Access Consciousness

{{altmed}}
'''Access Consciousness''' is an alternative medicine organization founded in 1995 by Gary M. Douglas. It purports many non-specific benefits such as wakefulness and weight loss through their special head massages, electromagnetic activation of [[chakra]]-like "bar points." They offer many books, video and physical classes, memberships, and accessories.

==History==
Before he founded Access Consciousness, Douglas was in the real estate business. Collection agencies sued him in 1990, including the [[IRS]] and the Department of Justice, ending in his bankruptcy in 1993.<ref name=houston>[https://www.houstonpress.com/news/whats-behind-gary-douglass-scientology-knockoff-6596177 What's Behind Gary Douglas's Scientology Knockoff?]
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After this collapse, he turned to his connections with [[Scientology]] from his first wife, a Scientology recruiter, and his second wife, a former Scientologist, having left due to the restructuring after [[L. Ron Hubbard]] stepped down.<ref name=houston/> He then exploited this rift and the growing popularity of [[channeling]] in Santa Barbara and stated about someone performing a channeling session, "How come he can do that and I can't?"<ref name=houston/> Conveniently, he discovered his channeling powers after the loss of his previous job and stated that he channeled both [[Rasputin]] and [[Extraterrestrial|Extraterrestrial]]aliens. He used the information he said he gained through that to create Access Consciousness, which offered advancement and the ability to solve your ills if you can pay.<ref name=houston/>

==Access bars==
One of their services involves targeting some of the 16 bars in your head that allegedly correspond to different parts of your life. Overall, it's a recycling of previous [[acupressure]] and chakra concepts but focusing only on the head.

Under their page on access bars, they have an entire section labeled "how does it work?" Unsurprisingly, this category has absolutely no description of any scientific principles behind the procedure. Instead, they compare the bars to buttons that can mute your limitations. They imply you must be receptive for this to work, which allows for a convenient [[escape hatch]] if it doesn't work.<ref>[https://www.accessconsciousness.com/en/micrositesfolder/accessbars/what-is-access-bars/ What is access bars]</ref>

==Store==
Much like [[Scientology]], which it was partially inspired by, Access Consciousness has a large digital shop selling books, classes, memberships, and even certifications for opening branches.<ref>[https://www.accessconsciousness.com/en/access-shop/ access consciousness store]</ref>  These products are expensive, with their cheapest membership being 10 dollars a month for raw mp3 files of "clearings" originally performed over the radio with no access to previous files<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20180824141152/https://www.accessconsciousness.com/en/shop-catalog/membership/pearls-of-possibilities-membership/ pearls of possibility membership]. Archived from the original.</ref> and their more expensive "creative edge" membership costing over ten times that amount at 130 dollars a month for the ability to see a telecast, "unpredictable surprises from anywhere at any time," and "A one-hour call every month with some combination of Gary Douglas, Dr. Dain Heer, Simone Milasas and Brendon Watt." depending on who cares to do it that day.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20170601065033/https://www.accessconsciousness.com/en/shop-catalog/membership/the-creative-edge-of-consciousness-club/ access consciousness membership club]. Archived from the original.</ref>

==External link==
*[https://www.accessconsciousness.com/ Access consciousness]
*[https://americanloons.blogspot.com/2024/06/2782-gary-douglas.html Gary Douglas] at the [[Encyclopedia of American Loons]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{stub|alternative medicine}}

[[Category:Alternative medicine]]
[[Category:New Age]]
[[Category:Alternative medicine promoters]]
[[Category:Pseudoscience]]
[[Category:Paranormal]]

Categories: Alternative medicine, New Age, Alternative medicine promoters, Pseudoscience, Paranormal