PSI Seminars

PSI Seminars is a for-profit private company, that delivers self-improvement and personal development coursework.

History
Founded in 1973 by Thomas Wilhite and Jane Wilhite, the company is presently based out of Clearlake Oaks, California. Jane and Thomas Wilhite also founded the non-profit PSI World in 1973. Thomas Wilhite had previously worked under Alexander Everett, as an instructor at Mind Dynamics.

Organization
Jane Wilhite is the current president of PSI Seminars, and appears in public as a motivational speaker. Brenda Clark is the company's director of administrative resources.

According to Philanthropic Research Inc., both PSI World and PSI Seminars operate from the same address in Clearlake Oaks, California.

Courses
One course, offered by PSI Seminars, is solely for women, and was described by Keller as a "women's leadership seminar". According to Keller, the female participants in their seminar referred to their instructor as a "magnificent female guru".

Analyzed in secondary sources
Vahle's The Unity Movement cited PSI Seminars as one of nine growth organizations that grew out of Mind Dynamics. Other groups also cited by Vahle, as having been influenced by Mind Dynamics, included Erhard Seminars Training, The Forum, and Lifespring.

Stich and Russell compared the organization to EST, writing that it was "an EST type self-awareness and motivational organization." .

PSI Seminars has also been cited by authors of books on self-improvement, including Extreme Success, and Jack Canfield's The Success Principles (TM) .

The coursework of PSI Seminars was also analyzed in a 1983 study in the academic journal, Culture, Medicine and Psychiatry. The study examined the extent to which chronically ill members of the population in Hawaii sought out alternative methods of self care by utilizing nonprescribed treatment patterns. Philips described PSI World as a self-help program, and characterized Thomas Wilhite as a "pop psychologist". His work, Living Synergistically, published by PSI World, was cited in Kraft's Ways of the Desert. On federal court order, psychologist Margaret Singer attended seminars held by PSI World. Singer characterized the organization as a form of Large Group Awareness Training. In 1998, it was reported that Federal Bureau of Investigation background files on "PSI World Seminar's Graduate Volunteers" was obtained by the Clinton administration, along with many other individuals' information. This was part of a scandal later termed "Filegate".

In an episode of Larry King Live, guests Michael Beckwith, author Bob Proctor, and John DeMartini announced that they would be working together for two weeks at PSI Seminars. . Proctor spoke favorably of PSI Seminars on the program, stating: "I don't own the company, but it is the best course I've ever seen."