Hypnosis Transcript: Doris Hammack

The pre-hypnosis interview between the subject, Doris Hammack, and Dr. Sykas has been omitted for space. In summary, Doris stated she suffered from dreams and nightmares since childhood, most often producing images of fear and blood. Beyond dreams, she carries a vague recollection of a male authority figure prior to her entry into the foster care system in Detroit. She is unable to recall a face or name, but believes this person to be a key figure in her life. Dr. Sykas performed a series of tests that determined the subject's psychological state and her susceptibility to hypnosis, which registered high. The hypnosis sessions transpired as follow:

H - Hypnotist, Dr. Sykas
D - Doris Hammack

Session One: July 10, 1998

H: Doris, I want to review with you a bit about hypnosis. Essentially, it's a procedure that will make you totally relax. Once you're relaxed, you will be able to listen better, hear better, to focus. Upon hearing better, whatever I say to you or whatever you say to yourself will sink in more and you will remember it when we are finished. This is simply a means of creating greater awareness. Since you will be more fully aware, you won't be asleep, you'll actually be in a super alert state, that is, in tune with your subconscious thoughts and memories while your body will be relaxed. You can interrupt the session at any time. You can do anything in hypnosis that you can do out of it, only you're less distracted. You won't do anything that goes against your will. We will try to find those memories you have that will help answer your questions, but you will watch anything unpleasant as if it were in a movie. Nothing can harm you physically, you will be safe. Is all this clear?

D: Yes.

H: Now, it's time to concentrate and relax. I'd like you to focus on the bright silver dot on the wall, look at that dot and relax.

[Dr. Sykas then proceeded to elicit a deep hypnotic state. After 10 minutes the subject was sufficiently relaxed, pinprick tests verified the depth of the hypnotic trance and interrogatory proceeded.]

H: Doris, you are very relaxed now, very safe, ready to peruse the vault of memories. We're venturing into your subconscious where all of those old thoughts are hanging around. You probably haven't called on these memories in a long, long time. Don't be frightened or startled by what you run into. Remember that the memories you have forgotten and are attempting to rediscover cannot hurt you. They are only the records of events that have long since passed. You are safe here today. Trust your subconscious mind to tell the truth. Feel free to let it narrate and tell me what it is saying.

D: [Face contorts as if she is uncertain.]

H: Doris, I want you to imagine you are five years old sitting in the audience of a movie theater. The large screen is in front of you, it is blank. It is warm and safe, comfortable here. You will see things you recall on the movie screen in front of you as if you were watching a movie. It cannot hurt you. You can be free to capture the images with all your senses, sight, touch, sound, smell. Every sensation experienced is forever recorded and locked away inside your mind. Coerce these experiences. I want you to tell me anything you see, taste, smell or feel of your childhood before you went to Imaculata, now, Doris. What do you see and hear?

D: Fuzzy. A bottle. I see a bottle. It's a glass bottle. A beer bottle. Cars.

H: Do you hear a car?

D: I hear a dog ... somewhere further away. Below me.

H: Where are you?

D: In a metal cage. No.... I can stomp around and make it rattle. The sun is shining in. It's white and yellow. It's my place.

H: Are you outside?

D: Yes. And high up. I am on a building.... Beer bottle again. It's smashed.

H: Can you see the dog?

D: I see the dog. He's running.... Down on the ground.... He's running from the glass.... The dog is hurt.

H: Did the dog get hit by a bottle?

D: It barked and lied down on the ground....

H: Where does the glass come from?

D: From up high. The bottle comes down.

H: Did you drop the bottle?

D: No...

H: Is there someone there?

D: [She winces.]

H: Doris, can you see if anyone is throwing the bottle?

D: And there's music....

H: What kind of music do you hear?

D: Country music.... It's playing in the back ... in the background....I like it out there alone.

H: Are you alone?

D: I'm outside, high up. A fire escape.

H: Can you tell who is listening to the music?

D: [Starts to whimper] Oh, I knew it....

H: Everything's okay, Doris. Just relax. You're safe here today. You're just seeing a portion of your past on the movie screen. Can you describe who is there?

D: [Heavy sigh] Oh, it's him. The man.

H: Is this the male authority figure we discussed earlier?

D: Yes. Yes, it's him. He is the one throwing bottles. He smells ... like sick. Like he's sick. He is not clean.

H: Can you tell me anything else about this person?

D: [Bites her lip] He is loud.... He is shouting, angry. [Breathing accelerates]

H: Do you know this man, Doris?

D: Yes ...

H: What is his name?

D: He's, he's Howard. [whimpers]

H: Doris, do you feel okay? Do you want to continue?

D: [Fearful] Yes.

H: Who is Howard, Doris?

D: He's, I think he's, he says he's my father, I don't know.

H: Has he spoken to you?

D: He speaks....

H: Can you understand what he's saying?

D: Dog....

H: Is he talking about the dog?

D: No. I see the dog.... I can look down and see it. It's very still.

H: Does the dog belong to you?

D: I don't know.... I, I don't want the dog. He is far away.... He is talking to someone. And yelling.

H: The man, Howard, is yelling?

D: Yes. [Frightened] He yells. I know his yell. I remember it now. He always yells.

H: Is he yelling at you?

D: He always yells....

H: Is he angry at you for something?

D: He is telling someone else.... He is moving about wildly and clapping his hands. Oh.... He breaks the bottle and grabs somebody....

H: Do you know who he is grabbing?

D: A man. Another man. They are kind of laughing. Oh no, he sees me! [She becomes frightened.] He wants to throw me in! [She starts whimpering.] I think he might come outside and throw me at the dog! I'm crying. No, hush! Hush! He gets me when I cry!.... He gets me. Do you know what happens to kids who cry?

H: What happens to kids who cry?

D: The water, they go in, he puts them in. [crying]

D: [Opens her eyes wide] Can we take a break?

H: Certainly. We'll stop this session and try again later. I want you to just relax and take this time to go over what you've recalled. You can wait in the next room, have a Coke, collect yourself.

[Doris decided she was too tired to continue this day. The second hypnosis session was held on Monday, July 13. Dr. Sykas takes the subject into a deeper state of hypnosis and works with Doris on age regression back to the time of her first dreams.]

Session Two: July 13, 1998

H: Okay, Doris, you are seeing yourself as a little girl now. Can you remember waking up from a nap? Can you remember the bad dream you had?

D: I remember the first time I had the dream and remembered it. At the home. I'm five. There was blood on it.

H: Where did the blood come from?

D: It's on me....

H: Did you touch it?

D: It gets bigger. It expands! It smells like something, I don't know, I can feel it in my stomach.... It gets bigger every time.

H: Do you remember the first time you ever saw blood?

D: [Long pause] I sat in it.... It was on my leg and I cried to get it off.... I cried to her to move it.

H: Is this in the dream?

D: No, no ... in the old house. I'm in the old house.

H: Do you know where the old house is, Doris?

D: Hope Road, the one with the well.

H: Doris, who did you cry to?

D: [Voice like a child] Off me, off me, Bit! Off me!

H: Who is Bit?

D: She's ... she's just there. She's Howard's friend. I don't.... No, she protects me.

H: What does she say?

D: [Scared, child's voice] He's gonna get me! What happens to kids? Float 'em, float 'em. Don't pick me! ...

H: It's okay, Doris. You're safe here. Just relax.

D: [Long pause, catches breath.] Get it off. Blood on my leg. I sat in it, on the floor.... She pulled my arm hard....

H: Do you know this woman?

D: I stay with her. She holds me.... Sometimes she hits.... I can't hear them. Nothing to say....

[Long pause]

H: Do you remember how the blood came off?

D: Water.... wipe it off. Water, from a pond. It's white and yellow again. And it's too hot to breathe. [Child's voice] Wanna go inside. Where him go?.... Where him go? [Frightened, near tears.] Why does he yell so? Why does he hit?....

H: Doris, is the man there?

D: Yes.... He makes us go away. He yells and he hits.... I don't want to go away. I'm scared of blood....

H: Is this part of the dream?

D: I don't know. I never remembered this part.

H: You mentioned floating. Is someone floating?

D: He said it. I don't know. He went down to the water when we leave.

H: Where did you go?

D: I went to sleep.... I'm asleep. Under the bed, on the carpet. It's hot and wet.... There's yelling. But I'm sleeping.... [Starts to weep.]

H: Doris, would you like to stop now?

D: [Nods her head, yes.]

[The subject's condition was one of bewildered silence as she rested for 30 minutes following the procedure. Dr. Sykas conducted a post-hypnosis interview to determine the effect of the procedure on the subject. Doris was sent home to rest and resume the following day.]

Session Three: July 14, 1998

H: Doris, since you've had a chance to think about these things we've uncovered about your past, do you feel any sense of relief or accomplishment?

D: Relief? Well, no, I don't think it's relief that I'm feeling. I'm questioning why on earth I came here, if you want to know the truth. Well, a part of me thinks that. Oh, I don't know! I'm ... I guess I'm more confused than ever. I mean, these things, these images. Bit, it must be Ms. Carmichael, but ... And that blood, and him.... I can retain some of it now. I can see, kind of fuzzy, but I can see. It's like recalling a dream. You don't get all the details so much as an overall feel about things. And I don't feel good, I can tell you. It's a feeling of fright. What have I stirred up?

H: Doris, there's no need to rush to any conclusions. You have to give these images time to work themselves out in your mind. Become familiar with them and not afraid. The important thing is that you've grasped this lost childhood.

D: Well, now more than ever it feels like it has grasped me.

H: Today we will see if we can help you gain control over the memories, put them in perspective.

[Dr. Sykas worked with Doris for an hour an half in this final session, using the techniques of age regression and viewing events on a movie screen, Doris was able to add some additional detail to her recollections. Dr. Sykas attempted to take Doris to the day of the Izard murders.]

H: Doris, we are back to the day now where you see the blood on you. Remember you are safe in front of the movie screen watching events unfold, nothing can hurt you. Let's start in the morning, do you remember breakfast?

D: Yes ... I had pancakes, I like it when she makes pancakes.

H: Who is she Doris?

D: Mrs. Otts, she's nice. I like her house. I'm happy here. She has kittens.

H: Do you play with the kittens?

D: Oh, yes, they are fuzzy, funny looking. They can't walk very well yet, they fall over. [laughing]

H: Now let's move on to when you leave the Otts house that day, Doris. Do you remember?

D: Don't want to go home! Stay ... Biddy I want to stay with the kitties. Not yet.

H: Biddy, is this Bit?

D: Yes, Bit is Biddy. She came to get me early. I don't want to leave now.

H: Do you leave with her?

D: Yes. [sad tone near tears] We leave.

H: Where do you go?

D: Back to the old house. He's home ...

H: Who is there, Doris?

D: It's Howard, he's yelling, he smells bad, he's mean today ... wanna leave ... [whimpers]

H: Do you leave Doris?

D: Not yet. I'm under the bed, they are yelling ... oh, no, yelling ... hitting ... she wants to know where they are. She saw, she saw! I'm so scared.

H: Where who is, Doris?

D: I don't, I don't know ... [moans] it's bad, I know it's very bad. Who are they talking about?

H: Who is there Doris?

D: Just them, Howard and Bit. She's scared, too, I can tell. She saw. I want to leave. I want to go to sleep.

H: What are they saying Doris?

D: Don't know ... he says he had to get rid of something ... she's yelling at him. I don't know what it is. Little children ... she's hitting him. I fall asleep, she grabs my arm, we're leaving. I sat in the blood .... It's on my leg ... Off me, off me, Bit! Off me!

H: Who is leaving?

D: Bit, she takes me to her house.

[long pause]

H: Doris, what's happening now?

D: I'm in the metal cage again, on the fire escape, in the other place.

H: What happened after you went to Bit's house, Doris?

D: Don't know, don't remember. I'm on the fire escape.

H: What's happening Doris?

D: He's mad at me, Billy was here and we spilled the beer. He's mad. Don't want to go in. Oh no, he sees me! [She becomes frightened.] He wants to throw me in! [She starts whimpering.] I'm crying. No, hush! Hush! He gets me when I cry!.... He gets me. Do you know what happens to kids who cry?

H: What happens to kids who cry?

D: The water, they go in, he puts them in. [crying]

D: [Opens her eyes wide] I can't go on any more today.

Dr. Sykas ended the session at this point.