Registration Cards

For your legal protection and ours, pledge (registration) cards need to be filled out completely, signed, and witnessed.

The three questions on the back are very important:

Mental Disorders If a person is being treated for mental disorders, or has been treated recently, then you need to have a note from their doctor that confirms that the doctor is aware that the person is attending the course and that this is okay with the doctor.

This is important for several reason. We don't want to interfere with the treatment that the doctor is providing. Almost always, the doctor wants the patient to attend the course - learning to relax and gain greater control is a good thing.

You can send a doctor a copy of the information from Dr. Clancy McKenzie, which evaluates the course from a psychiatrist's (MD) point of view.

Another reason we want to make sure that the doctor knows that the patient is attending the course is so that if there are dramatic improvement in the patient's condition, the doctor can properly evaluate the reasons for the improvement.

Also, if the patient experiences dramatic changes - in mood for instance - the doctor is the best person to explain to the patient what the changes mean.

There are also legal considerations. Unless you are an MD functioning within your specialty and in conformance with your license, you have no business giving medical advice to anyone, especially someone who is currently being treated for a medical condition. Always remind students to consult their doctor and work under medical supervision, and you do the same - ask the person's doctor about what you can say to them about their condition and their experiences in class.

There is one rather sticky problem with the question about mental disorders:

A person who is being treated might answer No. If the person is aware of what he is doing, then that would be fraud. But if the person is mentally ill, then that answer might not be of any value - their lawyer can always claim that since they are mentally ill, they did not have the capacity to answer the question properly.

So pay attention. If you think there might be a problem, check it out. Don't let your eagerness to have one more student in class override your intuition and good judgment. Ask questions, and find out if there is anything going on that you should know about.

Epilepsy and fainting spells

Whenever anyone checks Yes for epilepsy or fainting spells, then tell them that they will need to bring someone with them to class, someone who can help them in case they have a seizure or a fainting spell.

Remember that our first rule is to avoid stress and help everybody relax, in order to get to the alpha level and do the work that we need to do.

Imagine if somebody sitting in the middle of the room suddenly has an epileptic seizure and falls on the floor and is thrashing around with convulsions and choking - that would be pretty traumatic for everybody - especially the Instructor.

If someone faints, falls out of the chair and lands on the floor with a loud Thud, that too would be very disruptive to the class - as well as unpleasant for the one who faints.

To minimize any distractions to the class, as well as helping the person with the problem, have them bring someone to class with them who knows what to do in the event of a seizure or a fainting spell. Have them sit in the back of the room so that if something happens it will not disturb other people.

Hopefully they will complete the class without any problems. In fact, many people have had their epilepsy disappear after they learned to go to the alpha level.

Maree Proctor is an excellent example. She was having as many as 20 gran mal seizures a day when she took the course in the early 1970s. So much of her brain had been damaged by the electrical discharges that she had no memory of many events in her life. Maree and her husband Roy became Silva Instructors, taught for many years in New Orleans, and won many awards for their outstanding work.

Fill out the cards Make sure that people indicate either Yes or No to those three questions. Do not accept a checkmark (we don't know if a checkmark means Yes or No) and make sure they don't leave them blank.

If they answer Yes to any of the three questions, then talk to them and do whatever is necessary to make sure that they have a good experience in class - and that you (and we) are protected legally.

Have the student sign the card, and have someone witness it. It is best to have somebody other than a relative of their's witness it, and you do not want to witness it yourself - that won't do you any good in court because you have a vested interest. (You are not an impartial witness if you are the one being sued.)

Preserve the cards

Please be sure to preserve the pledge (registration) cards. It is very unlikely we'll ever need them... but... just in case...

In 40 years, with thousands of Instructors presenting Mr. Silva's System, and millions of people learning it, there have been fewer than half a dozen suits filed against us - and we've never lost.

However... you don't want to be the first to be held liable for some supposed injury, so please be sure to do your job, check the cards and make sure they are filled out properly, and send them in as soon as the class is over.

Online registration Our online registration forms include the 3 questions, and require the person to select either Yes or No. This information is stored on the web site along with the form, and we can download it. This should cover us - but if you want to be sure, then have them fill out and sign a pledge card.

Another advantage of having them sign the pledge card is that it limits the time they have to ask for a refund.

Even though they agree that they are not entitled to a refund after they accept their Certificate of Completion, your license to teach the course (contract) requires you to give a refund to anyone who requests it "during or shortly after the completion" of the course. They must return their Certificate of Complete and their Student Resource Guide in order to get their refund.

Please use common sense, and treat other the way you want to be treated. Don't be like the Instructor who wound up having a complaint filed against her with the local Better Business Bureau when someone asked for a refund a few weeks after the class had ended.

Just give them the refund, and instead of filing a complaint about you, they will tell people that you are an honest person and that you keep your word. That's much better for business.