Dr JA Winter on Dianetics and other musings of the day

lermanet_com · **Posted:** Sat Dec 02, 2006 7:35 pm

My 1968 edition of Dianetics, the Modern Confidence made to look like Mental Health has some interesting features

The flyleaf contains a dedication:

To the famous Magician
GEORGE WICHELOW
Englands First Dianeticist

and an introduction to Dianetics
by J.A . Winter MD

Dr Winter was a medical doctor and an expert Hypnotist
as was "The Old Man" ( as scientologists refer to Hubbard)
http://www.lermanet.com/scientology-and-occult/

The cult of the assassins "Hashasins" also had a God,
who also was called "The Old Man"
of the mountain...

That scientology's only visible gift to its participants is a total freedom to scam money and destroy hubbard's 'enemies' - because if they are doing it for scientology then it is okay. See Scientologist Taught Crime Okay - Toronto Sun 1992

but Im digressing...
JA Winter and Hubbard had a falling out and Dr Winter published a book about Dianetics.... note some of his astute observations which relate to both Lisa McPherson and Jeremy Perkins:

this is from Chapter 8:

SO FAR I have told of the observations in dianetics which have been proved to be useful, and I have told of the technique which has been developed as a result of these observations. This report would be incomplete if I did not tell of the other observations which were not followed up or which did not seem to lead to therapeutic usefulness.

The observation which would appear to have the greatest potential value revolves around the device known as "the file-clerk." Hubbard has chosen to anthropomorphize certain functions of the mind; the function of seeking out one specific datum from all the data which had been recorded, or finding one specific experience among those of a lifetime, was seen to be similar to the activities of a file-clerk, and was therefore so designated. In the Hubbardian technique, the auditor addresses the file-clerk when he wants information and
manipulates this function as if it were a discrete entity.

Another similar device, used in conjunction with the anthropomorphic file-clerk was the "somatic strip." This developed from Hubbard's observation that the portion of the mind which seemed to store the recording of pain could be manipulated separately. If the time-track were, made up of strips on which the perception-recordings were registered, that strip which dealt with pain and discomfort ("somatics") could be called the "somatic strip."

It was common practice in the Foundation to direct the patient in therapy by saying, "The file-clerk will hand up the incident we need next and the somatic strip will go to the earliest moment of discomfort." A patient who had been well-indoctrinated in Hubbardian terminology (or jargon, if you prefer) would usually respond by developing a sensation of discomfort in some portion of his anatomy.

I used this device but little, feeling that it was unnecessary and perhaps dangerous. It was my belief that any psychotherapy should act to integrate the various functions of the mind, and that splitting off one function in order to control other functions could be considered tantamount to training the patient in schizophrenia. It seemed, moreover, as I mentioned previously, that the device of designating a function by a personification could lead to semantic confusion, making
the indoctrination of a patient needlessly complicated. It is a commentary on the marvelous functioning of the human mind that such a device works at all.

caroline · **Posted:** Mon Feb 28, 2011 8:35 pm

Frederick Pohl wrote:

A disclaimer. I’m pretty sure that I wasn’t the only one to whom John [W. Campbell, Jr.] talked non-stop about all the wonderful and clever things that had been accomplished by “us” — which I took to mean the presiding triumvirate who ran Dianetics/Scientology. That, as John described it to me, consisted of three more or less equal-ranked persons: L. Ron Hubbard, the almost forgotten skin doctor Joseph Winter, and John himself.

I believe that each of the three was considered by the other two to deserve the ranking because of services rendered; in Ron’s case inventing the subject matter; in John’s the fact that it could hardly ever have got off the ground without the mighty boost John gave it with his magazine.

And Joe Winter? I don’t know the answer to that for sure. I didn’t know Winter well, only met him a few times, never talked with him or about him with either of the other two at any length. But he did have a legitimate M.D. and did wage a rather persistent, if quixotic (and markedly unsuccessful), campaign with the medical establishment to grant Dianetics and/or Scientology some respectful kind of recognition. So I think, with no more evidence than I’ve shown you, that what Winter represented to the other two was a touch of legitimacy.

Pohl, F. (2009, 3 December). Astounding: The Campbell Years, Part 2. thewaythefutureblogs.com. Retrieved on 28 February 2011 from http://www.thewaythefutureblogs.com/2009/12/astounding-campbell-years-part-2/

Dr. Winter also brought his knowledge of General Semantics to Dianetics.

Operation Clambake & Joe Cisar present: Early Scientology / Dianetics - 1950, quoting from Dr. J.A. Winter, who wrote:

I had spent a year in part-time research at the University of Illinois in an effort to increase my knowledge of the human-as-a-whole, but found instead a tendency in academic circles toward further compartmentalization of the patient, with the holistic viewpoint conspicuous for its absence. I had become interested in General Semantics, too -- and while I agreed with Korzybski that "the word is not the object," I found no satisfactory explanation for how such a confusion between levels of abstraction had arisen in the first place.

[...]

There was much to be said in favor of dianetics: there were also some points which could be criticized. For one thing, my training in medicine and my studies in General Semantics made me extremely hesitant to accept broad generalizations and absolutistic statements; I was oriented toward a reality based on statistical probability, rather than a two-valued logic. The philosophy of dianetics, as it was propounded to me, seemed to abound in the type of concepts which I tended always to question. The possibility of alternative explanations for these phenomena also kept coming to my mind.

Winter, J. A., MD. (1951). Dianetics: A Doctor's Report (1987 ed.). New York, NY: The Julian Press, Inc.

Winter is essentially here that Hubbard employed two-valued logic in Dianetics. This should be understood in relation to Hubbard's claim that he was employing "infinity-valued logic. More at OCMB: Hubbard and Korzybski.

Wikipedia: A Doctor's Report on Dianetics

caroline · **Posted:** Tue Mar 01, 2011 5:20 am

John W. Campbell published several "factual" articles written by Dr. J. A. Winter in Astounding Science Fiction. I found one such article in the August 1952 issue interesting because of the subject matter: psychosomatics. Hubbard's many claims in DMSMH include the following:

L. Ron Hubbard in DMSMH wrote:

SYNOPSIS

The creation of Dianetics is a milestone for Man comparable to his discovery of fire and superior to his inventions of the wheel and arch.

Dianetics (Gr., dianoua -- thought) is the science of mind. Far simpler than physics or chemistry, it compares with them in the exactness of its axioms and is on a considerably higher echelon of usefulness. The hidden source of all psycho-somatic ills and human aberration has been discovered and skills have been developed for their invariable cure.

Dianetics is actually a family of sciences embracing the various humanities and translating them into usefully precise definitions. The present volume deals with Individual Dianetics and is a handbook containing the necessary skills both for the handling of interpersonal relations and the treatment of the mind. With the techniques presented in this handbook the psychiatrist, psycho-analyst and intelligent layman can successfully and invariably treat all psycho-somatic ills and inorganic aberrations.

Hubbard, L. R. (1950). Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health, a handbook of dianetic procedure (25th printing, June 1981). Los Angeles: Bridge Publications, Inc.

Cf. the 2007 edition:

L. Ron Hubbard in DMSMH wrote:

SYNOPSIS

Dianetics (Greek dia, through, and nous, mind or soul) is the science of mind. Far simpler than physics or chemistry, it compares with them in the exactness of its axioms and is on a considerably higher echelon of usefulness. The hidden source of all psychosomatic ills and human aberration has been discovered and skills have been developed for their invariable cure.

DIANETICS IS ACTUALLY a family of sciences embracing the various humanities and translating them into usefully precise definitions. The present volume deals with Individual Dianetics and is a handbook containing the necessary skills both for the handling of interpersonal relations and the treatment of the mind. With the techniques presented in this handbook, the intelligent layman can successfully treat all psychosomatic ills and inorganic aberrations.

Hubbard, L. R. (1950). Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health, a handbook of dianetic procedure (2007 ed.). Los Angeles: Bridge Publications, Inc.

J. A. Winter, M.D. wrote:

WHAT IS PSYCHOSOMATIC?
BY J. A. WINTER, M.D.

The best evidence on the power of the mind over matter on hand to date is this; you can kill yourself quite handily by psychosomatics. It's as effective as arsenic, and can be much more painful. Since this article was written, evidence has been brought forth that cancer is psychosomatic also.

Once upon a time there was a man who was interested in solving problems. One day he found a problem in which the number of variables was, at a casual estimate, about 10 to the 13th power. He decided to work on this problem.

Question: What would you call this man—an optimist?

Answer: No—a psychosomaticist.

[...]

Winter, J. A. (1952, August). What is Psychosomatic? Astounding Science Fiction XLIX No. 6, 96-106. New York: Street & Smith Publications.

Psychosomatic medicine pre-dates Dianetics by decades and today is considered "a subspecialty of the fields of psychiatry and neurology." (Wikipedia). Another reason why Scientologists hate psychiatry.

caroline · **Posted:** Thu Apr 07, 2011 12:08 am

Here's the dust jacket of The Origins of Illness and Anxiety by Joseph A. Winter, M.D. (1962)

The Origins of Illness and Anxiety, dust jacket wrote:

A Practical Guide to Psychosomatic Medicine

Most illnesses are caused by mental attitudes. And in this book a medical doctor explains why, when, and how this happens . . . how you can tell if your troubles are psychosomatic . . . and what you can do about them
Including:
WHY WE GET SICK
WHY WE STAY SICK
WHY WE REPEAT OUR ILLNESSES
WHY WE HAVE SINUS TROUBLE
WHY WE BECOME ALLERGIC
WHY WE DEVELOP STOMACH TROUBLE
WHY WE GET ARTHRITIS AND RHEUMATISM
WHY MEN BECOME IMPOTENT
WHY WOMEN BECOME FRIGID
WHY WE MAKE MISTAKES
WHY WE BECOME NERVOUS

Foreword by WILLIAM S. KROGER, M.D.

$4.95
The Origins of Illness and Anxiety

A Practical Guide to Psychosomatic Medicine

J. A. WINTER, M.D.
FOREWORD BY WILLIAM S. KROGER, M.D.

Today as medicine is inclined to turn away from its exclusive preoccupation with the germ theory, and considers the possibility that we might make ourselves sick, a great need has arisen for a book that explains clearly the seemingly mysterious workings of psychosomatic medicine. This is such a book. It is the first really complete book on the subject ever written for laymen. It does not stop at such well-known emotionally caused ailments as ulcers and diarrhea. Readably, understandably, it covers the whole range of illnesses that doctors have found to be psychosomatic in whole or in part.

The author is neither a faddist nor a doctrinaire, but an enlightened and completely scientific practicing physician. He does not claim that every running nose and every ear-ache must be emotionally caused. But he does tell you, without pretentious jargon, exactly what medical scientists have learned in their laboratories and consulting rooms about psychosomatic illness . . . how it happens, why it takes the form it does and how it can be treated.

There are chapters in this book on the gastrointestinal disorders, and on the respiratory

continued on back flap

JACKET DESIGN BY MAXINE R. CLEMENT

continued from front flap

disorders such as asthma, sinusitis, and even the common cold. You will find a discussion of the widely publicized connection between the emotions and allergies, and you will learn what psychosomatic medicine has discovered about arthritis and rheumatism, about glandular disturbances, obesity, underdevelopment, skin disease, diabetes, goiter, and disorders of sight and hearing. The common sense facts about sexual disorders and irregularities, such as frigidity, impotence, homosexuality and nymphomania, are also explained with utter frankness yet without sensationalism or vulgarity.

This book is not meant as a substitute for a physician's services, but it can and will help all who read it to understand themselves and the nature of their own illness. The facts recorded in THE ORIGINS OF ILLNESS AND ANXIETY will bring new hope, new confidence to millions—for physicians estimate that about 70% of all illness is psychosomatic.

THE JULIAN PRESS, Inc.
80 East 11th Street, New York 3

from the REVIEWS

"Dr. J. A. Winter's timely and well written book THE ORIGINS OF ILLNESS AND ANXIETY is something of a primer in the psychosomatic field. Through it the victim of conditions caused or influenced by emotions can begin to understand how something as intangible as fear, anger, or anxiety can cause a tangible disease state, demonstrable by the X-ray or the microscope, such as a stomach ulcer or a case of apoplexy. Since roughly 70% of human illness falls in this category (psychosomatics), this is an important self-help book for all of us." NEW YORK TIMES

"Dr. Winter performs a useful service in bringing the question up (are your troubles psychosomatic?) and discussing it in a way people will find interesting . . . It explains the mind-body problem clearly and talks intelligently about sex, ulcers and learning to live with oneself." BOSTON POST

"Dr. Winter discusses the relationship of mental attitudes and abnormalities with such illnesses as asthma, stomach ulcers, rheumatism, and skin disorders; he probes into the causes and effects of anxiety and nervous tension; he thoughtfully examines matters of sex without the taint of sensationalism, including the problem of homosexuality. A valuable and pertinent analysis, THE ORIGINS OF ILLNESS AND ANXIETY is an informative book." SPRINGFIELD REPUBLICAN

"These days the public hears so much about 'psychosomatics' that there has been a need for a book which contains elemental reasoning so that the lay person can understand what psychosomatic medicine means . . . THE ORIGINS OF ILLNESS AND ANXIETY is the first such book which your reviewer has seen. It contains information which any person can understand. It is a good book for public libraries and doctors' offices. Also, it contains valuable ideas and explanations which the average doctor could use in his practice . . . Finally, Dr. Winter describes methods for gaining self-understanding." PSYCHIATRIC QUARTERLY

THE JULIAN PRESS, INC., Publishers, NEW YORK

Image: http://www.carolineletkeman.org/c/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/origins-bookjacket-01.pdf

Also see:

New York Times article on William S. Kroger, M.D.: William S. Kroger, 89, Pioneer In Use of Hypnosis as Treatment.

American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis (2008): EARLY DAYS: REMEMBERING WILLIAM S. KROGER, M.D., THE:

Dorothy · **Posted:** Thu Apr 07, 2011 2:21 am

lermanet_com wrote:

My 1968 edition of Dianetics, the Modern Confidence made to look like Mental Health has some interesting features

The flyleaf contains a dedication:

To the famous Magician

GEORGE WICHELOW

Englands First Dianeticist

and an introduction to Dianetics

by J.A . Winter MD

Dr Winter was a medical doctor and an expert Hypnotist

as was "The Old Man" ( as scientologists refer to Hubbard)

http://www.lermanet.com/scientology-and-occult/

The cult of the assassins "Hashasins" also had a God,

who also was called "The Old Man"

of the mountain...

That scientology's only visible gift to its participants is a total freedom to scam money and destroy hubbard's 'enemies' - because if they are doing it for scientology then it is okay. See Scientologist Taught Crime Okay - Toronto Sun 1992

but Im digressing...

JA Winter and Hubbard had a falling out and Dr Winter published a book about Dianetics.... note some of his astute observations which relate to both Lisa McPherson and Jeremy Perkins:

this is from Chapter 8:

SO FAR I have told of the observations in dianetics which have been proved to be useful, and I have told of the technique which has been developed as a result of these observations. This report would be incomplete if I did not tell of the other observations which were not followed up or which did not seem to lead to therapeutic usefulness.

The observation which would appear to have the greatest potential value revolves around the device known as "the file-clerk." Hubbard has chosen to anthropomorphize certain functions of the mind; the function of seeking out one specific datum from all the data which had been recorded, or finding one specific experience among those of a lifetime, was seen to be similar to the activities of a file-clerk, and was therefore so designated. In the Hubbardian technique, the auditor addresses the file-clerk when he wants information and

manipulates this function as if it were a discrete entity.

Another similar device, used in conjunction with the anthropomorphic file-clerk was the "somatic strip." This developed from Hubbard's observation that the portion of the mind which seemed to store the recording of pain could be manipulated separately. If the time-track were, made up of strips on which the perception-recordings were registered, that strip which dealt with pain and discomfort ("somatics") could be called the "somatic strip."

It was common practice in the Foundation to direct the patient in therapy by saying, "The file-clerk will hand up the incident we need next and the somatic strip will go to the earliest moment of discomfort." A patient who had been well-indoctrinated in Hubbardian terminology (or jargon, if you prefer) would usually respond by developing a sensation of discomfort in some portion of his anatomy.

I used this device but little, feeling that it was unnecessary and perhaps dangerous. It was my belief that any psychotherapy should act to integrate the various functions of the mind, and that splitting off one function in order to control other functions could be considered tantamount to training the patient in schizophrenia. It seemed, moreover, as I mentioned previously, that the device of designating a function by a personification could lead to semantic confusion, making

the indoctrination of a patient needlessly complicated. It is a commentary on the marvelous functioning of the human mind that such a device works at all.

Thanks for sharing Arnie.

The earliest version of Dianetics I ever owned (now lost) was the one with the Will Durant dedication. It included a Will Durant essay that I really liked.

JA Winter's insights are helpful to me. It shows that Hubbard was all about control. He may have been onto something about these mechanisms of the mind (file clerk, somatic strip) and it explains why Dianetics "works" for some people. But it also explains why it can be dangerous too. And it presents a condundrum for scientologists: scientologists believe that the tech puts you, the person, back in control. That is, more in control of your own mind. JA Winter challenges that and I think he is right. I think it (Dianetics) also indoctrinates the receiver (the preclear) into getting used to having certain mental functions (that may even be below his awareness!), controlled by another. Many practicing psychologists do have the goal of placing the patient back in the driver's seat. Auditors may unknowingly think that is their goal, when in actual fact, they may be doing the opposite. When the preclear comes out of the session and he gets his floating needle validated, he might feel better. But he might also be more compliant than ever. And what's worse- on a subconscious level that he's unaware of.

What happens to a person who learns to "like" having unconscious processes controlled by another? Who thinks they are being "freed" by this?

sekh · **Posted:** Thu Apr 07, 2011 5:27 pm

This compartmentalization of the mind is considered dangerous by many psychologists. It was regularly used in mainstream psychotherapy some time ago, and seems to be connected with conditions like "Multiple Personality Disorder" and "False Memory Syndrome". Rediscovered memories of satanic ritual abuse and alien abduction are usually discovered in therapy-sessions where these techniques are used.
Mainstream psychology considers these techniques dangerous and obsolete. Only faith-based psychotherapists, new-age reincarnation/regression therapists and the alien abduction believers still use these mechanisms on a regular basis.

And scientologists, of course. In all these cases the mind of the subject is controlled by an outsider, the therapist or the auditor. And the subject has no choice in the matter of what memories are triggered. It's up to the therapist what happens. That can be extremely dangerous. Even when the "patient" seems to get better at first.

RedPill · **Joined:** Sat Sep 22, 2007 8:33 am **Posts:** 1362

Reading this thread, something about the clam abreviation for the Dianetics book, DMSMH, struck me musically like "doobie doobie do" and then it hit ... INSPIRATION ... as in from the REAL COB, not slappy. So here it is ... humbly tendered as a gift to the Clambake, of course.

Pete

DMSMH (parody of Strangers in the Night)

DMSMH, you read in glances,
Reading it at night,
There are no chances, you’ll be still awake,
After a page or two.

Something in that book, is just so boring,
Something in that book, will have you snoring.
Something in that book,
Is meant to con you, too!

DMSMH, the flakey people,
Who hack DMSMH,
Up to the tare-page,
And then just like a retard,
Fill out the tare-card,
Soon have clams come out their way
To love-bomb all their doubts away and -

Then they get on course, and become rondroids,
They become ass pains, far worse than hemorrhoids,
Fished by LRH,
From DMSMH.

Soon have clams come out their way
To love-bomb all their doubts away and -

Then they get on course, and become Rondroids,
They become ass pains, far worse than hemorrhoids,
Fished by LRH,
From DMSMH.

Doobie doobie do,
Do doobie da da,
Da da doobie da …

caroline · **Posted:** Tue Oct 18, 2011 8:01 pm

Hubbard claimed in DMSMH that "70 per cent of the physician's current roster of diseases fall into the category of psychosomatic illness." Dr. Winter, on whom Hubbard and John W. Campbell Jr. obviously relied for their "modern science of mental health," specialized in psychosomatic medicine and General Semantics.

The following 1945 article published in Psychosomatic Medicine, discusses the implications of GS for psychosomatic medicine.

Dr. Louis Paul wrote:

It is suggested that workers in psychosomatic medicine can find in general semantics, an empirical science dealing, among others, with organismal reactions to events and symbols and events in connection with their life-values:

1.new psychosomatic terms which psychosomatic medicine lacks, and the principles for creating a psychosomatic nomenclature and theory-system;

2. the wider, general, structural foundations, based on modern physics, mathematics and linguistics, which underlie psychosomatic considerations;

3. recognition and correction of linguistic factors which unavoidably condition our reactions and evaluations;

4. a non-aristotelian system which provides a bridging term between physico-mathematical disciplines and biological sciences; and

5. general education and therapeutic means (useful to both physician and patient) for changing from the old "body" and "mind" system to a new psychosomatic attitude. General semantics helps the physician sharpen his formulations to the patient and thus shortens psychotherapy. The extent of its psychotherapeutic usefulness is still to be determined.

Korzybski makes this summary statement (14):

General semantics is not a medical science, but like bacteriology, it is essential to general medicine and psychiatry. The orothodox medicine without psychiatry and psychosomatic considerations represents nothing but glorified veterinary science. Psychiatry [psychosomatic medicine] and psychotherapy without general semantics cannot help but involve metaphysical factors.

Retrieved on 18 October 2011 from Psychosomatic Medicine 7:246-248 (1945)

Interestingly, some of the research papers published in Psychosomatic Medicine prior to DMSMH dealt with peptic ulcers, one of the specific illnesses Hubbard mentioned as having "yielded to persuasion and environmental change." (DMSMH: Book Two Chapter Five). Moreover, two of these articles were written by Thomas Szasz!

(See also: Psychosomatic Medicine's list of six articles by Szasz.)

Hubbard apparently received treatment at San Diego Naval hospital for a duodenal ulcer (ca 1943?) and also at Oak Knoll Naval Hospital (1945).
http://www.lermanet2.com/L_Ron_Hubbard/mr530.htm
http://www.lermanet2.com/L_Ron_Hubbard/mr053.htm

caroline · **Posted:** Thu Nov 17, 2011 2:43 am

Hubbard reported on Dr. Winter in his 14 May 1951 letter to the Attorney General:

L. Ron Hubbard wrote:

In August of that year I had reason to believe my wife was unfaithful and went to California. I was afraid of publicity and did nothing about this. By October, things

[page 2]

The Hubbard Dianetic Foundation, Inc.
275 MORRIS AVENUE
P.O. BOX 502, ELIZABETH, N.J.
ELIZABETH 3-2951

had come to such a pass in terms of organizational enturbulence that C. Parker Morgan, a member of the Foundation board of trustees told me he believed subversion was taking place. He asked the FBI to make an investigation. I know nothing further of this investigation. However, investigating on my own, I found that the publisher of the book, Arthur Ceppos, Hermitage House, was failing to distribute the book and was actually upsetting the organization by invalidating me and the science. I challenged Ceppos with this and forced him to resign from the board of trustees of the Foundation. At this time I learned also that Ceppos was "formerly" a member of the Communist Party. Resigning with Ceppos and hand in glove with him, evidently, was J.A. Winter, MD, medical director of the Foundation. I discovered then that Winter was a psycho-neurotic discharged officer of the US Army Medical Corps and that Winter seemed to have Communist connections. I was not alert still any belief that this strange upset in the organization was Communist inspired.

Hubbard, L. (1951, 14 May). [Letter to Attorney General]. xenu.net. Retrieved on 16 November 2011 from http://www.xenu.net/archive/FBI/fbi-110.html

Nowadays, Scientologists interrogate people according to Hubbard's "Confessional procedure" to try and discover things like "he's a psycho-neurotic discharged officer of the US Army Medical Corps" or, "he's Dr. J.A. Winter's long lost Communist Comrade of 20,000 years ago."

Dr JA Winter on Dianetics and other musings of the day

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