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. READ MORE
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’ READ MORE
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 READ MORE
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, READ MORE
