The founder of the direction of personal growth training is the Englishman Alexander Everett. “Mind Dynamics” (Dynamics of Mind) training and subsequently the company of the same name was founded by Alexander Everett in 1968 in Texas, USA. Alexander Everett’s training was the forerunner and prototype of the training “personal growth, awareness of the truths of life, leadership practice and team effectiveness”, which appeared later in the United States. Alexander Everett, originally from England, came to America in 1962. Participating for seven years in the organization and development of the Fort Worth County Day School, A. Everett completed in 1968 the work that formed the basis of training in sensations aimed at unlocking the human potential of Mind Dynamics (Dynamics of the Mind) , which later became the prototype of EST training (EST), Lifespring (Lifespring), Actualizations (Actualization) and some other training organizations that continued their development in the 1980s. Mind Dynamics has its roots in the various strands of spiritual and personal growth that Everett has studied since leaving England. A. Everett gives primary influence on the philosophy of his training to the works of Edgar Cayce, Rosicrucianism, Egyptology, the Silva method. The result of the work was a four-day training, which largely consisted of practical exercises. The training gained its popularity primarily in California, where Alexander Everett was soon invited to present his work. The result of this trip was that the headquarters of Mind Dynamics moved in 1970 to San Francisco. Everett has brought up a galaxy of young coaches.
The Mind Dynamics training was a success for its creator and caught the attention of William Penn Patrick, owner of a cosmetics chain called “Holiday Magic”. This man was also the owner of the training company “Leadership Dynamics”. Soon after, in 1970, he purchased Everett’s training, hoping to use it as an additional training tool for his distributors. Werner Erhard founded EST in 1971, which later developed into The Forum. Subsequently, this company developed into an international corporation Landmark Education with centers in the USA, Europe, Australia, Africa and Asia. Continuing his search for new knowledge, Alexander Everett in 1974 went on a trip to Russia and India to study and research Eastern philosophy and religion. In 1977, he began teaching his Inward Bound seminars (“The Way to the Self” / another translation – “Inner Limits” Alexander Everett’s seminar “The Way to the Self” takes place over two full days. In addition to this seminar, he also taught the Life, Love and Light, this is a seven-day process of meditation.In October 2000, Alexander Everett for the first time after a 10-year break comes to Russia and, with the support of the NOU “OKC Avatar”, conducts two seminars “The Way to Yourself” (“Inward Bound”). were first introduced by the Lifespring Foundation, an organization founded by the wife of Lifespring co-founder John Hanley, Candace Hanley, in 1989. About a year before Lifespring’s first Core Course in Moscow a group of American tourists arrived in Russia, intending to raft on one of the Ural rivers.This group included the wife of the founder of the corporation La yfspring (Lifespring corp.), Candice Henley. During this trip to the Urals, the American and Russian participants came up with the idea of holding a trial Lifespring training in Russia. After the successful premiere of trainings in Moscow, the Spring of Life Charitable Foundation is created (one of the translations from English is “Lifespring”). To conduct their trainings, the Americans bring their own trainers and at the same time begin training Russian trainers, among whom is a graduate of the trainings Roman Tikhonov. The training material begins to include such sections of knowledge as “Practical course of the Master of Business Administration”, “Tactical and strategic planning”, “Motivation of company employees / team members and team management in crisis and force majeure situations”, “Eisenhower Matrix”, “Pareto principle”, change management, resolution of disputable and conflict situations in the team, self-learning organization, leadership practice and much more. The trainings devote considerable time to issues related to internal motivation, the ability to interact with negative results, self-generation, self-esteem growth, and effective interpersonal communication. The educational process uses the most effective techniques of innovative game theory, Gestalt therapy, NLP, psychodrama, Eric Berne’s transactional analysis and much more. . In domestic literatureauthors covering theoretical and practical problems of S.p. That is, they use this term very widely and designate, in fact, a whole branch of applied social psychology. Considering S. p. as “a psychological impact at the group level in the framework of helping mentally healthy people” (Petrovskaya L.A., 1982), they refer to it sensitivity training, personal growth groups, etc., i.e. personal training groups. Such an extension of the concept of S.p. that is, if it is methodologically justified (every group process is a socio-psychological phenomenon, methodological and technical methods borrow from each other different types of training groups), then it is hardly expedient, since it introduces terminological confusion. The term S.p., which is well-established in our country. t. was introduced by German psychologists to designate programs aimed at acquiring socio-psychological experience and increasing socio-psychological competence in the process of group interaction. Group methods of such orientation have other names: active socio-psychological training, active social training, laboratory training, etc. The overall goal of S.p. t. – increasing competence in the field of communication – is specified by various tasks solved in its process. Depending on the priority of the tasks to which the S.p. i.e. it can take different forms. The whole variety of these forms can be conditionally divided into 2 large classes:
1) focused on the acquisition and development of special skills, for example, the ability to conduct a business conversation, resolve interpersonal conflicts, etc.;
2) aimed at deepening the experience of analyzing situations of communication, for example, correction, formation and development of attitudes necessary for successful communication, developing the ability to adequately perceive oneself and other people, and analyze situations of group interaction.
The process of acquiring new skills and experience is carried out with the active participation of group members. The principle of activity, which is realized in S.p. that is, it does not involve the assimilation of ready-made knowledge and techniques, but the independent development of more effective communication skills. Another important principle of S.p. t. – the principle of feedback, on which the acquisition of a new perceptual, emotional and cognitive experience is built. In practice, S. p. i.e., the conditions that are a necessary prerequisite for constructive feedback are empirically identified, for example, the descriptive rather than evaluative nature of feedback, its immediacy, specificity, relevance to the needs of both the recipient and the sender, and its implementation in the context of the group. S.p. t. is carried out in groups of 8-12 people under the guidance of a psychologist who has undergone special training. Typically, the cycle of classes is designed for 30-50 hours, but its duration can vary depending on the nature of the tasks being solved. At the same time, experience shows that short sessions (less than 20–24 hours) do not allow one to fully implement the optimal S.p. program. m. and reduce its effectiveness. Classes can be held at intervals of 1 – 3 days (with an average duration of each session of 3 hours).
But a more effective form of organizing work is a “marathon” (several classes in a row for 8-10 hours). In the process of S. p. various methodological techniques are used: group discussion (basic methodological technique), role-playing games, non-verbal techniques, etc. The use of video recording during classes significantly increases the effectiveness of S.p. i.e., providing participants with objective feedback along with the feedback received from other members of the group. S.p. T. has become widespread primarily as an integral part of the training of specialists in various fields – managers, teachers, doctors, psychologists, trade workers, etc. The training of specialists in the field of psychotherapy, which involves the use of active teaching methods in group forms, also includes S. p. etc. Competence in communication is one of the essential components of a successful professional activity of a psychotherapist The ability to establish emotional contact, organize a communication space, identify an emotional state according to the expressive characteristics of behavior, create a favorable “climate of communication”, listen to and understand the patient, control one’s own expressive behavior (posture, facial expressions, gestures), argumentation, to express one’s point of view, to resolve conflict, problem situations – this is an incomplete list of skills necessary for a psychotherapist. Mastering them and gaining experience in their more effective application in practice is the task of S.p. v. for psychotherapists. In group classes with the help of role-playing games, mistakes made in communicating with the patient can be identified and analyzed, experience is gained in conducting a clinical conversation, and the emotional state is corrected. An equally important task of S.p. t., carried out in the system of training psychotherapists, – the identification of behavioral stereotypes characteristic of group members.
With stereotypes that impede successful communication interfere with the professional activities of a psychotherapist, however, stereotypes that contribute to success in ordinary communication should be reflected on, since they may turn out to be undesirable in professional activities. Along with the implementation of specific for S. p. tasks in such groups, as well as in the conduct of training sessions of other types, in the process of direct group interaction, knowledge is acquired in the field of psychology of the individual, group, communication, relationships that develop between people, the ability to adequately and fully perceive oneself and other people develops, increases sensitivity to group processes and develop skills to use this experience in their professional activities.