Home - John Hunter PHD

SOUTH AFRICAN RESEARCHER AND LECTURER

WITH RESEARCH INTERESTS IN BIPOLAR DISORDER,

LARGE GROUP AWARENESS TRAINING (LGAT)

AND UNETHICAL INFLUENCE.

John Hunter Ph.D.

Dr. Hunter teaches undergraduate and postgraduate students in research methods and psychology, and – as someone who lives with bipolar disorder himself – provides educational workshops and consults to family members and friends of those with the illness.

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About Me

My Story

Dr. John Hunter is a South African researcher and lecturer, based in Johannesburg. His interest in large group awareness trainings (LGATs) – and their impact on mood and psychosis – is grounded in his personal experience of bipolar disorder and his participation in an LGAT in 2010. In 2017, he completed a Ph.D. in psychology at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, proposing a neurobiological explanation for the relationship between LGAT conditions and results. Specifically, Dr. Hunter put forward the dopaminergic-defense hypothesis, offering insights into both: (i) the “transformational” experiences associated with LGAT participation; and (ii) the common claims of psychological harm and problematic behaviour associated with participation. In 2022, Dr. Hunter published an article explaining the dopaminergic defense in the Journal for the Cognitive Science of Religion (Hunter, 2022), in July 2023 he presented this work at the annual International Cultic Studies Association (ICSA) conference in Louisville, Kentucky, and in June 2024 acted as an expert witness in a United States federal court regarding the use of LGATs in the Troubled Teen Industry. Dr. Hunter’s first book, Manufacturing Mania: The Dopamine Hypothesis of Religious Experience, is complete and is now available.

Education

2017

University of KwaZulu-Natal

Doctor of Philosophy (Psychology)

2008

University of Johannesburg

Post-graduate Diploma in Advanced Banking Law

2001

University of Cape Town

Bachelor of Business Science (Finance)

Industry Skills

Research Supervision

%

Lecturing

%

Quantitative Research

%

Qualitative Research

%

My Work

Work relating to LGATs & Bipolar Disorder

Raising awareness of suicide in men and challenging mental health stigma with former Bafana Bafana player, Siboniso Gaxa (October 2024).

Dr John Hunter of the psychology department at Vasity College in Sandton shares knowledge with the learners of Afrika Tikkun on the importance of mental health during Mandela Day

Expert Witness in US Federal Court

Court Orders Spring Ridge Academy
to Pay Over $2.5 Million

In June 2024, I testified in a lawsuit filed against Spring Ridge Academy, one of many "schools for troubled teens" that had been using LGAT workshops on vulnerable adolescents for decades. This "school" was found liable of fraud and constructive fraud, and ordered to pay over $2.5 million in damages. Spring Ridge Academy is no longer operating, but many similar "schools" remain.

Former student expresses joy!

A former Spring Ridge Academy student describes the relief and joy in seeing those running this "school" being held accountable... but notes that there is still a lot of work to be done in exposing abuse in the Troubled Teen Industry.

Professor Janice Haaken, myself, Kimberly Sweidy (plaintiff and co-counsel), and Mara Allard (lead counsel)

Ph.D. Dissertation

Detailed explanation of LGATs

My Ph.D. provides a detailed explanation of LGATs – their history, their processes, and the “transformational” experiences they elicit. LGAT conditions and results are compared with the triggers and symptoms of bipolar disorder, and a neurobiological explanation for LGAT results is offered. READ MORE

Other Selected Publications

Short article on LGATs

Large group awareness training (LGAT) is the generic term used to describe a type of “transformational” seminar that typically takes place over a few days to a week. At least four million people on six continents have participated in some form of these trainings since they were popularised in San Francisco in the 1970s.
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Interview with Matt Dooley

In this interview, Dr. Hunter describes what an LGAT is, the undue influence these groups appear to exercise over participants, and his intriguing theory about the role that dopamine plays in these groups. In particular, he investigates how stress, sleep deprivation, and reward are used to manipulate participants’
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Journal article

Published in 2022 in the Journal for the Cognitive Science of Religion, this article outlines the dopaminergic defense hypothesis – the neurobiological mechanism by which stress can result in “peak experiences” in most people. There is evidence that dopaminergic excitation contributes to certain religious experiences
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LGATs and Fight Club

In 1989 Chuck Palahniuk participated in a controversial type of “personal development” seminar, known generically as a large group awareness training (LGAT) and, according to Palahniuk, this seminar inspired him to become a writer. In the two decades since Fight Club was published and released, film reviewers,
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