Dianetics is a precise, step-by-step methodology for locating and erasing the hidden recordings in the mind that cause irrational behaviour, emotional distress, and psychosomatic illness. It was developed by L. Ron Hubbard and published in 1950. The process is fully described in the book Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health — which means anyone can learn and apply it.
Below is a plain-language walkthrough of the six core stages of the Dianetics process.
The Analytical vs. the Reactive
Dianetics begins with a simple but profound discovery: the human mind has two distinct parts. The analytical mind is your rational, aware, thinking self — the part that solves problems, creates, and reasons. It is essentially perfect in its function.
The reactive mind is an entirely separate system. It operates below conscious awareness and records every moment of pain, unconsciousness, or extreme stress in complete, multi-sensory detail. These recordings are called engrams. Unlike ordinary memories, engrams are not available to conscious recall — yet they exert a powerful, hidden influence over your thoughts, emotions, and body.
When the reactive mind is triggered, it overrides the analytical mind and forces you to react — not respond — to situations. This is the root cause of irrational behaviour, chronic anxiety, depression, and many physical complaints.
The Hidden Recording
An engram is a complete mental recording of a moment of physical pain or unconsciousness combined with real or imagined threat to survival. It contains every sensory detail of that moment — sounds, smells, physical sensations, words spoken nearby — all stored in the reactive mind.
The critical point is this: engrams are not ordinary memories. You cannot simply recall them and think your way through them. They are stored as commands, not as experiences. When something in your present environment resembles the original painful moment — a similar sound, smell, or phrase — the reactive mind "plays back" the engram and forces you to react as if the original threat were happening now.
This is why people have irrational fears they cannot explain, why they overreact to small things, why certain situations trigger anxiety or rage that seems disproportionate. The reactive mind is running the show — and the person has no idea why.
A Safe, Guided Conversation
Auditing is the central technique of Dianetics. It is a structured, one-on-one process conducted by a trained auditor — or, using the techniques in the book, by any two people working together as partners.
The auditor's role is precisely defined: to ask questions and listen. There is no interpretation, no advice, no judgement, and no diagnosis. The auditor creates a safe, non-evaluative space in which the person being audited (called the "preclear") can examine their own mind freely.
Sessions typically last one to two hours. You remain fully in control throughout — you can stop at any time. The auditor guides you through specific techniques designed to locate and address engrams. Many people report feeling lighter, calmer, and more clear-headed after even a single session.
The Technique of Erasure
The core technique used in auditing is called "returning". The auditor directs the preclear to mentally return to an earlier time — not to relive it with full emotional force, but to examine it as an observer moving through the incident.
The preclear narrates what they perceive: sounds, sensations, words, images. The auditor guides them through the incident from beginning to end, then asks them to return to the beginning and go through it again. And again. With each pass, the emotional charge — the pain, fear, or distress locked into the engram — diminishes.
This process is not re-traumatisation. It is the opposite: by bringing the incident into the light of the analytical mind and examining it repeatedly, the reactive mind's grip on it weakens. The engram loses its power to command behaviour from the shadows.
Freeing the Analytical Mind
When an engram has been fully examined and its charge released through auditing, it is said to be "erased". This does not mean the memory disappears — it means the incident is transferred from the reactive mind into the analytical mind as an ordinary, accessible memory.
It can no longer trigger irrational reactions. It can no longer generate psychosomatic symptoms. It is simply a memory — something that happened, now fully understood and integrated.
People who have erased significant engrams report dramatic changes: chronic physical complaints that had no medical explanation disappear, long-standing fears dissolve, emotional reactions that had plagued them for years simply stop occurring. The analytical mind, freed from the interference of the reactive mind, begins to function at its natural, high level.
The Goal of Dianetics
The ultimate goal of Dianetics is the State of Clear — a person who no longer has a reactive mind. All engrams have been erased. The analytical mind operates without interference, at its full, natural capacity.
L. Ron Hubbard described the Clear as someone with a "cleared" reactive mind: a person with a high IQ, excellent memory, good health, and the ability to think clearly and rationally in any situation. They are not superhuman — they are simply a human being functioning as nature intended, without the hidden burden of accumulated reactive recordings.
The State of Clear is not a mystical state. It is a measurable, achievable condition that has been reached by many thousands of people worldwide using the techniques in Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health.
Dianetics holds that a significant proportion of physical illness is psychosomatic in origin — meaning it is caused or worsened by the reactive mind. Engrams can contain commands that the body obeys literally: pain recorded during an engram can manifest as chronic physical pain in the present, even when there is no physical cause.
As engrams are erased through auditing, many people report the disappearance of chronic conditions — headaches, back pain, skin conditions, digestive complaints — that had no clear medical explanation. Dianetics does not treat disease; it addresses the mental source of conditions that are psychosomatic in nature.
Anxiety, depression, chronic anger, grief that won't lift, phobias, compulsive behaviour — Dianetics addresses these as symptoms of an active reactive mind. As the engrams driving these conditions are erased, the emotional symptoms diminish and often disappear entirely.
Dianetics is not a medical treatment and does not replace professional medical care. It is a self-help methodology for addressing the mental and emotional sources of distress. Anyone with a serious medical condition should consult a qualified healthcare professional.
Ready to experience Dianetics for yourself? Book a free introductory session with our South African team. No obligation, no pressure — just a conversation.