Auditing, also called processing, is a central practice in Scientology in which a trained "auditor" asks structured questions intended to help a participant identify and address past experiences and emotional difficulties. Most auditing uses an E-meter, a device the Church of Scientology describes as a spiritual tool for detecting areas of mental or spiritual trauma, though courts and scientists have found it to have no medical or scientific validity. Auditing is presented as the primary method for advancing up Scientology's Bridge to Total Freedom, a graded series of levels involving procedures and rundowns, using concepts such as the reactive mind, engrams, and past‑life incidents and implants. Scholars and critics have variously described auditing as a form of psychological conditioning, hypnosis, or pseudotherapy, and have raised concerns about its methods, the misuse of confidential session records, and its space‑opera cosmology. There have been legal, regulatory, and ethical controversies related to its unproven medical claims, misuse of private information, the use of child labor, and the death of some participants.

Terminology

L. Ron Hubbard assigned special meanings to many ordinary English words when he wrote about Scientology, and Scientologese has become a language in itself. These are some very basic meanings of words Scientology uses when describing this subject.

The procedures where two individuals work together to improve one of the person's abilities and to reduce or eliminate their neuroses.

A trained Scientologist who is helping another individual through the use of auditing techniques. An auditor is only allowed to audit processes (on others) up to the level of training they have completed (their 'class').

The person being questioned by an auditor. Also called a "PC".

The collection of all the preclear's upsets and emotional baggage which auditing is trying to relieve. A preclear's case level is how far a preclear has advanced on the Bridge to Total Freedom.

A single time when an auditor and preclear sit down to audit. The duration of a session can range from a few minutes to several hours.

A specific step in auditing. It may consist of repeatedly asking the preclear the same question (an auditing command) until there is no more upset on that question. Many processes are run during a single session.

A series of processes designed to handle a specific aspect of a case, such as communication, problems, or happiness. It may take many sessions to complete a rundown.

Abbreviated "EP", it is what an auditor is looking for that indicates a process, session or rundown has been completed. The EP of a process might be that the preclear realizes something, is happy about it, and the e-meter is showing certain needle movements. The EP of a session might be that several processes have been performed, and the preclear is very happy about it so it is a good point to stop for the day. A rundown would have a specific EP, such as all auditing questions for the rundown have been asked, and the preclear has experienced some sort of realization such as saying they feel they could now communicate freely with anyone on any subject.

An "intensive" is a block of 12 1/2 hours purchased in advance by the preclear for auditing services. Auditing is to occur intensively so that the 12 1/2 hours is performed within one week. At the end of each session, the hours and minutes used are written down on a form in the preclear's folder, deducted from the amount on account, and the balance is calculated.

Description

The term "auditing" was coined by L. Ron Hubbard in 1950. Auditing in Scientology is an activity where a trained Scientologist, known as an auditor, listens and asks various questions to the subject, who is referred to as a "preclear" or "PC".

Auditing involves the use of "processes", which are sets of questions asked or directions given by an auditor. Based on a prior interview looking for "charged" subjects—"charge" being that which prevents the PC from thinking on a subject or getting rid of a subject or approaching a subject—on the E-meter, found by asking questions to the PC in regard to them and their fancied case. When the specific objective of any one "process" is achieved, the process is ended, and another can then be started. Through auditing, the subjects are said to free themselves from barriers that inhibit their natural abilities. Charged areas can be viewed as areas of misinformation or lies. Once uncovered, they dissipate as their truth becomes apparent and the charge is eliminated once viewed for what it really is, an untruth.

The Auditor's Code outlines a series of 29 promises which an auditor pledges, such as: Not to evaluate for the preclear or tell him what he should think about his case in session Not to invalidate the preclear's case or gains in or out of session Never to use the secrets of a preclear divulged in session for punishment or personal gain

The main intention of an auditing session is to remove "charged incidents" that have caused trauma, which are believed in Scientology to be stored in the "reactive mind". These incidents must then be eliminated for proper functioning.

In 1952, auditing techniques "began to focus on the goal of exteriorizing the thetan" with the goal of providing complete spiritual awareness.

Preclear

The "preclear" or "PC" is the person who is being audited—the client, formerly called the "patient". At most levels of auditing, there are two people present: the auditor is the one asking questions, and the preclear is the one answering them. In some of the upper levels, a person audits oneself, being both auditor and preclear at the same time. The term was created back when the ultimate goal of auditing was to create a person who had been cleared, ergo the person being audited was pre-Clear. However, even after Hubbard created the upper levels, the term preclear was still used even if the person had surpassed the state of Clear. The term has continued to represent the role in auditing rather than the level the person has attained.

During an auditing session, the auditor writes down the questions and the preclear's answers, and the papers are stored in the client's PC folder (preclear folder).

E-meter

Most auditing sessions involve a device called the Hubbard Electropsychometer or E-meter. It consists of two handheld electrodes connected to a galvanometer. It measures changes in electrical resistance in the body (galvanic skin response). Scientology teaches that changes in electrical resistance indicate areas of "charge", meaning topics that contain emotional or spiritual distress.

According to L. Ron Hubbard, the E-Meter helps the auditor identify areas that need addressing by indicating which processes should be run and when a process or rundown is complete. Hubbard clarified how the E-Meter should be used in conjunction with auditing:

The device is considered a "religious artifact" with no scientific validity and is not considered a medical or scientific instrument.

Bridge to Total Freedom

The Bridge to Total Freedom (Bridge), also known as the Classification, Gradation and Awareness Chart (grade chart), is Scientology's primary road map to guide a person through the sequential steps to attain Scientology's concept of spiritual freedom. In Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health, Hubbard used the analogy of a bridge: "We are here at a bridge between one state of Man and a next. We are above the chasm which divides a lower from a higher plateau and this chasm marks an artificial evolutionary step in the progress of Man.[...] In this handbook we have the basic axioms and a therapy which works. For God's sake, get busy and build a better bridge!" The current Classification, Gradation and Awareness Chart is printed with red ink on white paper and hangs as a poster in every Scientology organization. A newcomer to Scientology starts the Bridge at the bottom of the chart and rises through the levels, perhaps reaching the level of Clear, then continuing upward through the OT Levels to higher states of awareness and ability. Ultimately, the Scientologist hopes to become, as the sociologist David G. Bromley puts it, "an immortal, godlike expression of the life force".

Procedure

Each Grade on the Bridge has a list of processes that auditors should run. Some auditing actions use commands, for example "Recall a time you knew you understood someone," and some auditing actions use questions such as, "What are you willing for me to talk to others about?" Below are sample commands from processes run in each Grade.

ARC Straightwire: "Recall a communication." Grade 0: "Recall a place from which you have communicated to another." Grade I: "Recall a problem you have had with another." Grade II: "Recall a secret." Grade III: "Can you recall a time of change?" Grade IV: "What about a victim you could be responsible for?"

Each Grade targets at a specific area of potential difficulty a person might have. If the subject matter is not "charged"; in other words, if it is not causing any difficulty, then the E-meter will not show any reaction and the person will not be asked further questions on that subject.

John H. Wolfe differentiates auditing from interrogation, prayer, meditation, confession or hypnosis, instead likening it to nondirective therapy: "In its general philosophy and approach, auditing is closest to the nondirective therapy of Carl Rogers (1961), who stressed the importance of having the client find the client's own answers, while the counselor refrains from interpretation, but listens with empathic understanding. Auditing differs from Roger's approach by having the auditor direct the preclear's attention using auditing questions, and by breaking up the session into discrete cycles of action."

Rundowns

Hubbard defines a rundown as "a series of steps which are auditing actions and processes designed to handle a specific aspect of a case and which have a known end phenomena". Hubbard devised dozens of rundowns. The main rundowns are the levels of the Bridge to Total Freedom, which are the codified sequential steps to attain Scientology's concept of spiritual freedom.

One of the earliest rundowns on the Bridge, which most Scientologists are expected to do, is the Purification Rundown. The "purif" is a sauna-and-sweat detoxification program requiring a high intake of vitamins, allegedly designed to remove toxins from the body that would inhibit one's recall needed for future auditing. Some of the basic levels of the Bridge include rundowns said to alleviate issues with communication, problems, and upsets. The Clear Certainty Rundown is the step where the Church of Scientology verifies that the preclear has correctly attained the State of Clear.

There are specialty rundowns such as the three very high-priced "L's Rundowns" available only at Flag which are promoted as executive boosters and promise the ability to be stably exterior—outside of your body. The Super Power Rundown is intended to increase one's perceptions; Hubbard said we have 57 senses which he calls "perceptics".

One of the most controversial rundowns is the Introspection Rundown, which is alleged to handle a psychotic episode or complete mental breakdown but was a key factor in the death of Lisa McPherson and has been widely written about.

Numerous other rundowns are listed on the right margin of the Bridge to Total Freedom.

Constructs

Reactive mind

The reactive mind (also called a reactive bank, or simply bank) is a concept formulated by Hubbard, referring to that portion of the human mind that is unconscious and operates on a stimulus-response basis. In the reactive mind are engrams which are recordings of incidents in one's life that Hubbard says cause most mental, emotional, and psychosomatic ailments.