Chuck attended group meetings with the now defunct Lifespring, and no doubt was introduced to group sessions while employed as a not-a-real psychologist with the Navy. His academic career surely exposed him to the LGAT concept as well.
Lency has directly given a nod to the LGAT - POV connection: "Of all the coursework I did in psychology when I was in school, my favorite classes included participation in what was called “encounter groups.” As an under-grad I was a participant, and in grad school I was a trained leader of these group encounters. The concept was for participants in the group to gain psychological benefit through increased self-awareness and social sensitivity, and to change behavior through interpersonal confrontation, self-disclosure and strong emotional expression. In these groups we communicated, took risks, and got to know each other in a therapeutic way that helped us understand ourselves better and supported our emotional growth and maturity. That background in having a therapeutic effect with a group of people, rather than just one person at a time in counseling, had a major influence on the work I developed as my contribution to the Psychology of Vision."
For those wishing to read more about LGAT from a more critical-minded view, I suggest clicking on the following link in the Skeptic's Dictionary. It will only take a few minutes to read. Even though POV is not mentioned the piece does an excellent job of demonstrating the place of the Spezzano's little personality cult in society at large.
http://www.skepdic.com/lgsap.html
