Past life Regression Therapy

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By Laura Giles

Sigmund Freud revolutionized health care when he began his �talk therapy.� He is the acknowledged originator of looking into the past for causes of current pain and adjustment. But what about looking beyond this life? Do past lives affect the current? Past life regression therapists believe that they do.

My first journey into the past began out of curiosity ten years ago. I went to a hypnotist with the intention of finding something in my past that was most relevant to my current life. I went in with an open mind and no real expectation of what I might find.

The session was dramatic and life changing. I don�t know if what I saw was a past life or not, but the stories that unfolded resonated with my soul. I was at a point in my life where I was exploring my religious beliefs. The lives I experienced gave me insight that answered many questions, provided much reassurance, and scared me to death. Although I�ve had many regression sessions since then, all of which acquainted me with aspects of myself and enriched my understanding of life, I�ve never experienced one that was so dramatic, traumatic, and life changing.

But philosophical answers are not the only thing that emerges from past life regressions. In The Journey Within by Henry Bolduc, he tells the story of Geraldine, a woman who came to him for relief of headaches and recurring nightmares. The nightmares even occurred in her waking state causing black outs, sometimes while driving.

In hypnosis Geraldine recalled a story of a woman who lived on a Louisiana plantation in the 1800s. Her husband shot himself in the head because he was ill and couldn�t stand the pain. She did not remember the incidents after hypnosis, but was given the name and location of the plantation where they lived. Once she visited the place, the experience was enough to provide release and the headaches and nightmares stopped.

It�s not unusual for physical manifestations of pain to carry over into subsequent lives. It�s not unusual for the healing of those pains to be released through past life regression.

Another use for past life regression is the uncovering of life patterns. These can be positive or negative patterns. Positive patterns may emerge as being with the same person (soul mate) or group of people. The work of Tara and Dick Sutphen are full of examples of people meeting life after life to share their love.

Negative patterns may emerge when actions from the past are repeated. In Regression Therapy: A Handbook for Professionals, Dr. Ronald Wong Jue relates a story of a woman who came into therapy because she had never had a loving and supportive relationship. She was regressed to several lifetimes where she saw this pattern, but she was also given the tools to see why and how it was all a part of her goals for the current life. The experience transformed her perspective from a feeling of missing something she didn�t have to seeing the beauty and opportunity in what she did have.

It would be difficult to write about all the ways in which past life regression is helpful for the soul. Each experience is different. Each client is different. What seems to emerge is what is most beneficial for the person at that time. Going into it with an expectation of seeing yourself as Cleopatra is usually disappointing. Almost all of us are lowly peasants with difficult and pain filled lives, so this isn�t a tool for entertainment. It�s a tool for growth and understanding.

I heartily recommend past life regression for the curious, those with problems relating to other people or with work issues, and those physical problems. However, anyone considering past life regression should be aware of the following limitations: Not all problems have a past life cause. Not all people are appropriate candidates for past life regression. Not all practitioners are appropriate for the type of problem that you have.

For therapeutic purposes, the search for the root of any problem should begin in the present. When we don�t have clarity in the present life, it is often tempting to go searching in exotic places, but it�s not always necessary. The truth may lie just in front of you.

People with poor ego strength may not have the capacity to make the changes. For them this is simply an expensive entertainment exercise. People who come into a session filled with preconceived notions of their past life identities, stories, or religious ideas are not great candidates for healing work. They need to first empty their cup in order to receive new information. People who need to control the session or who have a �I told you this wouldn�t work� attitude are not good candidates. This process involves a great deal of trust and imagination.

While past life regression work is therapeutic, not all practitioners are therapists. So, it is important to distinguish your reasons for having this done. If it is for entertainment, any practitioner will do. If you want therapy, you should see someone who is trained in this particular field and has the ability to do therapy without the use of past life regression. Since there is no licensing or certification required to do past life work, interview your practitioner thoroughly before contracting for services.

Laura Giles is Counselor and expert on extra-marital families, relationships, and murder by a parent (filicide). Author of "The Other Child: Children of Affairs" and "Growing Up Crazy".