Telepathic Entanglements: Where are we Today? Commentary on Paper by Claudie Massicotte

Abstract

In this commentary, stemming from Freud’s conflictual interest in psychic phenomena, I examine current views of telepathy as reflected in controversial parapsychological research and theories of nonlocal mind. I hope to inspire readers’ curiosity about the possible existence of telepathic communication by proposing clinical examples and raising the feasibility of the impact of the therapist’s own predisposition and belief system. Finally I speculate about how findings from parapsychology research in combination with findings from neuroscience and quantum theory might influence the evolution of psychoanalytically based practice methods in the future.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I am grateful to Cathleen Adams, Noelle Burton, Alan Frank, Barbara Freedgood, Adrienne Harris, Alan Kintzer, Maria Lechich, and Stacy Malin for their helpful comments on this paper.

Notes

¹ “Psi” is a term coined in 1942 by British psychologist Thouless for parapsychological manifestations, derived from the Greek word psyche, for ‘mind’ or ‘soul,’ referring to psychic experiences ranging from clairvoyance to precognition, telepathy, and psychokinesis. The term “paranormal” was adopted in the 1930s by J. B. Rhine to replace “psychical research.”

² See Allik, 2003; Balsam & Harris, 2012; Bass, 2001, 2004; Berlin, 2011; Bromberg, 1998, 2006, 2011; Eigen, 1981; Gallese, 2006; Harris, 2002, 2004; Loewald, 1978; Mayer, 2007; Schore, 2003, and others.

³ Dean Radin, Ph.D., is a researcher and author in the field of parapsychology. He is Chief Scientist at the Institute of Noetic Sciences (IONS) and Adjunct Faculty in the Department of Psychology at Sonoma State University.

⁴ Marilyn Schlitz, Ph.D., is a research scientist and medical anthropologist, former president and CEO of IONS from 2009 to 2012.

⁵ See Targ and Puthoff (1974), and other researchers including D. Behm, W. Braud, B. Dunne, C. Honorton, R. Jahn, E. Mitchell, A. Parker, M. Persinger, D. Radin, J. Rhine, M. Schlitz, R. Sheldrake, and P. Tressoldi.

⁶ In the ganzfeld method the “receiver” relaxes in a controlled environment deprived of sensory input, reclining in a comfortable chair with halved Ping-Pong balls over the eyes, listening to pink noise or whooshing sounds through headphones while the “sender” in a distant room repeatedly views short video clips and tries to mentally “send” them. The “receiver” is repeatedly shown four different video clips in random order (the actual target and three decoys), and describes out loud his or her impressions. The probability that the “receiver” will succeed in guessing the actual target correctly is one in four, or 25% (see Radin, 2003).

⁷ As reported by Radin (2003, p. 28).

⁸ For elaboration on this controversy, see Pratt and Rhine (1967); Radin (1997, 2006, 2013); Salmon, “The Richard Wiseman Challenge,” in Integral World Forum; and Mishlove’s (1980) interview in Skeptical Inquirer of renowned skeptic, Ray Hyman, who acknowledged, “most of the criticism of current parapsychological research is uninformed and misrepresents what is actually taking place” (pp. 63–67).

⁹ Radin (2006).

¹⁰ For example, Milton and Wiseman (1999).

¹¹ Recent psychoanalytic authors exploring telepathic themes include Bass (2001), Blechner (1994), Bromberg (2011), Eshel (2006, 2010), Lazar (2001), Mayer (2001, 2007), Rosenbaum (2011), Sands (2010), Suchet (2004), and Tennes (2007).

¹² For further discussion, see Mancia and Longhin (2000), Meissner (2003), Schore (2001), A. Schwartz (1988), and Solms (1997).

¹³ See Taylor (1991).

¹⁴ Einstein’s famous slight describing occurrences when the observation of one object instantaneously influences the behavior of another object at a distance, with no physical force connecting the two.

¹⁵ For explanations of quantum theory, see Bohm, Planck, Bohr, Heisenberg, Schrödiger, and more recently Feynman, Penrose, Hawking, and Kaku.

¹⁶ See Radin’s (2006) Entangled Minds, in which he extends Schrödinger’s entanglement theory proposing that the interconnected nature of reality at the quantum level gives rise to psi phenomena.

¹⁷ For example, Altman (2002, 2007), Bass (2001), Bromberg (2011), Eshel (2006), Harris (2004), Lazar (2001), Mayer (2007), Rosenbaum (2011), Suchet (2004), and Tennes (2007).

¹⁸ See Mayer’s (2007) experience of having her own mind changed by the anomalous relocation of her daughter’s harp.

¹⁹ de Peyer, J. Raising the curtain: Unconscious communication and the uncanny. Paper presented at IARPP, Madrid, Spain, 2011, and presented at the NIP, New York, NY, 2013.

²⁰ See Altman (2002, 2007), Bass (2001), Eshel (2006), Harris (2004), Mayer (2007), Rosenbaum (2011), Suchet (2004), Tennes (2007).

²¹ See Jourard (1971).

²² D. Behm, W. Braud, B. Dunne, C. Honorton, R. Jahn, E. Mitchell, A. Parker, M. Persinger, D. Radin, J. Rhine, M. Schlitz, P. Tressoldi, and R. Sheldrake.

²³ Professor of Psychology and head of Neuroscience Research Group, Laurentian University, Canada.

²⁴ See “Freud’s Psycho-Analytic Procedure” (Freud, 1904 [1903]), and “Five Lectures on Psycho-Analysis” (Freud, 1910).

²⁵ See Radin’s (2003) review of Ganzfeld studies.

²⁶ See, among others, EMDR: Parnell (2006), Shapiro (1989, 2001); AEDP: Fosha (2002); Focusing: Gendlin (1996); Internal Family Systems Therapy: R. C. Schwartz (2001); Somatic Experiencing: Levine (1997); Sensorimotor Psychotherapy: Ogden et al. (2006).

²⁷ Abraham and Shaw (1992), Galatzer-Levy (2009), and Harris (2009).

²⁸ For example, Steven Halpern’s “Inner Peace Music.”

²⁹ For example, BioLateral™ Sounds.

³⁰ For therapeutic benefits of yoga and meditation, see Cade and Coxhead (1988), Field (1992), Glueck and Stroebel (1975), Kasamatsu and Hirai (1969), Lesh (1970), LeShan (1974), Shafii (1973), and Tart (2009).

³¹ See Brown and Gerbarg (2012), or Stanislav Grof’s Holotropic Breathwork.™

³² See Radin et al. (2008) and Schmidt, Scheider, Utts, and Walach (2004).

³³ See Baranger and Baranger (2008) and Katz (2013).

³⁴ See Ghent (2002) and Thelen and Smith (1994) for dynamic systems theory.

³⁵ Barron (2003).

³⁶ Sullivan (1953) and Ullman (1973b).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Janine de Peyer

Janine de Peyer, LCSW, is Faculty and Supervisor at the National Institute for the Psychotherapies, NY, and at the Stephen Mitchell Center for Relational Studies. She is an Associate Editor of Psychoanalytic Dialogues and is in private practice in New York City.