Her hypnosis does not reveal a person trying to concoct a story, but rather one trying hard to avoid remembering something she has been cold in the strongest terms to forget. She was compliant all right, but not with the hypnotist. She complied, it appears, with something else that issued previous. stronger suggestions. And they overpowered the hypnotist's efforts for a very obvious reason. My wife appears to have been made to believe that my mental health depends on her not remembering, on her providing me with a safe haven in ordinary reality when I need one.

I suspect that she is right to believe this. Even under hypnosis she protected this role, which is probably essential not only to my mental health but to that of the whole family.

The regression began with her memories of the night of July 30, 1985. She did not know it at the time, but there was some evidence in one of our son's school journals that an event.

involving her might have taken place on that night, when she and he were in the country and I was away on business. Rather than suggest to her in any way that we thought this might be the case, Dr. Naiman began with that night without telling her why.

Hypnosis

JULY 30, OCTOBER 4, AND DECEMBER 26, 1985

SESSION DATES: March 13, March 21, 1986

SUBJECT: Anne Strieber

PSYCHIATRIST: Robert Naiman, MD

Dr. Naiman: "First we want to concentrate on July thirtieth, 1985. You were with your son?"

"Yeah."

"You were in the country then?"

"Yeah."

"Who was there?"

"A lot of workmen came that day, so I wouldn't be too lonely because I didn't have the car. Whitley took the car to go to the city. The workmen were going to be there, so I wouldn't be too lonely. I believe I bicycled to the store. I went to the store. I remember thinking how am I going to go to the store. I wouldn't want to drive anyway but I've got my bicycle and I can leave my son because the workmen are there. And I did. We wanted something to make some treat or something. We wanted some snacks or something."

"He wanted some snacks?"

"And I did too. I remember it was going to be lonely putting him to bed that night and it was. I don't remember anything strange."

"Was it unusual for you to be there alone with him?"

"Yes, because we always all drive up together and I can't drive very well, and I wouldn't want to drive so I'm never alone there with just our son overnight."

"I want you to concentrate on coming back from the grocery store with the treats."

"Yeah."

"When was that?"

"It was afternoon. Late afternoon. About four or three, I think, because the workmen were there but they were leaving."

"What are they working on?"

"Building the pool on the deck."

"And they left around four, and n was just you and your son?"