THE DEVELOPMENT OF TROM

Before TROM, there was Dianetics. Dianetics theory states there is a reactive mind an analytical mind. The analytical mind is the rational mind one is aware of. The reactive mind is a sort of stimulus-response mind that takes hidden control of the individual. Hubbard stated that it's necessary to have an 'auditor' in order to assist the 'preclear' (one receiving therapy) help him confront the reactive mind in therapy, and that handling the reactive mind to completion by oneself was impossible.

Dennis says otherwise...

My name is Dennis Stephens, and this is the 18th of January 1994, and I've been asked to cut this
piece of tape by Terry Scott for use at his next conference. About sixty years ago an American
president named Roosevelt announced that what America needed at that time was a good five
cent cigar. Well, a few years ago I decided that what this world needed was a good workable do-
it-yourself psychotherapy. 

And that psychotherapy now exists and has the name of TROM, which is the acronym for The
Resolution of Mind. Now, those of you who know your Dianetics will be saying to yourself, "How
on earth has Dennis Stephens managed to derive a workable do-it-yourself psychotherapy, when
we all know - we all know - that the reactive mind cuts in and cuts the analytical mind out of
circuit during therapy?" 

So if a person attempted to take their own reactive bank* apart they would fail, because the
reactive bank would get restimulated and would cut the analytical mind, their analytical mind
out of circuit and bring the auditing to a standstill. So how did Dennis Stephens achieve this
remarkable feat? 

*The reactive mind is often referred to as the 'reactive bank' or 'the bank'.

Let me tell you, it didn't happen overnight. I thought about the problem, on and off, for about
ten or fifteen years - this idea of preparing a do-it-yourself psychotherapy. And I always did
believe there was a way around the problem. Then, one day, the penny dropped*. Actually, it's
very, very simple. You get the analytical mind, or you train the person, via the analytical mind, to
do what the reactive mind does. And that is TROM. That is the first steps of TROM. 

*THE PENNY DROPPED: One had a realization.

The  reactive  bank,  the  reactive  mind,  as  we  all  know…  those  who  studied  Dianetics  and
Scientology know that - well, first of all, they know that there is such things as engrams, and that
there is such things as restimulation, and there is such things as reactive mind, and there is such
a thing as this reactive mind restimulating and cutting the analytical mind out of circuit. These
things are real things, these are true things. These are real things for anyone who's ever studied
the subject objectively and subjectively. 

The reactive mind contains engrams- past moments of pain or unconsciousness. When something
in the environment approximates such a moment, it's said one is restimulated. When that happens,
one's analytical thought processes become compromised.

It's interesting that even knowing this puts you into a far higher category than the average
person alive on this planet at this time - the fact that you know it and that you know these things 

exist and you know these things to be true. The average person doesn't know this, ever… while
there is a vast conspiracy afoot to make sure that he never finds out too. But that's another
story. 

So we have this reactive mind restimulating and impinging upon the analytical mind and cutting
the analytical mind out of circuit. Essentially, this amounts to the fact that what the reactive
mind can do - it can move scenes, incidents, etc., out of the past and bring them into the present. 

Now that is the basic function of the reactive mind. If it couldn't do that it would be powerless. It
can actually bring things out of the past and bring them into the present. Once I'd spotted that I
was on the road to doing it. Because I said to myself, "[Why] don't we apply one of Ron Hubbard's
well-known principles: that if we get the preclear to do consciously that which his mind is doing
automatically, then this function will come under his own control." 

So what if we were to get a person to take things out of his past and bring them into the
present, and then take them back out of the present and put them back into the past again? And
we were to put this as an exercise; we were to formalise this as an exercise. Isn't this exactly
what the reactive mind is doing? 

And if we got the person to do this consciously we would be taking over the automaticity of the
reactive mind. And the reactive mind would lose its power over him. And this is precisely what
happens. I found the technique to do it. You will find these techniques at Level 2 and Level 3 of
TROM. 

There are definite practical exercises which will permit you to do this. You are simply taking over
the automaticity of your own reactive bank. So you can eventually - you get to the point where
you can say to your own reactive...you can just simply cock a snook* at your own reactive bank.
You can do what it can do. It can restimulate engrams? You can restimulate engrams. So it wants
to restimulate an engram? So can you. So, you can beat it at its own game. 

*COCK A SNOOK: To make a face at.

And once you got to that point the reactive bank goes quiet. It goes as quiet as a lamb, and it
leaves you alone, and it never bothers you any more afterwards. You achieve that point when
you've reached the top of Level 3 in TROM. 

Now, can these techniques be run on you by a separate therapist? Oh yes. But they won't achieve
any result. Because while you're dependent upon the separate therapist you'll never be able to
cock a snook at your own reactive bank. You must do these steps solo. You've got to do them
solo. If you want to crack that bank you've got to do steps 2 and 3 solo. 

What about step 1?* Oh, that's simply an introductory step that finds out whether the person is
capable of running solo. It's as simple as that. I simply discovered a technique which would find
out if a person is up to running solo. Obviously, below a certain case level** the person isn't up to
it, and that it could damage themselves as they attempted to run solo. 

*The Repair of Importances exercise
** CASE/CASE LEVEL: A person's "case" would be the sum of their aberrations, or  in simpler
terms, what's wrong with them mentally and spiritually, the amount of trauma they've endured,
how badly it affects them, etc. When one is in good shape, they are said to be in "good case

shape" and the worse one is, the lower their 'case level'.

So, we got to find this level out. Well okay, I developed a technique which would do this. And
that's Level 1. If the person is below - if they do Level 1 and Level 1 indicates that they're not up
to running solo: okay, they do a very well-known set of Scientology objective exercises, and when
they've flattened* those objective exercises they can then go back and do Level 1, and they will
now find that they will pass Level 1 and they're ready to run solo. And they can then go on and
complete the job solo. 

Please note here that in the manual Dennis says R.I. is a test to see if they can go on to Level Two
solo or need help first, and that the actual Level One is the separate practitioner step if it's needed.
Those are the Scientology Objective Exercises. But here he is grouping it all together to mean
"Level One". If you are curious about this, you can read about it in the TROM 2023 appendix.

*completed

Technically,  what  Level  2 and  Level 3 of  TROM  achieve is to break  the compulsive  games
condition that exists between a person and their own reactive bank. It breaks that games
condition down, until the game ends. The person stops playing games with their own bank. 

Once they stop playing games with their own bank, of course their bank quietens down and goes
away and leaves them alone. 

Okay, so we have this person who's reached the top of Level 3. Well, where do they go from
here? Well, they go into Level 4 and Level 5, which is a general procedure for handling games
across the whole of life. 

They simply go in and take this whole subject of games apart. This is why I call TROM - it's called
a Games Manual. It is a Games Manual. By God, you learn about games in TROM! You learn all
there is to know about games in TROM. You learn so much about games in TROM that you give
them up after a while and stop playing them. You realise the sheer futility of them. 

But before you can do that you've got to go through Level 5. You've got to go through the
subject of purposes, goals in conflict, and get this whole subject of games resolved. That is Level
5. 

It takes - it's much longer to do this than Levels 2 and 3. Level 2 and 3 happen rather quickly; 

you can get to the top of Level 2 and Level 3. 

For many people they will simply stop there. The results are enormously good at that stage. They
might not want to go on to Levels 4 and 5. But for those who want to go on, well, they've got to
have to spend some more time at it. But the results are well worthwhile, because you learn all
about - in Levels 4 and Level 5 you learn all about this universe, you learn all about the games,
and you learn all about the human psyche, and all about minds. It's all there, all locked up inside
your own psyche. 

It's slowly divulged to you as you do Level 4 and Level 5 - mainly on Level 5; Level 4 is simply a
preliminary step. It's simply an introductory step to Level 5. Level 5 is the key step there. When
you've finished Level 5, where do you go from there? Well, you don't go any place. I don't know
any Level 6. 

I've been looking for Level 6 for quite a while now. Every time I find a procedure that looks like a
Level 6 I find it's a subdivision of Level 2, 3, 4 or 5. So I don't know of a Level 6. When you have 

got to the top of Level 5 and you reckon you've found a Level 6, well you let me know. I would be
pleased to hear from you. But I don't know of a Level 6. 

All right, now what about case gains? What about case gains from TROM? Well, talking from
myself: by the time I'd reached the top of Level 3, every procedure that I knew of in Scientology
and Dianetics - those processes - every process and procedure that I knew of in Dianetics and
Scientology was flat. Not one of them had any charge on it. Flat. 

The emotional tone* on the top of Level 3 was serenity, which I could always return myself back
to very, very quickly any time I wanted to. Now, by the time you've finished Level 5 - and again I
checked this out on myself - every piece of Scientology technology and the upper levels of… the
OT Levels of Scientology, is flat, flat, flat. There's nothing. Nothing that I know of in the field of
Dianetics  and  Scientology  will  do  anything  for  your  case.  You've  flattened  the  lot.  You've
finished. 

*Hubard developed  a chart of emotional 'tone levels'.  At the very bottom of it is 'total failure'
as a being, and at the top is "Serenity of Beingness" as a spiritual state. Dianetics covers the more
well-known human states such as apathy, grief, fear, anger, antagonism, boredom, contentedness,
and enthusiasm.

In fact, I know by the time you've finished Level 5, I don't know of any psychological procedure
that would do anything for you. You've done it, you've resolved it. You've resolved (the) mind. The
mind is resolved. The goal has been achieved by the time you get to the top of Level 5. If it
weren't, I wouldn't be giving you this material; I would still be researching it, I can assure you.
Because I'm a very thorough researcher. One thing you can be sure of: whatever you have when
you get to the top of Level 5, it is not an aberration. You've erased the lot. 

Well, that is TROM. And I'm very grateful to Terry Scott for this opportunity to introduce you to
the subject. Thank you very much. 

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