Regressions By the Untrained

I wrote this originally as a reply on the Forum to the question I hear occasionally--"Is it ok for an untrained person to do a regression on another person?"  Here are my latest thoughts on that: I know that many people "experiment" with self regression, having no experience other than following the example in books or from CD's. If they are lucky, they have some experience which might be beneficial, or a fragment of a past life comes through that is interesting. And, if they are really lucky, they gain some insight or actually resolve something in their present lives.

I have also heard from people, who are not trained specifically in past life regression techniques, who do regressions with others and  get backed into a corner when they run into trauma in the past life or PRESENT life.  They realize they aren't quite sure what to do.  Or, from the client's point of view, the therapist regressing them stops the regression before it is complete, because of time constraints.  (This is not uncommon!)   That is where training and experience are important.   By not going through the complete experience--by not going through the past life death-- it may  leave someone hanging with images, feelings, and even body sensations that are uncomfortable for them.

My feeling is that past life regression can be very powerful in accessing unconscious material.  If you plan on regressing someone, it is essential that you are prepared to deal with whatever comes up, knowing that it is most often past life trauma, usually around the death.  There are certain aspects of a regression that need to be considered and worked with: understanding trance states, getting to the heart of the past life story, processing the thoughts and feelings around the death, sometimes re-framing the experience while in an altered state, and making the connections between the past life and present life. We do this so the client can "make peace" with the past life, forgive others or self, and release emotional and physical impressions from that life so they can let it go. By missing some of these steps, you may not resolve anything, and could make things worse by opening up the issue and not showing the client a way through.

If you want to explore past lives yourself, great. Read about it. Try it through meditation or with one of the CD's out on the market now. Often the best past life material comes up spontaneously in dreams or waking visions. These spontaneous experiences can actually heal us and give us great insight, and often prompt us to want to explore more.  But, if you are going to regress others, make sure you know the territory first and be ready to take some responsibility for what happens when you start exploring the unconscious.

These are my feelings about the issue. I speak from 30 years of experience.

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