The est process is designed to assist the participant to discover through experience, rather than analysis, aspects of his mental functioning and behavior. The participant “looks at” (without explanation or rationalization) his behavior, feelings, thoughts, history, justifications and the concomitant payoffs. The realization that previously unrecognized payoffs of apparently negative behavior cause the negative behavior to persist occurs here. For example, the person may come to experience the self-justification and righteousness that can occur when he is blocked, “out down” or dominated. As he gets a glimpse of what the mind has accepted as the payoff of these feelings, he gradually becomes aware of the patterns he uses to assert power and control the situation. He now has the opportunity to see how this behavior allows him to feel “right” while it allows him to make others “wrong.” He discovers how these old patterns and acts of domination reduce his aliveness and result in perpetuation of unhappiness and discontent.
The Mind’s Dedication to Survival, by Werner Erhard, Gilbert Guerin and Robert Shaw