Assists in Scientology (HCOB 711021)

(Taken from HQS Booklet Sect I, edited from ABILITY 73, "Assists in Scientology", by L. Ron Hubbard. Edited and reissued for use on the HQS Co-Audit.)

DEFINITION: AN ASSIST: AN ACTION UNDERTAKEN BY A MINISTER TO ASSIST THE SPIRIT TO CONFRONT PHYSICAL DIFFICULTIES.

An assist is not normally done in a formal session. The way the term has been used is a very simple activity to relieve an immediate troublesome difficulty.

An assist is much more specifically and definitely anything which is done to alleviate a present-time discomfort.

An assist could happen almost anywhere. At the beginning of a session, no matter how formally this session is constituted, you are running an assist. You have an auditing room. You have a preclear, and you are the auditor. You know all these things, but the preclear doesn't. Don't call it a formal session. Tell the preclear that it is an assist and that you are not intending anything very strenuous. In rendering an assist you should tell the preclear that "this is just an assist" to try and ease the pain in his hand a little, after which you are going to stop.

The handling of an assist as an auditor is different than the handling of a formal session since the factor of control is notably slackened, sometimes almost completely missing.

One of the factors in assists is that an assist has as a large part of its anatomy, "trying to help". Just remember that you are only trying to help and don't get your heart broken by the fact that the fellow's broken spine doesn't heal instantly.

Another factor is that an assist is differentiated and defined as addressing the game someone knows he is playing.

What techniques would comprise an assist? Anything that would help. One of the easiest ones to render is Locational Processing. You tell the person, "Look at that chair. Look at that ceiling. Look at that floor. Look at that hand" (the auditor pointing to the objects), when he has an injured hand and the pain will diminish. This is a very easy assist.

For example, a person has a bad shoulder. You touch his hand of the same arm and say, "Close your eyes and look at my fingers." Make sure that he keeps his eyes closed. You then touch him on the elbow and say, "Look at my fingers." Do this anywhere on his body. Just touch him and say, "Look at my fingers." This is a communication process which eases his attention over from a concentration upon the injury to something else which is quite near the injury and thus doesn't result in too much of a shock. It reduces havingness but it is positive and gets positive results. It can be done by an untrained person.

You can teach this assist to anybody. You say, "If somebody has a bruise, injury, a burn, a cut, the way to handle this is to tell the person to close his eyes, and then you touch the area near and distant from the vicinity of the injured area, asking them, with their eyes closed, to look at your fingers. You contact them this way many times. They will experience sudden pains in the area, and you will discover that the 'psychic trauma' has been discharged."

You will find that most people do not have any upset about physical contact. Most people think that this is the thing to do.

Say you wanted to render an assist on somebody who had a very indefinite difficulty. That is the hardest one to render an assist on. The person has a pain but he cannot say where. He doesn't know what has happened to him. He just feels bad. Use Locational Processing as such. You will find out that this process will work when other processes fail.

An assist carries with it a certain responsibility. If you give an assist casually to somebody out in the public and do not shove a calling card in his pocket, you are making an error. The reason for this is that he will not know from whom and where help came. Show a person where he can obtain further assistance, and by whom the assistance was given.

Be yourself. Be positive. Be professional and definite. Have a calling card and make sure the card is easily enough understood. Don't ask them for permission. Just do it. You act as though you are the one in charge and you will be in charge. You have got to be the person in charge.

Say, for example, there is a big accident and a crowd of people are pressing around. The police are trying to push the people back. Well, push the people back and then push the policeman back. Say, "Officer, keep these people at a distance." Then you lean over the victim and snap him back to rights. If you are enough THERE, everybody else will realize that you are the ONE that is THERE. Cool, calm and collected should be the keynote of your attitude. Realize that to take control of any given situation it is only necessary to be there more than anybody else. Just BE there.

Understand that an auditor when rendering an assist must make up with presence what he lacks in surroundings and agreements. It all comes under the heading of willingness to be there and willingness to control people.

One of the factors in assists is that First Aid always precedes an assist. You should look the situation over from the standpoint of how much First Aid is required. Auditing will not shut off a pumping artery, but a tourniquet will. You should have your Red Cross First Aid Certificate.

A good example of an assist would be when somebody is washing dishes in the kitchen. There is a horrendous crash and the person comes down all over the sink, hits the floor and as she is going down, she grabs the butcher knife as it falls. You go in and say, "Well, let me fix that up." One of the first things you would have to do is to wind some bandage around the hand to stop the bleeding. Part of the First Aid would be to pick up the dishes and put them back on the sink, sweep the pieces together into a more orderly semblance. This is the first symptom of control.

Next you would make her sit down. To remove her from the scene of the accident is not as desirable as auditing her there. You bring a little order into the environment. You position her and then you are ready for techniques.

If someone is in terrible condition and he is really writhing around, and you want to render an assist, you don't wait until he stops writhing. He is liable to stop writhing dead. What you do with him is to direct his attention. You tell him to "Shut your eyes and look at my fingers." You press your fingers hard enough so that he can't help but put his attention on them. In this wise you can always have a successful assist, because assists all come under the heading of control.

So what you really do is do an assist up to the time the person can handle the incident or pain, put him in a more favorable environment and give him auditing. So the assist is what you do on the street, and auditing is what you do in the auditing room when he comes to you after your assist has been successful.

Document information

Document type: HCO Bulletin

Date: 21 October 1971

Author: L. Ron Hubbard

Place: Saint Hill Manor, East Grinstead, Sussex

Distribution: Remimeo

Revised: Reissued 21 September 1974 (only change is signature)