A woman experienced complete amnesia after drinking wine at the home of a man she had previously dated. Through forensic regression hypnosis, she was able to recover memories of the 8 hour period where she had been drugged, including being sexually assaulted by the man. The regression provided relief from the distress of not remembering what had occurred. It demonstrated that forensic regression can be effective in cases of substance-induced amnesia by allowing buried memories to surface safely and without influencing the subject.

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GENVIÈV MARTIN BERNARD, DESS, BCH
Forensic & Clinical Research Center
Criminal Forensic Discovery
Criminal Case Files
Drug-Facilitated Sexual Assault
Forensic Regression Effective in Substance-Induced Amnesia
In a groundbreaking development this end of year, forensic regression was proved effective in enabling
memory revivification following substance-induced amnesia.
Amnesia: a common effect of date rape drugs
In November 2016, the subject, a 5’5”, 100 lbs. woman in her 40s, was invited for dinner to the home of a man
she had recently resumed seeing. She had met the unemployed 50 year-old the previous summer. Her initial
lack of interest was met by his whirlwind attempts to win her over. It ended abruptly in August, when she
accepted to meet him at his residence and found herself brutally pinned, face down, both wrists trapped in
one of his hands, while he assaulted her with his other hand, deaf and oblivious to her repeated pleads he was
hurting her. She interrupted all contacts with him. Months later, the 50 year-old resumed his romantic
attempts to win her over, stressing what had happened over the summer was a misunderstanding, and
ensuring he never meant to harm her. For weeks, he worked relentlessly at regaining her trust, until she
eventually accepted to visit him again.
When she arrived at his residence, a fire was burning in the living room. He invited her to sit in front of the
hearth and retreated to the kitchen. Returning with a small cup of warm sake, he indicated it would warm her
up, since it was stormy and cold that day. When she brought the cup to her lips, the vapors emanating from it
and the taste seemed strong and unpleasant. She dipped her lips in the warm liquid and put the cup down
without consuming it. He withdrew to the kitchen once again and returned this time with a glass of sparkling
Italian red wine. She began sipping the beverage as he stood watching her.
Within 15 minutes, she had lost all muscle function and motor coordination, along with the ability to think
coherently. She later described feeling as if she had somehow left her body and suddenly found herself in
some sort of dissociated, dream-like state. Confused and drowsy, she looked up at him and asked: “What did
you put in my glass? I can’t feel my body!” Towering over her from his 6’5" height, he snapped back: “Nothing.
Just Lambrusco.” She attempted to stand but found herself stumbling, disoriented and dizzy. This was shortly
after 4 pm.
She then experienced complete amnesia of the following 8 hours. Her memories resume after midnight, when
she found herself naked, alone on her knees on the bathroom floor, vomiting over his toilet. Freezing cold,
shaken, dizzy and violently nauseous, she continued vomiting for hours as her body desperately attempted to
expel the ingested substances.

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Around 2 am, when she was finally able to stand, she washed herself in the bathroom and made her way to
the bedroom, where she found him cuddling his dog, his back turned to her. Cold and shaken, not
understanding what had happened, she curled into bed against him, in an attempt to find warmth. When she
placed her cheek against his chest, he head-butted her with his shoulder in a violent motion that propelled
her away from him, and turned his back to her again. Standing up without a sound, she searched for her
clothes, which she found on the ground, kicked in a discarded lump in a corner of the room. She dressed
silently and fled the scene.
When she awoke the next day, she discovered her body was covered with bruises. Large, red, black and blue
contusions marked her breasts, the inside of both forearms, her gluteus and legs. Without any recollections of
the eight-hour period of time that extended between sipping the glass of red wine downstairs by the fireplace,
and finding herself naked on her knees in the upstairs bathroom, she struggled to make sense of what had
happened.
Forensic Regression
The medical, police and forensic teams that responded to
her in the following days, examining her, taking photos of
the bruising and documenting the facts, were adamant.
The partial consumption of a glass of red wine is unlikely
to produce symptoms of this severity within 15 minutes
of sipping it. Even in cases of alcohol intoxication, the
reasonable question that follows is who would disrobe
and have sex for the first time with a partner whose
judgment is impaired and who might even be
unconscious. The combination of the complete amnesia of
an eight-hour block of time and total anesthesia from all
physical sensations she experienced indicates a likely
benzodiazepines poisoning, a medical emergency that
could have proved lethal for the 100 lbs. woman without
previous exposure to synthetic drugs or sedatives.
Amnesia is a common side effect of date rape drugs. Benzodiazepines, whether they are legal like Xanax,
Klonopin or Valium, along with a long list of anti-anxiety, muscle relaxants and antipsychotic prescription
medications prescribed to manage psychosis, bipolar or borderline symptoms, emotional or mental
disorders, anesthetics used in veterinary practices like Ketamine, or underground drugs like GHB or
Rohypnol, no longer legal in the United States, can all cause drowsiness, confusion, loss of motor
coordination, dizziness, numbness, nausea, seizures, vomiting, unconsciousness and death. Rohypnol, GHB
and Ketamine are not the only drugs used to spike the drinks of unsuspected victims. Legal benzodiazepines
like Xanax and Klonopin have also been used to facilitate crimes.
During the forensic regression, the woman was brought back to her last conscious memory: in front of the
fireplace, beginning to sip the glass of wine. To prevent the possibility of tainting, leading or influencing her
recollection, she was left to process the unfolding of the events on her own, without any input or interference
from the forensic team.
From the safety of the deep, physical, mental and emotional relaxation we induce during a regression,
surrounded by the protective presence of the team, the memories contained within the depths of her mind
began to unfold gently, easily and effortlessly.

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IMR
Ideomotor responses were established for her to indicate when the revivification had begun, confirm it was
still unfolding, and signal when she had reached the reconnection to her conscious recollection of being on
her knees on the bathroom floor. Among the recovered memories were:
His voice, as he was towering over her in front of the fireplace,
asking her: “Would you like to go upstairs?” Her clear response:
“I wouldn't be able to stand… What did you put in my glass? I
can’t feel my body!” These words alone were alarming to her, as
she had never before had to ask this question.
Flashbacks, images and sounds continued unfolding in her mind:
Staring at his open closet, from the bed upstairs where she
found herself laying on her back, noticing the rigid and clinical
color coordinated alignment of clothing, exclusively in shades of
black and gray.
Finding herself naked, pinned down under his naked body, while she repeated: “I’m scared … I’m scared…”
His voice responding: “Don’t worry… I’m not going to take you until you relax some more…” Her own voice
stating: “I’m not on the pill…” His response: “I have condoms. The last thing I want is an unplanned
pregnancy…”
Physical Anesthesia
What was never recovered was any awareness whatsoever of physical sensations during the 8-hour
timeframe, indicating the ingested substances had in fact produced a complete state of physical anesthesia.
Among other missing blocks of memory was the absence of recollection as to how her clothing was removed
from her body. This was disturbing to her considering she was wearing multiple layers: a snug winter dress
with a full-length zipper in the back that came all the way up to the nape of her neck, stockings, thick knee-
high winter socks and boots.
These missing parts indicate the very real probability she slipped in and out of consciousness. This is also
hinted by the fact she remembers nothing further until she was shaken by his loud screaming in her ear as he
came. The loud, painful shouts against one of her ears, jolted her back to consciousness for a moment. She
became aware only then, in her dream-like state, that he was inside of her. An observation she deducted from
the positioning of his body trapping and engulfing hers and his screaming. Yet, again, there were still no
physical sensations of any kind. Her body remained entirely numb through the complete block of time.
The degree of confusion and distress prompted by amnesia is difficult to understand without having
experienced it. The mind spins in endless loops in an attempt to recover the missing memories. It is
challenging for the mind to comprehend how a large block of life can somehow disappear from conscious
awareness. The depth of relief provided by memory revivification is immensely therapeutic and beneficial in
recovering from the debilitating hold left behind by traumatic events.
This was groundbreaking research for our team. It is often assumed forensic regression is not likely to
facilitate results in cases of substance-induced amnesia. Yet, we consistently obtain results clinically
regressing patients to experiences they had in surgery, while under general anesthesia. Memories sometimes
confirmed by those present at the time. If part of the mind remains aware while in a controlled state of
unconsciousness like general anesthesia, we should expect memory revivification to be possible in other
types of drug-induced amnesia.

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Statistics
Close to 75 percent of rapists and sexual offenders are friends, family members or partners of the victim.
Most acts are premeditated and occur behind closed doors as an attempt from the perpetrator at gaining
control. Perpetrators are trained manipulators, who convince themselves and others that they are never at
fault for their actions.
Drug Facilitated Sexual Assault (DFSA) is a criminal act punishable by up to 20 years of imprisonment and
fines for intent to commit a crime of violence by distributing controlled substances to another individual
without their knowledge (Drug-Induced Rape Prevention and Punishment Act of 1996).
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
GENVIÈV MARTIN-BERNARD, President of the Oregon
Hypnotherapy Association, is Board Certified and a Certified Instructor
with the National Guild of Hypnotists, a Valedictorian from the Ivy
League University of the Sorbonne in Paris, and an Emergency Medicine
First Responder with the Wilderness Medicine Institute. She has decades
of experience researching, practicing, and teaching the concepts and
applications of working with brain plasticity and forensic hypnosis in the
U.S. and overseas. With specialized training in forensic discovery, and
years of expertise in the legal field, she acted as a communication liaison
in complex and critical situations, including duties for the Department of
Homeland Security and the US Court System.
The niece of Bernard de Gaulle, nephew of General Charles de Gaulle,
President of France, and Leader of the Resistance Forces during WWII, she comes from a long family tradition
of national and international defense. The support, morale and wellness of troops, law enforcement and
government officials are at the core of her personal and professional values.
According to Senior Special Agent John Kilnapp of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, forensic
hypnosis may be the only way to recover the details of a traumatic event crime victims blocked out of their
mind. Neuroscientists studying electroencephalograms of the alpha and theta brain cycles experienced during
hypnosis, explain the deep, attentive physical, mental and emotional relaxation characteristic of this state
produces a significant increase in endorphin levels, our body's natural opiate system, as well as in dopamine
and norepinephrine levels, enhancing our focus and attention.
This creates an ideal state for synthetic thought and creativity, functions of the right brain hemisphere,
placing us in an optimal condition to learn new information, remember facts and data, memorize new
languages and analyze complex situations. Helping witnesses and victims enhance their clarity of mind,
enables us to revisit their recall, thereby providing law enforcement officials with vital information and leads.
When conducted properly, forensic hypnosis can be an important element in the preparation and outcome of
a trial.