Considered by some experts as the fraud of the 21st century, the self-help industry, also known as the happiness business,  generates more than 10 billion dollars a year in the United States, according to the American analytical firm Marketdata Enterprises. And only in Spain, the self-help book business generates nearly 120 million euros a year, according to the ISBN Agency. It even has relevance in the public sector, as according to data collected from the transparency portal, the Government of Spain has spent 166,859 euros in the last three years on mindfulness and meditation courses aimed at public administration officials.

In this context, Guru: the dark side of self-help premieres, the new podcast by Podimo that tells the story that occurred in October 2009 when dozens of people decided to attend a professional meeting in Arizona, a two-day seminar that promised to guide participants down the path of personal and professional success through dangerous practices. Three people died at that event. Thus begins the new Podimo podcast -produced by Wondery- that narrates the story of motivational speaker James Arthur Ray and how he ended up imprisoned for the homicide of several participants while following his strict methods for achieving a supposed personal improvement.

The current coronavirus pandemic has caused the self-help industry to continue its growing trend of recent years. Books, workshops, or motivational talks have spread in such a way across Latin America and parts of Europe that experts urge caution and claim that ‘if there are so many, it’s because none of them work’. Over the years, the industry has morphed into proponents such as the so-called ‘coaching cults’, organizations that guarantee you’ll reach all your goals through courses and workshops while you pay a high price for it. It’s the business of happiness.

‘Argentina Works’, ‘Mexworks’, ‘Creo Coaching’ or ‘Stratega’ are some of the ‘coaching cults’, classified as such by the media, that have carried out their activities in Latin America, corporations that convince their victims to pay large amounts of money for a supposed service, in an increasingly crowded market of guides, exercises, and techniques that are not backed by any method and with which they assure you ‘you will achieve everything you set out to do’. Regardless of moral, cultural, social, or political issues, the same case applies to everyone.

All share one main figure: the leader, a professional in recruitment, marketing, and in this case, the happiness market. A storyteller who uses persuasion and hides under the umbrella of ‘coaching’ to deceive their victims. 

“They tend to be people who come from the marketing world and offer you quick solutions. In the best case, they give you a series of packs they use for everyone, as if you were buying a service that might not be the most suitable or even counterproductive for your case,” clarifies David Pulido, a licensed psychologist.

These leaders control organizations regarded as cults that take advantage of the delicate emotional and economic situation of their victims and have taken a step further toward spiritual retreats and transformation experiences where dangerous health practices are carried out, such as those led by Arthur Ray.

Storytellers

Choi Yon Hee, Michael Lane, Keith Raniere, or James Arthur Ray are, among others, cult leaders and self-proclaimed gods in the international world of self-help. Ultimately, talented speakers who manage to attract large groups of people by promising them 100% effective results. Gurus or storytellers disguised as ‘coaches’, “charlatans from the moment there is no theoretical framework behind to solve a problem,” emphasizes Pulido. For the psychologist, personifying treatment in the figure of a single person can lead to more serious situations. “The moment we personify our treatment in one person and believe that what they tell us can save us, cults can arise,” he comments.

The Nxivm case is one of the most controversial in recent years within the Spanish-speaking world, the shadowy self-help group founded by Keith Raniere had branches in Mexico, Guatemala, or Canada. Raniere maintained that Nxivm was a personal improvement group but ended up arrested in Mexico for sex trafficking, forced labor, and was accused of building a pyramid scheme. People like Raniere or Arthur Ray disguised their organizations under the guise of self-help behind which frauds, deceptions, and supremacy are concealed.

“Today is a good day to die”

Kirby Brown is one of the three fatal victims of the ‘sweat shops’ of October 2009. Saunas where extreme temperatures were reached, which James Arthur offered as a means for self-improvement. Retreats that dozens of eager people attended to reach happiness, not without first paying over 9,000 dollars for it. Ginny, Kirby’s mother, is one of the protagonists of the upcoming podcast that you can listen to on Podimo.

James forged his career selling personal improvement books that propelled him to the Oprah Winfrey show. That earned him to continue gathering more followers and to engage in dangerous sweating practices, spiritual retreats where attendees shaved their heads, fasted for more than 36 hours, and walked on fire, practices that the leader assured were a further step in self-help. “Today is a good day to die” was Ray’s response to the plea of one of his victims inside the sauna. Ultimately, although Ray was convicted of homicide for the deaths of three people in these retreats, he only spent 2 years in prison and has been able to continue working to this day.

In ‘Guru: the dark side of self-help’ you will follow the official police investigation into the events that occurred in Arizona. The tragedy, the descent into hell, and the return of one of the most controversial self-help gurus in recent years.

What about Spain? 

In our country, it is currently not possible to have a rigorous census or reliably know the overall data on cults. There are no official data from the Ministry of the Interior or any public organization.  

However, there are associations (APETP, RIES, REDUNE, AIIAP, AIS) that study cults as a whole, which do include pseudotherapies, psychological abuse, etc., although none focus on the so-called coaching or self-help cults.

Miguel Perlado, psychotherapist and founding member of the Ibero-American Association for the Investigation of Psychological Abuse (AIIAP) has managed to establish reliable ratios in Spain: “It is estimated that there are 250-300 groups with cult-like behaviors in Spain and that affects 0.9-1% of the population, at the same level as in Europe. That is, 1% of the population of Spain could be within a cult organization, which would affect about 400,000 people in the country.”

In another study coordinated by Miguel Perlado (History Channel Iberia), a nationwide sample of 1,000 people yielded an estimate of six million Spaniards who in 2019 would have been in contact (directly or indirectly) with cults in Spain.

“This last study from HCI states: "To the question 'have you or someone close to you been in contact with any cult?' 12% of Spaniards declare that they have. This means that almost 6 million Spaniards have been in contact with what they believe to be a cult. It must be clarified that this data is relative, as it is likely they have been in contact with organizations that are officially not cults but religions".