THE EARLY YEARS


     HE FOLLOWING WAS ON THE FRONT PAGE OF THE MINNEAPOLIS MORNING
TRIBUNE ON AUGUST 4, 1963!! 
                                                                           

 

 

 

 

The photos show me hypnotizing Mrs. Varichak. 

 

Then I jabbed a hatpin into her hand. 

She did not flinch nor cry aloud. 

 

She laughed when she recalled her 16th birthday.   

She cried at the memory of her grandfather’s death.       

I was 34 years old and practicing law in Dayton, Ohio when the National District Attorneys Association called me to present a hypnosis demonstration at its annual convention at the Hotel Leamington because I previously had published several articles on hypnosis and the law in law journals. 

                                                The 3-column page one! article follows with legible retyping on the left:        

The article reads as follows:   

                                                                              

“Fearless criminal prosecutors from throughout the nation were put to shame by a petite Minneapolis mother Thursday.

“A volunteer was needed for a hypnosis demonstration at the National District Attorneys Association convention at the Hotel Leamington. 

“However, none could be found among the 500 district attorneys and county prosecutors
attending the conclave, so pretty Kathleen Varichak, 33-year-old mother of two, volunteered for the task. 

“Mrs. Varichak, whose husband, Stephen, is an assistant Hennepin Count attorney was ‘put under’ by Michael Teitelbaum, Dayton, Ohio, attorney and amateur hypnotist, who advocates the use of hypnosis in criminal trials. 

“After inducing Mrs. Varichak into a trance and performing the traditional pin-sticking ceremonies,   Teitelbaum led her back to her early life where she recalled details of her 16th birthday party and her first grade in school. 

“Highlight of the demonstration came when Teitelbaum led Mrs. Varichak back to the time when she was 2 years old.  She recalled sitting on a piano bench with her mother looking at the other people in the room. 

“’Who were the other people?’ Teitelbaum asked.
“’My mother’s sisters,’ she replied.
“’What were they doing?’
“’They were crying.’      
“’Why were they crying.?’       
‘Because grandpa died,’ she sobbed as she relived the  experience with tears streaming from her eyes.’ 

“A short time later Teitelbaum brought a smiling Mrs. Varichak out of the trance.  Her first reaction was surprise as she touched her face and exclaimed, ‘I’m all wet.’ 

Earlier in the demonstration Teitelbaum demonstrated that a person under hypnosis can be conditioned to give himself away when he tells an untruth.  …..etc., the article on Page Five goes on, etc.”
         
Background
Author
Screenwriter
Letters
This and That
Stage Performances
                                                                                                          Home