More discussion has cropped up on Past Life Regression prompted by my recent post on the subject. At the Hypnosis Technique Exchange some debate has arisen about whether or not past life regression sessions can be considered clean trance experience as so many seem to be suggested experiences, prompted by the hypnotist’s suggestions than actual bona fide regression experiences.
While I am open to the idea but skeptical of most evidence, my primary response is sombunal . . . SOMe BUt Not ALl . . . “some but not all” . . . some but not all past life regressions are possibly authentic experiences . . . some but not all past life regressions are spontaneous based upon no input from the hypnotist . . . some but not all past life regressions are based upon the expectation of such an experience . . . some but not all past life regressions are pure phantasy and confabulation . . . some but not all past life regressions are useful metaphors through which issues can still be worked . . . some but not all past life regressions are resistance phenomena in which the client creates a false persona in order to avoid work on the actual life experiences . . . some but not all past life regression trainers actually teach how to run a session that is based upon guiding and not leading an experience . . . some but not all past life regression trainers are so looney toon that cartoon characters think they’re off the deep end.
While I believe in reincarnation as part of my personal faith, and while I am a hypnotist and believe it can help us access states of mind that may not be so readily available to us otherwise . . . while . . . I am very skeptical when it comes to treating all or any past life regressions as authentic experiences.
I’ve seen too many people do simple eye closure and have a person “imagine” a past life and then whatever they get is considered absolute proof of life after life. Uh, no, it is absolute proof that someone can close their eyes and imagine something. It is proof of nothing more.
Some past life regressions may in fact be authentic experiences . . . may . . . however, many are indeed imaginative experiences.
I’ve no doubt that some people who do past life regressions do indeed manage their trance sessions appropriately . . . without the leading questions . . . with as clean a content setup as possible “inside, outside; alone, with others; nigh, day; etc.” same as an appropriately run regression of any type. However, I don’t know about you . . . but I’ve seen a LOT of past life regressions or alien abduction regressions or the like on video, often presented as proof of the events . . . however, the big “however” here, in every single one of those instances that I’ve seen of video of a regression as given as proof of the events or phenomena, the hypnotist IS clearly LEADING the experience. Even though they believe they’re using clean language and clean trance management techniques, it is very clear – at least to ME – that they have not done so. I have seen some folks who are well known and have big enough names or training that they should know better make the same mistakes in terms of leading rather than guiding that a novice makes. I would extend this caveat into folks doing SRT, alien abduction, and channelling as well. In the ’80s, many of the psychologists looking for child sexual abuse within every experience made the same mistakes. Unfortunately, some of the folks doing forensic hypnosis are also not running clean sessions (one of the reasons forensic hypnosis evidence is controversial in many places when it should be very straightfoward – too many people are looking for something when they should simply be uncovering).
For those in the gallery who are unfamiliar with the concepts of “leading” versus “guiding” when it comes to trance management, there is a wonderful explanation with a very powerful example in Rapid Cognitive Therapy: The Professional Therapist’s Guide to Rapid Change Work, Volume One by Georges Philips and Terence Watts (pp. 93-94):
- Client: I’m in the shed playing with Daddy’s stick. Daddy likes me playing with his stick.
- Therapist: What else is there about it?
- Client: Um… Daddy says not to tell mummy.
- Therapist:
- Client: I have to hold it in a special way.
- Therapist:
- Client: Daddy gets cross if I don’t hold it a special way… (big frown) He’s showing me how to hold it.
- Therapist: And what happens then?
- Client: I don’t know… he just gets cross, ‘cos I won’t hold it properly (another frown) Something’s not right here, though.
- Therapist: (guiding) Something’s not right here, because…?
- Client: When I hold it right… it’s just too hard…
- Therapist: What is it that’s just too hard?
- Client: (another frown) To hold it. Too heavy for me to hold it properly. (giggles) I told my mum!
- Therapist: And what happened then?
- Client: She told Daddy off… ‘cos girls don’t play cricket.
It’s an excellent example of using guiding to uncover rather than jumping in with leading responses. If you are looking for something, you will probably find it . . . even if it’s not there in the first place. The rest of the chapter has examples worth looking at as well as fairly straightforward and useful discussion on clean trance session management. It is an excellent book and I encourage anyone doing any sort of therapeutic trancework to get it and read it.
If you are going into a trance session with the expectation of finding a past life regression or an attached spirit or an alien abduction . . . these are all implied context suggestions whether the rest of the session is clean or not.
Spontaneous PLR may or may not be genuine as well. Even if the session is clean, the content may not be.
For therapy, treat it as a metaphor and deal. For recreational, I strongly suggest that we not lead the client into the assumption that whatever they recall via trance is genuine. It may very well be . . . certainly, a LOT of people do come up with spontaneous experiences and many of the planned regressions are very persuasive . . . albeit, an experiential trance session where everything feels like an authentic experience, revivification, is not an indicator of truth of the experience only an indicator of imaginative involvement. I’ve done recreational trance sessions where a person FELT AS IF she were a werecat in the forest and she could feel the fur on her body, the tail, the complete experience. I’ve done sessions where a person felt wings and the sensation of flying as if it were completely real. I’ve done sessions where a person could feel the tail of the mermaid she had become, could feel her body undulate as she swam, could feel the texture of the water that she breathed freely and comfortably as she swam to through the ruins of Atlantis. Because they were vividly experienced in trance does not make them real experiences . . . very kool experiences, yes, but certainly not an objectively REAL experience just because it subjectively FEELS real when it happens within the trance experience. Of course, some PLR proponents of mass or group PLR aren’t even getting experiential trance, they’re just getting light trance and imaginative images (the “everyone close your eyes now breathe deeply and let whatever happens come to you now of a past life right now and whatever you imagine just let those images of your past life flow now” school).
Some past life regression experiences MAY be based upon authentic past lives, however, even running a clean session would not mean you have such an experience. You would have to verify that the past life actually occurred (peasants in the middle of the woods six hundred years ago are awfully hard to track down) and then you would need to determine as well as possible that the client had no other exposure to the information surrounding that life which could be construed as having affected the session and the information presented). Of course, even then, you can’t be absolutely certain it is a past life rather than some other metaphysical or quantum physics type event. The whole parallel lives, connected spirits, whatever debate. Until someone builds a machine that can trance soul particles through time and space, all we have is belief and faith. Of course, belief and faith are fine within an appropriate context.
Until we know for certain one way or another, use the experience either as a metaphor and treat it straight up as if it were real within a trance session where a spontaneous regression occurs (keeping track of the data), making certain to safeguard against it being used as a resistance tactic. For a recreational or self-enlightenment session, explore the experience but be sure to understand the caveats and treat it as metaphor or possibility without needing it to be either.
There’s no definate answer when exploring whether or not PLR is authentic. However, one should be very very wary of assuming a positive. While some such experiences are possibly authentic, many are most definately not. Just like our friend Sherlock Holmes, we should first eliminate the obvious and the probable before exploring the more esoteric explanations of phenomena.
In my opinion.
Others are free to . . . and many will . . . disagree.
If you are in Taipei and would like to experience clean session past life regressions, feel free to contact me about arranging an appointment either for an individual session or a group workshop if you are the contact person for an organization or other group that would like to give it a go. Feel free to browse my webpages as well.
All the best,
Brian
Brian David Phillips, PhD, CH phillips@nccu.edu.tw
Certified Hypnotherapist
Associate Professor, NCCU, Taipei, Taiwan
http://www.briandavidphillips.com
https://briandavidphillips.net/
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