Re: psychoceramics: 3 Christs of Ypsilanti Revisted

[Jerry Kuntz <j--@r--.org>]

Andrew C. Bulhak wrote:

> I recall reading that Richard Bandler (the psychologist who invented
> neuro-linguistic programming (NLP)) used an unorthodox but related
> technique for dealing with delusional patients.  He would match their
> delusions so precisely that they fell apart.  In one case, he instructed
> staff at a mental hospital to dress as Roman soldiers and went to the
> cell of a patient who believed he was Jesus carrying a large wooden
> cross.  Soon the patient was protesting that he isn't the real Jesus,
> to the point where he remembered exactly who he was, whilst Bandler, in
> Roman garb, pretended to not believe him.
> 
> I think the book may have been _Trance Formations_.
> 
>  -- acb
> 
I have to question whether this is a valid therapy. To me, it smacks of
being simplistic, insensitive grandstanding. A lot more mental patients
would be cured if it was an easy matter of pointing out the logical
inconsistencies of their behavior. 
Perhaps Bandler would disavow this technique if we pointed a spear at
his midsection.

		Jerry Kuntz
		j--@r--.org