Matthew's Murky Medicine

Whom to complain to

2011-04-16T01:03:00.000-07:00

nicola@nicolaroxonmp.com Federal Health Minister

Minister.Hames@dpc.wa.gov.au State Health Minister

ContactUs@mentalhealth.wa.gov.au Mental Health WA

www.hconc.org.au Health Consumers’ Commission 1800 620 780

info@cifs.org.au Cult Information and Family Support

false.memory@bigpond.com False Memory Association of Australia

2010-09-12T07:20:00.000-07:00

Meinck's business; Chittering Valley Retreat is still operating.

Here is his website: http://www.chitteringvalleyretreat.com.au/
Here is a satellite picture of his retreat ground
http://www.nearmap.com/?ll=-31.566924,116.121116&z=19&t=h&nmd=20100106

He who angers you, conquers you

WHOM CAN YOU COMPLAIN TO?

2008-11-19T03:13:00.000-08:00

If you have a complaint about Matthew Meinck, and you have parted with
money or goods in return for his ‘services’, you can complain to:

Minister: The Hon Troy Buswell, MLA - Minister for Commerce

Department of Consumer & Employment Protection
219 St Georges Terrace
PERTH WA 6000
Locked Bag 14
CLOISTERS SQUARE WA 6850
Phone: 08 9282 0777
Fax: 08 9282 0850
General Information & Advice 1300 136 237

Many people are fearful of reprisals if they make formal complaints. However, if complaints are not lodged it is extremely difficult for Consumer Affairs to warn other enquirers about Matthew Meinck, or to make recommendations to the government regarding any need for legislation. In addition, without complaints Matthew will continue to prosper, getting away with what he is doing and making him even less likely to care for the consequences of his actions.

If you suspect there has been an abuse of the practice of hypnosis by Matthew Meinck
then contact:

Secretary,
Australian Society of Hypnosis,
Austin Hospital,
Heidelberg,
Victoria 3084.

Even though WA has no regulations about hypnosis you should still report such activities.

If you or your family have suffered emotional or physical health problems
as a result of the activities of Matthew Meinck then write to:

Office of Health Review (OHR)
Level 12, St Martin's Tower, 44 St George's Terrace Perth 6000
GPO Box B61 Perth 6838
Phone - (08) 9323 0600
Freecall™ 1800 813 583 (inside WA)
Fax - (08) 9221 3675

Although the commissioner is only supposed to be responsible for
registered health professionals it’s about time people started letting these offices know what unqualified people like Matthew are getting up to!

Also complain to your local Member of Parliament - both state and federal. If we are going to have a co-ordinated policy on abuse of psychological methods our state and federal governments need to cooperate.

In the United States there are now hundreds of people suing organisations that
they have been involved in for compensation. Group actions of this sort may in the end be one of the most powerful ways of limiting the activities of groups, as money is certainly their Achilles heel. Some victims have already won large compensation
payouts. I strongly suggest that anyone who has been damaged - either personally or
through a member of their family - should seek legal advice regarding appropriate
compensation. Contact CIFS in Australia

HELPFUL ORGANISATIONS
CIFS
Cult Information and Family Support
P.O box 385
West Ryde
NSW 1685
Australia
Fax 02 9868 7245

Dangerous Persuaders

2008-11-19T02:41:00.000-08:00

My attention has recently been drawn to an excellent free downloadable eBook by Australian psychologist Louise Samways called DangerousPersuaders . The book is an exposé on gurus and personal development courses and how they operate. It is definitely essential reading for anyone who has any doubts that Matthews methods are anything less than murky.

If you know someone who you think would benefit from it download it and email or post it to them.

Memory and Survival

2008-11-05T05:12:00.000-08:00

A caveman goes out into the wild and nearly gets killed by a bear. The event is very traumatic and he nearly dies. Would he remember what happened? How would he feel if he sensed the presence of a bear after that?

Could humans (or any other creature for that matter) survive and evolve if traumatic events could be easily forgotten. It would not serve the caveman to remember that bears are dangerous only twenty years later. This is important information that he needs for his very survival today.

This is why people who really experience traumatic events find it hard to forget.

Confabulation and the Science of False Memory

2008-11-05T03:43:00.000-08:00

Confabulation is what happens when your imagination works with your memory to generate a story, in particular it is the confusion of imagined details with true events. A confabulation is a fantasy that has unconsciously emerged as a factual account in memory. A confabulation may be based partly on fact or be a complete construction of the imagination.

The interesting thing about confabulation is that you cannot avoid it. Imagination and memory are two heads of the same coin. Every time you access a memory, your brain will load it up into the imagination, fill in any missing details, and re-write it back into memory. As a result, stories will change and crystalize over time.

The term is often used to describe the "memories" of people claiming to have been abducted by aliens, as well as "false memories" induced by therapists or interviewers, memories that often involve bizarre notions of satanic ritualistic sexual abuse of children. However, it seems that all of us confabulate at times. Not only do people with brain injuries that leave them paralyzed or blind, invent stories that explain why they can't move a limb or see without admitting to their disability, but perfectly healthy individuals make up stories at the slightest suggestion that they do so. An experiment at Lund University exemplifies this point:

People were shown pairs of cards with pictures of faces on them and asked to choose the most attractive. Unbeknown to the subject, the person showing the cards was a magician and routinely swapped the chosen card for the rejected one. The subject was then asked why they picked this face. Often the swap went completely unnoticed, and the subjects came up with elaborate explanations about hair colour, the look of the eyes or the assumed personality of the substituted face. Clearly people routinely confabulate under conditions where they cannot know why they made a particular choice. (Phillips 2006)

In other words, as William Hirstein says, confabulation is not just a deficit of memory. It is something anybody might do, even people with perfectly fine memories and healthy brains. We know that children and many adults confabulate when encouraged to talk about things of which they have no knowledge. We know that eyewitnesses can be influenced by suggestive inquiries to confabulate. According to Helen Phillips, "some experts argue that we can never be sure about what is actually real and so must confabulate all the time to try to make sense of the world around us."

Read about the latest science here: The Science of False Memory

Matthew Meinck

2008-10-31T03:12:00.000-07:00

I am really encouraged to see that people are discovering this blog and it is heartening to know that there are others who feel the same way.

Some text follows to make sure that the site gets some hits from Australians directly affected by this man. If you want to help this effort then write a comment or link to this site from another web page.

Please look through other posts to get an idea of what this site is about.

Mathhew Meinck runs meditation retreats in Chittering Valley, Perth Australia. Matthew Meinck has a company called Real Intelligence. I would not recommend anyone going to him for help ie: counselling, regression or meditation retreats. It could be harmful to your mental health and you may find yourself being drawn into a cult, and in turn cause you to turn your back on your friends and family when you need them most.

2008-10-27T21:22:00.001-07:00

Some history of Repressed Memories

The original methods associated with recovered memories originate with Sigmund Freud in 1897. He used both the suggestive methods of hypnosis and his "pressure technique" to induce scenes of childhood sexual abuse in 18 women who had no spontaneous account of this. Hypnosis involved the method of inducing a state of relaxation during which suggestions are made and imaginative processes encouraged.

His "pressure technique" (which therapists may regard as a form of "body work" today) involved the placing of the hands on the head and asking the patient to state the first thing that comes to mind. If the "repressed memory" does not emerge, the process continues until it does.

While it appears like a physical therapy, Freud wrote that his pressure technique was "the most convenient" method of applying "suggestion". Following criticism from those who demanded evidence, Freud was to abandon these particular methods in favour of his talking cure of classical psychoanalysis. This revelation came to Freud after severe criticism of his "Seduction Theory" and year-long analysis of his own memories and dreams. "Formal" suggestive methods such as hypnosis were not necessary- the free associations, words and interpretations of the analyst are sufficient. The creative origin of Freud's theory of unconscious repression arose from the interpretation and analysis of his own dreams. The validity of the "memories" for Freud, like modern-day recovered memory therapists, was based on the intense emotion displayed on their recovery.

In similar reasoning to a number of current professional statements regarding recovered memory and the distinction between "narrative and historical truth", Freud considered that historical reality did not matter in the therapeutic context- only emotional validity. Only the reality within therapy. ever, who would not get distressed if one came to believe one had been abused as a child, especially if by ones own parents, or a person who was previously well-loved and respected?

After 100 years, a working party report was published that there was no scientific evidence for repression. This report was one of the last of many from professional societies which have gradually become more critical in the face of the lack of such evidence. Unconscious repression is no more than a clinical belief. Memories may be recovered by; Counselling Hypnosis Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR) Guided Imagery Dream Interpretation Bodywork "Physical Therapies" Survivor Groups Self-help books and videos Exposure to media (films, videos, books, articles, talk shows). Psychodrama Journaling Inner Child Therapy Spiritual Therapies (Prayer, Spirit Guides, Alternative) Drug-induced or hypnotic abreactions Coercive Interviewing Spontaneously in some psychological states This is not an exhaustive list.

These methods rely on how humans form beliefs. Anyone has the potential to recover memories. It is a matter of how meaning is placed on genuine current distress. The individual is placed in a position where there is the illusion of choice. Through the use of the language of care, the distressed person feels as if they have a choice when in fact there is no alternative but to believe.

If you remember-you were abused. If you do not, you are in denial, or the memories have been repressed or dissociated until you do.

Definition of a cult

2008-10-26T06:04:00.000-07:00

In his "Building Resistance to Manipulation", the psychologist Steve K.D. Eichel created a checklist of signs of a sect designed to brainwash its members into loyal followers:

Isolate them in new surroundings apart from old friends or reference-points;

On a meditation retreat I found that I was highly susceptible to influence. This influence is liberating at first but over many meditation retreats and one on one "therapy" sessions I was encouraged with Matthew's guidance to purge previously "hidden" past experiences from my body through sitting for very long periods. These experiences were false memories or confabulations and invariably involve childhood episodes of physical or sexual abuse by people close to me. As a result of these "revelations" I turned my back on these people and become isolated and dependent on the group for support.

Provide them with instant acceptance from a seemingly loving group;

I found the people drawn to attend these retreats to be very sensitive, caring and loving people. They all naturally respond with acceptance and understanding for anyone who expresses the release of any confabulated trauma, which in turn encourages ever more extreme revelations within the group. As time passes I felt feel that the only people who understood what I had been through were retreat members, which serves to reinforce the culture.

Keep them away from competing or critical ideas;

The topic of Matthews diatribes, given imediately after an hour or two of sitting when people are exceptional receptive to hypnotic suggestion, is usually centred around some facet of the world or relationships that is totally screwed beyond repair. Religion and Science in particular are ridiculed by Matthew, yet used to back up arguments when it suits him. I notices that anyone raising objections was treated with derision and belittlement.

Provide an authority figure that everyone seems to acknowledge as having some special skill or awareness;

I found that people attending these retreats all held Matthew in awe, I know I did. He frequently reinforced these preconceptions by telling us of how his heightened awareness enables him to have a unique insight into the human condition and the processes of the body

Provide a philosophy that seems logical and appears to answer all or the most important questions in life;

I understood Matthews philosophy to go something like this: The BODY responds to it's environment perfectly and does not need to pay attention to the farting of thinking, if you can do this life will be easy and fulfilling. I found a lot of truth in that, but it also limited my capacity to question what was going on.

The key problem was that in this environment it was commonplace for people to have powerful feelings come up and to associate ever more incredible stories with them, when they should have been ignoring them - but instead it was encouraged as "progress" or "dealing with your shit". Paying attention to these story/thoughts would have the effect of exacerbating the feelings which reinforced a belief that they were real, which in turn made me more unquestioning of the process and ready to continue to spend wasted time and money with Matthew.

Structure all or most activities so that there is little time for privacy or independent action or thought, provide a sense of "us" versus "them";

Sit in a group all day, listen to Matthew tell you how smart he is and how stupid everyone else is and how screwed up the world is. Perform menial tasks until you are worn out then go back to your room and chastise yourself for being so dumb. Oh and by the way don't talk to anyone and lock your doors at night

Promise instant or imminent solutions to deep or long-term problems;

Just stop doing what is hurting you and life will work itself out - YES he has a point here. Just stop paying him and you will see how much of a friend he really is. This is all he really cares about.

Employ covert or disguised hypnotic techniques.

This guy was trained by monks madder than him, who knows what tricks he can play. Ask yourself - have you ever gone to see him being certain of one thing and left him being certain of the opposite. He is very tricky, beware.

If any of this has a ring of truth to it to you, take yourself seriously and look at it carefully.

You may have been tricked into believing that you have been abused by someone or even have been the abuser. Your so called "memories" may seem very real and be corroborated by others attending retreats, Matthew can be very convincing.

It is exceedlingly unlikely that any of the things that have come up for you or have been exposed of you happened at all - much more likely you are an extremely sensitive person looking for reassurance who has been identified as an easy mark for psychological and financial abuse.

Extreme Meditation

2008-10-13T08:21:00.000-07:00

Do you have doubts that Matthew Meinck is really helping people?

Did you know that during extended periods of meditation you may become very susceptible to influence from others and can invent false memories to explain your physical disturbances?

Have you got a story that you would like others to know about anonymously? If so post it here.

This post is intended to become a focus to help anyone getting sucked into what in my opinion has become a harmful "mind" control cult operating in Perth.

It is also intended as an information resource to help parents, siblings and friends traumatized by accusations arising from people attending Matthew's retreats.

The Australian False Memory Association is a good place to start for information