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Ouija board as therapy.


Guest Tricia

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Just because a person can't explain something doesn't mean there is no explanation. It means the explanation hasn't been found yet. Mix that truism with the fact that people have a tendency to embellish stories (the fish was THIS big, really!) and you have a recipe for weird, seemingly unexplained things going on.

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Just because a person can't explain something doesn't mean there is no explanation. It means the explanation hasn't been found yet. Mix that truism with the fact that people have a tendency to embellish stories (the fish was THIS big, really!) and you have a recipe for weird, seemingly unexplained things going on.

I'm sorry but is this really the place to argue about peoples beliefs? You have your beliefs and I and some other people have ours there is fact and truth, sense and lies in all of it but no one can truly say they know. I have my experiences that give me my belief and others have there's. Everyone is entitled to believe in what they wish ^^

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I'm sorry but is this really the place to argue about peoples beliefs? You have your beliefs and I and some other people have ours there is fact and truth, sense and lies in all of it but no one can truly say they know. I have my experiences that give me my belief and others have there's. Everyone is entitled to believe in what they wish ^^

No this isn't really the right forum to argue beliefs. Then again, you and others are expressing yours and I'm expressing mine. In a way an OCD forum is a place where we challenge long held beliefs. Obviously ouija boards and things that go bump in the night are a wee bit off topic.

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No this isn't really the right forum to argue beliefs. Then again, you and others are expressing yours and I'm expressing mine. In a way an OCD forum is a place where we challenge long held beliefs. Obviously ouija boards and things that go bump in the night are a wee bit off topic.

I wasn't expressing my beliefs, just my opinion, experiences and knowledge. I did say that the way you take it all depends on what you believe and did not state any of my beliefs as truth. I simply said what I know, I did not poo poo anyone's beliefs, if people believe or not is entirely up to them, with quija boards I tend to be in the middle.

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Guest Gale1982

I wouldn't say this is an argument, not in the hostile sense anyway. Just a question about exposure therapy that got seriously out of hand...

I've enjoyed reading peoples input :)

I was gonna try and link in what I said earlier about the ideomotor effect, how emotional responses can manifest as physical reactions and how that might be related to OCD and magical thinking. Still not sure how to do that though.

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Perhaps we should wind this thread up now by simply confirming our suggestion that Tricia should not use a ouija board as a therapy but rather a more conventional CBT approach?

Agreed, this is not the place to debate beliefs, it always ends up with clashing heads in the end anyway and no one benefits

Edited by Phili
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Guest Soldiering on

That's not what soldiering on meant. He meant people are subconsciously moving the pointer on the board. They are actually physically pushing the pointer all over the place, they just may not be aware (conscious) that they are doing it.

This. :-)

Although I'd wager that 9 out of 10 times it's someone who just wants to move the pointer.

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Yes well its been an interesting exchange of views but I am mindful of Tricia's need for help with her OCD thoughts, and I rather think we left her request behind as we jumped on board a sort of metaphysical ride.

So as one who has chaired countless meetings and seminars, I just thought I ought to remind everyone that we ought to close the thread down and move on as we had digressed from Tricia's topic, and the spirit - if not perhaps the rules - of the forum suggests this would be appropriate.

Edited by taurean
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Guest Gale1982

Sorry I get carried away on this subject and my musings were making me forget my worries...

Me too. For a bunch of people with wildly differing views, we sure can behave in a similar way sometimes.

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Guest Soldiering on

This is what inevitably happens on online forums. Threads go off track and people merrily post.

It's no one's fault.

Indeed.

And these ones are positively lovely. People never attack each others views here. :-)

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My goodness, there's a lot to read since I was last here!

Well okay then. This thread started out with a claim that someone suggested ouija boards as therapy. There was no mention that it was specifically an exposure idea. Totally different scenario.

That said, i think the suggestion is a little misguided.

PolarBear, I appreciate there are different forms of therapy and that CBT includes cognitive therapy as well as ERP, but exposure is still therapy! I guess this particular therapy would entail concentrating on the exposure with little on the cognitive side. However, it depends what messages come through!

Edited by Tricia
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The obvious answer is that the people using the game move the pointer on the board. That is obvious. If some kind of spirit was moving the pointer, no one would have to touch the pointer. People either consciously or unconsciously answer their own questions.

The only logic with ouija boards is the simplest explanation. It's all a scam. And not advisable as an OCD exposure in my view.

If you have never witnessed the Ouija board being used by honest people, it's difficult to form an opinion. I dare say many who do use it are charlatans. However, the messages my mother and her friends received (whether or not they were unconsciously moving the pointer) were so accurate and predicted tragic forthcoming events.

Michael Bentine's scientist father did a great deal of work experimenting with the supernatural and he was, afterwards, convinced of such things. Michael Bentine warned us to stay away from the Ouija board. He stressed this is vital if we are of a very sensitive disposition. I have a feeling I qualify for that...

Edited by Tricia
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Hi Tricia,

I think someone has already asked but how come you're so concerned with this?

Does the idea really scare you? If so then you really don't have to do it. Please don't take what this book says to heart. Its just a book.

I did a few times when I was a kid and nothing happened.

Interestingly, people who have bad experience always do Ouija BoardsTM, in abandoned asylums, churches or grave yards or somewhere else really dramatic..... never by the sea-side whilst having ice-cream. Strange that.

Gale, a friend is thinking of trying this after reading David Veale's book and I am very concerned. Just wanted to know if anyone had done this and whether they coped or even improved.

A few years ago, I would have had no problem with it as I didn't believe in such things, but it does pay, I think, to have an open mind and listen to people you trust.

Bad experiences with the Ouija certainly don't always happen in dramatic locations. My mother's experience and that of my daughter's friend were in very normal rooms. Both were treating it as a game when they began...

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Guest Gale1982

As stated in a later post, it's all about how suggestible you are. That's the reason I highlighted the often bizarre locations.

If you used a Ouija board in the Russian alphabet, it simply wouldn't work, unless of course you can speak Russian. I'm sure spirits would be bilingual.

People who use a Ouija board only do so because they have heard that its used to contact spirits. Again, if you took someone from another culture who had never heard of the practice then they would have a totally different experience.

Even though I don't believe in ghost, I still get terrified in reportedly "haunted buildings", because I'm very open and suggestible and have an active imagination. As rational as I like to think I am, I'm still subject to the fight or flight response.

Just tell your friend not to think of a pink elephant. And you should stop thinking of a pink elephant too.....I said stop it.

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Guest Gale1982

Now lets throw OCD into this mix of superstition and hunter-gather responses.

We have ego dystonic thoughts, right?

Whats the worst thing you can think of happening when contacting spirits?

Actually, I'm tempted to try it out. Last time I did it I was very young and my OCD wasn't as bad. I'll let you know how it goes. It would be interesting to know how a Ouija Board will work on a skeptic with OCD.

Edited by Gale1982
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Guest heartplace

Actually, I'm tempted to try it out. Last time I did it I was very young and my OCD wasn't as bad. I'll let you know how it goes. It would be interesting to know how a Ouija Board will work on a skeptic with OCD.

I really wouldn't recommend it. Horrible, horrible things can often result from using it.

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