Access Consciousness is a pseudoscientificNew Age movement founded by Gary Douglas in 1995 in Santa Barbara, California, initially called Access Energy Transformation. After a failed real estate business and subsequent bankruptcy in 1993, Douglas claimed to begin channeling spirits, including RussianmysticGrigori Rasputin, from whom he learned about "Access Bars" which are points on the head purported to help with energy, health, and wealth. As of 2024, the practice has since evolved into a global movement, offering a range of self-help and energy healing techniques. Access Consciousness promotes a mix of energy therapy, elements of phrenology, and prosperity gospel principles, with practitioners claiming to "run the bars" to manipulate energy fields for various life improvements. The organization has faced significant criticism, with skeptics denouncing its practices as pseudoscientific, and allegations of abuse, cult-like behavior, and exploitation have surfaced over the years.
After filing for bankruptcy in 1993 due to a failed real estate venture and briefly working for the United Way,[1][2] Gary Douglas founded Access Consciousness, initially named Access Energy Transformation, in Santa Barbara, California, in 1995.[2][3][1]
Douglas allegedly started channeling spirits in the early 1990s after witnessing a channeler at work in the late 1980s.[2][3][4] He claimed to channel Grigori Rasputin, whom he called "Raz," for many years and apparently learned from the Russian about Access Bars, which are points on the head that are supposed to aid in energy, health, and wealth.[2][3][5][1][6] Douglas also claims to have channeled an ancient Chinese man named Tchia Tsin, aliens from another world called Novian, and a 14th-century monk named Brother George.[1] Douglas stated that the aliens abducted him when he was six years old, implanting a chip. He noted that channeling aliens was more painful than channeling the others but that they protect him.[3][1][4]
In 2001, Dain Heer, a former chiropractor, joined the movement, moving in with Douglas and becoming second in command.[4][1] In 2003, Australian Simone Milasas was hired and as of 2024 is the worldwide business coordinator for the organization. Milasas is the developer of the Access Consciousness courses.[4]
Access Consciousness appeared in France in 2010 and has been growing in popularity.[2] In 2020, it was available in 170 countries around the world.[5] As of 2021 there were 150 Access Consciousness facilitators in eight Canadian Provinces.[7][4]
Description
AB head side
Access Consciousness is a New Age therapy that is described as a combination of phrenology and energy therapies such as reiki and Therapeutic touch. It also incorporates elements of the prosperity gospel. The leaders claim that there are 32 Access Bars, or points on the head, each of which represents such things as creativity, gratitude, memories, emotions, and money. The bars are touched lightly by a practitioner, who manipulates energy fields, purporting to aid in achieving clearer thoughts, more energy, disposing of negative energy, better health, and more wealth. The practice of touching these points on the head is referred to as "running the bars."[1][2][3][7][5]
A goal of Access Consciousness practices is to transition from a human to a humanoid.[3] A human is someone who judges others and a humanoid is someone who judges themselves and looks for ways to make life better.[1][2][5] Humanoids are purported to be able to "bend the universe,"[4] choose their future, talk to molecules, regenerate body parts, change the weather, and survive on sugar and water alone.[1][4]
Incorporated within the Access Consciousness doctrine is a clearing statement, which is to be said, like a mantra, throughout the day. The statement is, "Right and Wrong, Good and Bad, POD and POC, All 9, Shorts, Boys and Beyonds."[3] The clearing statement purports to rid the person of negative energy.[3]
Paragraph from the 1996 Access Consciousness manual
What are the RRRs for the SAS for suppressing anger and confrontation as the MPII of linearities through the AEA of consciousness as the eradication of simultaneity in all realities, relationships, BHCEEMCs and destruct universes? Right, Wrong, Good, Bad, POD, POC, All 9, shorts, boys, and beyonds.[3]
Proponents attempt to "live in 10-second increments,"[2] and eschew the use of drugs, including recreational drugs such as alcohol and marijuana, and psychiatric medications such as those used for depression, anxiety, and ADHD. These drugs are said to allow entities to enter the body.[2]
Facilitators declare they can communicate with horses via telepathy. They also assert to be able to remove bad entities that have entered a horse's body. This can be done remotely or in person for a fee.[3] In 2011, 300 believers from Access Consciousness traveled to the Great Pacific garbage patch to help speed up the breakdown of the garbage by using "energy and Molecular Demanifestation,"[3] with no success.[3] According to a 2015 manual, a good partner is described as one that lets you do whatever you want and "...is good in bed."[7] Believers are counselled to report on other members[4] and to call their enemies and threaten them by repeating three times, "If you do this again, I will kill you."[1]
Proponents of Access Consciousness claim that there are studies that prove the therapy's effectiveness. Science communicator Jonathan Jarry, in his article titled Rasputin, Phrenology, and Dark Allegations: The Madness of Access Consciousness, states that these studies are poor. One study done by psychologist Jeffrey Fannin used electrodes to show that if a patient is lying down for an hour with their scalp gently massaged, they are relaxed. Jarry counters that this state of relaxation can also be achieved with a nap that doesn't cost money.[3]
The leaders of Access Consciousness fly in private jets and own multiple properties worldwide. On October 6, 2020, Milasas was seen at a class using a silver bullion bar as a door stop.[6][4]
Training and certification
To become a practitioner you need one day of training.[2] Subsequent training to become a facilitator includes a minimum of twelve courses, in addition to regular teleconferences. Continuous training is required annually.[4] There are over eight thousand tools to learn.[3] The cost in 2024 for this training was AUD 30,000, with a licence renewal costing AUD 17,000. As of 2024, there were approximately 3,000 licensed facilitators.[4]
A former facilitator, Kerry Purcell, reported that she would spend AUD 60,000 on travel and fees for Access Consciousness courses. She invested AUD 150,000 in what she thought was Milasas' bottled water business but later believed it was used to pay off Milasas' personal debts, which Milasas claimed were paid off because of her positive energy.[4]
Some practitioners teach communicating with animals.[3]
Criticisms and controversies
Critics have referred to Access Consciousness as a milder version of Scientology. Douglas is familiar with the church as he was a Scientologist himself. His first wife, Laurie Alexander, was an auditor for the church and his second wife, Mary Wernicke, was a former Scientologist.[2][3][1]
According to medical doctor David Gorski in an article called Access Consciousness: Phrenology fused with energy medicine, there is no good evidence that Access Consciousness has "...any relationship to biology, medicine, neuroscience, or psychology—or even just to anatomy."[2] While Heer has advertised Access Consciousness on multiple World Suicide Prevention Days, Jarry says that "Mental health problems should not be solved with expensive magical thinking."[3]
Multiple former members have also shared that they were publicly shamed and verbally abused for attempting to speak up about the issues of the movement.[8]
Sexual abuse
Douglas purports to be able to bring women to orgasm by lightly touching the bars on a woman's head.[1] He has also been accused of being verbally abusive towards women in workshops and training sessions.[9][1][3] Heer has been accused of grooming women attending workshops to have sexual relations with him, with one woman claiming that he asked her to send nude pictures to him.[4][3][9]
Douglas claims that children are sexy in a humanoid, not human way. Children can attend sessions for free or at a reduced rate.[1][3] According to the Level One March 2012 manual, molested children "allowed"[1] the abuse to happen to them so it would not happen to others.[1]
Use in social work
In 2018, Nova Scotian social worker Eileen Carey, who was practicing Access Consciousness, had her licence permanently revoked for inappropriate touching and contact outside the office. The patient, who spent thousands of dollars on courses, and who filed the complaint, was invited to Carey's home to perform "energy trades"[7] where they would alternate receiving the Access Bars on a massage table, calling each other "energy buddies."[7] In addition, Carey had to pay CAD 15,000 to cover the investigation costs.[7]
In 2019, the Journal of Evidence-Informed Social Work discovered that Access Consciousness was being advertised by over 400 social workers in the United States.[10]
Magnetic therapy is a pseudoscientific alternative medicine practice involving the weak static magnetic field produced by a permanent magnet which is placed on the body. It is similar to the alternative medicine practice of electromagnetic therapy, which uses a magnetic field generated by an electrically powered device. Magnet therapy products may include wristbands, jewelry, blankets, and wraps that have magnets incorporated into them.
Rolfing is a form of alternative medicine originally developed by Ida Rolf (1896–1979) as Structural Integration. Rolfing is marketed with unproven claims of various health benefits, is recognized as pseudoscience and has been characterized as quackery. It is based on Rolf's ideas about how the human body's "energy field" can benefit when aligned with the Earth's gravitational field.
The Feldenkrais Method (FM) is a type of movement therapy devised by Israeli Moshé Feldenkrais (1904–1984) during the mid-20th century. The method is claimed to reorganize connections between the brain and body and so improve body movement and psychological state.
Therapeutic touch (TT), or non-contact therapeutic touch (NCTT), is a pseudoscientific energy therapy which practitioners claim promotes healing and reduces pain and anxiety. "Therapeutic Touch" is a registered trademark in Canada for the "[s]tructured and standardized healing practice performed by practitioners trained to be sensitive to the receiver's energy field that surrounds the body;...no touching is required."
Craniosacral therapy (CST) or cranial osteopathy is a form of alternative medicine that uses gentle touch to feel non-existent rhythmic movements of the skull's bones and supposedly adjust the immovable joints of the skull to achieve a therapeutic result. CST is a pseudoscience and its practice has been characterized as quackery. It is based on fundamental misconceptions about the anatomy and physiology of the human skull and is promoted as a cure-all for a variety of health conditions.
Crystal healing is a pseudoscientific alternative-medicine practice that uses semiprecious stones and crystals such as quartz, agate, amethyst or opal. Adherents of the practice claim that these have healing powers, but there is no scientific basis for this claim. Practitioners of crystal healing believe they can boost low energy, prevent bad energy, release blocked energy, and transform a body's aura.
Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) is a technique that stimulates acupressure points by pressuring, tapping or rubbing while focusing on situations that represent personal fear or trauma. EFT draws on various theories of alternative medicine – including acupuncture, neuro-linguistic programming, energy medicine, and Thought Field Therapy (TFT). EFT also combines elements of exposure therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy and somatic stimulation. It is best known through Gary Craig's EFT Handbook, published in the late 1990s, and related books and workshops by a variety of teachers. EFT and similar techniques are often discussed under the umbrella term "energy psychology."
Manual therapy, or manipulative therapy, is a treatment primarily used by physical therapists and occupational therapists to treat musculoskeletal pain and disability. It mostly includes kneading and manipulation of muscles, joint mobilization and joint manipulation. It is also used by Rolfers, massage therapists, athletic trainers, osteopaths, and physicians.
In Dianetics and Scientology, Clear is a status afforded to followers by the Scientology organization, or by other Scientologists, after they complete certain activities. It is one of the major ostensible "states" practitioners strive to reach on their way up what the Scientologists call the Bridge to Total Freedom. Scientology followers are given the status of Clear when a person is deemed to be free of the influence of engrams – supposed unwanted emotions or painful traumas which Scientology claims are not readily available to the conscious mind. Scientologists believe that human beings accumulate anxieties, psychosomatic illnesses, and aberration due to receiving engrams throughout their current or past lives, and that by applying Dianetics, every single person can obtain the status of Clear.
Breathwork is a term for various breathing practices in which the conscious control of breathing is said to influence a person's mental, emotional, or physical state, with a therapeutic effect.
Li Hongzhi published the Teachings of Falun Gong in Changchun, China in 1992. They cover a wide range of topics ranging from spiritual, scientific and moral to metaphysical.
Proponents and practitioners of various esoteric forms of spirituality and alternative medicine refer to a variety of claimed experiences and phenomena as being due to "energy" or "force" that defy measurement or experimentation, and thus are distinguished from the scientific form of energy.
Energy medicine is a branch of alternative medicine based on a pseudo-scientific belief that healers can channel "healing energy" into patients and effect positive results. The field is defined by shared beliefs and practices relating to mysticism and esotericism in the wider alternative medicine sphere rather than any sort of unified terminology, leading to terms such as energy healing, vibrational medicine, and similar terms being used synonymously. In most cases, no empirically measurable "energy" is involved: the term refers instead to so-called subtle energy. Practitioners may classify their practice as hands-on, hands-off, or distant wherein the patient and healer are in different locations. Many approaches to energy healing exist: for example, “biofield energy healing”, “spiritual healing”, “contact healing”, “distant healing”, therapeutic touch, Reiki, and Qigong.
Radionics—also called electromagnetic therapy (EMT) and the Abrams method—is a form of alternative medicine that claims that disease can be diagnosed and treated by applying electromagnetic radiation (EMR), such as radio waves, to the body from an electrically powered device. It is similar to magnet therapy, which also applies EMR to the body but uses a magnet that generates a static electromagnetic field.
Postural Integration is a type of bodywork purporting to draw on "energy" and allow access to the past. It was devised in the late 1960s by Jack Painter (1933–2010) in California, US, after exploration in the fields of humanistic psychology and the human potential movement.
Rosen Method Bodywork is a type of Complementary and alternative medicine. This bodywork, described as 'psychosomatic', claims to help integrate one's bodily and emotional/mental experience. In the tradition of sensory awareness methods, Rosen Method Bodywork focuses clients' attention onto internal sensations and emotions that arise as areas for the body are gently contacted with a 'listening' touch. This means that the practitioner's goal is not to manipulate or fix clients but rather to notice areas of tension and stillness. The practitioner uses words to help clients become aware of these held places in the body and encourages clients to describe what they are feeling.
The rapid prompting method (RPM) is a pseudoscientific technique that attempts to aid people with autism or other disabilities to communicate through pointing, typing, or writing. Also known as Spelling to Communicate, it is closely related to the scientifically discredited technique facilitated communication (FC). Practitioners of RPM have failed to assess the issue of message agency using simple and direct scientific methodologies, saying that doing so would be stigmatizing and that allowing scientific criticisms of the technique robs people with autism of their right to communicate. The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association has issued a statement opposing the practice of RPM.
ThetaHealing is the registered trademark for a method of meditation created by Vianna Stibal in 1995. ThetaHealing claims to change a practitioner's brain wave pattern to the theta pattern, allowing them to explore how "emotional energy" affects their health, and develop "natural intuition".
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
