Helen Schucman - Career

Career

Helen Schucman was a clinical and research psychologist, who held the tenured position of Associate Professor of Medical Psychology at the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons at the Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center in New York City. During her tenure at Columbia University, Helen worked with William Thetford, whom she first met in early 1958.

A Course in Miracles (ACIM) was "scribed" by Helen between 1965 and 1972 through a process of inner dictation. She experienced the process as one of a distinct and clear dictation from an inner voice, which earlier had identified itself to her as Jesus. Her scribing of A Course in Miracles began with these words: "This is a course in miracles, please take notes."

Wouter Hanegraaff distinguishes Helen's process as a type of channeling that articulates revelation, clarifying that "... in cases of inner dictation in which the medium hears a voice dictating messages, (s)he writes down in a fully conscious state." Hanegraaff continues by specifically characterizing Helen's case as spontaneous channeling, indicating that "...ver the years the voice proved to be remarkably consistent, stopping the dictation when interrupted and continuing at the next opportunity." Hanegraaff also references specific dialogue between Helen and William Thetford citing author Robert E. Skutch, among other authors, including Kenneth Wapnick, whom Hanegraaff indicates as a "good" source for complete discussion on this subject.

During this time, Schucman worked in a collaborative venture with William Thetford in scribing A Course In Miracles (ACIM) and also with its initial edits. The main transcription process took seven years, from 1965 through 1972, during which time she would take down the notes in shorthand, then each day read back these notes to Thetford, who would type them out while she read them. After all the ACIM material had been initially transcribed it was then edited for publication by Schucman and the other two primary editors, Thetford and Kenneth Wapnick.

Schucman also wrote two supplemental ACIM pamphlets by the same process as well as a collection of poetry later published as The Gifts of God. Following the transcription and editing, Schucman began to reduce the level of her direct involvement in the ACIM related effort and was never as heavily involved with teaching or popularizing the material as were its editors, Bill Thetford and Kenneth Wapnick.

In 1980 Schucman was diagnosed with advanced pancreatic cancer. After a prolonged illness, she died of related complications at age 71 in 1981. Her name as the writer of ACIM was revealed only after her death, and later a collection of her poems, The Gifts of God, was published by the Foundation for Inner Peace.