A new step in the fusion of the paranormal and the law enforcement establishment has been forged, this time in the Netherlands where a psychic has been called in to help assist prisoners through the rehabilitation process and get in touch with their inner pain so they can heal. The experiment is a step toward treating the cause of prisons rather than merely punishing the symptoms.
Paul Van Bree, the psychic being contracted by the Dutch Prison Service calls himself a “paragnost,” which is Dutch for “Clairvoyant.” The psychic comes in to tell those in the system that their family members are doing well, and that they are still loved by them. He reports that even the most hardened criminals are often moved to tears by contact with their deceased loved ones.
Currently there are not many psychic healers under the employ of the Danish Justice programs. In fact, Van Bree claims he is the only one currently employed by any such department in the Netherlands. He says his success as a clairvoyant, however, does have precedent. His mother and grandmother, he claims, were both clairvoyants as well as several other high profile figures in his family history who made contact with the other side.
And he when he’s not helping prisoners make contact with their relatives, he is publishing his own predictions about the future. The “happy Buddha,” as he calls himself said that he foresees the program enjoying great success and eventually even becoming standard in the field of corrections. To his credit, several prisoners have enjoyed a positive transformative process.
Critics of the program say it is merely a baseless faith based program that will ultimately die out as a fad or rather never catch on. But authorities are not interested in arguments of a metaphysical nature. The only thing the Dutch prison service is currently concerning itself with is results. Of 88 countries surveyed by the statistics website Nationmaster, the Netherlands had the thirteenth highest crime rate with the US being the first. With one and a half million crimes processed annually through its system, the Netherlands is taking these steps with the good intentions of solving its high recidivism rate.
The Netherlands have also implemented other programs, including the use of Tarot cards as a supplementary service for the unemployed and regressive hypnosis therapy. The programs have been met with some criticism by opponents, but the results and public enthusiasm over the program has been staggering, with 42,500 people voluntarily signing up for Dutch spirituality programs for both personal development and rehabilitation. And that number has been growing over the past three years.
“With my antenna I can pick up more than the typical psychologist or case worker would be able to…” Van Bree said, “My care can be compared to a mental health care worker in the wildest sense of the word.” Who knows what the future of rehabilitation holds in store for Van Bree and others like him? Perhaps this is a groundbreaking new therapy that will change the world, or maybe the future isn’t yet so clear.