Advanced Techniques of Past Life Regression Therapy
by David Quigley
Past life regression (henceforth referred to by its commonly-used
acronym PLR) is a highly controversial subject in the field
of therapy. In one camp are its often fanatical detractors,
many
of them licensed psychotherapists, who regard PLR as a method
used by unscrupulous amateurs to rob and deceive the gullible
masses. These therapists are convinced that past lives are
at best, mere fantasy.
On the other hand, the "true believers" of PLR have
written volumes of data about the subject, in an effort to prove
both the existence of past lives and the necessity of "clearing" past
life memories from the subconscious mind. Unfortunately, in the
frequently heated debate about whether past lives are "real",
there is one question that is rarely asked: is PLR as effective
in helping people to solve their everyday problems and improve
their lives as other short-term interventions? This article will
concern itself largely with this critical question, which is
perhaps more important in the long run for PLR to become a proven
therapeutic system than proving the "reality" of
past lives.
Are Past Lives Real?
First, however, I'd like to address the question of whether
or not "past lives" are real. In my years of both academic
research and experiments with PLR, I have found huge volumes
of data that would prove to any legitimate scientist that many "past
life" memories are based on real historic people and events.
I refer the reader to Helen Wambach's seminal research work (Reliving
Past Lives), Marge Rieder's extraordinary and well-researched
Mission to Marlboro, and Ian Stevenson's exhaustively scientific
30 Cases Suggestive of Re-incarnation written by a skeptical
scientist. It seems to me that books like these (all of which
are available from the Association for Past Lives Research and
Therapy at 909-784-1570) are sufficient to prove to any objective
scientific analyst that past life memories have been documented
as accurate for a significant number of test subjects. Those
who continue to deny this may present themselves as scientific.
In reality, they are trapped in an irrational dogma comparable
to the beliefs of those church "scholars" in the 16th
Century who maintained their belief in an earth centered solar
system in the face of Galileo's telescopes. ("My mind is
made up! Don't confuse me with the facts!")Tragically,
these hardened dogmatists are in charge of much of the research
funding
and training of therapists today, just as the Catholic Church
had a stranglehold on science in the 16th Century.
In any event, I have no particular desire to "prove" the
existence of past life recall to the fanatical skeptic, since
I feel the literature on the subject is replete with such proof.
However, I will happily grant that most past life memories
recalled by client's are essentially unprovable, and may indeed
often
be figments of the client's subconscious imagination. (Example:
the client sees himself as Sir Lancelot approaching Camelot
in shining armor and mounted upon a white charger. Historically,
King Arthur's knights, if they existed at all, wore leather
armor,
were incapable of fighting on horseback, and lived in primitive
wooden forts circa 600 AD)
Does it Work?
My point, however, is that when therapists inquire into the "reality" of
PLR, they are asking the wrong question. The important question
in my view is not whether PLR is "real" but whether
it works in solving the client's problems. This question, alas,
is very difficult to answer. Although some authors focus on the
stories of client's who have benefited from PLR, many are still
writing about PLR as a kind of therapeutic circus show ("Wow!
Wasn't that a fascinating story!") rather than researching
the long-term benefits, if any, that the client experienced.
A further complication is that most PLR therapists have received
very little formal training in the field. Most trainings offer
only a few hours of brief and disorganized instruction, without
adequate supervised practice, and with little emphasis on the
specific therapeutic issues that respond best to PLR. Many other
trainings in hypnotherapy and psychotherapy simply dismiss the
whole concept of PLR as "unproved" and therefore beneath
their need to teach or explain. The results? Even the most enthusiastic
of PLR therapists may have a hard time documenting any benefits
achieved by PLR. We may compare the relative success or failure
of modern PLR therapists to the clumsy chopping of "surgeons" in
the 15th century, whose training was completed without any understanding
of surgical cleanliness, or even the most basic fundamentals
of anatomy. Surely, if we judged "surgery" by the
success rate of these practitioners, it would be found to be
mere quackery
by any modern analysis.
In an effort to standardize both training and research in the
field, the Alchemy Institute has designed an extensive 3-day
training (25 hours) in archetypal work and past-life regression
which is totally focused on the benefits of such therapy for
the kinds of issues in which PLR is indicated. Our training
includes specific protocols for 5 different kinds of PLR (most
trainings
only cover one type) in precisely outlined procedures. We also
require 3 hours per day of in-class one-to-one supervised practice.
Result? Hundreds of our graduates are getting powerful results
with PLR therapy. We do not, by the way, require or even encourage
our students to believe in the "reality" of past
lives. More importantly, we do require them to sample PLR therapy
and
see that it works for them and their clients.
Healing Past Life Trauma
The most common variety of PLR is returning to a past life
trauma which was the source of a clients reccurring emotional
or physical
problem, i.e.. a phobic reaction, pain or disease. The procedure
for accessing these memories is simple, and is often quite
effective whether the client believes in past lives or not.
The hard part,
which requires substantial training, is knowing what to do
when the memories emerge.
An example is a client whose life-long fear of water kept her
from swimming. The instructions were simple: "Let's go into
hypnosis now....back to the time when you first became afraid
of the water". While many clients will return to terrifying
experiences from childhood, an equal number will, without any
previous discussion of "past lives", go back to a past
life memory. Frequently, the incident ended in death. We simply
review the circumstances of that death, the meaning that death
had for the client, and what decision was made by the client
after death. To continue my water phobia example: the client
goes back to a recent past life where she drowned in a fast-flowing
river and lost her 2 young children when the boat she was in
capsized. After feeling the terrible pain of this loss (not only
of her own life, but her children's!) we move forward to experience
her death, and the decision she made at the time: "I'll
never go in the water again!" We then have the opportunity
to "solve" the situation in one of 4 ways:
- With the therapists help,
she can convince her past life personality (PLP) that this
decision is no
longer necessary,
and help her
PLP to change it. (How about simply vowing never to travel
on big, dangerous rivers again?)
- We need in some cases to
allow the client to express their grief, anger, and or
remorse to significant
others and allow
the others to respond. ("I'm sorry I took this
boat and drowned you kids! "sob" Can you
forgive me? Yes, they forgive me, I feel such a burden
lifted!")
- In some cases, we can even
rescue the PLP, and allow that person to live out the remainder
of their lives
in safety
and harmony. This allows them to complete and resolve
the feelings
of incompleteness that often result from a sudden
death. ("Now
I'm seeing myself swimming to share with my children.
Now I'm seeing how happy we are in our new home on
the western frontier.
What a happy life...now the kids are leaving home...I'm
dying of old age..how complete this feels!") This
client chose all of these 3 methods, and was able to
swim in deep water
and without fear within a few hours of her session.
- In some cases, we can rescue
the PLP and bring this person forward to the present life.
My favorite
example is a client
who was blocked by a deep but persistent fear of
building a practice as a hypnotherapist. In going back
to where
she discovered
that
it was dangerous to be a healer, she returned to
an extremely painful experience of being burned as
a witch.
First,
we examined her post-death decision - "I'll
never heal anyone again!" Turns
out, she was unwilling to change the decision in
present time. After all, she had once been a beloved
healer in her community,
before it turned against her under the influence
of the inquisition. Only when we told her about
California's free-wheeling culture
and invited her former self to join my client in
a safe new life as a hypnotherapist in California,
did she brighten up,
and step
up to the 20th century bringing with her those
healing abilities from her past. Within 3 months,
she had set up a highly successful
hypnosis clinic.
Here are two
more examples of
working with past life trauma.
Contacting Creative Abilities
Another type of PLR is used to contact and integrate creative
abilities from past lives. My theory is that if we've been
on this planet for several thousand years we must have
developed some interesting creative abilities. These might
include
art, music, dance, writing, healing abilities, business
and organizational
skills, even relationship and parenting skills. An alternative
theory could be that through hypnosis we can access these
abilities from some 'universal mind', or even that we simply
use the
power
of hypnotic suggestion to "create" a creative past
life. In any case, though, regardless of your chosen theory,
the therapeutic outcome is much the same. Clients emerge from
trance with new or enhanced abilities in every area of life
from art to business.
My favorite story is my own. After spending most of my
early life a complete musical idiot, (in the 8th grade
I was sadly
informed by my piano teacher that I was without any talent)
I learned to channel a past life musician, who now plays
spectacular romantic piano music to audiences all over
America. People
who
compare my music to Franz Lizt and Ludwig Von Beethoven
are always amazed when I explain I can scarcely read a
note of
music. I
also channel a beautiful temple dancer who can weave stories
in the air with dance. I've also found a court jester from
France who solved my problem of chronic shyness and seriousness
and
gives my teaching the air of a stand-up comedy performance.
Now if I could only find someone that can balance a checkbook!
Graduates
of my program have used these techniques to increase their
healing abilities, achieve business success, even to improve
their golf
swing. The procedure is a simple one. We go back in hypnosis
to a "past life" in which the client had a creative
ability. Then we examine the past life in detail, discover and
practice the creative ability. Then we bring that personality
with the ability forward to present life...You can discover the
power of this technique for yourself, by purchasing Tape #3 of
the Alchemical Journey tape series "Remembering Past Life
Abilities" The key to benefiting from the process? Don't
be overly concerned with whether the "past life" you
discover is "real" or not. And don't expect instant
miracles. Even if you were Ludwig Von Beethoven in a past life
you might be a shade out of practice after 200 years!
Past Life Karmic Debts
One of my graduates who is a former bank vice-president
describes this technique thus: "I'll help you refinance your karmic
debt at today's low interest rates!" This particular technique
is designed to help clients who find some specific pain and struggle
of their life...their "misfortunes" to be unbearable.
There is a specific pattern of negative events which keeps coming
up in their lives, leading them to ask "God" and /or
every friend that will listen: "Why does this always happen
to me!?" The client's experience of chronic victimization
by these patterns of events may occur in almost any area of
their life, but is especially common around: money, relationships,
career, sex, and health.
The methodology of dealing with these Karmic actions
is extremely complex. It generally requires the participation
of the client's
Higher Self, because these karmic lessons can be long
and
involved. But I have seen enormous benefits for client's
who have been
willing to work at a deep level with these issues.
The process of dealing with karmic acts is long and
complex,
but may
be summarized in these steps:
- Return in trance to the time
the client did something to create this negative pattern
in their life.
- The client examines the karmic
crime they committed.
- The client apologizes to and
seeks forgiveness from the souls of those he has harmed.
- In the event that forgiveness
is not immediately available from all the
persons you hurt,
we obtain an atonement,
a real action one can perform in
the present, that allows the
client
to make up to others for the hurt
they have caused. Example: One client I worked
with
was dealing with
a series of
unfortunate relationship betrayals.
When he discovered he had been
a rapist/mercenary in a past life,
he completed an atonement of working at a rape
counseling center for 6 months. This
changed his relationship "luck" enormously.
Remember that atonement must be a
real action in the world, not just a visualization.
- The client may need to do
a special self-forgiveness process in order
to forgive themselves for
their past actions. Example:
A client of mine, whom I'll call
Bill, was dealing with serious financial
challenges in his clothing
import business.
He
went back in trance to the source
of his financial problems and
discovered a past life as a wealthy
industrialist who relentlessly abused
his employees. He apologized to
his workers, and promised them that in his future
life he would uphold
decent
working conditions
for all the employees of his suppliers.
Enormous
new financial opportunities came
to Bill within a few weeks
of completing
this process.
The question might be asked:
Could the use of direct hypnotic suggestion or a program
of affirmations
have achieved the
same results? My answer: although large scale double-blind
research
into "karmic acts" is unavailable, I
can speak only from my own broad base of experience.
Still, I have seen hundreds
of miracles like this occur within weeks of completing
karmic acts process...even with clients who had
no belief in past
lives or karma. If indeed we believe that a Higher
Power is capable
of answering our prayers, if its true that our
sincere and honest amends can help us to erase
our karmic guilt, then this
process
represents a mile-stone in humanity's quest for
redemption...and an enormous opportunity for the
spiritually-oriented client
of hypnotherapy.
Changing Past Life Contracts
According to traditional teachings about re-incarnation,
most people on this planet have not only been
here for thousands of years, but have spent many lifetimes
hanging
out with
the
same
souls. In my experience as a PLR therapist I've
found
it quite common for clients to discover (often
to their shock
and amazement)
that their present husband was a star-crossed
lover who died in the war, and before that he was a beloved
child,
and before
that a dear brother. My present beloved and I
remember
each other distinctly from Egypt, 300 BC. These
memories are very
valuable
at enabling us to understand some of the intense
and sometimes inappropriate emotional responses
that we
have to the people
we are close to.
I frequently hear comments like these from my
clients and students: "Now
I know why I fell in love so totally and instantly...we were
happily married before." "I now understand why little
Joey is so jealous and angry at his father all the time. He was
my husband in a past life and a jealous one at that." "Now
I know why I've always been so afraid of her anger.
Even though she's never assaulted me or anyone
else, she killed me in a
past life in a fit of rage."
Sometimes there are even more important reasons
to examine the specific details of a relationship
which
has continued
for several
lifetimes. There are times when such a relationship
is so deeply troubled that we need to re-examine
and change
the
feelings,
beliefs, and agreements that underly a relationship
that is largely dysfunctional or obsessive.
Some examples:
"
I can't live with her, but I can't live without her.", "My
son keeps treating me as if I'm his servant. It's driving me
batty.",
" It's been 30 years since our brief affair, but I still can't
forget him."
In such cases, I have found that rapid
results can be achieved by altering
the conditions
of the "contract" that exists
between the individuals involved. While the precise protocol
for this process is complex and beyond the scope of this article,
the procedure can usually be completed within a 2 hour session.
It involves examining in detail the specific past-life in which
the client became "hooked" into the other person's
energy. Then we are shown the history of the relationship. We
then ask the client's higher Power if there is any karmic debt
that needs to be paid. If the answer is no, we can then cut the
mental and emotional cords that tie us to the other person, and "re-negotiate" the
relationship based upon the client's present circumstances
and needs. Testimonials such as those listed below
are quite common:
" After 30 years of obsession, he's finally out
of my heart!"
" Our marriage is totally new. I can finally see her for the beautiful
woman she is now."
In other words, past life contract
work provides far more than just
understanding the source
of troubles within relationship.
It also provides an effective
tool for
changing the energy of these
relationships and the
way our lives
are impacted
by
them.
Obviously, not every relationship
that is dysfunctional has its
roots in a
past life
contract. That's
why it's critical
for the
therapist to ask certain key
questions to determine if PLR
is a suitable
modality for
these issues.
Here are
the questions:
- When you first met this
person, was there an
immediate sense
of familiarity about
this person, as if you'd
known them all
your life? Was the initial
meeting fraught
with a sense of destiny,
fulfillment, or, foreboding?
- Do you experience a unique
sense of obsession
about this person?
Or is this
particular
pattern of relationship,
however
painful,
typical of most of
your relationships? (If the relationship is part
of an ongoing pattern,
then
emotional clearing
of childhood memories
is the therapy of choice,
not past
life contract)
- Have you done several
sessions..or even
years... of deep therapy
without achieving
a significant
shift in
the underlying
dynamics
of the relationship?
If you answered yes to
two out of three of
these questions,
I strongly
recommend
that
you see
a PLR therapist who
has training in past
life contracts. There
is hope
for your
problem now.
Examining & Changing the Pre-Conception Contract
Many clients come to
my office seeking
to find
their destiny;
wanting to
understand why they
are on the
planet at this
time. Others find
themselves burdened with chronic
illness, poverty,
or suffering and
want to understand why.
Many even
wish to change
the "deal" they made with their Higher Power before
they entered this lifetime. Fortunately, the trained Alchemist
can take their clients back to this "pre-conception contract",
in which they decided, with the help of their inner
guides, the plan for their upcoming incarnation.
It is sometimes possible
to alter the terms of this contract.
Example: one client
who has lived a
lifetime of loneliness,
discovers
in
the pre-conception
contract, that
his life purpose was
to be a healer,
and that
family life was
not a
priority.
After expressing
considerable
anger
and regret
to his higher
self about this
decision, he heard his higher
self agree to change
the deal.
Within
a few days,
he meets
and
falls
in love with
a lovely
young woman,
and
soon achieves a
fulfilling marriage.
Caution: this technique
is usually suitable
only for
advanced students
of spiritual
work. Beginning
clients
can rarely
access this pre-conception
program.
Summary
So, in summary,
we see that past
life
regression
is not
a simple
technique. Rather
it is a collection
of
very
sophisticated
therapeutic procedures which
require extensive
training
and
practice. These
techniques, although
never tested
in double-blind scientific
fashion, have
demonstrated their
effectiveness
in hundreds of individual
sessions
that I have supervised
or conducted
in the
last 20 years
of my work as a
PLR therapist.
The training
in PLR offered
by the Alchemy
Institute is the only program
of the many I
have explored
which offers
a thorough
training in
all
of these areas
of PLR therapy.
And
while
the debate of
whether
or not
past lives
are "real" will
probably continue into the next millennium, you
can take advantage of the very
real benefits of PLR therapy by calling our office
now for a certified Alchemical Hypnotherapist near
you. Or you can
order
our audio tape, Journey to A Past Life (Alchemical
Journey #3) and begin to explore the power of these
techniques for
yourself.
If you are a
PLR therapist
who would
like to share
a PLR story
with our
readers in
exchange
for receiving
mention
on our web
site, please
e-mail your story
to our
Institute. All
stories received
by
our Institute
become property
of
our Institute
and may be printed
in
part or whole
at the
discretion
of our
institute
staff.
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