How Past Life Therapy Works:

(reprinted from dianeross.com)

Most of us have had the experience of meeting someone for the first time, and falling immediately into a comfortable relationship "just like old friends." Or visiting a new part of the world, only to find it feeling very familiar to us somehow. These are often instances of re-encountering people and places we have known in prior lifetimes.

We unconsciously carry forward experiences, attitudes, and relationship dynamics from prior lives into our current lifetimes. Many times this is beneficial, as in cases where we just have a "knack" for numbers, or seem to master a new skill or area of study as if we already knew it. Other times, traumatic experiences (like a violent death or loss of a loved one) are left unresolved, relationships are left unhealed, or attitudes and decisions may be carried forward from a past lifetime that are detrimental to our current life. That is where regression therapy has traditionally been used, in resolving these experiences from the past that are blocking our progress and happiness now. (In more recent times, it is also being applied to carry forward strengths and positive experiences.)

Trauma and issues from the past can be reactivated by events in our current lifetime without our conscious awareness. We might react to people and situations in ways that seem counter-productive, or we have a "gridlock" problem that we can’t seem to resolve no matter what we try. It may be because the problem is actually rooted in dynamics set up in prior personalities/lifetimes.

In past life therapy we regress clients (to regress means to go or move backward) to the time and place where the original activating event occurred. This can be achieved through hypnosis, guided imagery, or other states of deep relaxation where memories that are normally unconscious can be accessed. Similar techniques can be used to access early childhood memories from the current lifetime that may be underlying present-day problems and issues. By bringing these memories into conscious awareness, we can release or diffuse the energy and emotional blockages that keep us stuck. Typically, the therapist guides the client through the significant events of the lifetime, through the death experience, and then a "life review." This is where the purpose of that lifetime, the lessons learned, and decisions made are examined from a higher, spiritual perspective. We particularly look at what is most important about that prior life in terms of the client’s current personality and situation.

Re-experiencing the key events of a past life and reprocessing the impact helps to bring closure to the events of that lifetime. This enables us to move forward more freely in the present. The process is similar to conventional therapy: we trace issues to their origin, reprocess the experience, emotions, and decisions made, and find completion. Past life regression work merely extends the time frame further into the past for the deeper origins of issues. Even if one believes these "memories" are not true past life experiences, they function as symbolic stories and are equally as effective in resolving current issues.

Once considered a "new age" gimmick, regression therapy is becoming accepted in the mainstream as an extremely useful therapeutic tool. It can be a rapid way to bring up material in a single or just a few sessions, that might otherwise take many months of traditional counseling to address. And it can be useful, as well, for those who would not otherwise consider themselves in need of counseling or therapy service -- people who want to expand their experience, draw upon inner wisdom, and connect with loved ones across the ages.