How the mental training started

Lars-Eric Unestahl started the first Swedish version of Unestahl Mental Training® named PUMT, in September 1987 as a university distance course at the Örebro College, now the University of Örebro. The course was the first of its kind and it is still the only university course, which has personal development as a title. It was also the first distance course at university level, if distance is defined as teacher and student being physically separated.

In Sweden, distance studies were first given according to the Hermod’s Model, i.e. by correspondence. In Canada and Australia radio was first used for distance learning, while in England, The Open University started to produce educational programs on BBC’s channels. This meant however, like in traditional education, that you were bound to take the lectures at set times. As he wanted an education which was as flexible as possible for the participants, he had to find another model.

Video became the natural solution. Through video lessons the student could decide the time and place for the lessons. The question was however, if these were as effective as the traditional lessons. The studies which he made indicated, however, that video lessons were in fact even more effective and gave better knowledge. Some of the reasons for that were that you could divide the lecture in smaller parts for better concentration. If you happened to miss something, you could easily repeat it. The quality of the lessons were also generally better as the persons responsible for the course could choose the best teachers and experts when recording the video lessons.

Yet another thing which made the PUMT-course unique from the beginning was the emphasis on proficiency training. In order to develop in ones working life and private life, knowledge must be transformed to skills and competence and this is only achieved by applications, practice and training. As all training which is not physical is called Mental Training, the Mental Training became a necessary and important part of the PUMT- course.

Now the course is available in english. The name of the course is Unestahl Mental Training® – UMT®.

Welcome to your future with UMT® and Integrated Mental Training. We look forward to get to know you.