Prime Time Replay:
Bob Teets
on UFOs and the Mental Health Profession
MsgId: *high_strangeness(12)
Date: Tue Dec 2 21:55:56 PST 1997
From: Moderator At: 168.100.204.161
Welcome to High Strangeness! My name is Patrick Huyghe and our guest tonight is author, publisher and journalist Bob Teets, whose new book is called "UFOs and Mental Health" (Headline Books, Terra Alta, West Virginia, 1997, 110 pgs, $8.95). So our topic tonight is UFOs and the Mental Health Profession.Teets won more than 30 state and national press awards as a journalist in West Virginia in the 1980s. He then started Headline Books and in 1995 published an account of UFOs in his homestate called "West Virginia: Close Encounters in the Mountain State." He has interviewed more than 2,500 UFO witnesses and has published highlights of these encounters in his newsletter, "The American UFO Newsletter." Teets has a B.S. in journalism from West Virginia University and is a trained hypnotherapist (M.Ht.) and Spiritual Releasement Therapy practitioner in private practice.
With his new book, Bob Teets is challenging the mental health profession to meet the UFO experience head-on. He wants practioners to develop effectice interventions for clients seeking relief from perceived UFO experiences. His new book is specifically designed for therapists unfamiliar with this phenomenon. Now on to our first question: The title of your book might be misleading to some people. You are not saying that those who see UFOs or undergo abductions are mentally ill, are you?
MsgId: *high_strangeness(15)
Date: Tue Dec 2 21:57:41 PST 1997
From: Bob_Teets At: 198.77.32.103
Absolutely not! It's the opposite, really, as many people who have UFO experiences have much to offer in terms of "expanded consciousness." On the other hand . . . other folks report disturbing effects that mainstream psychology seems often not to be able to help.
MsgId: *high_strangeness(19)
Date: Tue Dec 2 22:00:30 PST 1997
From: Moderator At: 168.100.204.161
It almost seems like experiencers have more to teach therapists than the other way around?!
MsgId: *high_strangeness(21)
Date: Tue Dec 2 22:01:13 PST 1997
From: Bob_Teets At: 198.77.32.103
Sometimes, absolutely.
MsgId: *high_strangeness(22)
Date: Tue Dec 2 22:02:19 PST 1997
From: Moderator At: 168.100.204.161
But you do think therapists should get involved. Why?
MsgId: *high_strangeness(23)
Date: Tue Dec 2 22:02:48 PST 1997
From: Bob_Teets At: 198.77.32.103
I believe, yes, that therapists should get involved for several reasons . . . First, I haven't met a therapist yet who isn't a caring person . . . and thus, there is empathy and a desire to help. That's crucial to this phenomena. Secondly, there are, of course, protocols available to the therapist that are quite valuable. Talk therapy is quite effective in helping identify conflicts and resolving painful memories. (Gee, it's hard to address some of this via typing!)
MsgId: *high_strangeness(29)
Date: Tue Dec 2 22:06:13 PST 1997
From: Moderator At: 168.100.204.161
Who has done the best work in this area to date?
MsgId: *high_strangeness(30)
Date: Tue Dec 2 22:07:02 PST 1997
From: Bob_Teets At: 198.77.32.103
Mario Pazzaglini in Delaware, for starters. He also wrote a book on "Alien" symbology. Mario is a psychologist who trained with Assogioli (sp?). Dr. Leo Sprinkle is the best, out in Wyoming . . . a real pioneer. He has a new book coming out in the spring. I can't wait!
MsgId: *high_strangeness(33)
Date: Tue Dec 2 22:08:38 PST 1997
From: Moderator At: 168.100.204.161
What does Sprinkle do that other mental health practitioners don't?
MsgId: *high_strangeness(34)
Date: Tue Dec 2 22:09:32 PST 1997
From: Bob_Teets At: 198.77.32.103
For starters, Leo has been involved in this field since the early 60s, from the time when it was a novelty that no one else cared about. He is also "client centered," and uses as his approach what he terms "unqualified positive acceptance." Both vital components, I think.
MsgId: *high_strangeness(36)
Date: Tue Dec 2 22:10:48 PST 1997
From: Moderator At: 168.100.204.161
Have you had your own UFO experiences?
MsgId: *high_strangeness(37)
Date: Tue Dec 2 22:12:07 PST 1997
From: Bob_Teets At: 198.77.32.103
Yes, as I wrote about in the first book (WV UFOs). Many unusual experiences since then, as well, but not with what I would term a UFO.
MsgId: *high_strangeness(38)
Date: Tue Dec 2 22:13:07 PST 1997
From: Moderator At: 168.100.204.161
Tell us more. Give us some specifics.
MsgId: *high_strangeness(39)
Date: Tue Dec 2 22:14:00 PST 1997
From: Bob_Teets At: 198.77.32.103
My UFO experience occurred when I was age 8 or so, so one can view that in many ways. Given that it occurred with overlapping events . . . though perhaps in the linear space/time sequence, one is left to guess whether it was childhood imagination, or an Einstein-like synapse. Either way, it overlapped with the inventor of radio, Dr. Mahlon Loomis, who discovered radio thanks to a spirit guide, Frances. Loomis first "got" the idea on his birthday, July 21, 1863, in Washington, D.C. . . . then spent the rest of his life perfecting the system, which he demonstrated for many, many people, including member of Congress. Interestingly, to me at least, is that he did his best work, and was in closest "contact" with his spirit guide . . . in precisely the same exact spot where, nearly 100 years later, I had my UFO experience.(Drat, now I've given away the first chapter of my book!) Well, anyway . . . since that time I have become aware of, shall we say, an on-going "interface" between "non-human intelligence" and us. You can find such references in the ancient texts (BIBLE, other religious texts of other religions, etc.) and right up through the present.
MsgId: *high_strangeness(49)
Date: Tue Dec 2 22:22:19 PST 1997
From: Moderator At: 168.100.204.161
How has this experience affected you? Any problems? Would a therapist have helped?
MsgId: *high_strangeness(50)
Date: Tue Dec 2 22:24:57 PST 1997
From: Bob_Teets At: 198.77.32.103
Ah-ha! The effects have been slight (I think!) as I really never paid much attention to them, that is, until I went to work for the Human Potential Foundation back in 93. Laurance Rockefeller was interested in UFOs via an interest in so-called "new science," and when I was hired...
MsgId: *high_strangeness(54)
Date: Tue Dec 2 22:33:28 PST 1997
From: Moderator At: 168.100.204.161
We hope Bob will be back with us soon to continue his story.
MsgId: *high_strangeness(53)
Date: Tue Dec 2 22:33:09 PST 1997
From: Bob_Teets At: 198.77.32.118
I'm b-a-a-c-k!
MsgId: *high_strangeness(55)
Date: Tue Dec 2 22:33:57 PST 1997
From: Moderator At: 168.100.204.161
Good!
MsgId: *high_strangeness(56)
Date: Tue Dec 2 22:34:04 PST 1997
From: Bob_Teets At: 198.77.32.118
First, Netscape blitzed me, then the local ISP had problems -- jammed up. the problems with living in the boondocks! Where were we?
MsgId: *high_strangeness(57)
Date: Tue Dec 2 22:35:33 PST 1997
From: Moderator At: 168.100.204.161
You started working for Rockefeller.
MsgId: *high_strangeness(58)
Date: Tue Dec 2 22:35:54 PST 1997
From: Bob_Teets At: 198.77.32.118
Oh, yes, Laurance Rockefeller: after hiring me, I of course began recall some of my earlier experiences and that took me into the study of psychology and later, to my interest and work with hypnosis.
MsgId: *high_strangeness(60)
Date: Tue Dec 2 22:37:04 PST 1997
From: Moderator At: 168.100.204.161
Laurence D. Rockefeller has made considerable efforts to get UFOs recognized by President Clinton and his administration and you've done some work for him in this regard. Do you feel he has succeeded in his goal, or has he given up?
MsgId: *high_strangeness(61)
Date: Tue Dec 2 22:37:59 PST 1997
From: Bob_Teets At: 198.77.32.118
Laurance is still trying, though he'd rather no one noticed!
MsgId: *high_strangeness(63)
Date: Tue Dec 2 22:38:41 PST 1997
From: Moderator At: 168.100.204.161
That's kind of hard to do! What led you to write this book? Was it the Heaven's Gate episode?
MsgId: *high_strangeness(65)
Date: Tue Dec 2 22:40:01 PST 1997
From: Bob_Teets At: 198.77.32.118
My book is based on the briefing Laurance presented to Pres. Clinton's science advisor . . . a year after that, President and Mrs. Clinton vacationed with Laurance at his ranch in Wyoming. So the briefing was pretty heavy, eh?
MsgId: *high_strangeness(67)
Date: Tue Dec 2 22:41:45 PST 1997
From: Moderator At: 168.100.204.161
And?
MsgId: *high_strangeness(68)
Date: Tue Dec 2 22:42:44 PST 1997
From: Bob_Teets At: 198.77.32.118
Who knows? Webb Hubble says Clinton's interest was very real. So the question now is, WHAT does the pres know?
MsgId: *high_strangeness(71)
Date: Tue Dec 2 22:43:30 PST 1997
From: Moderator At: 168.100.204.161
Or does it matter what the president knows?
MsgId: *high_strangeness(72)
Date: Tue Dec 2 22:43:43 PST 1997
From: Bob_Teets At: 198.77.32.118
I'm not as privvy to Clinton's thoughts as is perhaps Mr. Rockefeller. After all, I was just some of the hired help.
MsgId: *high_strangeness(74)
Date: Tue Dec 2 22:45:21 PST 1997
From: Moderator At: 168.100.204.161
Can you address for a moment Heaven's Gate. Did this event prompt you to write this book? If not, does it help you make a point, at least?
MsgId: *high_strangeness(75)
Date: Tue Dec 2 22:46:39 PST 1997
From: Bob_Teets At: 198.77.32.118
I follow a lot of the Heaven's Gate scenario because so far, UFOs are more about people various "beliefs" than about anything else. Everyone has a belief, with little proof to back it up. Therefore, belief systems begin to compete for attention, money, and other believers. The UFO phenomenon is quite seductive in its ability to lure a person deep into a quest for truth and it seems as though there is a point at which belief systems begin to take over and that "non-human" component is then free to manipulate . . . all the while, we are left to discern with our consciousness, such as it is. Often, that leads to the old power play -- sex, power, and profit (and other gains, sometimes political . . . and thus, you have a political interface -- sometimes military, sometimes biological, socialogical, religious and one finds oneself on a slipper slope, as did the Heaven's Gate leaders. Human consciousness is not infallable . . . as is the human ego. A sometimes lethal (if certainly not confusing) turn of events.
MsgId: *high_strangeness(91)
Date: Tue Dec 2 22:53:57 PST 1997
From: Moderator At: 168.100.204.161
WHich brings me to my final question: What do you see in common in the works of Whitley Strieber, John Mack, Courtney Brown and Marshall Applegate of Heaven's Gate?
MsgId: *high_strangeness(92)
Date: Tue Dec 2 22:54:59 PST 1997
From: Bob_Teets At: 198.77.32.118
A loaded question with only a few minutes to answer! Clever guy, you are, Patrick!With limited time to answer, just let me say that it's about competing belief systems and sometimes about social manipulation. The rest is in the book! (a shamless plug!)
MsgId: *high_strangeness(95)
Date: Tue Dec 2 22:56:41 PST 1997
From: Moderator At: 168.100.204.161
Well, we've run out of time. Thank you very much for being with us tonight, Bob Teets. Good luck with your book! For High Strangeness, this is Patrick Huyghe. Goodnight.
MsgId: *high_strangeness(96)
Date: Tue Dec 2 22:57:06 PST 1997
From: Bob_Teets At: 198.77.32.118
Goodnight! And thanks!
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