One of the biggest criticisms that Landmark Education gets is that most of its workers are volunteers.
It’s called the Assisting Program, and during the time I spent at Landmark, the people there insisted that it was NOT volunteering.
Here’s how it’s supposed to work: When you become an assistant, you commit to your task by stating what you want to create in your life outside Landmark as a result of your assisting. It could be a home or work project, a reconciliation with a family member, running a marathon, or whatever. Because you’re getting something out of your assisting in this way, they don’t call it volunteering.
People love assisting because it gives Landmark people a chance to be together and work toward the transformation of others. Ideally, you get to keep working on your own transformation – it’s like taking a LE course for free, basically. That, I think, is the greatest allure. If you want to have the Landmark Education experience every day of your life, the place to do it is in the Assisting Program.
But there’s also a strange logic to assisting. I discovered this when I reached out to one of my Landmark friends for coaching on money. I told her I was under a lot of debt and having a hard time keeping up with my daily expenses. I didn’t have a full-time job. I wanted help creating more structure around money.
Guess what the answer was? Assisting. In addition to the coaching I was already doing for the Self-Expression and Leadership Program, I could assist in the finance department of my local LE center and gain some power around money that way. It sounded interesting and logical. I said yes.
But that was the worst thing I could have done. I wasn’t making any money, and I was further wasting my time. I did a lot of good for Landmark and they appreciated me for that, but my life outside was starting to get bleak. What I really needed was a job, and no one had the heart to tell me that.
And did I mention that I racked up all my debt paying for Landmark courses?
Nine months later, at the end of it all, I was thousands of dollars in the hole with no job and clinically depressed. Now what? Do I go back and assist some more? Is that supposed to be the answer?
Every time I entered a credit card number into the machine during that assisting period, I was supposed to imagine that the money was going into my bank account.
It wasn’t.
never going back to the promised land 
I 100% agree with your comments on the Assisting Program.
Several years ago, I did Landmark Education’s courses. I did Landmark Forum. I did the Advanced Course. I did Self-Expression and Leadership. And I did several evening courses. I couldn’t get enough of what I was learning here. So I decided to join the Landmark Assisting program.
Big mistake.
Just by way of background, I had recovered from a significant health challenge a few years earlier – and by significant, I mean I was told I had six months to live. That was in 2005. And while I didn’t die, my finances certainly did.
So when the Landmark Assisting Program came along with its promise of addressing whatever I needed to, I was IN!
It was a promise that turned out to be hollow. Actually, not even hollow – my finances would have been far better if I had NOT joined the program.
I was approached by one of the staff members, who invited me to join Luke Gilford Workshops, at the cost of several thousand dollars. I can only describe the recruitment process as predatory and manipulative – there were some mock interviews, and before I knew it I was heading on a plane to the Gold Coast (Australia) to take part in a very expensive workshop – one that I couldn’t afford, and I certainly wasn’t in a position to speculate in real estate! It was a stupid mistake on my part, but bear in mind, I was vulnerable, and very very open to the possibility of having my finances transformed.
I simply couldn’t pay the bill. Luke Gilford Workshops transferred the debt to a debt collector, and I’ve been pursued by them for the last few years. My credit rating is down the toilet, and I very much doubt I’ll ever one *one* house, let alone multiple pieces of real estate. So much for transforming my finances. (Actually, my finances were transformed – they went completely down the toilet in a way I hadn’t imagined they could. Well done, Landmark!)
Anne-Marie Brown, the manager of the Landmark Centre in Melbourne at the time, said that she might phone me – *might* – as Landmark was busy rebranding itself.
I never got a call.
I was terminated from the assisting program abruptly. It seemed as if I was being flung out of Landmark in case my predicament embarrassed any of the staff – you know, the staff who promise not to involve participants in any financial transaction.
I felt my lifeline was cut. No more transformation for me.
I briefly shared some of my experiences with a group of Landmark graduates on Facebook, but it was pointless – everything was swept under a rug, and absolutely no resolution was forthcoming.
As a direct consequence of my involvement in Landmark Education, my finances are far worse than ever before. I am constantly harassed by bill collectors, and the debt from Luke Gilford Workshops was transferred to a debt collector. Nice that you’re worth $40 million, Luke, but I don’t know I can ever afford to repay a few thousand dollars. I can’t afford dental treatment, even though I desperately need a root canal and a crown. Greed is good? Someone else’s greed has destroyed my life.
Now I don’t think I’ll ever be in a place where I’ll have any financial freedom. I don’t think I’ll ever be in a place where I’ll have any financial resources. And at the age of 54, that is positively scary.
So, yes, I’m venting. But I needed a circuit breaker. I’ve found that Landmark Education talks a great game about integrity, except when it comes to them. No one from Landmark Education has contacted me to resolve any of this – as far as they’re concerned, it’s as if I don’t exist.
So I’m calling bullshit on Landmark’s promise of financial improvement from the assisting program.
I’m calling bullshit on Landmark’s promise of transformation.
I’m calling bullshit on Landmark’s integrity.
I’m calling bullshit on Landmark, full stop.
Joining the Landmark assisting program was by far the worst decision I *ever* made, and my advice to anyone who would listen: stay away. Stay WELL away.