Several news organizations have commented on a new treatment using comforting sights. The world will be one he’s built himself in visits to his clinic, where, using biofeedback to track his response, he has trained himself to relax when he sees these images.”

The program reminds me of Stanly Kubrick’s Clockwork Orange, where “society” tries to rehabilitate the main character Alex DeLarge through a programmed treatment to alter behavior based on stimuli to a series of slides and film clips.  The issue with this dream therapy treatment is whether it is therapy or something different: mind control or brainwashing.

While SFTT does not want to disparage this new treatment, we reported earlier  the US Army’s controversial “Comprehensive Soldier Fitness Program” where it appears that we are programming or engineering young men and women to respond in a certain manner of a set of troubling physical and mental stimuli.

SFTT’s panel of medical analysts will be commenting soon on this dream therapy program; however, we should be very careful how we characterize or define therapy.  In my opinion, therapy helps provide the patient with the tools and self-confidence to deal with his or her particular set of circumstances.   Is brain engineering or programming considered therapy?   I’m not sure.  It is certainly not a black and white issue.

Richard W. May