A Timeline of Re-evaluation Counseling's Development

Harvey Jackins developed Re-Evaluation Counseling directly from L. Ron Hubbard's Dianetics, the precursor to Scientology. Hubbard's life is documented in several biographies including his official bio, but Jackins' life and the developement of Re-evaluation Counseling from Dianetics is not well documented. In fact, this information is denied and distorted in Re-evaluation Counseling literature and is suppressed from within the International Re-evaluation Counseling Communities.

So I will try to fill in the missing years in HJ's development of RC with my best guesses based on the source material available. I base my information on Bent Corydon's "L.Ron Hubbard, Messiah or Madman?", "Bare Faced Messiah" by Russell Miller and Chris Owen, the Scientology training handbook (which I ran across in a school library), the scant material about Jackins in IRCC literature, and the unofficial "UPDATE ON RC TIMETABLE 23 8 97" produced in the "Liberate RC" list. My comments, summaries and guesses based on the source material are in parentheses.

(Dianetics was developed by L. Ron Hubbard out of his experiments in the 30's and 40's using hypnotism and drugs on his wife and child, and plagiarized from Count Alfred Korzybski's writings on General Semantics. Korzybski writes "It is quite remarkable that "mental" therapy ... is only successful when it succeeds in making the patient not only "rationalize" his difficulties but also makes him "emotionalize" --live through again and again, so to say, and evaluate anew--his past experiences...The "living through" of the past experiences is equivalent to this semantic stirring-up of meanings before eliminating the immature evaluations." Read "discharge" for "emotionalize")

May, 1950: "Dianetics: the Modern Science of Mental Health" published. 1st Hubbard Dianetics Research Foundation established to train auditors. (Personal Counselors, Inc. was one of many Dianetics auditing center probably modeled after this Foundation).

"The idea in Dianetics is to gain access to the postulates or "think" (immature evaluations) buried in moments of pain, unconsciousness, and shock, and "erase" them from the "reactive mind", thus refiling them in the conscious mind where they can be intelligently evaluated, used, or discarded, at the individual's discretion." -BC

"By January 1950, the rumors had reached the ears of Walter Winchell, the syndicated columnist on the New York Daily Mirror. 'There is something new coming up in April called Dianetics,' he wrote in his column on 31 January. 'A new science which works with the invariability of physical science in the field of the human mind. From all indications it will prove to be as revolutionary for humanity as the first caveman's discovery and utilization of fire.' " -BC

"He (LRH, not HJ) compared individual memory to a 'time-track' on which every experience was recorded. Using a form of hypnosis, he believed painful experiences could be recalled and 'erased' with consequent beneficial effects to both physical and mental health. " -RM/CO

"In moments of stress, the 'analytical mind' shut down and the 'reactive mind' took over, storing information in cellular recordings, or 'engrams'." -RM/CO

"The purpose of Dianetics therapy, he explained, was to gain access to the engrams in the reactive memory banks and 're-file' them in the analytical mind, where their influence would be eradicated. To 'unlock' the reactive memory bank it was necessary to locate the earliest engrams, which he claimed were often pro-natal, sometimes occurring within twenty-four hours of conception! A foetus might not understand words spoken while it was in the womb, he asserted, but it would be able to recall them in later life." -RM/CO

"Having cleared the reactive mind, the analytical mind would then function, like the optimum computer, at full efficiency the individual's IQ would rise dramatically, he would be freed of all psychological and psychosomatic illnesses and his memory would improve to the point of total recall." -RM/CO

The 50's: (Dianetics becomes a national craze like the hula-hoops in the 60's. Sci-Fi fans form Dianetics clubs where they audit each other).

1952: Harvey Jackins organizes Personal Counselors. Articles of incorporation state the purpose: "to engage in, conduct and teach the art and science of Dianetics." Jackins participates in Hubbard's letter writing campaign to get the endorsement of the medical and psychiatric profession for Dianetics. Jackins member of The Hubbard Dianetics Foundation, the highest Council of Dianetics.

1950-1952: (Dianetics peters out when the medical and psychological establishments, and the press ridicule and discredit LRH's exaggerated claims.)

"On 10 April 1952, Hubbard wrote another long letter to Helen O'Brien discussing the possibility of setting up a chain of HASI clinics, or 'Spiritual Guidance Centers'. They could make 'real money', he noted, if each clinic could count on ten or fifteen pre-clears a week, each paying $500 for twenty-four hours of auditing. He had clearly previously discussed the prospect of converting Scientology into a religion. 'I await your reaction on the religion angle,' he wrote. 'In my opinion, we couldn't get worse public opinion than we have had or have less customers with what we've got to sell." -RM/CO

1952: (E-meter introduced. Dianetics, "the science of the body", is renamed Scientology "the science of the soul." In Scientology, LRH introduced his ideas about Thetans, beings from outer space, who became entrapped in human bodies during a galactic catastrophe millennia ago. Thetans are actually what we know as the "soul", and are bad things. LRH's fortunes improve after this facelift.)

12/1953: (Scientology converts to The Church of Scientology or CO$. The org is now firmly in LRH's control.)

(From the beginning, LRH is afraid that Communists and Russians are plotting to steal his ideas (Dianetics). LRH routinely denounces his enemies as Communists to the FBI and CIA in person and by letter from the '50's on. "Enemies" are anyone in his org who disagreed with him or left the org. His FBI file indicates that they considered him mentally ill).

1954: Jackins takes the Fifth Amendament in front of the House Un-American Activities Committee when asked about his Communist Party affiliation. However, he does lecture the committee on his work with Dianetics at Personal Counselors Inc., saying:

"I am working with a very new approach to the problem of individual human beings. We have discovered-- a group of us, that apparently anything wrong with an individual human--any limitation on his ability, his enjoyment of life, his ability to be intelligent in any situation--is purely and solely the result of the experiences of hurt which he has endured. ... it is possible in a teamwork relationship for one person's intelligence as a counselor to be linked with that of the person who is enduring the difficulty or the limitation or the emotional problem--to go back in memory, in effect, and, by repetitively seeking out those experiences of hurt, discharging the stored up painful emotion; and in assisting the person to think them through over and over and over again, it is possible to free an individual from the inhibiting effects of the distresses which have stored up on him during his life. Now this is a very exciting field; the possibilities implicit in it--and we are pioneering in the group with which I work--are amazing."

The "we" Jackins identified was none other than the Dianetics Institute of Seattle. At the time, L. Ron Hubbard was losing control of Dianetics to a number of unauthorized groups that began mixing Hubbard's theories with the occult and alternative medicine. Dianetics "personal co-counseling" was an attempt to position the organization within mainstream psychiatry. (Above from "Attack Theory", an article by Steve Carr in The Polemicist, April 1992.)

1955: Church of Scientology moves headquarters to Washington, DC. CO$ prospers.

1956: Scientologist send letter to FBI denouncing Jackins.

"While Hubbard was skirmishing with the FBI, he was also tightening his grip on the Scientology movement and urging his followers to take action against anyone attempting to practice Scientology outside the control of the 'church'. He derided apostates as 'squirrels' and recommended merciless litigation to drive them out of business." -RM/CO

1958-59 CO$ moves to England to avoid scrutiny by IRS. Later LRH tries to move headquarters to newly-independent Rhodesia and take over that country. He fails. Later moves org to the high seas on the "Sea Org", a floating headquarters/mansion/training center.

1952-1962: (Sometime during this decade HJ leaves Scientology. Perhaps he took exception to Scientology's conversion to a religion, LRH's denouncing people to the FBI, or perhaps he was thrown out. Who knows!

(HJ, Mary McCabe and others collaborate on developing Re-evaluation Counseling out of Dianetics at Personal Counselors, Inc. HJ gives up the E-meter [it was patented], and not always used in Dianetics anyway. Scientology terms were changed because of copyright laws. The theory was modified slightly by experience counseling clients at Personal Counselors, Inc. but remained essentially Dianetics. PC, Inc. remained a for-profit organization, but International Re-evaluation Counseling Communities was developed as a hierarchical organization that taught, directed and promoted a kind of mutual Dianetics auditing that they called "co-counseling" or "re-evaluation counseling." Click here for similarities between Dianetics and Re-evaluation Counseling..

(HJ would be one of LRH's "squirrels" or apostates, and was put on Ron's enemy list. There were countless defections from Scientology over the years. People reformed some of the abuses and set up their own counseling centers. Re-evaluation Counseling is perhaps the most successful reform of Scientology.)

1962: "Fundamentals of Co-counseling Manual" 1st published by Personal Counselors, Inc. (Compare LRH's "tone scale" with HJ's "Discharge Indications and Sequence Chart" in the Fundamentals of Co-Counseling Manual - Has anyone figured out this chart yet? Compare HJ's "reactive pattern" with LRH's "reactive mind". Compare HJ's "Spectrum of Techniques" with LRH's "Tech Routines".

1963: Washington CO$ raided by the FBI, records taken that are used by the US to indict LRH, his wife, Sue, and other leaders. CO$ takes to the high seas. "Ethics technology" introduced to keep Scientology doubters called "suppressives" in line. "Ethics technology" included physical abuse, isolation, deprivation, etc.

1965: Jackins begins telling the story of "accidental" circumstances of the discovering of the counseling technique he formerly attributed to Hubbard and Dianetics. "The Human Side of Human Beings" published by Rational Island Publishers.

1965: 15 year old girl accuses Jackins of initiating sex in counseling session.

2/1966: First "clear" announced in Scientology. A "clear" is someone who has reclaimed their entire intelligence, no "engrams" (or distress recordings), and has total recall. (Compare to "re-emerged")

1973: "The Human Situation" 1st published by Rational Island Publishers". "The basic theory and practice of Re-evaluation Counseling were worked out in the 1950's and 60's in Seattle and were communicated verbally among Seattle area co-counselors". -forward to "The Human Situation" (HJ doesn't acknowledge his experience with Dianetics in the 50's).

1974: Many RC teachers in England and USA (Connecticut) leave IRCC to develop Co-Counseling International, CCI, a non-hierarchical, consensus-oriented reform of co-counseling. CCI spreads worldwide.

1974: "Is Homosexuality a Distress Pattern?" printed in Present Time No. 14. 1st time HJ publicly says "that homosexuality...is irrational, is the result of distress patterns, and will disappear by the free choice of the individual with sufficient discharge and re-evaluation". HJ "propose(s) that this set of proposals be discussed and commented on widely in our communities. I would like to hear the feedback. I propose that in a few months on the basis of this discussion we adopt a definite attitude on this question." The 1st mass exodus of co-counselors occurs because of this article. Not a policy yet! Interestingly, HJ's article describing homosexuality as the result of early distress around sex that can be discharged, converting the client to heterosexuality, is identical to Hubbard's view of homosexuality in his book, Dianetics, the Modern Science of Mental Health.

1976: "Time to Halt Devisive Activity" printed in RC Teacher No.9. HJ again defends his proposal about Homosexuality based on distress, agrees not to discuss this proposal in return for all co-counselors working on their ESM's, proposes the setup of GLB support groups, "Proud Allies", in exchange for GLB's not espousing that homosexuality is rational.

1977: Mary McCabe, RC Co-Founder quits, telling HJ "You're a liar".

1978: "A Draft Policy on Gay Liberation" printed in Proud Allies No1. "Each person must decide for himself or herself, through discharge and re-evaluation, whether it is correct or rational for that person to be Gay or not". Not a policy yet!

1980: Two Twin Cities leaders "decertified" after openly discussing allegations

1981: Entire Twin Cities, Minnesota, USA community disbanded after challenging Jackins on sexual abuse allegations. RC communities in England, France, Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands leave RC over the Jackins' sex scandal over this decade.

1981: Prohibition of sex between counselor and client deleted from "blue page" guidelines.

1981: Jackins opposed efforts to make it illegal for therapists to have sexual relations with their clients in the state of Washington, USA.

1981: In CBS documentary, woman reports "To my knowledge he has had sexual relations with dozens and dozens of female clients."

1981: "Attack Policy" adopted to silence reports of Jackins' sexual misconduct

1981: ex-Rcer Shirley Siegal founds "Stop Abuse by Counselors"

1982: Washington State senate receives letter from former Personal Counselors staff counselor alleging that Jackins was having sex with "almost every female client that came in for counseling"

1987: Holly Hurwitz & Steve Dickens (ex Rcers) conduct extensive telephone interviews that document numerous first hand accounts of sexual impropriety including molestation during sessions

1988: RRP from Vermont resigns position due to cover-up of sexual allegations by Jackins and other leadership

1988: Nancy Kline creator of "no limits for women" kicked out of RC after demanding Jackins publicly acknowledge his sexual exploitation and commit to stop it.

1989: Majority of French speaking European RC community resigns. Open letter documents many instances of sexual misconduct including the allegation that 100's of women have been taken to bed by him (Jackins) with varying degrees of consent.

1990: Kansas City RC community dissolved over these issues.
1990: Jackins calls for "quarantine of people with HIV"
1990: Former client sues Jackins , accusing him of multiple acts of sexual abuse.

1991: Pat Pearson writes open letter documenting her rape by Jackins within session.

1991: Lundy Bancroft, ex-Rcer and author of "Humanity Unbound, The Theory and Practice of Co-Counseling" publishes letter including report of an influential RC leaders who said approximately 100 women have recounted sexual experiences with Jackins to her personally.

1991: Young person's leader propositioned in Jackins' bedroom at young person's workshop in England

1992: "A Documentary History of the Career of Harvey Jackins and Re-evaluation Counseling" published in Belgium. First compilation of documents and articles relating to lies and abuses with RC.

1992: Majority of New York RC communities withdraw after Jackins attempts to seduce member and is confronted by local leadership. "Sparks" co-counseling community is formed.

1993: Letter from Yvonne Vowels. She quotes three of Jackins counselors as saying that he stopped counseling with them when they attempted to help him clean up his sexual acting out. She calls RC "one big incestuous family."

1993: Letter from Andrea Borning, also describing RC as an incestuous family.

1993: Publication of "Sex, Lies and Co-counseling."

1994: Publication of "Group influence and the psychology of cultism within Re-evaluation Counseling"

1995: Liberate RC web site established

1995: For the first time Harvey Jackins officially instates his policy on homosexuality, defining Lesbians, Gays and Bisexuals as people disabled by patterns, between World Conferences without the approval of IRCC leaders. HJ's gay policy is finally official.

1997: During a call-in programme on MS-NBC, a USA cable-satellite network, discussing cults, with the cult expert Steven Hassan, a RCers called in to talk of his own experience with RC. Steven Hassan discussed the problem with the cult, Harvey Jackins sexual abuse of female counselors, and RC links with Dianetics and Scientology.

1996-97: Jackins removes Charlie Kreiner as men's Liberation Reference Person after Kreiner disagrees with HJ's imposition of his gay policy. Kreiner leaves IRCC.