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From: "Business to Business Magazine (Michael Malone)" <btbmag@ro.com>
Date: Tue, 7 Jan 1997 14:17:52 -0600 (CST)
Fwd Date: Wed, 08 Jan 1997 01:50:25 -0500
Subject: Re: 'Backlash'

> Date: Sun, 05 Jan 1997 14:44:34 -0500
> From: Greg Sandow <GSANDOW@prodigy.net>
> To: UFO UpDates - Toronto <updates@globalserve.net>
> Subject: Re: UFO UpDate: Re: 'Backlash'

> Michael Malone writes:

> > it is absolutely unthinkable and a black mark on those scientifically and
> > ethically interested in UFOs that there are self-claimed abduction
> > researchers (Yes, Greg, I mean that in a negative sense) who are using
> > their knowledge of psychology and therapy, either hypno-thearpy or
> > otherwise, to gain knowledge about an alleged experience, and then will
> > report on that alleged experience without attempting to verify the
> > experience physically.

> > In other fields of psycology, this is resulting in license revocation.
> > Most specifically, in cases of child abuse that never occured, yet the
> > therapist assured both the police and the courts that it did.  And in at
> > least one case, licenses were removed from therapists who misused their
> > position in relation to an alien abduction case.

> > Today, respected therapists work with other agencies when a psycological
> > trauma is discovered.  These auxillary agencies help identify the real
> > worlds, physical source of the problem, while the therapist helps with the
> > psycological trauma that is the result.  Such common sense approaches are
> > absent in UFOlogy today.

> No problem with your negative sense, Mike.

Didn't think there would be, just clarifing that it was what I intended.

> Who would those auxillary agencies be, in the case of supposed
> abductions?

I would like to say that the auxillary agencies would be a group such as
MUFON, but I think most people on this list knows how I feel about them.
Ideally, it would be a group of researchers willing and able to perform
the associated physical research and verification.  Depending on the needs
of the patient (Remember when we were talking about what to call
abductees?  I think the therapist should ALWAYS remember that they are
patients first.) it might be advisable for a private investigator to be
hired.  While many can't afford this solution, there are a number of
research groups who want verification of alien abduction who should be
willing to help with the physical verification.

In the case of implants, alien pregnancies, and the like, the obvious
agency is a doctor.  I've run into several female "abductees" who claim to
have given birth to alien fetuses onboard alien craft, but have never been
to a doctor to have those pregnancies verified.  All these women were
under the care of an psycologically based alien researcher, and the
researcher never suggested the medical verification.

All to often I have seen the hypno-therapist who is ill trained to handle
the kind of psycological trauma that a pateint is enduring prolong the
pain of a patient without ever pointing the patient to a more suitable
therapist.  The first goal of any "abduction researcher" should be the
mental health of the patient.

> Put yourself in the position of, say, Budd Hopkins, when he first ran
> across alleged abduction cases. What he did, at the time -- and this was
> around 20 years ago -- was to enlist the help of psychotherapists he'd
> known through his work as an artist. They were the ones who intitially
> talked to the abduction experiencers, and carried out any hypnosis.

That was a smart move.  But what did he do next?  Has he hired or
attempted to recruit experts in physical verification?  I know there was
some talk at one time by Derral Sims of bringing in forensic teams into
abduction sites immediatly following an abduction, has that been done?  If
it is, it is the exception and not the rule.

> What else should he have done? What agencies should he have approached?
> I'm not throwing this in your face as a challenge. I'm genuinely
> curious.

One of the first concerns that he should have had, IMHO, is that there was
a possibility of an abduction that was real, but involved much more
terrestrial perpetrators.  Did he contact the police to see if there was
an ongoing abduction/rape case?  What about paranormal investigators who
would be willing to perform the physical verification?  The first step was
the bringing on board of highly trained individuals to deal with the
mental trauma.  But that's all mental.  Physical verification, either
through hired or volunteer individuals, is a must.

There is an important "IF" that I'v meant to imply, that perhaps I haven't
made clear.  That "IF" is the assumption that:
          1) The patient is stable mentally
	  2) The patient wants more information
   	  3) The patient or the therapist intends to pronounce
		the experience as real.

If the patient simply want healing for the psycological trauma, then it is
no business of the therapist or abduction researcher to do anything more
than get the patient the best mental health care possible.  That's it.
Bring in the shrinks, pile on the therapy, but leave everything else out
of it.  It becomes a case of the human mind, and not a case of abduction
by aliens.  Far to often I see therapist who forget that they are there to
help the patient deal with their problems instead of putting forth their
own agenda.

> A related question. Suppose you ran into an abduction experiencer.
> Suppose you became involved in his or her situation. What agency in your
> own area would you want to involve?

First, lets assume that I've come across the experiencer, and they haven't
seen anyone yet.  I'm the first person they have confided in.

I would first refer them to a psycologist.  The very first thing that must
be accomplished with any experiencer is a standard battery of test to
determine if there is an organic problem.  This should be the primary goal
of anyone offering therapy to someone with the kind of mental trauma
typically attributed to alien abduction experiencers.  Let's rule out
manic-drepressive, bi-polar, and other common mental illnesses before we
assume anything else.

If there is an organic problem, lets immediatly start treatment on that
problem.  Does prosac or another anti-depressant stop the abductions?
Does lithium?  Does extensive counseling?  Relaxation therapy? Anxiaty
therapy?  Let's make sure that we aren't dealing with false memory syndrom
akin to the satanic abuse cases.  After all, our primary concern at this
point is the health and well-being of the patient.

if there is no organic problem, or an organic problem that has been
corrected and the abductions continue, then we need to begin looking at
the case in a new light, more akin to the current level that new cases are
given today.  Lets start looking into the details of the abduction, the
feelings during the abduction, the abscribed motivation of the aliens.
But don't stop there.  Let's look at the patient's life and see how the
abduction fits into the whole patient, not just the abduction experiencer.
Let's look at what else the abduction might represent.

Then, if we have a patient who is either no longer, or has never,
exhibited any severe trauma, who is currently stable, and cannot explain
the abduction experience any any other terms, it's time to start the
physical investigation.  Turn to local forensic groups, here in Huntsville
there is a forensic science explorer post.  Try interesting a private
investigator, or learn basic monitoring techniques yourself.  Apply a
systematic, documented method to verify that the abduction is occuring,
using any and all means you can obtain.

After all, how many more "stories" do we really need?  How many more
"interpretations" can we use?  Isn't it time we started the physical
aspect of this investigation.

Michael Malone
KF4MYX