Scientology auditing and Free Zone auditing

Domain XIV · Western esoteric, divinatory & new spiritual movements · L. Ron Hubbard

What it is

Scientology is a church and new religious movement founded by L. Ron Hubbard; its central practice is auditing, which the Church calls "spiritual counseling" and describes as the only precise route to higher spiritual awareness. An auditor (the Church glosses the word as "one who listens") is a…

Format

• Gradient. The Church states that a "precisely delineated gradient of processing steps must be followed"; which process is used depends on the preclear's concerns and earlier auditing.
• Format. One-to-one sessions in a quiet room, auditor and preclear across a table with the E-meter set up for the auditor; group sessions led by a minister in the chapel or another room. The preclear receives an orientation first, and the auditor checks for distractions or upsets before starting.…

Who practises it, and how they are trained or regulated

• The Bridge. The Church presents the Bridge to Total Freedom on its Classification, Gradation and Awareness Chart as an "exact", step-by-step route from first contact to "higher states of existence". Classification is training (skills an auditor must attain before being classed at a level); gradation is the improvement attributed to auditing. The Church names the states of Clear and Operating Thetan (OT) on separate…
• Who may deliver it. Only a Scientology minister or minister-in-training may use the E-meter. Training leads to auditor classification.
• What it is. Scientology is a church and new religious movement founded by L. Ron Hubbard; its central practice is auditing, which the Church calls "spiritual counseling" and describes as the only precise route to higher spiritual awareness. An auditor (the Church glosses the word as "one who listens") is a minister or minister-in-training; the person audited is a preclear, "a person not yet Clear". The auditor uses…

Evidence status, as the guide reports it

• Evidence status (one line). A US federal court in 1971 found no scientific or medical basis for the cures claimed for E-meter auditing; the Church itself now states that the E-meter "cures nothing" and that auditing is not meant to heal anything physical.

Questions to explore with your client

• What drew you to it, and what are you hoping it will change?
• Is there physical contact? Was it explained beforehand, and do you feel free to say no or stop at any point?
• Does it involve any substance, plant preparation, remedy or supplement? Has your doctor or prescriber been told, especially about any medication you take?
• Does it involve fasting, a special diet or 'detox'? Have you discussed this with your doctor?
• Is it a group, retreat or community? How do they respond if someone wants to leave or raises a concern?
• Who runs it, and what training or registration do they hold?
• What actually happens in a session or meeting, and how often?
• What does it cost, and is there pressure to commit to more?
• How do you feel afterwards, in the hours and days that follow?
• Does it fit with, or clash with, the work we do here?

What practitioners of it watch for

• group arousal and conformity; whether the client felt free to stop.
• the relative's despair; triangulation; unrealistic expectations of the therapist.
• delayed medical care; isolation from the other parent; an older child's own wishes.
• pressure to pay quickly; borrowing from family; gambling-like chasing of sunk costs.
• premature termination under pressure; the client hiding therapy (discuss their safety).

When to involve someone else

• New or worsening physical symptoms, or advice to stop or change prescribed medication: involve the client's doctor or prescriber.
• Signs of coercion, isolation from family and friends, escalating costs or secrecy: discuss openly and consider safeguarding.
• A crisis or thoughts of suicide: follow your crisis protocol. In the US, call or text 988; in the UK and Ireland, Samaritans on 116 123.

Drawn automatically from the guide's own sections. Stay curious: neither endorse nor dismiss what the client values, and check anything that matters against the full guide and its sources. Not medical advice.