Note: I have known and worked closely with Dan Richardson for over 20 years now. In this article he chronicles his personal journey in pursuit of his life-long purpose—to be able to truly help people overcome and resolve the mental issues and problems that darken their days. It is a journey that took him to a Bachelor of Psychology degree at Washington State University, and deep into the Master of Psychology program at Eastern Washington University, before he came to confront the stark truth—there are no real answers, and there is no real and workable therapy to be found in the subject of Psychology as it is being taught today in American schools. How Dan, after investing five years of his life, study and resources, only to realize the futility of the effort, then remained true to his goal and DID discover that a workable mental science and therapy existed; and DID become an expert in its use, is a remarkable story. I am proud to share it with you here…Please read on…MA  

Is There Hope For Mental Health?  

Introduction

I didn’t know Tyler Hilinski, but by all appearances life was going his way. At 21 years old, he had just completed his 2017 sophomore season as the back-up quarterback for my alma mater, the Washington State Cougars, and had the inside track on becoming the team’s starting quarterback in 2018. His teammates all liked and respected him, often describing him as “outgoing” or “bubbly,” and a “guy you really want to be around.” Then, on January 16^th, 2018, just when it seemed he had everything to live for, Tyler shot and killed himself with a friend’s rifle.   When I found out he had committed suicide, I was disappointed and wanted to know why. I wished I had known him, and could have helped him. That’s my nature.

The actual reason for his suicide is not known.  At his funeral, family and friends suggested there should be more education on suicide and depression.  The general thought in society is that the education provided would lead to a better and happier solution.  At this time, based on my personal knowledge and experience, I don’t believe that to be the case.

What I do know is that hearing of Tyler’s suicide was another indication of the failed mental health system we have – one that I was almost a part of.  It reminded me of my college days, and when I first started thinking seriously about a career in mental health. At the time I assumed that the answers to human suffering lay in the fields of Psychology and Psychiatry, as they were the only subjects taught in universities on mental health. In my pursuit, however, I discovered these fields to be full of questions, but devoid of workable answers. Although they pretend to do important studies on the mind, none of these are intended to resolve the matter. The studies done on “depression” are drug studies conducted on behalf of the pharmaceutical industry for the purpose of getting approval by the FDA. They profit by people continuing to “need” these drugs, so they are not motivated to end depression, anxiety or other similar concerns.

I hit an impasse in studying Psychology as I wasn’t satisfied with what I was being taught. I realized the field did not have answers, and worse, was not being honest about it. I was faced with the realization that, if I took a job as a “Psychologist,” I would be committing fraud, even if I had the “credentials” to make it legal for me to practice.

So, I had a choice to make.

The Beginning of the End…

In the spring of 1996 I was nearing the end of my 1^st year of a 2-year Master’s Degree in Psychology at Eastern Washington University. This was the year where we were taught the theory.  The 2^nd year was an apprenticeship, in which we were to apply what we learned in the first year. One of the final classes was preparing us to handle actual cases who needed “therapy.” Our professor, a very experienced and respected clinical psychologist, laid out a scenario.  He gave us all the details of a person who was coming for help in therapy – what their background was, what their concerns were and what they wanted help with, along with enough information to get us some insight into the person without actually meeting them. The individuals in the class were then tasked with writing out a “therapy program” for the person seeking treatment.  We each spent about 10 minutes writing out an outline of a treatment program for that individual.

I remember thinking at the time that working out a treatment program was extremely subjective. There were no texts on a right or wrong type of therapy.  It was hinted that we should read up on many different approaches and choose one that fit our personalities—not exactly a scientific way to go about things. But I hadn’t given up hope that I could help, so I made a stab at the assignment.

When we were all done the professor asked for a show of hands. How many of us, he wanted to know, had included psychiatric drugs as part of the program? Two thirds of the class raised their hands.  The professor nodded approvingly.  I was shocked. Our classes had done nothing to show us that psychiatric drugs were helpful, and I knew they had damaging side effects.  So, if he was approving of these students hoping that drugs would help, that suggested to me that he didn’t know how to help them either.

It began to sink in that we were a bunch of soon-to-be fakes; the “quacks” Psychologists and Psychiatrists had often been made out to be.  I hated to admit it, but if this was how we were supposed to operate, we would be frauds if we attempted to lead future patients to believe that we were competent mental health practitioners.

Around this same time I learned that my father had experienced a nervous breakdown and was forced to retire.  He was diagnosed by a Psychiatrist as “Bipolar.”  I mentioned this to the same renowned Psychologist and asked his advice on what could be done for my father.  He thought about it briefly, a sad look coming over his face, and then said, “Bipolar is tough.”  That’s all he said.  He thought about it some more, but had no further answers.

So, at this pivotal time in my education I learned two important lessons about my future as a Psychologist:  1) I’d be guessing and hoping on how to help my patients; and 2) that I would have no honest answers for people who were truly suffering. Thus, I was faced with a very tough choice: continue on the current path and be a fraud, or quit and start a new path.  In starting a new path I’d be throwing away the money and time I’d spent for 5 years of schooling.  I’d also be throwing away an “easy life” with a good-paying job assured; but that job would also serve as a daily reminder that I was not competent by my own standards, which demanded that I expect consistent and positive results, or I would question my actions.

I needed help working through this and, fortunately, I had a girlfriend who was in the same classes and understood the dilemma.  She had been pursuing other options as well and had been referred to a book, “Dianetics, the Modern Science of Mental Health” by L. Ron Hubbard. I asked her about it and she said it was a natural therapy (meaning it didn’t use drugs, hypnotism, shock, etc) and that a friend of hers said there may be a career opportunity in it.  That sounded positive, so I filed that information away while continuing to dwell on my problem.

The end of the school year came and I took a trip to Mexico with a friend.  While there, I began reading the Dianetics book.  It was a scientific approach to mental health.  It identified why mental health issues happen and how they are alleviated on a one-for-one basis with a therapy called “auditing.” (“auditing” in Dianetics means “to listen and compute” – it is the technology of applying Dianetics to another to the resolution of their problems) The author continued to make the point that the important part of a therapy is, “Does it work?”  This was music to my ears.  I had been reading 1000 pages per week of “therapies” that were honestly just a bunch of B.S.  None placed any stated importance on workability – it’s still hard for me to believe that such un-proven and result-less therapies are in use.

So, I began to study this book and took a very inexpensive course called the “Dianetics Seminar.”  My girlfriend and I did it together and we applied the technology to each other.  It was simple but remarkable in its workability.  I was very impressed.  In one month I learned more truth and effective tools for helping people than I had in 5 years studying Psychology.  In my mind, I had no choice but to pursue Dianetics and to quit Psychology.

And that is exactly what I did.

“Why Mental Health as a Career Choice?”

I had a very easy upbringing.  I had two incredibly supportive parents, two siblings close to me in age who both helped and challenged me, and I felt like I could choose any path I wanted. I always was interested in other people and in learning from them.  I had few real problems of my own, so I got interested in the problems other people were dealing with. I sort of looked on their problems as something to solve; not because I felt sorry for them, or because there was something wrong with them. I simply liked solving life problems, and it seemed fun to try to understand others’ problems from their viewpoints, and see how they would best be solved.

At the end of my junior year in high school I got a job at a grocery store.  This forced me to talk to a lot of people I would not have otherwise been exposed to.  I interacted with them and learned from their lives. One of the things I liked to do was learn from the mistakes of others.  They’d tell me what, if they could, they would do over in their lives and why. I’d pay attention and understand why they made the choice that they later regretted, and so I’d be prepared if such a situation came my way. I found this very helpful – and still do.

Upon enrolling at Washington State I still hadn’t made my mind up what path I wanted to choose.  I liked sports, and could have been a baseball reporter or broadcaster. That was an area of interest.  But people started telling me I should be a Psychologist because I was so easy to talk to, and that stuck in my mind a bit.

I started to make friends with lots of people from all walks of life.  Some girls I got to know told me about having been raped. Two in particular stood out to me, as both were still obviously upset about it, and discussing the subject left them distraught and wanting to leave.  They weren’t mad at me, but it seemed that by telling me about it they associated me with the pain of the incidents, and so it resulted in the friendship dwindling to nothing. This bothered me. I wished I could have eased the pain in some way, but wasn’t sure how.  This was something I hoped that a degree in Psychology would solve.

So, in my 2^nd year at university, I committed to majoring in Psychology.

Why a Master’s Degree was “Needed”

Early in my Psychology classes, I noticed that there was nothing useful in terms of helping people; which was my purpose for studying the subject.  I mentioned this to an advisor who had a Ph. D. in Psychology.  She said that there was nothing at the Bachelor’s degree level that aligned with this, but that I would learn about that when I went on to get a Master’s Degree in Psychology.  I was convinced by her that what I needed to do was get good grades and score well on a test to get into a Master’s Degree program. I did this and was accepted to a program that was fully accredited and had classes that, on paper, seemed to be geared toward being able to help people.

The classes began and I was assigned to read about 1000 pages per week, learning all about the different types and approaches to therapy. I zoomed through the reading, always looking for workable methods that I could use to help people, so they would no longer be burdened by the past.  But through the entire first year there was not even a hint that any of these approaches had as a goal to give such relief.  Instead the consensus seemed to be that we needed to label people with some disorder, make them “realize” what their problem was; and “help” them by making them adjust to their environments and accept the fact that their life was always going to be hard for them.

My morale began to sink as I realized I had spent 5 years going in a certain direction and finding that the direction was a dead-end.  Not only that, but I was faced with the knowledge that the subjects of Psychology and Psychiatry (which were depended on by the Government, schools and general society) were fraudulent subjects. They pretended to be the only ones with answers to human suffering and received massive amounts of government aid, yet had no accountability and no expectations of solving the problems on which they seemed to have a monopoly.

The Ethics class I took regarding Psychology was strictly how not to get busted for obvious crimes, such as sex with patients, etc.  There was no Ethics issue with practicing under the guise of giving relief when there was no real training on workable methods.  This is an Ethics blind spot that Psychology and Psychiatry have. They are not obligated by law to know what they are doing, or to get results; so they can charge money for therapy which is not therapeutic, and there is no recourse to patients for lack of results or even for suicides resulting from their failed attempts.  They (the patients) “came too late,” or “their problem is a burden and they need to continue therapy to hopefully, one day, be able to cope with it,” etc.

I felt silly for not having spotted the deception sooner and for having continued on the path as long as I did.  At this point, and with my learning of the workability of Dianetics, I was onto a new technology to help achieve my original goal.

A New Hope

After getting my feet wet and some confidence with Dianetics that I could help erase the pain of past incidents without drugs or hypnotism, I was eager to learn more.

I found that Dianetics was actually a part of the Scientology religion.  I was born a Christian and had zero interest in finding a new religion. Further, college campuses have a way of finding fault with religions and undermining religious views – at least that’s been my experience with college campuses.  So, dipping my toe into a new religion was the last thing I wanted to do.

I couldn’t shake the knowledge of what I’d experienced with Dianetics, however. It worked!  Exactly the way it said it would!! I decided I would stick with Scientology and Dianetics as long as it continued to prove workable. Dianetics did what it said it would. So I decided to take another step–the Purification  Rundown.

The Purification Rundown is designed to handle accumulated impurities in one’s body, such as drugs (any type – street, medical or alcohol) and other toxins taken in through the mouth, nose and skin. Minute amounts of these toxins stay in the fatty tissues of the body and can and do suppress the individual via his body. This inhibits gains in auditing, so it is a first step in Scientology.

It wasn’t real to me that I had drugs in my body since I had never taken street drugs, only medical drugs and alcohol.  But I went along with it as it was required.  I’m very glad I did.

The Purification Rundown has an exact method, developed by L. Ron Hubbard, of ridding the body of toxins; ultimately sweating them out in a sauna.  It didn’t take long for me to smell something familiar pouring out of my body. This was the unmistakable smell of ammonia.  I’d grown up on a chicken farm and the chicken houses were regularly sprayed down with ammonia.  I often did chores in those houses so my body, apparently, had absorbed it through my skin. It was shocking how much of an effect this had on me.

Prior to the Purification Rundown, I was fairly lifeless.  My sense of adventure and ambition had died down, and I was numb much of the time.  I didn’t realize the extent of this until after I’d sweated out the toxins in my body.  At the end of the program (which took about 3 weeks), I was very bright and extroverted with renewed energy and clarity of thought that made life feel fresh and exciting again.

Along with Dianetics, this was another success – so I kept taking the next step.

I learned more about auditing and found that there was professional training in Seattle, so I moved there and started the training full time. I was offered a job and was given an opportunity to get the top Scientology training available on the planet in Florida. I took this opportunity and spent the next 5 years studying to become the most highly trained Scientology auditor in the state of Washington. The training was phenomenal. At the end of it I had personally audited over 2000 hours and had gained confidence that I could handle any case that was willing to work with me.

I was quickly tested.  A family member had a freak incident of psychosis, triggered by a reaction to a medication.  She was so much out of touch with reality, and out of her own control, that she was placed in the psychiatric ward of a hospital.  My other family members were in shock and had no idea what to do. I flew back to Seattle and went to visit her.  She’d been so heavily drugged by the hospital that she was unable to effectively communicate.  So, I worked with her on steps that I knew would help the drugs wear off, and I got her in communication with her environment and with me.  Once she was coherent, I asked her if she wanted to be there in the hospital.  She looked straight into my eyes and, with an unquestionable intention, said, “No!”

I helped her get out, which is not an easy procedure; but I felt she needed my help and I knew without a doubt I could help her. I got her released and then set the family at ease, as they were afraid she was not ready.  She wasn’t fully back to herself yet, but I assured them I’d stay with her until she was.

Two weeks later, with my help, she was back to work and doing fine. I never could have accomplished that without my training. That’s not to say that I audited her—I didn’t; but in the course of my training I learned how to help someone who’d had a psychotic break, and I applied it. She and the rest of my family have been forever thankful for this.

The Adventure Continues

Now it’s been over 20 years since I first started to study Dianetics and Scientology.  I have found that every time I’ve applied a step in these subjects as they were laid out, it was successful. I’ve helped hundreds of people live better lives in their own estimation.  I’ve helped people handle and improve relationship troubles with their spouses, with family members, with friends or with people at work.  Marriages that were falling apart were salvaged, or in some cases when they chose to not stay married, they got up to being able to part as friends; something very helpful when children were involved. People who had their grown children on the verge of disowning them came to me for help. In all cases, the relationships were salvaged as a result of correct application of Scientology principles.

Another time a family member came to me with a severe physical illness that was threatening her bodily organs. I applied Dianetics auditing to her for two weeks, and then she was tested again. Her symptoms were no longer present and, over 10 years later, they are still not present.

I continue to work for the Church of Scientology in Seattle. I audit people and I also train other auditors to be able to help people with the technology of Dianetics and Scientology.

I am grateful to have been able to fulfill my original goal of helping others. The unexpected gift was being able to help others do the same. That is now one of my favorite parts of my job.

Epilogue

I don’t presume to know why TyIer Hilinski killed himself, but I do know that I don’t want the promising lives of any more 21 year old quarterbacks, or anyone else for that matter, to be lost through suicide. From the first-hand experience I’ve described in this article, I also know how fraudulent the subjects of Psychiatry and Psychology are. To those of you reading this, if you have no experience with Dianetics or Scientology, it may be beyond your reality that a truly workable technology exists for resolving the problems of the mind, spirit and life—but it does. That technology is what Psychology should be. My challenge to you is that you make the effort to understand it, and I truly hope you’ll join me in raising the standards of what is expected by mental health practitioners.

For those who have a strong intention to help people get real relief from their troubles or to free themselves of spiritual trauma; or to simply help people live a better life and achieve their goals, I would be more than happy to hear from you. I can be reached at the “comments” section below or by e-mail at mailto:mark@fromanativeson.com

If you or someone you know is stuck in the trap of taking psychiatric drugs, there are doctors who can help you safely get off them.  There’s a website with these resources at www.theroadback.org.

For more information about Dianetics, please go to www.dianetics.org.

For more information about Scientology, please go to www.scientology.org.

In doing this please be aware that there are many vested interests out there who are filling the internet with false solutions and with lies about workable solutions. I had to deal with these along the way too. What kept me moving forward was applying Dianetics and Scientology as the materials state and, as long as they worked, I kept carrying on. I recommend the same approach from you.

Good Luck!

Dan Richardson

May 21, 2018

 

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By Dan Richardson

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