Editing Large-group awareness training (section)

==Definitions of LGAT==
In 2005 Rubinstein compared large-group awareness training to certain principles of [[cognitive therapy]], such as the idea that people can change their lives by reinterpreting the way they view external circumstances.<ref>
{{Cite journal
  | last = Rubinstein
  | first = Gidi
  | author-link = Gidi Rubinstein
  | title = Characteristics of participants in the Forum, psychotherapy clients, and control participants: A comparative study
  | journal = Psychology and Psychotherapy: Theory, Research and Practice
  | volume = 78
  | issue = 4
  | pages = 481–492
  | publisher = [[British Psychological Society]]
  | year = 2005
  | url = https://semanticscholar.org/paper/17be6d08e0657abb7c3bb9fa3f77ec66f05035cc
  | doi = 10.1348/147608305X42721
  | issn=1476-0835
  | pmid = 16354440  | s2cid = 13599890
  | quote = In general, LGATs espouse the idea that people are capable of changing their lives, not so much by modifying their external circumstances, but by changing the way they interpret them (Berger, 1977; Erhard & Gioscia, 1978), which is in accord with the principles of cognitive therapy (e.g. Beck, Rush, Shaw, & Emery, 1985; Ellis, 1974; [[Donald Meichenbaum|Meichenbaum]], 1977). }}</ref>

In the 1997 collection of essays ''Consumer Research: Postcards from the edge'', discussing behavioral and economic studies, the authors contrast the "enclosed locations" used in Large Group Awareness Trainings with the relatively open environment of a "[[variety store]]".<ref>{{Cite book
  | last = Brown
  | first = Stephen I.
  |author2=Darach Turley
  | title = Consumer Research: Postcards from the edge
  | publisher = Routledge
  | year= 1997
  | pages = [https://archive.org/details/consumerresearch00brow/page/n295 279]
  | url = https://archive.org/details/consumerresearch00brow
  | url-access = limited
  | isbn = 0-415-17317-5}}
</ref>{{qn|date=February 2021}}<ref>
{{cite book
 | year = 1997
 | editor1-last = Brown
 | editor1-first = Stephen
 | editor2-last = Turley
 | editor2-first = Darach
 | title = Consumer Research: Postcards From the Edge
 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=mW-FAgAAQBAJ
 | location = London
 | publisher = Routledge
 | publication-date = 2005
 | isbn = 9781134690022
 | access-date = 13 July 2020
}}
</ref>{{qn|date=July 2020}}{{page needed|date=February 2021}}

The ''Handbook of Group Psychotherapy'' (1994) characterised LGAT as focusing on "philosophical, psychological and ethical issues" relating "to [[personal effectiveness]], [[decision-making]], [[personal responsibility]], and commitment."<ref>{{Cite book
  | last = Burlingame
  | first = Gary M.
  | title = Handbook of Group Psychotherapy: An Empirical and Clinical Synthesis
  | publisher = John Wiley and Sons
  | year= 1994
  | page = 535
  | isbn =  0-471-55592-4
  | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=DkstCYXmoAQC
  | access-date = 9 February 2021
  | quote = LGATs focus on philosophical, psychological, and ethical issues related to personal effectiveness, decision-making, personal responsibility, and commitment.
}}</ref><ref name="handbook">{{Cite book
  | last = Burlingame
  | first = Gary M.
  | title = Handbook of Group Psychotherapy: An Empirical and Clinical Synthesis
  | publisher = John Wiley and Sons
  | year= 1994
  | pages = 528, 532, 535, 539, 549, 550, 555, 556, 581, 583
  | isbn =  0-471-55592-4}}</ref>

[[Psychologist]] Dennis Coon's textbook, ''Psychology: A Journey'', defines the LGAT as referring to programs claiming "to increase [[self-awareness]] and facilitate constructive personal change".<ref>
{{cite book
|last= Coon
|first= Dennis
|title= Psychology: A Journey
|publisher= Thomson Wadsworth
|year= 2004
|page = 520
|isbn= 0-534-63264-5
|url= https://archive.org/details/psychologyjourne00coon/page/520
|quote = '''Large-group awareness training''' refers to programs that claim to increase self-awareness and facilitate constructive personal change.
}}</ref> Coon further defines Large Group Awareness Training in his book ''Introduction to Psychology''.<ref name="coonintroduction">{{Cite book
  | last = Coon
  | first = Dennis
  | title = Introduction to Psychology: Gateways to Mind and Behavior
  | publisher = Thomson Wadsworth
  | year=2003
  | pages = 648, 649, 655
  | isbn = 0-495-59913-1
}}</ref>{{qn|date=July 2020}} Coon and Mitterer emphasize the commercial nature of several LGAT organizations.<ref>{{cite book
 | last1 = Coon
 | first1 = Dennis
 | last2 = Mitterer
 | first2 = John O.
 | chapter = Therapies
 | title = Introduction to Psychology: Gateways to Mind and Behavior
 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=vw20LEaJe10C
 | series = CengageNOW Series
 | others = 12
 | publisher = Cengage Learning
 | date = 2010
 | page = 513
 | isbn = 9780495599111
 | access-date = 13 July 2020
 | quote = '''Large-group awareness training''' refers to programs that claim to increase self-awareness and facilitate constructive personal change. The Garden Company, Lifespring, the Forum, the Hoffman Quadrinity Process, and similar commercial programs are examples. ...  '''Large-group awareness training'''[:] Any of a number of programs (many of them commercialized) that claim to increase self-awareness and facilitate constructive personal change.
}}</ref>