First value of the Seek Safely Promise calls for self-help professionals to be TRUTHFUL:
1. Truthful. Consumers will receive accurate information about the author’s, leader’s or speaker’s professional degrees, credentials and experience.
As we have rolled out the Promise and shared it with self-help professionals and self-help seekers, we’ve gotten many questions about this concept. Are we saying that a self-help “guru” has to be extremely well-educated, with multiple degrees, in ordered to be considered legit? Quite simply, NO.
You don’t have to be book smart to be a good leader. Copyright by Moyan Brenn.
At Spiritual Warrior, Ray billed the sweat lodge as a test of endurance. But in fact, the sweat lodge is meant to be a purifying and healing ritual. The Spiritual Warrior retreat cost over $10,000. While donations or offerings are common in a true sweat lodge, Native Americans would never charge money for a sweat lodge, as participants may then feel compelled to “get their money’s worth” and push themselves beyond their physical boundaries. And perhaps most importantly, the leader of a traditional Native American sweat lodge undergoes extensive (as in, years) training and apprenticeship to be qualified to lead a sweat. This isn’t formal, institutional training that results in a degree, but it’s equally important to ensure that the leader is highly experienced before people entrust their lives to him. Ray had no such training. *** The purpose of the Promise is twofold: we want self-help professionals to be upfront and keep the safety of seekers foremost, and we want seekers to consider questions they should ask to keep themselves safe. A leader who is truthful doesn’t need to have a Ph.D., but he does need to be transparent about the experiences and training that qualify him to give seeker the experience he has promised them. Seekers have a right to expect that openness, and a right to receive honest answers if they question their leader. To self-help professionals: Will you be honest and open about your credentials and qualifications? Sign the Promise now. To self-help seekers: Do you know if your leader is qualified to give you the experience he or she is promising? Encourage your gurus to sign onto the Promise today!
