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About The Oregon statesman. (Salem, Or.) 1916-1980 | View Entire Issue (March 13, 1956)
C($ec. II) Statesman, Salem, Ore, Tup., Mar. 13, '5f Psychiatrists Urge Amateur Hypnotists Take Care in 'Search for Bridey Murphy' (Editor's Note: Caa a person be kypnotiied and takea bark la lime? . Taa he ar he be re frtitti la another, earlier life? What If hypnosis, iti benefits and IU dangers? Caa It be safely tntrasted ta the amateur? Auth orities la the field, questioned by the AP, lvc these answers). By WATSON SIMS AP Newsfeatures Writer NEW YORK I The woman had an emotional problem she could not explain. In the course of treat ment, she was placed under hyp nosis and told to go back-' in memory to some significant phase . of her life. - 'Suddenly.,, said Dr. Louis R. Goldberg. author, noted psychi- atrial and authority on hypnosis, "She burst into what appeared to be pur gibberish." Puzzled, wolberg recorded the outburst and- brought the patient out of her trance. He was surprised to learn that she was as mystified by the recording as he. Investigating further, Wolberg learned that while under hypnosis the woman had spoken Greek. Not only that, it was poetic Greek. But instead of shedding light, this Information only Increased the mystery. "The subject was not of Greek descent," says Wolberg. "She had never lived in Greek surroundings, never studied the language or, to the best of her knowledge, ever heard it spoken." Strange Outburst Why, then,, the strange outburst tinder the influence of hypnosis? Both the case and the question re typical of hypnotic age regres sion a phenomenon which cur rently appears to be preoccupying the public to a degree probably unmatched since the height of the flying saucer sensation. Interest started gathering mo mentum last month with the pub lication of a book entitled "The Search for Bridey Murphy." The author, Morey Bernstein, is n amateur hypnotist. From an fv ictiiiv pin iuui ,u n iu i ui ii ur berg, Bernstein suggests the an swers to the mystery is reincarna tion. Unexplained statements made by a Colorado housewife under hyp nosis, says Bernstein, point to the conclusion that she lived in Ire land during the 19th Century as Bridey or Bridget Murphy. Beat Seller' Wolberg and other noted auth orities apear unanimous in reject ing suggestions that reincarnation might be proved through age re gression. But Bernstein's book has become a sensation on the nation's bookstands. It is in its - eighth printing (145.000 copies), and de mand is far outrunning supply. It is at or near the top of best seller lists. Libraries report long waiting lists. It has been serialized by 42 newspapers and purchased for a movit. It has also touched off a fever of activity among other am ateur hypnotists, leading to more age regression experiments and etien sew ne a mines at tne local level. , One of several groups watching this development with concern is the American Psychological Assn., whose membership includes 13,000 psychologists and research psychi- - tr!cf : . Many Amalears "We have received reports that an increasing number of amateurs, for entertainment or other reasons, are 'experimenting' with hyp nosis," says Dr. Fillmore Sanford, executive secretary -of the associ- auon. "Hard scientific evidence says that hypnosis is an explosive thing to play with. Psychological re aearch on the subject has not yet told us enough about it so that it can be used except with great -care. mitting minor or, in some cases, major surgery. The subject may perform feats of physical endur ance normally considered beyond his ability. . Or he may recall events which he would not be able to remember under normal circumstances. The particular attribute has led to the wide use of hypnotism in psychi atry, just as the subject's ability to withstand pain has led to its use in physical medicine. Starting Point The power of hypnotic recall Is also the starting point for discus sion, and often arguments, about age regression, the subject which has . attracted so much -attention in current headlines. . On one aspect of regression, all the authorities agreed: .When di-' reeled to relive his past, the sub ject will do so to the best of his ability, drawing both on memory and fabrication to please the hyp notist. ". A subject with a good"memory will probably be much more ac curate than one with a?poor mem ory. But either may be equally convincing to the layman. Often none but the skilled practitioner can tell the difference between genuine regression and hypnotic role playing. Newman and his associates cast some doubt on the entire regres sion theory. This was based at least in part on experiments at vale in wnicn sudjccis were pro gressed into the "future" and told stories equally as convincing as those they told while regressed into the past. . " Please Hypnotist "We suggest that each of our subjects, to please the hypnotist, fantasied a future as actually h ere and now." reported the experi menters. "We suggest that many descriptions of hypnotic regression also consist of confabulations and simulated behavior." The Yale researchers held out one possible exception to this conclusion: "We feel that there is a great difference between asking a sub ject 'regressed' to the age of 10 to describe a relatively uneventful day and his spontaneous dissoci ating and reexperiencing the death of his father under tragic circumstances." In other words, the impress left on the subconscious by a great emotional experience may be so when returned from the trance Hold to recall some battle experi state. This applies not only to jence," says Wolberg. "Then I have determining the source of valid j proved with cold military records information but to establishing the falsity of a sham performance. One frequent exception is the case of the former service man. Utter Terror " ' "I have seen veterans dive under my desk in utter terror when Dull Menus, Bad Cooking Irk Kremlin LONDON UP Dull menus and bad cooking in the Soviet Union's restaurants havp upset the Krem; lin. ,: ' ' The Soviet government and the Central Committee of the Commu nist party made the nation's stom ach a matter of official state con cern . in a directive broadcast by Moscow radio Monday. It ordered all provincial, govern ments, ministries and party organi zations to see that September shows an improvement. Their Temedy: self service, sale of cooked food to be taken out, improved technical equipment, sanitary, conditions and amenities, more canteens and more milk, vegetable and fish dishes. Firm Submits Priest Rapids Dam Low Bid Henry Ford II Acknowledges Approving Solicitation of Dealers in Ike Campaign 17-Ycar-Old Charged in Girl's Death KAUKAUNA, Wis. Ufi - A 17-year-old high school boy who, au thorities said, killed his pregnant girl friend was charged Monday with second degree murder. The youth, Michael McCormick. a junior at Kaukauna High School, was Quoted by Outagamie County Dist. Atty. Fred Froehlich as admitting he had beaten Theresa Van Der Horst, 18, on the head with a brass shell case and stuffed her body in a basement alcove. The charge killing without premeditation carries a penalty of 14 to 23 years imprisonment. Young great that the subject will be able McCormick entered no plea when later to go back and relive it in he was brought before Municipal "Hypnosis certainly cannot with safety be treated as a toy or par lor game." Why this concern? What dangers or benefits does hypnosis in voke? vHow genuine is the age regression phenomenon and what does A prove? Ask Authorities To obtain answers to such ques tions, The Associated Press, con aullel several authorities in this field. They were: Dr. Wolberg. director of the Post Graduate Center of Psychiatry and associate professor of clinical psy chiatry at New York Medical Cen- Dr. Richard Newman, professor of clinical psychiatry at Yale. University School of Medicine. Andre Weitzenhoffer, now com pleting his Ph.D. studies at the University of Michigan, specializ ing in the susceptibility of in dividuals to hypnotic suggestion. Taking part in the interview with Dr. Newman were two associates, Drs. Robert Rubenstein and Jay Katz, One immediate problem in the survey was in defining hypnosis. It is neither sleep nor complete consciousness. The subject's eyes may be open or closecL Surrenders Faculties Perhaps the closest approach to a definition was that hypnosis is a trance-like state, the depth of which may vary widely, in which the subject voluntarily surrenders some of his faculties to the hypno tist, .ft is important to note that the subject himself retains control of some of bis faculties. While in the trance state, the ubject accepts the hypnotist's - suggestion as aa absolute com mand, within limits normally bounded by the subject's own morals and principles. - No complete answer as to why this partial surrender of faculties takes place was found. But Ms manifestations may often be start ing. If All or parts of the body may be aisaestheiiztd to the point of per- great detail Early Infancy Wolberg, who believes that some persons may genuinely be regressed to early infancy, didn't stop investigating the case of the woman who burst into poetic Greek when he discovered no immediate reason for her use of the language. "A naive hypnotist who witnesses such an apparently inexplicable case might decide he had encoun tered evidence of reincarnation," Wolberg said. "But it simply wasn't so." Instead of assuming a previous life in the days of Homer, the psychiatrist found, through per sistent investigation: "When the girl was about 2 years old her mother was a housekeeper for a Greek professor. The mother would place the child on a rug in the middle of the floor and then go about her housecleaning. Recited Poetry While the mother worked and the child played, ' the professor would often pace about yie room, sometimes reciting poetry or prac ticing his lectures. ''ln the course-oL the, prattling the child imitated the professor, apparently repeating words and phrases in Greek." Wolberg concluded that this ex perience was lost to the woman's conscious memory, but, left its mark on her subconscious i and through the disassociation which hypnosis makes possible in some subjects, she was able to recover the long forgotten phrases. 'There are many things in our makeup of which we are not con sciously aware, says Wolberg. "Some are the memories left by forgotten exeriences. Some are things the conscious mind would like to ignore, such as conflicts, repressed urges and unhappy ex periences. "The mind builds something of a smoke screen between itself and things it does not wish to acknow ledge. But they're still there. They form the roots of motivations which are more apparent, and help to explain why some persons are nervous for no obvious reason; why some men are driven by am bition while others cower from decision." Relates Details ' What of the subject who relates details of a previous existence? "To be told 'go back to before you were born' is equivalent for many hypnotized persons to being told 'you are now a person who existed before you were born,'" says Weitzenhoffer. "Any hypnotized person would do his best to act out the part of such a person, would if necessary create the latter and would often believe quite firmly in his or ber existence. And what if the details of the existence of a person under an other name and in a different time should prove accurate in minute detail? All the authorities agreed firmly that this would establish only that when such information became part of the subject's experience it was presented accurately; prob ably through some forgotten read- Inz or conversation "The reason is always there and it's slways oerfectly natural," said Wolberg. "But often, for obvious reasons, it's very hard to find." The complication is thatx the hypnotist is dealing with elfeited information which the subject himself may be unable to recall, Judge Oscar J. Schmiege in Ap pleton this morning. His attorney, Allan Cain, asked for time to study the case before entering a plea and Judge Schmiege continued the arraignment until 9:30 a.m. Thurs day. The youth was held in $35,000 bond. Theresa, a senior at Kaukauna High School, had been missing from her home for two nights. Her body was found yesterday in the basement of a neighbor's home. 1 that some of the subjects who put on the best performances had never been near the front." But for a great many subjects, no such records arc at hand. All the authorities warned that many real dangers may exist for the amateur experimenter in hyp notic a?e regression. These dang ers include: The amateur may lose control af his subject and be unable to end the trance. This may result only in inconvenience, for the trance usually turns to sleep. But the time involved may vary with subjects and some may endanger themselves while remaining in an. unrecognized trance state: , Serious Harm Some subjects may suffer serious mental or physical harm through reliving a traumatic or shocking experience. Or the; amateur hypnotist may, through suggestion, delay or prevent needed medical treatment by removing a 'symp tom without understanding its cause. . Although all of these hazards may be recognized and dealt with by the properly trained practition er, disagreement was found as to the role hypnotism should play in medicine. 'Volbcrg said the technique caa and should be of great value in both mental and physical therapy. Weitzenhoffer said the applica tions "are far too numerous to detail." Research Tool But Newman sees hypnotism chiefly as a research tool in ex ploring and understanding human behavior and holds that it can ac complish little medically that can not be achieved more satisfactor ily with other methods. During World War II, for ex ample, hypnotism was sometimes used in surgery when anaesthetics were not - available, or to help identify soldiers who, through shock, had suffered temporary loss of memory. Many doctors still refuse to ac cept the implications of a tech nique in which the patient Is not in full control of his faculties. An other factor in rejection is the theatrical atmosphere w hich has so often surrounded the use of hypnosis In the past. Each of the authorities suspects, however, that the current upsurge in public interest will simply have to run its course, just as other revivals of amateur hypnotism have done throughout man's his tory. "It won't do any good to tell some people that reincarnation has not and cannot be proved through ate regression, says Newman. "Some people want to believe it and they will, no matter how logi cal an explanation is produced. And there will probably always be some hypnotists who want to be lieve they have the power of its demonstration." By WIl.MOT 1IERCIIER Merrcll. to ask "strong Eisenhower WASHINGTON I Henry Ford I supporters" among Ford dealers to II acknowledged at a senate in-1 solicit COP political contributions qtiiry Monday that he okayed the fm other Ford dealers. FPHRATi U'avh m in nn. ? licitalion ot r ord dealers lor in i micirani owwn up iur parent low bid of $91,873 625 was ! Eisenhower campaign funds in ; appearance before a senate corn submitted Monday for construction ! "M. merce subcommittee. Ford added of the Grant County Public Utility ! But he said "I don't like pressure I that no heat was put on the deal District's Priest Rapids Dam on ' any kind on any matter." and if". company funds were used I that as far as he knew there were lin the solicitation and no other The bid was Merritt-Chapman ! no .' "P31 or recriminations" and Scott Corp. of New York. It aPains' dealers who refused to con- iniiuif. Ford testified he approved plans of his personal assistant, Allen W. was among five bids opened before 300 people crowded into the Pt'D auditorium here. The 96-year-old Merritt-Chapman firm is headed by Louis E. Wolfson of New York who gained wide re nown last year for his attempt to gain control of the Montgomery Ward Co. Active Over World The firm has the contract for Seattle's Gorge Dam on the Skagit River and is active in many parts of the world. ' The five bids ranged un to nearly $103 million dollars.' Engineers for the PUD had made .advances sti mates. of about 125 million. The PUD officials said the bids will be studied in detail before any award is made. The district hopes to launch construction of the proj ect before the summer season if a legal challenge can be cleared. It will be the first Columbia Riv er dam to be .built by a Public Utilities District. The Merritt-Chapman-Scott bid was the only one by an individual concern. The other four were by combinations of firms. -Other Bids The other bids were: H. J. Kaiser Co., which included firms from both coasts, $93,128,004; American Pipe & Construction Co., which included Guy F. Atkinson Co. of San Francisco, one of the builders of - Grand - Coulee" Dam. $97,494,814; Grant County Construc tors, including such well known firms as Morrison-Knudsen and Peter Kiewit Sons, $103,996,562; and J. P. M. Constructors, $108, 889,162. The dam is first of two planned by the district from which power will be sold to other public and private agencies in Washington and Oregon, it would have eight big generators which would produce 664,000 kilowatts. Red Leader In Contempt NEW YORK m Communist leader Gilbert Green was found guilty of contempt of court Mon day for having jumped bail five years ago when he was due to go to prison. Green, 49-year-old Illinois par ty chairman, had been sentenced to five years for conspiracy to teach and advocate the violent overthrow of the U.S. govern ment . He gave himself up only two weeks ago. Judge Archie O. Dawson set March 26 for sentencing on the contempt charge. He is empow ered to impose any sentence he sees fit. t Ike Support The head of the Ford Motor Co. described himself as a strong Eisenhower supporter and told the A," V . ... , -y. - . . ' vfcs h WASHINGTON Heary Ford II Monday told senators his assistant, as a private individual, sought contributions from Ford dealers la 1952 for President Eisenhower's eleclloa campaign. But be insisted, in testimony before a senate commerce subcommittee, thai no pressure was put on dealers, no company funds were used, and no other company personnel were involved. (AP Wlrephoto) Beer Firms Lose Request OKLAHOMA CITY W - Secre tary of State Andy Anderson Mon day refused to grant beer interests more time to check validity of sig natures on initiative petitions call ing for a statewide election on county option for 3.2 beer. At the same time, he denied a request by the United Drys of Ok lahoma to declare the petitions suf ficient to call an election. ting counties to outlaw the sale of beer. Row Cook, attorney for the beer industry, said it now has evidence to challenge an estimated 28,000 signatures, but needs more time to complete the check. A total of about 46,000 signatures of the 137, 000 on the petitions must be ruled invalid to prevent the election. Anderson, ordered hearings to In constitutionally dry Oklahoma, 'open and will listen to testimony 3.2 beer is the strongest beverage from both the drys and beer inter sold under the law, The United Drys' are spearheading a campaign to amend the constitution, permit- est before ruling on the validity of the petitions. An appeal to the state supreme court is expected. senators he plans to raise funds for the Republican campaign again this year. Chairman Monroney (D-Okla) commented that it could be con strued as "indirect coercion" to solicit money in such a manner in 1S32, a Korean war year, when dealers were dependent on a share of the short supply of cars for. their livelihood. Sens. Potter (R-Mich) and Tayne (R-Maine) contended, how-, ever, there wa,s no evidence of any coercion against a Ford dealer. Both argued Monroney was pro ceeding solely on the basis of "hearsay" evidence. Monroney said he could produce a number of witnesses who have reported they were subject to "in direct coercion", during the solid, tation. - Lost franchise Milton Ratner. a Chicago Ford dealer for 20 years until he lost bis franchise in 1953, has told the subcommittee he was asked to con- tribute $1,000 to the Eisenhower campaign in 1952 and was informed "the office of Henry Ford wanted tin 000 from the Chicaeo dealers. Ratner Said he understood that only he and one other dealer in the Chicago area refused to contribute. Monroney said he particularly wants to question the dealer who asked Ratner for the $1,000. This man has not been identified in the hearings. The chairman said the dealer left on a cruise as soon as the "pressure" question was raised ing investigation several weeks ago, and that all efforts to locate 111111 no v tuuiu. Received Approval Merrcll was a member of the Republican National Finance Com mittee when- he-got -his -chiefs-approval to solicit Ford dealers. Ford said he didn't recall telling Merrell not to use his name in the 1952 solicitation but figured Mer rell "had the good sense" not to do so. Moroney said the subcommittee staff has been told letters asking for contributions went out on Ford's personal stationery, al though Ford was in Europe dur ing most of the campaign. In any event, the senator said, Ford does n't know his "own power when the name Ford is mentioned as a magic word." Money Raised Ford said in his statement he never learned which dealers did or did not contribute, although he understands that many did and a substantial amount of money was raised. - "I also know," he added, "that a large group of our dealers are staunch Democrats and I have hnnrH that ihev fnntrihiitrf ounar. ..vw. ously to the campaign of Demo crat candidates." Ford said his company, as such, would not support the ' political candidacy of any person, "But what any employe of the company does in his own behalf and acting as a private citizen is another mat ter and one of his own concern," he stated. Ford didn't mention Ratner by name or refer directly to his testimony. T ; . W i ' I ' ' if !., U ' " -AA , j .Li.- -px r ( ):) T 1 r- p " JJ' ) r ' w " A f V. A A T c : .,.- l ( 1 v VSri " I y'frf w ' " i V A' U ' ' 4lw.:rr - h mmf aa V, ' a,- v-'ivix - vk. T . . 1L. I.... .1. a Tl friends about an evening of bridge, yourl phone is right there on the job. H'nQ k VrV J' When the unexpected happens at night such aa trouble with your TV set your phone will quickly put you in touch with a repairman. fA lSSi Wl V You can rest assured, at bedtime, thai your telephone is still awake. It's just " as ready to serve you after dark as during daylight hours. -Th rail ibat braj(ht Bell good irni, It.was ..almost, midnight. ThJ; newscasts had been reporting wet roads in the moun tains. And Betty's husband still wasn't back from his trip. Then the phone rang. It was Pete! He had had motor trouble but would be home soon. Betty sighed in relief. She wouldn't have traded that call lor anything. And haven't you had similar experiences . . . when phone jcalla brought yoti news equally welcome? Think of the en gagements,, weddings, and births in the family, the homecoming, and reunions you've gotten word of by telephone. No matter what the hour, your phone is ready to keep you in touch with those you mostj want to hear from. Or to help you get things done faster and easiet. Your telephone'aervice never rest. . Pacific Telephone. ' The telephone men andtvomen of Salem work o make your telephone more useful everyday ,w " u.rt ii. uu l-4i m"
