Ming the Mechanic:
It's an alien world
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 It's an alien world2002-12-19 04:26
5 comments
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NY Times reports that a naive psychology researcher at Harvard advertised for people who had been 'contacted or abducted by space aliens', thinking that it would be a great way to find a few suggestible weirdos who were out of touch with reality, so that she could study how fabricated memories work. Instead she got overwhelmed, both with responses from lots of people with abduction experiences to tell about, and then from people ridiculing it, and finally from fellow Harward researchers who actually had been studying the phenomenon.

For the record, I have memories of being abducted by aliens as well, and I frequently had nose bleeds as a child. And I'm not a particularly suggestible or gullible person. But I don't have much urge to convince anybody about what is real and what is not. I think our universe is big and mysterious, and there is a lot of things we haven't really figured out yet about how reality works, so sometimes it is best to keep an open mind and reserve judgment for later.

As to the fabricated memory thing that the Harvard doctor was researching, yes, as a counselor and a certified hypnotherapist myself, I agree that this can be quite a problem in a therapeutic setting. Particularly when it comes to recovered memories of childhood sexual abuse. I think that can possibly happen, but it might just as well be something else. Just because one remembers it, doesn't necessarily mean it physically happened that way. I've had clients who suddenly remembered childhood molestation, where I must admit I didn't quite believe it. It can be very productive to work on the issues related to that, regardless, but it is very problematic if the client considers making the jump to go home and actually confront somebody with what they supposedly did 30 years ago, if all you have is some suddenly recovered memories. Bad idea. Processing it emotionally and mentally versus acting on the reality of it in the material world are two different things.


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19 Dec 2002 @ 09:36 by bushman : Counseling
My kid's last counselor was more awake than a few of the others, as to how reality worked. Her name is Margret, and she had a more angelic view to lifes troubles. I've personaly seen counseling taking a more spiritual direction, as opposed to a scientific path. One of my kid's first counselors, told me that since I had ADDH, that I shouldn't have any more kids, lol, this guy had all these degrees and certificates to vouch for his wisdom, but the reality was , he was paid by the state to help people, the reality I saw with this guys setup was he was a eugenicly minded christian scientist. Then there was this guy Fred, he was a cool semi new ager type guy, always had good intresting stuff to read in the waiting room, he was into the why of things, and even asked if we where ever abducted by aliens, cracked me up , sort of, since it boiled down to the question, that if we ever had been abducted , if we would remember it in the first place. He was cool in that he didn't have but one plaque up on the wall, it was his licence. Now back to Margret, she was about 60 years old, white hair, and a permanent smile. When I took custody of my kid, I had to sign a paper that said that on my kids 13th Bday, she had to be evauated, as to her victim witness statis, so we got Margret. Margret, was to me a truly wise spirit, she had this way of putting reality in such a way as to show you that all life and dimentions of life have thier purpose. You could see that this woman knew that there is no death, and that her job was to heal the spirit. She would ask the right questions and apply the your anwers as whats real, to the spirit, and how you can make the reality fit your truth. Intresting also was how she looked at my kid's past situation, she saw it as a great thing for my kid to have been through, that my kid should be proud she survived that leason. I think I got more from Margret than the kid, lol, but the fact that more counselors arn't discounting the supernatural aspects is very cool. Margret opened my mind in such a way , that for a month or so, I would spontainously jump out of my body , stir coffee with a thought, and even make my keys jump into my hand, I asked her about why that was happening and she just smiled, and said, that is reality. My kid is now 20, a surviver of an abusive life, she uses what she has learned to help others deal with thier situations. I shudder to think what my kid's life would be like now if she hadn't gone through all the bad stuff. I truly belive that she chose that reality so that she would have the ability to help others. I mean really, just because the kid sees ghosts, or aliens, they don't need to be restricted from having kid's them selves or being druged. :}  

19 Dec 2002 @ 11:26 by craiglang : Deal with the past in the past
Hi Folks.
An interesting thread.
Both as a hypnotherapist, and as a past client, I've had to contend with many of the same questions that you are describing - namely what to do with the "recovered memories".

First off, it's important to realize the limitations of such material. In my view "recovered memories" shouldn't be taken literally. What they really tell us is what is in one's subconscious. Yet the experiences stored in one's subconscious are all very very real to the client - regardless of their source. We truly create our own reality.

The human mind is not a tape recorder. A lot of subconscious processing goes on. This can be over the lifetime since the remembered event, at the time of the regression itself, and/or in the time subsequent to the regression. In the words of Ernst Rossi, "Every access is a reframe". If taken into account during the therapy itself, this provides a lot of opportunity for healing. It is only a problem if you take the memories literally.

Next are the ethical issues involved with retrieving memories. One question I ask close encounter clients is why they want to do the regression work. Is it to resolve post-contact trauma? Is it to solve this mystery in their life? Or is it simply curiosity? If it is not a significant issue in their life, then the question is whether they are willing to deal with the material that comes up.

Once the information comes up, then the question becomes: What to do with it? Usually if some material is non-positive, then healing needs to take place in context of the past in which the event occurred. This can often be done with techniques such as chair or ego state therapy, release and forgiveness, reframing or some other means, as specifically suited to the client.

My instructor often used the statement that "good research is good therapy". I believe that the goal of hypnotherapy needs to be healing. In the end, the result of a regression session should be that when coming out of trance, the client should have gotten a positive result from what we did. If this won't be the case, then one needs to think twice about doing the work...

My $0.02
Thanx,
- Craig


Craig R. Lang, MS CHt
{http://www.craigrlang.com|www.craigrlang.com}
craig@craigrlang.com  

19 Dec 2002 @ 12:00 by martha : thanks to all three
I have enjoyed reading all three of your views on this important subject. They are all heart felt comments. Bushman I am moved expecially by your sharing and you were so lucky and open to have found Margaret. She is the kind of counselor we all need. And as Craig said so well, the bottom line is to heal.
And ming you are right- keeping an open mind to your experiences leads to other possibilities.  

19 Dec 2002 @ 15:36 by ming : Reality
When I'm with a client, anything that comes up is acceptable and not questioned. In a way, reality is whatever the person is experiencing, and we'll work with it, and explore it, and heal it if necessary. Without having to judge whether 'it really happened that way' or not. It usually isn't necessary. And the magical thing is that processing the material that comes up will indeed change the person's life.

A psychiatrist who follows his training would do it completely different, and would probably try to convince the patients that what they're saying and remembering isn't real, and they really ought to understand that they're delusionary. Which is a very harmful thing to do to people, I think. I've seen it, and it isn't pretty.

But, in the setting I'm favoring, I suppose the magic is broken when the client or therapist, instead of processing the material, will want to go out and act on it directly. If instead of exploring and transforming it, they take it SERIOUSLY, so to speak. If, the moment you appear to remember that your husband killed you in a past life, you walk out and yell at him, or you sue him for damages or something. It just doesn't work that way.  

19 Dec 2002 @ 15:55 by craiglang : Sounds like...
we are saying approximately the same thing.
I work within the client's paradigm, and accept what the client says as their truth. Also, deal with the past in a healing way, without bringing into the present reality.
Thanks for a wonderful set of observations. Its really great to hear the perspectives of others on this.
Thanx,
-Craig  

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