There's a show on the SciFi channel, it's called "The Real Exorcist" with Bob Larson. Bob is a hypnotist that acts like a priest. I'm not sure if he's aware of that, though, because he has stated that hypnosis is an evil sinful science. Anyways, I wanted to explain the act of exorcism to the people who think it's supernatural. To me, it's one of the most destructive rituals and it makes people sicker rather than healing them.
Let's examine a potential client. Of course it must be a religious individual because nobody else would hire an exorcist in the first place. Why would they believe that they have been possessed by a demon? Well, usually these are people who have gone through a lot of pain in their lives, despite how faithful they were to their God. They had committed themselves to a Higher Being that was supposed to protect them. So now instead of doubting their religion, they begin to doubt their own minds. Why? Because rejecting their God would be an extremely painful and life-changing experience for them. They would be exposed to the ugly truth of false commitments and worthless existence. So instead of taking the red pill, they want to make their faith even stronger. There must be something wrong with them, why are they on the verge of rejecting God? It's the Devil! He's controlling their mind!
So here comes the exorcist. His job is already half-way done. He's more like a bridge for his clients. Their false selves just need his approval, so to speak. And Bob is well-aware of that. He starts out with a session of cold reading - a technique used by psychics to tell people what they already know about themselves in a mystic context. Bob "discovers" the patient's problems and insecurities, and he then pokes into these wounds, triggering pain and shame. This is a technique used by car salesmen. They find a hurt and then they suggest that their product can heal it. That's what Bob does next - he assures the client that it's really a demon who's causing the problems and he then suggest that only exorcism would make things better. Before the exorcism begins, Bob explicitly requires that the patient fully cooperates because it's really up to them for the demon to exit their body. He then gets into an "Exorcist" character, projecting incredible confidence and power. Bob suggests that the patient might experience emotional outbursts or even something more. He suggests that without ever breaking eye contact. It feels like an order for them, because they are in an incredibly susceptible state. After all, he made them believe that he's the only one who could help them, and they're strongly willing to believe they are possessed because they don't want to feel more shame.
The act of exorcism is all about pacing and leading now - a basic hypnosis technique. By stating the obvious and telling the client what they're gonna experience next, he's building up momentum which influences them into believing that he is the one who is no control of them now. Now he starts using leading statements that are designed to strengthen their faith in God. This is really powerful when he makes them repeat what he's saying. This way they are making a public commitment and it's impossible not to be consistent with what they've said, at least for a while. At this time some clients become very emotional, and some even resist, which is perfectly normal a reaction. After all, this guy is raping their brains and suffocating their only gasp for truth. Despite the defense, Bob can still very powerfully influence the patients, because he made them expect their resistance and he helped them externalize these feelings in the form of a demon. To be exorcised is the ultimate self-defeat...
