Access Consciousness was founded as Access Energy Transformation by Gary Douglas, a former real estate professional and member of the Church of Scientology, in 1991. Its key teaching is that there are 32 points on the human head, called “access bars,” that when touched through a method similar to acupressure can clear the mind, eliminate negative energy, and promote both better physical health and material wealth. This process is called “running the bars.”
Douglas witnessed a channeler at work in the late 1980s and soon claimed to be able to channel spirits himself. He primarily claimed to channel the Russian mystic Grigori Rasputin, the spiritual advisor to Nicholas II and Alexandra, the final emperor and empress of Russia, and said that Rasputin taught him the access bars system. Douglas also claimed to be able to channel other past figures as well as aliens from a planet called Novian, whom he said had abducted him when he was six years old.
Douglas’s first wife was a Scientology auditor, and his second wife Patricia O’Hara was a former member of that organization. Douglas and O’Hara were close friends with Mary Wernicke, an ex-Scientologist who had left the church after David Miscavige succeeded L. Ron Hubbard as its leader, and briefly played a key role in an independent Scientology offshoot.
Douglas founded Access Energy Transformation in Santa Barbara, California in 1991. In 1993, his real estate business failed, and in 1995, the group was rebranded Access Consciousness. It borrowed many concepts from both authorized and independent Scientology. The process of “running the bars” is similar to Scientology auditing, and both organizations work on a pay scale for advancing through various levels. Introductory training takes just one day, but subsequent training requires at least a dozen courses, and there are more than 8,000 Access Consciousness tools to learn in all. Complete facilitator training can cost more than $35,000, and former members have reported paying even more over the course of their involvement.
Just as Scientologists aim to achieve the state of “clear” and to become “operating thetans,” Access Consciousness students have the goal of moving from the state of “human” to the state of “humanoid,” gaining the ability to “bend the universe” and achieve superpowers in this latter state. Access Consciousness practitioners also eschew psychiatric medications, similar to Scientologists.
In 2001, chiropractor Dain Heer became Douglas’s protégé and moved in with him, and is now considered the co-founder of Access Consciousness. Heer, who was suicidal before finding Access Consciousness, has promoted Access Consciousness as a suicide prevention therapy. In 2018, a Canadian social worker lost her license over her use of Access Consciousness methods, and in 2024, former members of Access Consciousness filed a complaint with the Australian government over alleged false claims by the group.
There are more than 400 social workers in the United States who advertise the use of Access Consciousness in their therapeutic practices, and there are Access Consciousness activities taking place in more than 170 countries worldwide.
Key Sources:
Baines, M. (2017, May 15). ‘Scientology knock-off’: Whistleblower exposes ‘cult’ that thinks ‘children are sexy’. RT International.
Gorski, D. (2024, July 14). Access Consciousness: Phrenology fused with energy medicine. Science-Based Medicine.
Jarry, J. (2024, July 12). Rasputin, Phrenology, and Dark Allegations: The Madness of Access. McGill University Office for Science and Society.
Lever, C. & Clement, J. (2024, May 25). Access Consciousness – scam or spirituality? The Australian.
Malisow, C. (2012, November 7). What’s behind Gary Douglas’s Scientology knockoff? Houston Press.
Encyclopedia of Cults, Sects, and New Religious Movements 