Scientology is a body of beliefs and related practices created by science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard, beginning in 1952 as a successor to his earlier self-help system, Dianetics. Hubbard characterized Scientology as a religion, and in 1953 he incorporated the Church of Scientology in Camden, New Jersey. Scientology teaches that people are immortal beings who have forgotten their true nature. Its method of spiritual rehabilitation is a type of counselling known as auditing, in which practitioners aim to consciously re-experience painful or traumatic events in their past in order to free themselves of their limiting effects. Study materials and auditing sessions are made available to members on a fee-for-service basis, which the church describes as a "fixed donation". Scientology is legally recognized as a tax-exempt religion in the United States, Italy, South Africa, Australia, Sweden, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal, and Spain; the Church of Scientology emphasizes this as proof that it is a bona fide religion.