1. Provide the title of your story or series and the names of the journalists involved.
"When Self-Help Harms" by Roxanne Patel Shepelavy.
2. List date(s) this work was published or aired.
SELF Magazine, September 2010.
3. Provide a brief synopsis of the story or stories, including any significant findings.
Synopsis Kirby Brown, a healthy, athletic, 41-year-old woman, turned to self-help guru James Arthur Ray to help her find spiritual, financial and relationship fulfillment. Instead, she–and two other followers–wound up dying during a deliberately intense sweat lodge ceremony at a Ray retreat in October 2009. "When Self-Help Harms" explores the events that led to Brown's frightening death, and exposes the follies of the unregulated, unfettered self-help industry, where a charismatic leader like Ray can make millions off the faith of his followers, with increasingly little regard to their mental or physical well-being. Ray was part of the self-help phenomenon The Secret, a troubling example of pseudo-science combining with pseudo-spirituality to make claims that cannot in any way be proven. The story seeks to guide readers towards understanding the difference between self-help that helps and that which can harm, emphasizing the importance of self-awareness, even in the presence of one's "guru." Major Findings " The self-help industry falls outside the scope of government regulations. The FTC, which oversees truth in advertising, contends that claims by self-help gurus like Ray are "opinions," and therefore not monitored by the agency. This gives teachers carte blanche to make claims outside the scope of human possibility, and then to place the blame of failure on followers–who then spend more money to achieve what they are seeking. " Even after the death of a previous retreat participant, and the injuries of others, Ray continued to make his events more intense and dangerous, with little in the way of medical or emergency planning. No one–in his inner circle, or outside–stepped in to make sure there were safety mechanisms in place. " The people who participate in these self-help retreats are usually not the weak and desperate. They are those with means, some success and some hope; they think a self-help movement can take them even further.
4. Explain types of documents, data or Internet resources used. Were FOI or public records act requests required? How did this affect the work? Hundreds of pages of police transcripts and interviews about the events surrounding the sweat lodge ceremony, and Ray's history. Several self-help books, including The Secret and those by Ray. Official and unofficial online video snapshots of Ray's events, which helped to explain his draw. Online testimonials, Facebook entries from followers, who were unbowed even after the deaths. Autopsy reports on those who died.
5. Explain types of human sources used.
The story resulted from interviews with Kirby Brown's family members and friends; fellow participants at this retreat and others; Ray followers; critics of the self-help industry; academics; and government agencies.
6. Results (if any).
None.
7. Follow-up (if any). Have you run a correction or clarification on the report or has anyone come forward to challenge its accuracy? If so, please explain.
No corrections, clarifications or challenges to its accuracy.
8. Advice to other journalists planning a similar story or project.
This story had two aspects that needed to be balanced: One was the very personal, emotional tragedy of Kirby Brown's death, and portraying it in a way that did not show her to be weak, or to blame her for what happened, an easy route to take. (She was not tied down in the tent, after all.) The other was the bigger picture of the self-help industry. Again, the key was to place blame where it lay–with some, though not all, of the teachers; with some, though not all, of the practices. Shepelavy's advice would be to keep an open mind, about both the participants and its leaders–there is a lot of gray area.