NAFPS Selections: Lenora's Ripoff pt. 1

[From the New Age Frauds and Plastic Shamans forum, by "Sandy S," March 31, 2014]:

 Lenora's Ripoff pt. 1

If you perform a Google search on "Psychology of Vision" or the Spezzanos in short order you will run across websites and posts (some of them now gone) introducing POV with titles like Grifters Hotel, Cult Education Forum, Bad Ads, Taking Advantage of Seeking a Better Life, our own New Age Frauds Plastic Shamans, Plastic Healers, Lency Spezzano's Junk Science Jamboree, and Ripoff Report. Not exactly the kind of publicity any business retailing spiritual enlightenment would desire, but there it is.

POV has gained more than a few critics, and it isn't because these "rebel" thinkers are part of dark shadowy forces as Charles Lee Spezzano would have his lucrative paying customer base believe. Remember reading in history about the "Age of Enlightment"? It was also known as "The Age of Reason." The term "enlightenment" belongs to the critical thinkers, not charlatan capitalists who are marketing tired old retreads of Oneness University practices and platitudes. Charles Lee Spezzano's use of the term "rebel" suggests he considers himself an authoritarian figure.

Yet Charles Lee Spezzano and Lenora Kay Spezzano claim POV is not a cult?

Even other practitioners in the business of spiritual healing are wary of Psychology of Vision. Although this is not really my cup of tea I am willing to agree there are people in that field who are sincere and walk their talk. Live and let live, except when people get victimized, is my creed. As Grifters Hotel always said, this is about behaviour, not belief.

Dave Oshana--

Quote

    "A false teacher will provide entertainment based around ritual much like Morris Cerullo's Christian Healing Crusades. Chuck Spezzano's Psychology of Vision events use emotional songs and on-stage enactments of forgiveness with surrogate parents. Rebirth is a common theme in Ancient Mystery Schools including Freemasonry and Christianity.

    Exciting parlour tricks seen on the advaita scene are the classic 'advaita shuffle', 'Who's in?', 'The Three Card Find the "I"' trick and 'Truth, dare or promise'. These devices are fail-safes. If they don't work in producing awakening (and they typically don't in the hands of an unawakened teacher) they at least provide entertainment, bewilderment and confusion. The Zen equivalent of these 'slick-tricks' (as Andrew Cohen calls them but avows to never use) are koans, tea ceremonies and kwat slaps."
http://www.nonduality.com/hl929.htm

Rasha--

Quote

    "The book entitled Oneness, which I transcribed, is not associated in any way with any other teacher, guru, or organization that may also be using the name 'Oneness.'  I have, thankfully, never received 'deeksha' or a so-called 'Oneness Blessing' from anyone affiliated with POV or the group in India calling themselves 'Oneness University.' I do not wish to have unsuspecting, sincere spiritual seekers confuse the pure teachings of Oneness, who some people consider to be God, with the agenda of that organization."

http://psychologyofvision.blogspot.com/2017/10/rashas-displeasure-with-psychology-of.html
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Kelly Tobey-- In a ratings list of spiritual-oriented workshops, Charles and Lenora Spezzano ranked in the bottom 10% out of 106.

Quote

    "In the list of workshops below I will give a grading when I think extra discernment is needed. After the words “discernment needed”, if I put one or more *‘s it is because I think there is an environment of (usually unconscious) encouragement to give your power away to the facilitator's belief systems rather than encouraging you to evaluate for yourself, what fits with your journey, and what does not. In other words the facilitator may not be owning that the belief systems they are presenting, and their evaluations of participants, are her or his perceptions and not necessarily the "truth".  You will also find *'s if I observed belief systems presented that I thought were potentially detrimental. The more *‘s I have used the more careful use of discernment I would suggest. (And to add: facilitators often grow and get better at their craft so some of the people below may be even more skillful now, than they were when I first participated in their offerings)"

    "Chuck and Lency Spezzano; Psychology of Vision, Emotional awareness, uncovering of inherent giftedness   Discernment suggested **"

http://web.archive.org/web/20080327051000/http://www.kellytobey.com/workshops.htm
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Normally the online POV response to criticism has been to simply delete or hide all trace of anything that proves inconvenient to their little charade and hope no one is watching, sweeping it under the rug, such as removing all mention of the strong connection and philosophical indebtedness the organisation has to Oneness University, or the principles expoused on the Healing Metaphors website, both purges of which have been documented on this forum, Psiram, Grifters Hotel (now defunct), Morty the Dog (also defunct). Some creative searching will get you to the dead sites.

http://psychologyofvision.blogspot.com/2015/10/psiram-psychology-of-vision.html
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http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:iJCWUrTOzh8J:griftershotel.blogspot.com/2014_01_01_archive.html+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us [Dead link]

Although friends and family of POV have responded on Facebook in predictable reactionary ways, and Charles Lee Spezzano made a very self-destructive phone call to APTN which was aired, the only official post-APTN Investigates (Nov. 2013) responses worth noting are from Lenora Kay Spezzano. She had a series of remarks addressing criticism on her "Joining" YouTubes. After a short time the critiques were deleted but the text of her reactions remain, creating a strange shadowboxing effect. These videos already marginalize POV into what is politely called the "esoteric" category, but her disconnected comments are not doing her or her business prospects any favours and only confirm the image of POV as some kind of old-fashioned medicine show selling snake oil.
[Update: The majority of these videos have since been closed to public viewing]

https://www.youtube.com/user/LencySpezzano/videos

The aforementioned Ripoff Report is where we find the closest thing to an official response to the growing critical investigation of Psychology of Vision.
[Update: Lency has since released a website entitled: The Truth About Chuck and Lency Spezzano and the Psychology of Vision]:
http://the-truth-about-chuck-and-lency-spezzano.com/
[Update Oct. 12, 2019: "This site is currently undergoing maintenance." -- This has happened just in the last week.]

Here is the original complaint, made in Sept. 2013, before the APTN broadcast--

"Chuck and Lency Spezzano run an international scam. They hold large group trainings around the world, claiming that they are healing. They coerce people into paying lots of money to take these trainings, to climb their hierarchy ladder to become trainers themselves.

These trainings are like the classic Est type seminars of decades past.

They practice affinity fraud by preying on specific communities, draining their money, and training their leaders to continue the scam.

The large group trainings are very high pressure. People are pressured to not go to the bathroom, people are not supposed to leave early or arrive late. Audience members are encouraged to freak out, all in the supposed name of healing. People end up screaming, sobbing, vomiting, laughing hysterically.

Videos of Lency Spezzano doing one on one sessions before an audience are available online.

Classic tools of manipulation and persuasion are used, including hypnosis, coarse language, touch, and aggression.

This isn't psychological therapy, this is not spiritual healing, this is a scam."

On Nov. 3, 2013 Lenora Kay Spezzano filed a response with the leading sentence: "Nothing that is alleged in this report is true." Then she followed with a long narrative that our friend Sturmboe beautifully summed up as: "The answer they wrote in Ripoff Report tells it´s own story. Terrible."

From my own research into the POV cult, the Ripoff Report complaint appears to be 100% accurate. It provides a true premise from which to build. There is nothing in it I find false from my diggings.

Here is Lenora Kay Spezzano's rebuttal with my inserted lecture notes.

"Nothing that is alleged in this report is true. The Psychology of Vision is an organization that is owned by the Trainers themselves (I believe there are presently 52 of us.) All organizational decisions are reached by unanimous decision, either by the Trainers as a whole body, or by the Steering Committee, which consists of the Trainers who have achieved Master Trainer status (there are currently 7) and our program director. Chuck and I, as founders, do not get more of a voice than any other Trainer or Steering Committee member. The organization operates from a completely horizontal relationship between Trainers, not a hierarchy with a cult figure at the top."

As mentioned earlier, POV is a commercial branch of Spezzano and Associates Ltd., the only two officers of SAL being Charles Lee Spezzano and Lenora Kay Spezzano. The actual number of stockholders is a public mystery. That being said, the POV Trainers Manual presents a very different version of what Lenora is claiming here about being flat. Either she has not read the Manual of her cult or she is lying. This multi-layered organisation is far from level and the Manual promotes subservience to Charles Lee Spezzano and Lenora Kay Spezzano, indirectly giving this couple the role of parental authority. The souls who surrender themselves to this scam must be very desperate. It makes me feel sad to see human potential wasted on such a con game to enrich two such obvious frauds. 

http://psychologyofvision.blogspot.com/2015/09/psychology-of-vision-trainers-manual.html
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Quotes from the POV Trainers Manual:

Quote

    P. 4 "The Trainer conducts their business in a manner that consistently preserves the reputation of Chuck and Lency Spezzano and the Psychology of Vision."

    P. 6-7 "The Steering Committee (SC) is composed of a group of Trainers who make decisions on behalf of the whole. It lies at the heart of the PoV Trainer community as a whole, holding its best interest in mind at all times. Any new decisions being made by the SC for the community are always referred to the LR, which they can then communicate to their region. The SC is responsible for monitoring the evolution of the Trainers and their process. It also is part of the final decision making process for new Trainer applications. The SC handles personal and delicate situations that may arise for Trainers with care and consideration for the PoV community. It ensures privacy of personal and sensitive information and protects it at all times. All individuals coming directly to the SC with a query, complaint or any other communication are referred through the local representative to ensure transparency. The SC respects the trust given to it by the Trainer community of the Psychology of Psychology of Vision. At present, the Steering Committee members are Chuck and Lency Spezzano, Hiromi and Hideaki Kurihara, Jeff Allen, Julie Wookie and Francine Girard."

    p. 11 POV trainer required to "Attend or listen to the records of the quarterly conference calls with Chuck or Lency."

    p. 11 POV trainer has access to "Conference calls with Chuck or Lency."

    p. 12 POV trainer has "Access and permission to download from the website unpublished books and Chuck’s (1600+) card sets to use for sessions, workshops, seminars."

    p. 13 "Attendance at the 10-Day Trainers’ Conference each year (without paying additional tuition plus each language will provide $4000 USD towards English translation). This event is the heart of the program. Chuck and Lency share the cutting edge of their work and point all of us as a team at the crest of the wave so it moves us easily, deeply and quickly into our year. Note: Although this is a benefit, it is also a commitment to attend."

    p. 13 "Trainers receive one coaching session every month from a peer trainer or coach. Coaching sessions are the backbone of the program.
    They support the Trainers to deal with their issues and stay in the easiest and truest flow of their lives. They are also used as supervision/consultation of cases from workshops and individual sessions. This supervision assists the Trainers to learn their craft and stay professional. Every six months each coach will write a summary of each Trainer’s process to share with Chuck, Lency and other coaches."

    P. 14 "Quarterly Conference Call with Chuck or Lency. Different days and times will be chosen to account for the different time zones. These are compulsory and therefore recorded and translated for all trainers to listen to if not able to attend. Following are the steps to access conference calls recordings on the website: Use firefox for the web browser, sign in and go to “ my account”, open the file manager and click on + in front of the folder “ trainer resources”, select the folder “ recordings”, to download, double click on the call desired (scrolling up or down to find the appropriate file)"

    P. 15 "Chuck’ s Workshop & Session Cards. Trainers have access to download Chuck’s Workshop & Sessions Cards (1600s+ cards) from the website. They are an essential tool to a PoV Trainer. (These are not to be given to non-Trainers.)

    Further Coaching with Chuck and/or Lency Spezzano. Chuck and/or Lency Spezzano are available for further coaching deemed necessary by the trainer and their coach. Lency and Chuck hold all of the people in the program dear, and they are available to any Trainer. They don’t have much extra time, so opportunities usually arise during trainings. Sometimes competition, jealousy, specialness issues may arise around access to Chuck and Lency. Remember those issues are inherited from our families and it is what everyone has to heal."

    p. 17 "Staff Chuck and Lency’s workshops and trainings in your country wherever possible. A Trainer is to do their best in this regard. Missing a workshop is like missing a practice. A workshop is a great opportunity for support, which in turn helps the team. Most importantly, attending local works helps brings greater ease into a Trainer’s life."

    p. 18 "Quarterly Conference Calls with Chuck or Lency. Listen live to the recorded Quarterly Conference Calls from Chuck and Lency. This is to insure that the whole community is updated with the latest process and tools from Chuck and Lency. Chuck and Lency then don’t need to repeat themselves as they see the Trainers in their own locations throughout the year."

    p. 19 "Study all of Chuck and Lency’ s teaching materials (the books, the card decks, and the triangle). For the English speakers, this includes all un-published books posted on the Trainers’ Resource Centre on the Trainers’ section of the website. Unfamiliarity with the material is like a musician not being familiar with his music. Trainers need to be able to recommend material to clients and students as well."

    (The triangle was pretty much swiped from Bob Trask. The Trask/Spezzano connection and why it was severed is a worthy target for investigation.)

    p. 23 "Trainer leaving the program can receive a session from Master Trainers or Chuck and Lency. We recommend this to bring graceful and supportive closure to their time as a PoV Trainer."

    p. 26 Double bonus score in the sexual misconduct section: Mention of POVIA and sexual shenanigans: "While these policies are intended first and foremost for the benefit of participants, they are important for the following reasons as well.
    First, ensuring that Trainers maintain high levels of integrity enhances the value and impact of the teachings of Psychology of Vision worldwide. Second, it reduces the potential legal liability of PoV Trainers, Psychology of Vision International Association (PoVia), and Chuck and Lency Spezzano."

    p. 28 "For examples, Apprenticeships are Chuck and Lency’s best opportunity to help Trainers step past some of their chronic issues. The intention of the recommendation to attend one Apprenticeship every two years is to produce more professionalism, dedication, a greater level of success and more team spirit."

    p. 29 Level 1 requirements include: "All personal assignments fulfilled (as given by Chuck, Lency or their coach)"

    p. 30 Level 2 requirements include: "One 5-day with Lency," and "Attendance in at least one Apprenticeship every two years, a 5 day every other year with Lency or Master Trainer, and other required training."

    p. 31 Level 3 requirements include: "One 5-day with Lency," and "Co-facilitation with Chuck or Lency or a Master Trainer."

    p. 31 Level 4 requirements include: "Every year takes an Apprenticeship or 5-day training with Chuck or Lency."

Level? No. A multi-layered cult centered around Charles Lee Spezzano and Lenora Kay Spezzano? Yes. This document is personality-driven, not process-driven.

Lenora Kay Spezzano's Ripoff Report reaction is so rife in fallacies it will have to be dealt with in parts. Given the width and depth of the unprofessional claims she has gifted to the community of critical thinkers, this will have to be deconstructed in pieces. There is a rich compost of material to dig through.

Although it has been proposed in this forum POV leadership is about ego and sadistic power, I believe the profit margin rules over all. These two Spezzanos are, after all, Americans who worship the dollar over any other God as evidenced by Charles Lee Spezzano's hourly rate of over $1100. The only thing worse than asking for such an hourly rate is the poor sod who will pay it. That is the type of individual the Spezzano con game counts on. Desperate and vulnerable.

http://psychologyofvision.blogspot.com/2015/09/700-or-roughly-1100-per-hourly-session.html
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More to come in Part Two. Cheers.