An acronym for Erhard Seminar Training. A form of
psychotherapy based on the "theories" of Werner Erhard (ne Jack Rosenberg, a
one-time sales manager). The procedure consists of large group sessions of
rather extraordinary intensity. For up to 60 hours several hundred people are
gathered in a large hall and subjected to physical privation, guided (some would
say forced) meditation, and fervent diatribes on the EST way to "get in touch"
with one's inner sense of personal responsibility. It would be remiss not to add
here a cautionary note -- the EST program is more of a mass psychological
religion than a true therapeutic procedure (it has been called "the McDonald's
of Zen"), and the pressure and intensity of an EST session holds genuine dangers
for
persons with severe emotional problems.