Thursday, April 28, 2005

The Cure for Cancer?

Hypnotically Enhanced
Famous Magician Makes the Truth Disapear!
OK, Here's the deal. Penn Jillette says I can cure cancer. It sure didn’t come from me, and when I was filmed for their show last year they didn’t even interview me about health issues. To take it a sleazy step further, he claims that I tell people to STOP seeing their doctor when they have cancer and I take all their money as they lay on their death bed.
Quite a claim to make on my behalf. Especially for someone who is winning Emmys for a show that is supposed to expose the truth. If you make stuff up, that does NOT make it true, but people do believe what they see on TV.

After we filmed the pieces for the show, which included segments with an MD and a Dentist showing the amazing effects of hypnosis on pain and on dental phobias, the producer called me.

She said, "can you send us your cd that cures cancer?" And I said, "NO! I dont have a CD that cures cancer, and I do NOT claim to cure or treat cancer. I have a CD that helps with healing the emotional aspects of illness, helps with pain and makes a person feel more positive."

Next, I immediately had my attorney prepare this letter which was sent to Ms. Hensen-

Dear Ms. Hensen,
Here are the CDs you requested.
I assume you are interested in having these CDs as samples to use on the air, or to comment on regarding effectiveness and methods that may or may not work.
I request the following guidelines are followed when preparing commentary for these CDs.
Audio clips must be used in context, and approved by me if they are being aired. No claims to effectiveness are made by Wendi Friesen CHT,, or by wendi.com.
Any commentary on effectiveness needs to be accompanied by stating that Wendi Friesen is not claiming the products are a medical cure, but there are clients who claim they have experienced positive results.
Of course, guidelines should be followed to reflect my professionalism and include the understanding that wendi.com products are not an alternative to medical treatment; rather the products provide a complimentary approach to helping people who have illness, pain, or disorders. Wendi.com and Wendi Friesen are not treating, or claiming to treat illness, or diagnosing, offering, or suggesting an alternative to medical procedures. Ms. Friesen works diligently with medical practitioners and counselors to assist their patients in creating a positive mental outlook and setting in motion a beneficial state in their mind and body that will promote healing.
People who have cancer and other illnesses are aware of the benefit that their attitude can have on healing. Use of wendi.com products on your show should reflect the use of hypnosis as a complimentary therapy, not as a cure or treatment for any disease or illness.
Thank you for your understanding about this matter.
Wendi Friesen CHT

Now you can see that it might bother me just a teeny weeny bit that they chose to make the claim that I can cure cancer. Also, for them to claim that I am asking people to STOP seeing their doctor and letting them die while I take their money… well this couldn’t be further from the truth. And all of this from a show who’s entire premise is to expose the TRUTH.
Now, of course this all came as a shock when I saw the show. Especially when they chose to delete the entire medical hypnosis segments that showed how effective hypnosis was to relieve a severe dental phobia and to eliminate pain when needles were put through the hands of my subjects. Hey, that was good stuff! But not nearly as good as the lies they told. A friend of Penn’s called me and told me he did it because he hates hypnosis.

I got a few letters about that show. Several hundred actually. Many included death threats, and some had graphic descriptions of how I should die. It was a difficult month for me. It was hard to get out of bed. Especially in light of the fact that their show is now being promoted as such a great piece of work.

Wining Emmys for lies? Penn, you have become the very thing that you want to expose. It is you who should be ashamed of yourself.

Where is the real scam? It is the show itself. I have not made a big deal of it, but since I see that this blatant promotion by Time, People Magazine, the Today Show and TV guide promoting this as a great show to watch… well, I simply have to speak up. I did a great piece of work for their show. They also insisted that I do a rebirthing segment and even though I told them I don’t do that, they insisted. I agreed, and ONLY if they included my statement that this is ONLY a metaphor, the memories expressed while re-experiencing your birth are nothing more. Then, through clever editing, they took clips of other statements, put them in the rebirth segment so that I was saying that these memories are true.

People tell me that I shouldn’t be surprised that Penn Jillette did this. This is just TV, they say.
Is it really ok to excuse people for having such a deep commitment to creating lies and attempting to ruin a person and a company?
I have a wonderful staff of 14 people who love their jobs, love what we do and enjoy being a part of a company with integrity and purpose. We wake up every day knowing we are making a difference.

Wendi

20 comments:

Pandabonium said...

Dear Wendi,

This incident demonstrates why I stopped watching television several years ago. In fact, I had to look up who Penn Jillette is. Truth is not to be found in media land. Worse than just lies, half-truths or even 90%-truths are usually presented which make the lies harder to detect. In your case, they went all out, probably because their audience will not have access to your truth.

Television is controlled by a few mega-corporations, which also fund the politicians, who in turn pass legislation favorable to the news media, advertisers, and their parent companies who are often also government contractors.

The very business of television and radio today is to influence audiences through entertainment and lies in order to make money and promote their agendas and those of their big sponsors. It is the perfect venue for a magician posing as a journalist. TV itself is world of illusion in which even the people who are part of it suspend disbelief and man or woman at the top "…confuses successful completion of the task at hand with the impression he (or she) makes or hopes to make on others…" - Christopher Lasch, in The Culture of Narcissism - American Life in an Age of Diminishing Expectations, published in 1979.

I am sorry to hear that you and your business have been made a victim of this vicious system. Your work has been helping me a great deal, and I have been telling others who could also benefit from it. I know you will learn from this experience and that the work you have done helping people will guarantee the continued growth and success of your business.

As Soupy Sales says, “keep you chin up, it’ll keep the milk from dripping on your clothes.”

PhreMind said...

Hey Wendi,

I've seen enough of that show to decide it's way too biased against other possibilities and explanations. The agenda of the host is to advance his belief set (and ratings) and the truth be damned.

You might think that the fears and misconceptions about hypnosis would have been laid to rest by now. Shows like this are the reason more people don't experience the usefulness of hypnosis.

You keep doing your work, keep running a company with integrity, and the truth will prevail.

Marni said...

Hey Wendi,
Once people catch on to the real truth of the Penn show, the producers will have to leave the country to get gullible folks to be interviewed for it.

I hope your "True Lies" CD finds it's way into their hot little paws, before too many more people need to 'class action' their pants off in the traditional American way.

From your friendly 'gullible' Canadian with thankfully no access to their current show.

(my definition of gullible = belief in the goodness of people)
Isn't that a good thing there are still some of us left in the world.

Wendi Friesen said...

There is a lot of evidence for breast enlargement, you can see the controlled studies from UCLA and other universities here.
Cancer imagery is well studied and researched and the use of the word cancer on a CD certainly doesnt cause harm or even imply a cure. Hospitals offer imagery of sweeping cancerous cells from your body. Standard stuff. Well researched. The immune system is affect by our stress, anger, and emotions. The immune system creates killer t-cells that are soley responsible for removing cancer cells from the body. It is no mystery that this is how the immune system functions. Positive states of mind and a healthy outlook has been proven to help with survival rates.
THe link for breast enlargement research is here.
http://www.wendi.com/html/breast_research.html
Please read it, you may find that it opens your mind!

Penis enlargement is a matter of blood flow adn tissue growth. The same principal that applies to breasts applies to penis's. Many hypnotists have had positive results in this area as well. And for most men, (at least with my program) they feel more confident in bed since the CDs also have sessions to help you feel more connected, more giving, and more deserving as a lover. And that cant be a bad thing.

Wendi

Paula said...

Hello Wendi,

That is too bad you had to have this experience. Here I am, thinking you have a wonderful life and are in control but I guess sometimes people are jerks. Anyways, did you have a bad feeling about doing this project? I know for me sometimes I ignore my instincts and I wish I didn't.
Anyways, I love you and am a fan of your work. Maybe I will meet you someday. I told your staff you should be on Oprah. Maybe promote the alcohol freedom cd.
Paula

Wendi Friesen said...

Thanks for the nice thoughts. Yea, well it sucks to have to go through this. What was I thinking? I will tell you!

I knew, that beyond a shadow of a doubt, I could prove that hypnosis works and they would not be able to dispute it. I felt that very few hypnotists could do this with confidence, and if I didnt do it they would attack someone else.

So- I did a segment in the dentists office with the Digital Blood Pressure cuff and digital heart rate monitor. Used a guy with a serious dental phobia. In 15 minutes I had the sound of the drill make his heart rate and BP drop dramatically. The digital readout showed on camera. Then we had an MD put needles through peoples hands who had only hypnosis for anethesia. It was flawless and impressive. The MD gave a commentary that was amazing.
Funny, they didnt show any of that.



Wendi

Wendi Friesen said...

Oh yea, Oprah. Working on that... stay tuned.

Wendi

Anonymous said...

Having just watched Penn & Teller is obcious Wendi is an old fashioned con artist.

Anonymous said...

The deleted comments are suspicious, but perhaps they were removed for vulgarity and not for having an opposing view.

I saw and enjoyed P&T: BS's show on hypnosis and, or the most part, i do not believe it can alter your body. I DO believe it can help/harm your mind and cause you to precive things to change (ie. 'hey my penis is bigger' when it is not) but what is relaity but perception? If he thinks its bigger, the problem for him is over (if not for the partner).

But if you say "If you have cells in your body that are harmfull or cancerous, sweep them out of your body" ya have to expect someones going to say your trying to cure cancer. If not that, what? Tricking a person into believing they are treating their cancer?

Anyways, on another show they (P&T) 'kind' of explain themselves in saying somthing along the lines of 'of course we're biased, but we tell you up front we are' which is a half truth. But come on the name of the show is Bullshit. Did you really think they'd be 'on your side' of the issue? They just like to make fun of people, but the cancer thing, even their comments aside, was pretty damning.

As i have stated i belive hypnosis can do good. Just not in altering the body. If someone is 'playing along' with hypnosis and overcomes a personal challenge or stops smoking or leaves an abusive partner, good. It can be as helthy as therapy. Just not as cures for the body and you need to make that PERFECTLY clear if you want the accusations to stop. If you overcome tthe pain of arthritice your not cureing it your ignoreing it.

Anonymous said...

Hello Wendi.

The following is directed at other posters, and will not be favourable, so I expect this comment will receive swift deletion.

To pandabonium - You state that you have stopped watching television. Nothing in your comment even implies that you watched the episode in question. You think the people who watch the show do not have access to Wendi's 'truth'. Really? People with TV's don't have access to the internet and Wendi's website? After a predictable, cliché-ridden 'corporations' rant, you quote some obscure History professor who actually took Freud seriously. You even date Mr Lasch's book, at least letting us all know that you are of the opinion that "old = right". We've said farewell to the scientific method then?

To Tom Donaldson - I will assume that it's only coincedence that a google search on your name brings up a bucket load of hypnosis links. Actually, no, I won't.

To Merlin. quote -"I haven't seen the show & I couldn't be bothered to look for it. Closed minded idiots will always be with us."
I am rendered speechless by the amount of irony here.

To Marni - If you are going to choose to redefine words as you see fit, at least be consistent, and please drop the supreme arrogance it takes to assume that everyone else is going to go along with such redefinitions. Once you do that, you are no longer speaking English. You are speaking "self-indulgent bullshit", ok?

To jihchop - A 40-something year-old gamer who, A: has purchased "some" of Wendi's products, so must concede he's a bit messed up in the first place, and B: wants to make another man... smaller. Of course you saw compassion in Wendi mate; you were hearing exactly what you wanted to hear.

To mr. fantastic - Well at least one voice of rationality hasn't been deleted. (apologies if my own comment leads to both of our comments being deleted. I hear that hypnotists can also be fascists when it comes to comments.)

To.. Ah! Wendi! "There is a lot of evidence for breast enlargement, you can see the controlled studies from UCLA and other universities here" [link provided]
Can you please cite at least 3 more studies done after 1979? Note that one cherry-picked study is not considered of any value by anyone with any respect for the scientific method. Multiple, verifiable studies, please.

You also said "...the use of the word cancer on a CD certainly doesnt cause harm or even imply a cure." For now, I'll ignore the slimy lawyer-speak 'doesn't imply a cure', but you would be lying if you said that no cancer victim had not grasped upon those words, and then parted with their cash to buy your product in the hope of curing their affliction. Of course, you will counter with a statement to the effect that you never forced them, or somesuch. But you still took their money, right? Which may well have been better spent on, say, palliative care, more/better medicines, or more actual cancer research. How do you sleep at night? Or does your power delusion really run that deep?

Anonymous said...

Wow, that anonymous person really likes to argue and pick faults with every one, even Wendi, maybe its Penn too scared to even label who he is when he leaves a message! HEHE.

Anyway, im a hypnotist myself, and i do know the beneficial results of hypnotherapy. We do it, as we know it works, do people think we do it and we live everyday in fear of being found out that we are fakes? Nooo no way! We have proven results and it is beneficial in many aspects of life.

Ok so im also a magician, i only do hypnosis for therapeutic reasons, i never have and never will do stage hypnosis as thats not my bag,however, as a magician iv always respected Penn and Teller who are magicians, not reporters. I do have to say that my respect for them as performers have rapidly been reduced! Ok so they are excellent at what they do, we as hypnosis professionals are excelent at what we do too, and we could if we wanted, poke holes in the performance of them both as magicians, however, we are not reporters, and nor are Penn and Teller - (please folks, just because Teller did not talk, don't forget he is half responsible too,) I dont know if they were just repeating lines for the money, or if they do actually believe it themselves, however my respect for them knocking someone else's profession, which only exists to help people, is not acceptable.

My heart sinks as i have Penn and Teller at the top section of my favorite magicians, however they are now at the bottom of my list after this show.
They have done damage to themselves as well as to Wendi so maybe they will have better researchers and editors next time that will have better ethics.

Anonymous said...

Your tape says, and I quote, "If you have any cells in your body that are harmful or cancerous, sweep them out of your body".

I can understand the denial of their argument, but it seems to me as if you're trying to do a cure for cancer right there, and then saying "I'm not claiming to cure cancer" to cover yourself because even you know that it sounds ridiculous.

Your hypnosis coincidentally seems to only work in instances where the issue isn't something serious. As soon as it is, you do not claim to be able to cure it and hypnosis no longer works.

It seems more likely to me that you shy away from such things simply because those are the areas where people will take what you are doing very, very seriously.

Anonymous said...

Hello. I just watched this episode and I really just have to say that I need to side with science on this one.

Anonymous said...

Yeah... when you have a product that mentions "If you have cells in your body that are harmfull or cancerous, sweep them out of your body" you are talking about ridding the body of cancerous cells, or you're unable to decide which cells your product can rid the body of if you want an excuse to get out of this. If they were reporting anything false, then sue them for libel (as it was a television production). Come on and do it. If you're being honest about Penn's dishonesty, then you're entitled by law to get retribution. And it can only help your business as you expose them as frauds. So put your money where your mouth is. Is someone commits defamation against you on television, then sue... unless you are really a fraud yourself and can't win.

Wendi Friesen said...

Hello Anonymous,
Using visualization for cancer is not a cure, and it is widely used and recommended. That is a far cry from the claim that I said I can cure cancer. I have talked to several attorneys who said that I do have a great case and could get a big award. However, when you say put your money where your mouth is, the attorneys want $200,000 to start, and say the legal fees in a case like this could easily go to $1 million. That is why they don't get sued for telling outright lies.

Wendi

Anonymous said...

I apologize if this sounds rude, but I think the attorneys you talked to about your case against Penn and Teller were lying when they said they thought that you had a great case. If an attorney really thinks a case like this is good they are not going to ask for payment up front. The publicity alone, for wining a defamation of character case against celebrities would be worth more than 200K.

Penn and Teller have also done a big portion of the work for you in establishing a liable case, which is proving that their intent was malicious. The only thing an attorney would have to do to win is prove that their reporting was incorrect, and that it has hurt your business as a result.

Now, since the program was broadcast all over the world. If Penn and Teller are wrong you could pretty much demand any amount in reparations, and attorneys know this. There is no reason why they should be warning you about potential loss.

alternative cancer treatments said...

I don't believe that any magician can cure cancer.

Anonymous said...

maybe you shouldn't use the word cancer? and just use a suggestion like "your body knows how to heal itself and knows what does not belong, sweep what does not belong out of your body. feel the wellness of your being"
I can see how people may see the use of the word cancer as possibly taking advantage of desperate people in desperate situations.

All that being said, I have enjoyed some of your work myself and I think you are good at what you do and help many people, although some of your material does appear to search for certain targets that possibly should be avoided in order to keep your integrity.

As for saying hypnosis is bunk... well once upon a time they said the same thing of chiropractors.

G.M. Eades said...

It's hard to believe the number of ignorant and spiteful people posting on this blog.

These individuals obviously know nothing at all about the power of the subconscious mind; how it controls and affects every aspect of the body; from how fast you heal; to how quickly and how accurately your cells replicate; to how high your heart rate is; to determining the makeup of your blood chemistry; to the production and regulation of powerful drug-like substances manufactured by the pituitary and pineal glands; to the level of oxygen in the blood; to how aroused you become sexually; to how fat you are; to how tall you are; to how high the nicotine level you need to maintain in your blood needs to be if you’re a smoker (or any addictive substance, for that matter), etc.

These same obviously ignorant people know nothing about the visualization regularly performed with cancer patients in hospitals (since it's been found to absolutely have positive results), nor have these individuals ever sought out information on cancer patients who have experienced spontaneous remission, at all.

They've never heard of how many of these now cancer-free individuals practiced visualization and self-hypnosis, or learned that the very FIRST step in every single case where a spontaneous remission has ever occurred has always been found to be the BELIEF that remission is a POSSIBILITY, even when their physician held no hope for them at all, chosing to "believe in science" instead. Yet the patients were healed, the cancer was gone, and the doctors had no explanation for it other than the patient’s willpower or belief alone afterward.

These cases of spontaneous remission are not isolated cases either, they are many, and thousands of them have been documented. A huge number of popular magazines have done articles on the subject of spontaneous remission of cancer in the past and have detailed what these individuals did that led to their being cancer-free, as well as summarizing what all of these "survivors" had in common, namely - 1. a positive attitude they would overcome the disease 2. they refused to listen to negative talk to the contrary, even from their doctors, and 3. visualization (aka self-hypnosis). In every case of spontaneous remission, these factors have been present. You don't have to believe it. Those are the facts.

When I was investigating the subject years ago, stories of remission were plentiful and easy to locate. I don't think anyone searching for a bit of knowledge that they're currently unaware of would really have that much of a problem educating themselves today, and learning just how powerful the subconscious is, or finding evidence as well as explanations of spontaneous healing if they had any desire whatsoever to, rather than to remain ignorant, as they currently are. But obviously, there is no desire on their part to do so when instead they can puff themselves up with self-righteousness and insist others "prove it to me" instead.

Such individuals are ignorant and biased, and obviously not interested in understanding any more about the power of the mind than they currently know, which unfortunately is nothing.

If that's their choice, so be it. But they need to accept that that it their choice - to be biased and to remain ignorant, and rather than seek any additional information regarding the mind and its abilities that exceed their limited understanding; to criticize others and dare them to provide them with "proof" rather than do a bit of searching and update their lack of education on the subject on their own; perhaps even taking the time to read a basic book on the subject such as "The Power of the Subconscious Mind" by Dr. Joseph Murphy. The need to admit they're simply not willing to do so, and enjoy reveling in their ignorance.

(cont.)

G Eades said...

These individuals would choose to remain skeptical even after reading of the video Gregg Braden speaks of in "The Divine Matrix" about a tumor being healed, shrinking and disappearing within 3 minutes when a woman western doctors had pronounced incurable was prayed over in a hospital in China. They would never actually believe it, nevermind attempt to locate the video and observe the healing themselves. Why do that when they can instead insist on remaining the staunch skeptics that they pride themselves on being?

This woman Gregg Braden gave as an example in his book believed that she would be healed (in her subconscious mind) and the belief of others doing the praying (their minds being in agreement) caused the tumor that doctors had given up on to shrink and disappear within 3 minutes, and it was all captured on camera.

For the rest of you who are honestly interested, here’s an example of spontaneous healing using nothing more than belief (the power of the mind) and the activation of the body's energy system -
short version http://youtu.be/SqCpwCUJ60Y
(left side of video screen is a screen capture, the right side is real-time imaging)

Here's a longer video with Gregg's narrative -
http://youtu.be/KmJ7ko7QoX0

I've studied the mind for nearly 40years now, having listened to and learned from pioneers such as Dr. Karl Pribram, Dr. Maxwell Maltz, Dr. Joseph Murray, and many, many others; I assisted my own mother in the spontaneous remission of cancer when she got it years ago, guiding her through the process of first believing in the possibility of healing, and explaining to her the visualization which needed to be done, giving her different ones to choose from. Her doctors being dumbfounded when they couldn’t find any trace of the cancer when I brought her for her pre-op checkup a few weeks later.

I had an Uncle, as well, who was discharged from the Marines and sent home to die when he got cancer of the lymph nodes during his enlistment, being told by the doctors there was no hope. He was only given 6 months to live, at most. Guess what he did? He told himself the doctors were wrong; he said he was going to beat it; he believed healing was possible; he visualized the cancer cells shrinking and disappearing over and over again, and his cancer went into remission for 25 years, during which time he got married and raised a family and had a fine life.

When the cancer returned 25 years later, he was told he had 3 months to live according to the doctors. Well, guess what? He lived for another 8 years. "But science says"... you don't know anything if you think science has the last word or is infallible. Once again, by not accepting what the doctors had told him, and by believing in the power of his own mind to direct his own health, he was able to produce the healing that the doctors could not provide him. He essentially lived 33 years longer than "science" had allowed him, and he did it by self-hypnosis, by visualizing and affirming that he was stronger and more powerful than the cancer, that the cancer was going to lose the battle, seeing it getting smaller and being gone, and seeing himself healthy in the future enjoying life and being victorious in his own mind over and over again.

So, I have little patience for such ignorance. If you want to remain ignorant, get used to the fact and be honest with yourself and admit that that's your choice, to be an ignorant person the rest of your life. Otherwise, do a little research, get informed about what you don't understand at the moment, and stop giving other people who are more knowledgeable and who have a heart full of desire to help others in a way that perhaps nothing else will help them, such a hard time.

There's plenty of information out there about the power of the mind; some of it written by preeminent scholars, others by folks who only hold Ph.D's, unlike your lofty self, if you only put forth even the slightest effort.