listen!!
- and you realize you are being "ex-communicated" "Scientology" style
- and legal action is taken against you by the founder
YOU KNOW - WITH 100 PER CENT CERTAINTY - THAT THIS IS A CULT!!
AS A "FISH IN WATER" IT WAS NOT POSSIBLE TO SEE THE LANDSCAPE OF THE CULT.
AS A "FISH OUT OF WATER"... THE LANDSCAPE BECAME CLEAR AS DAY. SEEING WHAT HAPPENED TO ME A CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTOR, A DISSIDENT, AS SOMEONE ABLE TO RADICALLY TELL THE TRUTH...
THE ONLY CONCEIVABLE VIEW,
THE ONLY CONCEIVABLE VIEW,
THE ONLY VIEW ALIGNED WITH ALL THE FACTS (NEW AND OLD),
AND LITERALLY THE ONLY TRUE VIEW... IS THAT THIS IS A MADLY PROFITABLE and
HIGHLY TOXIC CULT
WHO ELSE WOULD BE SO SCARED OF THE TRUTH?
EXERCISES
1) (Part 2) We are asked to close our eyes and within a room of close to 85 people, asked to raise our hands to questions like:
... Have you ever been molested?
... Have you ever molested anyone?
(If they were licensed they would in many states be forced to give this information to authorities. Instead they make notes and may use against you should you become a "dissenter" within Gratitude Training.)
2) (Part 2) With eyes closed, whisper in the ears of a staff member a very deep and dark secret.
3A) (Part 2) SKIT: A group of mostly older women are to perform as skit in which they are to demonstrate how to put a condom on an erect penis. They stop only when they play "full out" and "enroll" the other other 70 team members that are "convincing enough" in their skit.
3B) (Part 2) SKIT: A group of the younger and best looking young women are to strip down to bras and panties (or thongs) and show their bodies off to the team. They stop only when they play "full out" and "enroll" the other other 70 team members that are "convincing enough" in their tease. This includes an audience of literally anyone... voyeurs, sex addicts, child molesters... there are mo filters.
3c) SKIT: A group of mostly overweight women (some obese) are to prance around as belly dancers showing off what they would normally want to keep hidden. They stop only when they play "full out" and "enroll" the other other 70 team members that are "convincing enough" in their skit. One women worked so hard she was in danger of passing out. 911 was almost called.
4) (Part 2) This next exercise pushed a young female (Lisa) into a psychotic and/or disassociated state. 991 and the police were called and she spent 5 days in a Psych hospital. Each team member (including staff) would look every team member in the eye and tell them whether they experienced the person before them as a "giver" and "taker" in life. What happened with this young woman (who had child custody issues) was it pushed her to the point where she was visibly shakineg. Obviously anyone who is visibly shaking appears as a "taker" in life and not a "giver." So the exercise in my clear view ( I was watching it as it happened) became an exercise in bullying for Lisa. "Taker"... Taker"... "Taker" is what she repetitively heard. I felt so so for her.
Kate Munson (my friend in Part 2) and I tried to comfort her Lisa as best we could but Lisa had already slipped into a disassociated (or psychotic) state. The unlicensed Trainer (Francine Rahe) clapped her hand in front of her face and told her to snap out of it.
Lisa then went into the closest thing I have ever witnessed to a demonic state. In a deep demonic tone with crazy eyes she shouted at Francine Rahe. "You are not SOURCE. I am SOURCE." ("SOURCE" was a spritual underpinning of Gratitude Training. I tried to research it and found nothing. Thus it could have been nothing more than what some New Age "snowflake" or "cult leader" (Jo Engelsson or her unlicensed coach BETTIE SPRUILLE) dreamt up. There is no foundation to it)
The next thing that happened was Lisa sprinted away from everyone and behind a partition. The (mostly unpaid) unlicensed staff members were told to chase her. Francine yelled "CALL 911!"
We were then told 20 minutes later that Lisa "was fine" and that Lisa "knew where she was and knew the names of her kids." But we had ABSOLUTELY NO CONFIRMATION OF THIS. What I was told later was that she spent 5 days in a Psych hospital. So I doubt that she was in fact "OK" as Trainer Francine Rahe claimed.
Lisa was then essentially forgotten about. Like road kill. I personally stood up the next day and asked that we as a group (to the best of our ability) offer that Lisa be given dignity and respect to what had to be one of the most embarrassing and traumatic experiences anyone could experience. Can you imagine? I was told by a staff member that to give attention to Lisa would be to take up "scared space." What the hell does this even mean?
5) (Part 2) We then played a "life boat" game. Very simple.
A) We faced each team member one by one
B) We could only save 7 people by putting them on the (metaphorical) life boat. We were given 7 pop cycle sticks.
Three options:
- Tell the person "YOU LIVE" and give them a stick.
- Say "John (or whatever their name was), "YOU DIE."
- If you could not remember their name you were forced to repeat script very similar to this: "I don't know your name, I don't care about you, and you die."
Many people internalized this and were sobbing. Staff was whispering in our ears stuff like "See how little people care about you" and other negative statements. Not surprisingly, in the end, the hottest girls and the drama kings/queens were most likely to be saved in the life boat.
6) (Part 2) STAFF and other team members told all the team members people how they "experienced" each team members... and the game was to state the most negative aspects, So people were called "invisible, victimy, broken, lifeless, and even dead." The cruel part was there was someone with early onset Alzheimer's (remember, GT turns away no one with cash) who was repeatedly called "dead." Does anyone beside me find this cruel?
7) (Part 1) We were to stand face to face with a partner and we were to tell them:
1) What we found most attractive about them
2) What we found least attractive about them
We were then to select the most and least attractive people in the room (based on our own criteria). We were then to tell the 2 people why they were selected as most and least attractive.
8) (Part 1) We were to randomly to approach someone and tell them (with NO REASONS GIVEN).
1) "I trust you"
2) "I am not sure I trust you"
3) "I don't trust you"
9) We were told to face someone with someone with a number held behind our back which we then show the person.
Numbers 1 thru 4 meant:
The lowest "number" prevails .
4 meant "I connect with you and I wish to hug you"
3 meant "I wish to only look in your eyes"
2 Meant "I will only shake your hand."
1 meant "I have no connection with you" and we must both turn our backs to each other."
The rule is the "lowest number prevails."
- So if both people had a "4" behind their backs, this meant "we both connect with each other" and we would hug.
- If one had a "2" and the other had a "4" you would shake hands (because lowest number prevails).
- If one had a "1" and the other had a "3" you would both be forced to turn your backs to each other (because lowest number wins... get it?)
9) (Part 2) We allowed ourselves to be cradled (held horizontally by a group of people... no one trained professionally of course) and we were told to shout at the top of out lungs what we wanted to say to the people to the person who hurt us most in life. The group would then "echo" our shouts
Example 1: "Dad, why did you molest me!" The group would then shout the exact same thing" "Dad, why did you molest me!"
Example 2: "Mom, why did you leave me!" The group would then shout the exact same thing" "Mom, why did you molest me!" etc....
10) We were then told to sit in our chairs and scream as loud as we could at the top of our lungs with eyes closed. We were to hold up 2 hands up if we needed a "VOMIT BAG."
11) Later were we to be on our knees with a pillow placed on the chair before us. To horribly sad music (like Schindler's list) we were to pound the pillow in front of us yelling (and sobbing) at the people who hurt us the most and why we hate them. Rerpeated over amd over and over. We were to hold up 2 hands up if we needed a "VOMIT BAG."
(The next part is copied from the top)
I will add more exercises later... there were also "Love bombing" exercises as well. These were necessary to build up what was broken down, and it is euphoria of "trauma bonding" with a community is the DRUG the cult uses to keep you hooked!!
No one stands in a better position than me (Mark M Robbins) to evaluate GRATITUDE TRAINING.
A) When I was in it I was being broken down, trauma bonded, and love bombed to build me up... I was (seemingly) "family tight" with my community. What's not to love? Right?
B) BUT... WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU NOTICE THAT EVERYONE IS FEELING SO GOOD...
1) That they serve or work for free
2) That people with money (like me) are pressured to pay for others
3) That the unpaid staff are neglecting their kids
4) That the unpaid staff are neglecting their jobs and responsibilities
5) That the unpaid staff is tricking you with their business suit attire when in fact in fact many are really struggling.
6) That young people are washing cars to help their friends "make tuition" instead of working legitimate "for pay" jobs.
7) That this program offers no alumni tuition support... no scholarships... no aid whatsoever!!
...AND WHEN YOU QUESTION THE BUSINESS PRACTICES THAT LOOK LIKE THIS...
- asked to leave immediately
- you are frozen out of all the groups
- the team you thought that loved you is branding you now as
"negative energy."
- and the group actually believes this despite having professed their unconditional love for you
- and they are told to ignore you and they actually listen!!
- and you realize you are being "ex-communicated" "Scientology" style
- and legal action is taken against you by the founder
YOU KNOW - WITH 100 PER CENT CERTAINTY - THAT THIS IS A CULT!!
AS A "FISH IN WATER" IT WAS NOT POSSIBLE TO SEE.
AS A "FISH OUT OF WATER"... AND SEEING WHAT HAPPENS TO A CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTOR, A DISSIDENT, AS SOMEONE RADICALLY ABLE TO TELL THE TRUTH... THE ONLY CONCEIVABLE VIEW,
THE ONLY VIEW ALIGNED WITH ALL THE FACTS (NEW AND OLD),
AND LITERALLY THE ONLY TRUE VIEW... IS THAT THIS IS A MADLY PROFITABLE and
HIGHLY TOXIC CULT
WHO ELSE WOULD BE SO SCARED OF THE TRUTH?
I would really like a chance to have a conversation with you. You can reach out at cindymason36@gmail.com if you have a minute. I could really use your advice!
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