Every employee in the management of Holiday Magic were then expected to take part in the Leadership Dynamics coursework,[2] which was described as having "overtones of strict military training techniques."
[2] Though he claimed Leadership Dynamics was a separate company, "..in no way related to Holiday Magic, Inc.", author Gene Church pointed out many inconsistencies in this statement.
This extreme training involved subjecting course participants to abusive practices such as beating, food and sleep deprivation, being placed inside of coffins, and degrading sexual acts.
[8] The non-fiction book, The Pit: A Group Encounter Defiled described some of these practices in great detail,[2] and this was later made into a film, Circle of Power.
[10] Chris Mathe, at the time a Ph.D. candidate in clinical psychology, wrote that most of today's current forms of Large-Group Awareness Training were modeled after the Leadership Dynamics Institute.