The Landmark Forum - Life Changer or Cult? (Part 2 of 2)

by Maggie Sakko

So, back to the Landmark Forum. What did I think?

Landmark began in America in the 1970s, and has evolved somewhat over the years. To a cynical Australian like me, some of it made me cringe: the concept of ‘group therapy’, the odd language, and the sometimes evangelical way the information was delivered.

Landmark does not advertise, so all their business comes through word of mouth. We were encouraged in incredibly strong terms, many times, to get all our friends and family, colleagues and strangers off the street on board as well.

I think that there is a genuine altruistic wish to have as many people as possible experience the difference Landmark can make to their lives, however let’s not forget they are running a business as well.

There was an extra evening 2 days after the Forum ended where we were asked to invite friends and family to share what we had got out of the Forum. This was a thinly veiled recruitment drive. The room was crawling with smiling volunteers all ready to pounce on your loved ones and pull them in too.

It was pushed far too strongly for my taste, and was a real turn-off.

We were also urged to ring people up during our breaks in the Forum, to share the breakthroughs we were having, or to mend broken relationships using our newly acquired tools. They even wanted us to ring people when we’d arrived home at night, which in my case was 11.15pm!

For me, the risk of giving my mother a heart attack over a phonecall at that hour (since when are they anything but horrible news?) was not outweighed by my need to share the revelation I’d just had.

A different kind of landmark...

For all that, it was genuinely the most amazing thing I have ever done.

I wouldn’t have believed that I could sit still for that long, listening to just one person speak. But the hours flew. Our forum leader Paul was incredible - funny and very engaging. Apparently the leaders have between 3 and 7 years of training before they are let loose on a roomful of people on their own. 

Once he was coaching someone up the front of the room, he was completely focused on them and their story and helping them to ‘get’ what he was trying to teach them. For one woman this took nearly 2 hours! After he’d finished talking with them, people actually looked different. Younger, or lighter, or something.

At the end of the 3 days, I was wearing ‘the Landmark grin’. I felt wonderful. I should have been exhausted, but I was exhilarated. This feeling has dissipated somewhat over the past few weeks, but amazingly the effects of the Forum haven’t.

Here’s what has happened:

I have stopped shouting at my kids. Pretty much.

I am more forthright and decisive.

I listen really carefully to what other people say.

I am better at seeing others’ points of view.

And I am not scared of making bad decisions.

Not bad for 3 days work.

So yes, there are definite drawbacks - in particular the heavy handedness of the recruitment process. But, despite that, I am happy enough with the results so that my son is going to do it next year – they have a special Landmark Forum for kids – and my husband wants to do it too.

I guess that says enough.

For more reviews of the Forum, check here.