In the early 20th century, psychology emerged as a new discipline in the medical community to deal with how people were broken – hysteria, schizophrenia, personality disorders, etc. Freud, Jung, Adler, Rank, Watson and Skinner delved into the dark side of human nature to address human traumas and dysfunctions.
In mid century, Abraham Maslow, Carl Rogers, Fritz Perls and others popularized Humanistic Psychology. This endorses the idea that when individuals have moved past their personal trauma, they are free to actualize their innate gifts, capabilities and personal bests – their bright side.
Looking at life through the lens of the bright side was the foundation of The Human Potential Movement.
Adherents believe that the urge to become our best is innate in every individual. By opening to and actualizing this potential, humans can experience an exceptional quality of life filled with happiness, creativity and fulfillment. As grows the individual, so grows their capacity to assist others to release their potential. The net effect of individuals cultivating their personal bests is positive social change at large.
More about the Human Potential Movement
In the 1960′s, Esalen Institute was its hotbed.
A retreat center in Big Sur, California, it was – and is – dedicated to the exploration of human potential. Historical luminaries like Aldous Huxley, Joseph Campbell, Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, Joan Baez and countless others have gathered at Esalen to develop revolutionary ideas, transformative practices and innovative art forms to support the harmonious development of the whole person.
Over 500 workshops each year focus on the integration of humanistic psychology, bodily wellness and community-building. Subjects include: arts, Gestalt, ecopsychology, health, integral thought, martial arts, massage, dance, mythology, philosophical inquiry, somatics, spiritual and religious studies, yoga, mindfulness, permaculture and sustainability.
That Esalen is as vital today as it was 50 years ago attests to the enduring appeal of its purpose.
Models for Change
In the 1970′s and 1980′s, several large group awareness trainings emerged to facilitate personal transformation, empowerment and effective social engagement.
Erhard Seminars Training also known as est dealt with how people experience themselves.
Lifespring concentrated on how people experience each other.
NPL – neuro-linguistic programming accelerated therapy to identify and overcome self-limiting beliefs.
If there was a failing of The Human Potential Movement, it is that it lacked a central discipline or methodology.
It was believed early on that self actualization is so innate to human consciousness, that it will occur naturally if we simply get out of our own way. People need only empathy, unconditional positive regard and authenticity to attain their personal best.
Indeed, letting versus enforcing is its central tenet.
As a result, the Human Potential Movement fragmented into hundreds of approaches without ever becoming a coherent school of thought.
Personal Development Programs
So where does one find the Human Potential Movement today? Everywhere. Nowhere. In hundreds of personal development seminars and thousands of self help books. On hundreds of thousands of websites and blogs. In millions of personal hopes and dreams yet to be attained.
At its roots, each approach shares the vision that human potential is limitless and sees itself and others through the lens of the bright side.
Landmark Educationhas advanced the personal transformation of the Erhard Training Seminars into a global phenomenon.
NLP allows us to do magic by creating new ways of understanding how verbal and non-verbal communication affects the human brain. As such it presents us all with the opportunity to not only communicate better with others, but also learn how to gain more control over what we considered to be automatic functions of our own neurology.
Programs based on Lifespring include Momentus (which eventually became Association for Christian Character Development, or ACCD, and markets its training through the following courses: Discovery Seminar, Breakthrough Training, Living In One Accord Workshop, Global Life Works, and Gap Youth Training); Insight Seminars; Resource Realizations; The Great Life Foundation, Visionworks; The Impact Trainings; Harmony Institute; Spectrum Trainings; Phoenix2000, PhoenixArises, Vistar/Serendipity; M.I.T.T. (Mastery In Transformational Training); Summit Workshops (later The Summit Organization, both founded by Paul Larsen and operating out of California in the 1980s); Personal Dynamics; Choice Center in Las Vegas; Millennium 3; Asia Works; Argentina Works; Chile Works; MexWorks; Life Learning Ecuador; Perú LifeSymphony; WorldWorks; Líderes Visión Colombia; Personal Development Centers, LLC; Essential Education; Rising Star Communications; TLC — The Living Course; Humanus Institute; Mommentum; Impacto Vital; Accelerate Trainings. The Lifespring program was adapted for Russia and is known as Leadership Academy or Sinton. The new religious movement called Movement of Spiritual Inner Awareness has been referred to as an “offshoot” of Lifespring.
While the Human Potential Movement has its critics who say that it has bred a generation of self involved narcissists, its most fundamental beliefs are now mainstream.
People are the master’s of our destiny. We are the sum and substance of our choices and the stories we tell ourselves about ourselves. Our lives do not happen to us; they unfold through us. Each of us has a gift to share, a song to sing, a unique perspective that is instrumental to the unfolding of the whole. Each of us has the power to change, to rewrite our life story and in so doing to help change the story of developing consciousness that is life on Earth.
Dr. Wayne Dyer, Deepak Chopra, Louise Hay, Tony Robbins are among its most renowned students.
A person essentially assist to make seriously posts I would state. This is the first time I frequented your web page and up to now? I amazed with the analysis you made to create this actual submit incredible. Magnificent task!
Thanks for your comment.
After reading your article I was immediatly reminded of “When defeat comes, accept it as a signal that your plans are not sound, rebuild those plans, and set sail once more toward your coveted goal.” — Napoleon Hill