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| title | chunk | source | category | tags | date_saved | instance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Access Consciousness | 2/2 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Access_Consciousness | reference | science, encyclopedia | 2026-05-05T09:15:14.508126+00:00 | kb-cron |
=== Training and certification === To become a practitioner you need one day of training. Subsequent training to become a facilitator includes a minimum of twelve courses, in addition to regular teleconferences. Continuous training is required annually. There are over eight thousand tools to learn. The cost in 2024 for this training was AUD 30,000, with a licence renewal costing AUD 17,000. As of 2024, there were approximately 3,000 licensed facilitators. A former facilitator, Kerry Purcell, reported that she would spend AUD 60,000 on travel and fees for Access Consciousness courses. She invested AUD 150,000 in what she thought was Milasas' bottled water business but later believed it was used to pay off Milasas' personal debts, which Milasas claimed were paid off because of her positive energy. Some practitioners teach communicating with animals.
== Criticisms and controversies == Critics have referred to Access Consciousness as a milder version of Scientology. Douglas is familiar with the church as he was a Scientologist himself. His first wife, Laurie Alexander, was an auditor for the church and his second wife, Mary Wernicke, was a former Scientologist. According to medical doctor David Gorski in an article called Access Consciousness: Phrenology fused with energy medicine, there is no good evidence that Access Consciousness has "...any relationship to biology, medicine, neuroscience, or psychology—or even just to anatomy." While Heer has advertised Access Consciousness on multiple World Suicide Prevention Days, Jarry says that "Mental health problems should not be solved with expensive magical thinking." In 2024, former members of Access Consciousness filed a complaint with the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission alleging that false claims were made regarding the therapies, and that the organization is a pyramid or multi-level marketing scheme. Multiple former members have also shared that they were publicly shamed and verbally abused for attempting to speak up about the issues of the movement.
=== Sexual abuse === Douglas purports to be able to bring women to orgasm by lightly touching the bars on a woman's head. He has also been accused of being verbally abusive towards women in workshops and training sessions. Heer has been accused of grooming women attending workshops to have sexual relations with him, with one woman claiming that he asked her to send nude pictures to him. Douglas claims that children are sexy in a humanoid, not human way. Children can attend sessions for free or at a reduced rate. According to the Level One March 2012 manual, molested children "allowed" the abuse to happen to them so it would not happen to others.
=== Use in social work === In 2018, Nova Scotian social worker Eileen Carey, who was practicing Access Consciousness, had her licence permanently revoked for inappropriate touching and contact outside the office. The patient, who spent thousands of dollars on courses, and who filed the complaint, was invited to Carey's home to perform "energy trades" where they would alternate receiving the Access Bars on a massage table, calling each other "energy buddies." In addition, Carey had to pay CAD 15,000 to cover the investigation costs. In 2019, the Journal of Evidence-Informed Social Work discovered that Access Consciousness was being advertised by over 400 social workers in the United States.
== See also == Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing List of topics characterized as pseudoscience Energy medicine Faith healing Therapeutic touch
== References ==