Therapeutic
-
Gentle Wind Project (c. 1980)
The Gentle Wind Project (GWP) was founded around 1980 in Arlington, Massachusetts, by John “Tubby” Miller and Claudia Panuthos, who later went by Mary “Moe” Miller. In 1983 it was formalized as a Maine nonprofit, and the following year it moved its headquarters to Kittery, Maine, where core members lived together while running what they… Continue reading
-
Friends Landing (1985)
Friends Landing was a spiritual and personal development organization founded by Susan Kilborne Musumeci, who used several names during her career, including WhiteWind Swan Fisher, WhiteWind Weaver, and Anahata Graceland. She operated the group with her husband, Ben Fisher. Formally known as Friends Landing International Centers for Conscious Living, the organization maintained an office in… Continue reading
-
Freedomain Radio (2004)
Stefan Molyneux is a Canadian Internet personality who founded Freedomain Radio, one of the internet’s earliest and longest-running political podcasts. He has been described as a white nationalist, a promoter of scientific racism, a men’s rights figure, and a leader of the alt-right. Several journalists and cult awareness organizations have also characterized Freedomain Radio as… Continue reading
-
Foundation of Human Understanding (1961)
The Foundation of Human Understanding was founded in Los Angeles in 1961 by Roy Masters. Born Reuben Obermeister on April 2, 1928, to a Jewish family of diamond cutters in London, Masters worked as a diamond expert in England, South Africa, and Belgium before immigrating to the United States in 1949. During his early adulthood,… Continue reading
-
Findhorn Foundation (1962)
The Findhorn Foundation, a spiritual community and ecovillage in Moray, Scotland, originated from a small group of spiritual seekers in the mid-20th century. In the late 1940s, Sheena Govan began acting as an informal spiritual teacher to a circle that included her husband, Peter Caddy, and Dorothy Maclean. Eileen Caddy, trained in the “quiet times”… Continue reading
-
Exodus International (1976)
Exodus International was a Christian organization founded in 1976 that became the leading organization within the “ex-gay” movement. Exodus maintained that through prayer, pastoral counseling, and reparative therapy, individuals could change or suppress their sexual orientation. By 2006, the organization served as an administrative network for more than 250 local ministries across the United States… Continue reading
-
est (1971)
Erhard Seminars Training (est) was founded in 1971 by Werner Erhard and became a prominent organization within the Human Potential Movement of the 1970s. The program offered a structured course called “The est Standard Training,” typically delivered over two consecutive weekends and totaling about 60 hours. It aimed to produce a cognitive shift described as… Continue reading
-
Esperianism/Expedited Scientology (2018)
Esperianism is an unauthorized offshoot of Scientology founded by Justin Alan Craig, who claims to be the living reincarnation of L. Ron Hubbard. While Esperianism incorporates many core Scientology concepts, it presents itself as a refined and expedited version of the original framework, aimed at a new generation within the “Freezone,” a network of independent… Continue reading
-
Esalen Institute (1962)
The Esalen Institute was established in 1962 on the Big Sur coastline of California on land originally inhabited by the Esselen tribe, from which it took its name. By the late 19th century, the property had become a destination for tourists seeking the therapeutic benefits of its natural hot springs, then known as Slates Hot… Continue reading
-
Endeavor Academy (1992)
Endeavor Academy, legally established in 1992 as the New Christian Church of Full Endeavor, is an international spiritual community and seminary based in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin. The organization centers its teachings on A Course in Miracles (ACIM), a psychological and spiritual self-study program first published in the 1970s. Founded by Charles Buell Anderson, the Academy… Continue reading
-
Élan School (1970)
The Élan School was a private residential behavior modification program and therapeutic boarding school that operated from 1970 until 2011. Located on a 33-acre campus in Poland, Maine, it was a member of the National Association of Therapeutic Schools and Programs and presented itself as a facility for teenagers who had not responded to other… Continue reading
-
Educo (c. 1970)
Tony Quinn was born in Dublin in 1946 and initially worked as a salesman and apprentice butcher before moving into yoga and hypnotherapy. By the early 1970s, he had established communal living arrangements in Templeogue and Howth, where followers lived under his direction. During this period, early controversy emerged as Quinn claimed he could treat… Continue reading
-
Divine Madness Running Club (c. 1990)
The Divine Madness Running Club, also known as “The Community,” is a spiritual organization that places ultramarathon running at the center of its approach to personal development. The club was founded by Marc Tizer in Boulder, Colorado, during the late 1970s and evolved into the Divine Madness Running Club by the early 1990s. Before founding… Continue reading
-
Dianova (1974)
The drug rehabilitation group Le Patriarche, now known as Dianova International, was founded in France in 1974 by Lucien Engelmajer in Saint-Paul-sur-Save, near Toulouse. Its name referenced the founder’s surname, and it adopted a communal living model centered on drug-free withdrawal without chemical substitutes. During the 1970s and 1980s, the association expanded as specialized treatment… Continue reading
-
Desteni (c. 2007)
Desteni was founded sometime in the middle of the first decade of the 2000s by Bernard Poolman, a former police detective from Namibia. The group developed as an online-based political and spiritual movement that built a global network of followers. It presented itself as a self-help and social justice initiative, though former members and researchers… Continue reading
-
Dahn Yoga (1985)
Dahn Yoga, now known as Body & Brain, is a mind-body training system founded in 1985 by Ilchi Lee, born Seung Heun Lee. The system teaches what it calls “Brain Education,” a proprietary exercise program that combines elements of yoga, tai chi, and martial arts with traditional Korean healing philosophies. The term “Dahn” refers to… Continue reading
-
Cosmic Ordering (2001)
Cosmic ordering is a belief system centered on positive thinking that gained a following around the start of the current century. The practice, which has roots in the New Thought movement of a century earlier, holds that individuals can achieve personal or professional goals by clearly stating them as “orders” to the universe. Followers typically… Continue reading
-
Church of Eden (1996)
The Church of Eden was founded by JC Gordon after he experienced a near-death experience in 1996. Gordon, who describes himself as a “Spiritual Futurist,” defines the church’s mission as the dissolution of fear, which it calls the “hidden operating system that has enslaved humanity for over 6,000 years.” It presents itself as existing outside… Continue reading
-
Challenge Day (1987)
The Challenge Day program, sometimes stylized as “ChallengeDay,” was founded by Rich Dutra-St. John and Yvonne St. John-Dutra in 1987 as a one-day workshop designed to promote empathy and connection among middle- and high-school students. Originally run as 14-hour Saturday marathons, the program was later reshaped into a six-and-a-half-hour school-day format to make it easier… Continue reading
-
Centrepoint (1977)
Centrepoint was a commune established in Albany, New Zealand, in 1977 by Herbert “Bert” Potter. At its height, around 275 people lived on the property, making it one of the largest alternative communities in the country. It drew middle-class families searching for support, intimacy, and alternative approaches to living. While initially seen as a social… Continue reading
-
Cambridge Psychotherapy Institute (1973)
The Cambridge Psychotherapy Institute (CPI) was founded in 1973 by Peter Gill to train therapists according to Gill’s distinct philosophy. The organization, which initially had about 80 members, was first based in Gill’s home in Newton, Massachusetts, later relocating to the town of Marblehead. Gill started his career as a school psychologist in Newton from… Continue reading
-
Breatharianism (c. 1980)
Breatharianism, also known as inedia, is the belief that a person can survive without consuming food or water, instead subsisting on prana or “life-force energy.” While the notion has roots in ancient spiritual traditions and appeared in a 17th century esoteric text, it is today associated primarily with the claims of two modern individuals. Wiley… Continue reading
-
Andrew Blake (c. 2002)
Andrew Blake was born in Virginia in 1983 and became immersed in the world of online fandoms in the early days of the Internet. Around 1999, the teenage Blake began posting on “Star Trek: Voyager” fan boards under the handle “Strwriter,” claiming to be a brilliant 15-year-old college student who was also an actor and… Continue reading
-
Bikram Yoga (c. 1971)
Bikram Yoga is a system of hot yoga introduced by Bikram Choudhury in the United States in the early 1970s. Classes typically take place in a yoga studio with the temperature set to 105° F (41° C) with a humidity of 40%, which is said to emulate the climate of India. The rooms are usually… Continue reading
-
Avatar (1986)
Avatar, also called the “Avatar Course,” is a self-development program founded by Harry Palmer in 1986, operated through his company Star’s Edge. Since its inception, Avatar has expanded globally, with its materials translated into over 30 languages and reportedly reaching over 100,000 participants in more than 150 countries. Palmer was born in 1944 and after… Continue reading