THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF REGRESSION THERAPY

Journal Archives

Home/Book ReviewPage 5

The Boy Who Saw True, Anonymous.

No comment

Reviewed by Rabia L. Clark, Ph.D.

(as included in the The Journal of Regression Therapy Volume Χ, No. 1, Fall 1996)

boyWhat a treat it is to find a book that is so fascinating, enlightening, and educational that it can’t be put down until it is all read! The Boy Who Saw True is such a book. It was first printed in 1953, and is now in its 11th printing. The author preferred to remain anonymous.

It is the story of a boy who started his diary of psychic experiences as soon as he could write. He lived in the Victorian era in England, when psychic phenomena were discounted. His parents thought him odd, and never encouraged him, but he had a tutor who was open-minded. The boy was visited by various members of his family who had died, and was given messages to communicate to the family.

Eventually he was able to get many spirits to tell him what Heaven is like, how it feels to not have a body, about souls who hang around and are confused about dying. He had what could be called angelic visitors, who explained things to him, and guided him. He also had spontaneous past-life memories.

Loving Mozart by Mary Montano

No comment

Reviewed by Chrisanthe E. Nicholaou, M.B.A., C.M.T., C.C.Ht., Reiki Master.

(as included in the The Journal of Regression Therapy Volume IΧ, No. 1, Fall 1995)

MozartLoving Mozart is not just another biography of the musical genius, composer of over 600 of the world’s greatest works. It is the author’s very personal past-life experience as Austrian composer Franz Xavier Sussmayr, the friend of Mozart. Much of what we think we know as history is challenged by Montano’s sensitive narrative of her past-life memories.

The story spans four centuries and four lives. There is an intricate interweaving of the 18th century relationship of Mozart and Sussmayr with the 20th century relationship of American pianist William Kappel and the author. Montano tells the story well, in narrative sequences that move us deftly from century to century. She balances the stories, giving each of the principles a chance to be presented and explored, beginning with a glimpse into their early childhoods and a shared experience with light. The childhood memories are brief and serve to show the bonds that music has on this one soul who was once Mozart, in two of its incarnations.

The book centers on Mozart’s last years, beginning with the meeting in Vienna of a mature Mozart, then 32, and Sussmayr, a young and impressionable 22. Sussmayr approached Mozart in hopes of being accepted as a student, but he soon became the friend, supporter, and final companion to the troubled and frustrated genius, giving up his own work to become Mozart’s copyist. It was a surrender to his inner awareness that his life was bound with Mozart’s; he must be with him, share with him, help him. But Mozart had already begun his descent into ill-health and poverty.

Life Patterns, Soul Lessons, and Forgiveness by Henry Leo Bolduc

No comment

Reviewed by Rabia L. Clark, Ph.D.

 (as included in the The Journal of Regression Therapy Volume IΧ, No. 1, Fall 1995)

henry2Henry Leo Bolduc has been researching hypnosis and regression therapy for over thirty years. He has been a frequent speaker at APRT conferences, and travels extensively as a motivational speaker. His earlier books are Self-Hypnosis: Creating Your Own Destiny and The Journey Within. His new book covers an area which is not covered as thoroughly in any other book as far as I know. It deals with life patterns, learning their lessons, and through this insight and forgiveness, going on to a happier future.

There is an interesting chapter on how to make self-hypnosis tapes to help focus on ideals, objectives, the inner child, and remembering past lives; it includes scripts the reader can tape. There is a chapter on soul lessons, including an introduction to Edgar Cayce and his important work in this area. Edgar and Gertrude Cayce’s strong influence on Bolduc is described.

Three case studies are used to illustrate the connections between past and present lives. The third, Enrique, is unusual because he kept a diary of thirty years’ remembrances from sessions. His diaries are briefly outlined to show the lessons learned in each life, and how they have reappeared in other lives, including the present one. What was gained by living each life, and what might have been lost when the life was a tragic one, are also examined. The idea that past lives influence the present life permeates the whole book, and seems to be a basic premise. This, of course, presupposes that the past lives that appear in regressions are true, which many past-life therapists believe, but which has not and may never be proven.

The Spiritual Dance of Life: Where Two Worlds Meet by Teri Daunter

No comment

Reviewed by Hazel M. Denning, Ph.D.

(as included in the The Journal of Regression Therapy Volume IΧ, No. 1, Fall 1995)

TeriDr. Daunter’s sub-title, “Where Two World Meet,” says it all in one succinct phrase. This book is an exploration, done with unusual clarity, of the spiritual nature of human beings and how this spirituality manifests in a physical world.

The central statement of the book is well expressed in the Foreword: “…The cause of any mental and physical malfunction is derived from previous lives lived by the individual,” and “…all disease is a reflection of one’s mental attitude, which, as a result, creates the distress that is experienced in one’s present life.”

With a major emphasis on love as the greatest power available to us as human beings, Dr. Daunter addresses the many common everyday issues we all face, including physical and emotional well-being or illness, difficult relationships, and choices of spiritual philosophies.

Throughout the book, Dr. Daunter examines the question “Who am I and why am I here?” in such a definitive way that it is like reading a collection of the wisdom of the great minds throughout centuries of accumulated knowledge. Yet it is presented with a straightforward clarity that any serious reader can follow. It is extensive in scope, examining the intricacies of humankind and our place in the universe.

Remote Depossession by Irene Hickman, D.O.

No comment

Reviewed by Russell Davis, Ph.D.

 (as included in the The Journal of Regression Therapy Volume IΧ, No. 1, Fall 1995)

HickmanAlthough the concept of entity attachment/releasement per se is by no means universally accepted by all past-life therapists, it is becoming a topic of growing interest. Increasingly, when working with clients, past-life therapists are exploring the possibility that a person may be a host to one or more entities that have taken up residence in his or her body. As this concept gathers credibility among therapists, there is a growing desire on the part of therapists to be trained in the techniques appropriate to discovering the existence of entity attachments and releasing them.

This book is Dr. Hickman’s latest publication, and it is sure to stir up controversy, even among those past-life therapists who may already be practicing (or considering practicing) entity releasement. What is so controversial about Dr. Hickman’s proposal as outlined in this book is that releasement, which she terms “dispossession,” may be accomplished without having to work directly with the person in whose body the entity(ies) resides. (This is a concept similar to that of Ireland-Frey (Journal, VIII, 1994) in which Dr. Ireland-Frey describes one case in which she worked with an absent client through a channeller.)

Past-Life Therapy: The State of the Art by Rabia Lynn Clark, Ph.D.

No comment

Reviewed by Chet B. Snow, Ph.D

(as included in the The Journal of Regression Therapy Volume IΧ, No. 1, Fall 1995)

RabbiaDr. Rabia Lynn Clark, a counselor in Texas and a former Board member and Secretary of APRT, has filled a much-needed gap in the growing body of literature on reincarnation and regression therapies. And she has done so with an easy-to-read style and a painstaking attention to detail that should prove highly valuable to researchers and therapists alike. Past-Life Therapy: The State of the Art belongs in the library of anyone concerned with the ongoing evolution of the therapeutic arts and sciences as we end this second Western Millennium.

Originally published as her Ph.D. Dissertation at the Fielding Institute, the book is divided into three parts. The first section deals with the twin questions “What is past-life therapy as it is practiced today?” and “Is past-life therapy a new and unique therapy, or merely a re-working of other, more traditional, psychotherapeutic techniques?” Along with a very thorough review of literature on past-life therapy, she discusses its relationship to other transpersonal fields such as age-regression, hypnosis, and subpersonalities work.

The Search for Grace: A Documented Case of Murder and Reincarnation by Bruce Goldberg

No comment

Reviewed by Russell C. Davis, Ph.D.

(as included in the The Journal of Regression Therapy Volume ViII, No. 1, Fall 1994)

GraceIt may be reasonably assumed that Dr. Goldberg, through his writings, TV appearances, and conference presentations, is no stranger to our readers. In The Search for Grace, he presents a fascinating case study involving a patient whom Goldberg eventually regressed to a total of 46 past lifetimes. In an amazing example of karmic reoccurring connections, it was discovered that she (a female in her present life) had been murdered in 20 of these past lives by the same man with whom she presently found herself involved in yet another abusive relationship.

While cases involving the “connectedness” of two individuals in multiple lifetimes are a phenomenon well-known to past-life therapists, the scope of this patient’s repetitive pattern spanning 46 lifetimes is both unusual and significant. What is even more significant for those for whom validation and “proof” are important is the rather extensive documentation which Goldberg presents to the reader. This is particularly true of the most recent past lifetime of the patient, whom he calls “Ivy,” in which she, as Grace Doze, was murdered in 1927. The historical accuracy of the information presented by Goldberg’s patient during the regression to her life as Grace Doze was well-documented by researching newspapers as well as other public and police records of the time.

Death & Personal Survival: The Evidence for Life After Death by Robert Almeder

No comment

Reviewed by Daniel Kealey, Ph.D.

(as included in the The Journal of Regression Therapy Volume ViII, No. 1, Fall 1994)

AlmederDr. Robert Almeder, a specialist in the philosophy of science and a professor at Georgia State University, has written a sustained and rigorous defense of the belief in the soul’s survival of bodily death based on the empirical evidence. A chapter each is devoted to five kinds of empirical sources: reincarnation, apparitions of the dead, possession, out-of-body experiences, and communication from the dead. His careful analysis of the facts and thorough critiques of skeptical objections bring him to the conclusion that, while an analysis of a few particular cases or even of the whole field of only one of the empirical kinds of evidence mentioned above do leave a sliver of doubt on which the skeptics can hang their unbelief, a comprehensive study of the whole body of evidence provides the believers in survival a much more sound and rational basis for their belief than the skeptics have for theirs.

Reincarnation Therapy by Ingrid Vallieres

No comment

Reviewed by Anastra L. Madden, Psy.D.

(as included in the The Journal of Regression Therapy Volume ViII, No. 1, Fall 1994)

IngridOriginally published in German, Reincarnation Therapy is an important contribution to the mounting literature on past-life therapy. Ingrid Vallieres’ work offers a brilliant and clear immersion in the finer points of therapeutically assisting a client toward liberation from traumatic dilemmas encapsulated in present and past lives. According to Vallieres, this liberation is achieved by consciously experiencing and crossing the painful boundaries of events, and of time, of an individual’s thinking, intentions, and actions. A unique feature of Vallieres’s method is that, from the onset of therapy, clients are connected to a biofeedback apparatus that registers both conscious and unconscious areas of traumatic material. The biofeedback readings offer the therapist and client unerring identification of unresolved issues.

Voices From the Womb by Michael Gabriel, M.A. with Marie Gabriel

No comment

Reviewed by Thelma B. Freedman, M.A.

(as included in the The Journal of Regression Therapy Volume VII, No. 1, Fall 1993)

Voices From the Womb presents case studies from Michael Gabriel’s fifteen years of practicing prenatal and perinatal therapy and the conclusions he has drawn from this experience. Since Verny’s pioneering work, The Secret Life of the Unborn Child, was published in 1981, a more or less steady stream of evidence has developed that demonstrates the importance of pre- and perinatal experiences on the infant. The Gabriels’ book extends this evidence and is what I consider the most useful book for therapists on the subject.

The book is well organized. In his Introduction, Gabriel gives us an excellent overview of the field and of his methods of working with pre- and perinatal material. In this section he refers the reader to his three Appendices, which describe in detail his findings about possible prenatal conditions, the infant’s choices of responses to those conditions and Gabriel’s therapeutic processes for releasing the negative responses. Although these Appendices are at the back of the book, as a therapist I turned to them immediately and read them straight through; they are invaluable for a deeper understanding of the cases Gabriel presents.