******************************************************************
16. HCOB 10 Sept 1983 PTSness and Disconnection
HUBBARD COMMUNICATIONS OFFICE
Saint Hill Manor, East Grinstead, Sussex
HCO BULLETIN OF 10 SEPTEMBER 1983
Remimeo
HCOs
EO Hats
MAA Hats
Tech/Qual
All Staff
PTS/SP Course
PTSness AND DISCONNECTION
Refs:
Tape: 6505C18 ORGANIZATION AND ETHICS
SH Spec 61
Tape: 6506C08 HANDLING THE PTS
SH Spec 63
HCO PL 23 Dec. 65RA SUPPRESSIVE ACTS,
Re-rev. 10.9.83 SUPPRESSION OF SCIENTOLOGY
AND SCIENTOLOGISTS
Tape: 6608C02 SUPPRESSIVES AND GAEs
SH Spec 73
Tape: 6608C25 THE ANTISOCIAL PERSONALITY
SH Spec 78
HCOB 27 Sept 66 THE ANTISOCIAL PERSONALITY
THE ANTI-SCIENTOLOGIST
HCOB 24 Apr. 72 I C/S Series 79
PTS INTERVIEWS
HCO PL 3 May 72R Exec Series 12
Re-rev. 18.12.77 ETHICS AND EXECUTIVES
HCOB 10 Aug. 73 PTS HANDLING
HCOB 29 Dec. 78 THE SUPPRESSED PERSON
RUNDOWN
HCOB 31 Dec. 78 II OUTLINE OF PTS HANDLING
HCOB 31 Dec. 78 III EDUCATING THE PTS, THE
FIRST STEP TOWARD HANDLING:
PTS C/S-1
HCO PL 20 Oct. 81R PTS TYPE A HANDLING
Rev. 10.9.83
HCOB 8 Mar. 83 HANDLING PTS SITUATIONS
THEORY
Perhaps the most fundamental right of any being is the right to
communicate. Without this freedom, other rights deteriorate.
Communication, however, is a two-way flow. If one has the right
to communicate, then one must also have the right to not receive
communication from another. It is this latter corollary of the
right to communicate that gives us our right to privacy.
These rights are so basic that governments have written them into
laws-witness the American Bill of Rights.
However, groups have always regulated these rights to one degree
or another. For with the freedom to communicate come certain
agreements and responsibilities.
An example of this is a marriage: In a monogamous society, the
agreement is that one will be married to only one person at one
time. That agreement extends to having second-dynamic relations
with one's spouse and no one else. Thus, should wife Shirley
establish a 2D-type of communication line with someone other than
her husband Pete, it is a violation of the agreement and
postulates of the marriage. Pete has the right to insist that
either this communication cease or that the marriage will cease.
HANDLE OR DISCONNECT
In the HCOBs on PTS tech you'll see the phrase "handle or
disconnect." It means simply that.
The term "handle" most commonly means, when used in relation to
PTS tech, to smooth out a situation with another person by
applying the tech of communication.
The term "disconnection" is defined as a self-determined decision
made by an individual that he is not going to be connected to
another. It is a severing of a communication line.
The basic principle of handle or disconnect exists in any group
and ours is no different.
It is much like trying to deal with a criminal. If he will not
handle, the society resorts to the only other solution: It
"disconnects" the criminal from the society. In other words, they
remove the guy from society and put him in a prison because he
won't HANDLE his problem or otherwise cease to commit criminal
acts against others.
It's the same sort of situation that husband Pete is faced with
in the example mentioned above. The optimum solution is to handle
the situation with wife Shirley and her violations of their group
(marriage) agreements. But if Pete cannot handle the situation,
he is left with no other choice but to disconnect (sever the
marriage communication lines if only by separation). To do
otherwise would be disastrous, for he is connected to someone
antagonistic to the original agreements, postulates and
responsibilities of the group (the marriage).
A Scientologist can become PTS by reason of being connected to
someone that is antagonistic to Scientology or its tenets. In
order to resolve the PTS condition, he either HANDLES the other
person's antagonism (as covered in the materials on PTS handling)
or, as a last resort when all attempts to handle have failed, he
disconnects from the person. He is simply exercising his right to
communicate or not to communicate with a particular person.
With our tech of handle or disconnect, we are, in actual fact,
doing nothing different than any society or group or marriage
down through thousands of years.
LOST TECH
Earlier, disconnection as a condition was canceled. It had been
abused by a few individuals who'd failed to handle situations
which could have been handled and who lazily or criminally
disconnected, thereby creating situations even worse than the
original because it was the wrong action.
Secondly, there were those who could survive only by living on
our lines -- they wanted to continue to be connected to
Scientologists (see the HCOBs on the characteristics of an SP).
Thus, they screamed to high heaven if anyone dared to apply the
tech of "handle or disconnect."
This put Scientologists at a disadvantage.
We cannot afford to deny Scientologists that basic freedom that
is granted to everyone else: the right to choose whom one wishes
to communicate with or not communicate with. It's bad enough that
there are governments trying, through the use of force, to
prevent people from disconnecting from them (witness those who
want to leave Russia but can't!).
The bare fact is that disconnection is a vital tool in handling
PTSness and can be very effective when used correctly.
Therefore, the tech of disconnection is hereby restored to use,
in the hands of those persons thoroughly and standardly trained
in PTS/SP tech.
HANDLING ANTAGONISTIC SOURCES
In the great majority of cases, where a person has some family
member or close associate who appears antagonistic to his getting
better through Scientology, it is not really a matter of the
antagonistic source wanting the PTS to not get better. It is most
commonly a lack of correct information about Scientology that
causes the problem or upset. In such a case, simply having the
PTS disconnect would not help matters and would actually be a
nonconfront of the situation. It is quite common that the PTS has
a low confront on the terminal and situation. This isn't hard to
understand when one looks at these facts:
a. To be PTS in the first place, the PTS must have committed
overts against the antagonistic source; and
b. When one has committed overts, his confront and responsibility
drop.
When an Ethics Officer finds that a Scientologist is PTS to a
family member, he does not recommend that the person disconnect
from the antagonistic source. The EO's advice to the
Scientologist is to handle.
The handling for such a situation is to educate him in the tech
of PTSness and suppression, and then skillfully and firmly guide
the PTS through the steps needed to restore good communication
with the antagonistic source. This eventually dissolves the
situation by bringing about an understanding on the part of the
antagonistic source as to what Scientology is and why the PTS
person is interested and involved in it. Of course, when this is
accomplished you no longer have a PTS at all -- and you may very
well find a new Scientologist on your hands!
The actual steps and procedure of this sort of handling are well
covered in the materials listed at the beginning of this HCOB.
WHEN DISCONNECTION IS USED
An Ethics Officer can encounter a situation where someone is
factually connected to a suppressive person, in present time.
This is a person whose normal operating basis is one of making
others smaller, less able, less powerful. He does not want anyone
to get better, at all.
In truth, an SP is absolutely, completely terrified of anyone
becoming more powerful.
In such an instance the PTS isn't going to get anywhere trying to
"handle" the person. The answer is to sever the connection.
HOW TO DISCONNECT
How a disconnection is done depends on the circumstances.
Example: The pc lives next door to, say, a psychiatric clinic and
feels PTS due to this environment. The remedy is simple -- the pc
can move to another apartment in another location. He need not
write any sort of "disconnection letter" to the psychiatric
clinic. He simply changes his environment -- which is, in effect,
a disconnection from the suppressive environment.
Example: A pc is connected to a person or group that has been
declared suppressive by HCO in a published Ethics Order. He
should disconnect and, if he wants to inform the SP of the fact,
he may write a letter of disconnection. Such a letter would be
very straightforward. It would state the fact of the
disconnection and the reason for it. It would not be misemotional
or accusative, since this would only serve to stir up further
antagonism. The letter would be inspected by the Ethics Officer
before it was sent and copies kept for the PTS person's own
ethics file and pc folder. No attempt would be made to establish
communication with the declared SP "to clear matters up" or to
seek to reform the SP. The SP's reform is strictly in the hands
of HCO. The PTS simply disconnects.
Example: One discovers that an employee at his place of business
is an SP -- he steals money, drives away customers, wipes out
other employees and will not correct no matter what you do. The
handling is very simple -- the PTS fires him and that's the end
of it right there!
To fail or refuse to disconnect from a suppressive person not
only denies the PTS case gain, it is also supportive of the
suppressive -- in itself a Suppressive Act. And it must be so
labeled. (Ref: HCO PL 23 Dec. 65RA, SUPPRESSIVE ACTS, SUPPRESSION
OF SCIENTOLOGY AND SCIENTOLOGISTS)
SUPPRESSED PERSON RUNDOWN
There is of course another technical way to handle PTSes and that
is to get them through all problems they have had with the
terminal involved and the PTSness will disappear (Ref: HCOB 29
Dec. 78, THE SUPPRESSED PERSON RUNDOWN). But it still requires
that during the handling the person disconnects.
SUMMARY
The technology of disconnection is essential in the handling of
PTSes. It can and has saved lives and untold trouble and upset.
It must be preserved and used correctly.
Nothing in this HCOB shall ever or under any circumstances
justify any violations of the laws of the land. Any such offense
shall subject the offender to penalties described by law as well
as to ethics and justice actions.
L. RON HUBBARD
Founder
LRH:iw.gm