JRT Topic: Psychotherapy

Past Life Therapy. Contrasting Perspectives with Traditional Psychotherapy – Dianne Seaman Poitier (Is.31)

by Dianne Seaman Poitier

Abstract

A hypothesis—there are often past life roots to present life psychological patterns.

Belief systems influence the filter through which behavior is interpreted. Regression therapy challenges several longstanding paradigms in traditional psychology. Based on a one lifetime only viewpoint, the assumption is made that the roots of behavior either stem from childhood or are a result of biochemical imbalances. The more traditional model also tends to see the unconscious as layered more linearly, with the earliest memories being the deepest and therefore hardest to access. These four past life cases present contrasting interpretations based on such belief systems models.

The ongoing debate on this subject tends to categorize opinion into two opposing camps. Most popular with … Read the rest

Hypnosis and the Alternate Consciousness Paradigm – Adam Crabtree (Is.31)

by Adam Crabtree

Invited Address Delivered at the 101st Convention of the American Psychological Association
Toronto, August 20, 1993

This morning I would like to talk with you about the evolution of a psychotherapeutic paradigm—by that I mean a way of looking at human behavior and the human mind that makes it possible to work therapeutically with people. It is a paradigm that is very familiar to us because it is behind the psychotherapy used by a very large segment of practitioners. According to this paradigm, our minds are divided. In one part, we figure things out and make decisions with awareness and reflection, and we can account for what we think and decide. In another part, we carry on … Read the rest

The Potency of Regression Psychotherapy; illustrated with examples of sexual trauma – Vitor Rodrigues (Is.28)

by Vitor Rodrigues, Ph.D.

Abstract

This article presents a scientific and clinical discussion of how memory is fundamental to our concepts, our experience and the workings of our mind, to explain – for readers concerned with possessing a body and a mind – how and why regression therapy works. After defining regression therapy, this article follows with a general perspective on how it is done, what are its pitfalls, and how to avoid them. It presents a theoretical perspective on how and why it works, and why it can overcome criticism based on studies about how memory can be biased, can be distorted and can be fabricated.

It is a well-established fact that trauma produces powerful behavioral consequences along Read the rest

Remote Regression and Past-Life Therapy For Children up to 9 Years – Herbert Van der Beek (Is.23)

by Herbert Van der Beek

Abstract

It is one thing to work with willing children who come to our offices seeking help. It is another thing entirely when parents and concerned adults wish to help the child but are restricted due to issues of locality, the child’s very young age, the child’s willingness, or even incarceration due to the child’s behavioral problems. This article offers a new approach using the willing adult acting as a surrogate for the child in the therapy process. As always, it is important to verify the parent’s inner experience in the surrogate role by observing the child’s actual behavioral change.

My son had nightmares for many months. After two sessions with a colleague by me … Read the rest

Regression Therapy As An Adjunct To Marriage Counseling: A Case Study – Esther Iseman (Is.22)

by Esther Iseman, Ph.D.

This case study demonstrates the potential benefits of regression therapy in healing troubled relationships. Each of us presumably brings a variety of memories from other lifetimes into current life relationships. These memories, which are beyond awareness and to which we subconsciously react (e.g., those resulting from trauma), can cause a variety of dysfunctional scenarios. Regression therapy can be a valuable tool in retrieving problematic memories so that the role of these memories can be discovered and used to resolve current issues.

Background

“John” (age 39) initially began individual counseling because he had feelings of remorse resulting, in part, from a recent “drunken” one-time extramarital sexual encounter. He revealed that his wife of 17 years, “Melanie,” … Read the rest

Family/Systems Therapy in the Fourth Dimension: A Theoretical Model for Past-Life Therapy – Paul W. Schenk (Is.22)

by Paul W. Schenk, Psy.D.

Abstract

The author presents a layered genogram model for conceptualizing and utilizing hypnotic phenomena of the “past-life” type. An earlier article (Schenk, 1999) discussed a different model which bypasses the question of reincarnation by interpreting the client’s “waking dream” as a purely metaphorical projection from the unconscious. The model presented here incorporates reincarnation concepts by adding a fourth dimension to family/systems models of psychotherapy. The article then applies the model to several case studies to demonstrate some of its clinical applications. Whether the hypnotic imagery is understood as factual or symbolic, a growing body of literature indicates that treatment strategies associated with past-life therapy are often effective in treating Axis I symptoms which have Read the rest

The Fallacies of Freud: Thoughts about effective regression therapy – Jan Erik Sigdell (Is.21)

by Jan Erik Sigdell

Abstract

There has been some criticism of Sigmund Freud’s work. A recently published “black book” shows that many of the cases he declared as cured were not cured at all. In the beginning he worked with hypnotic regression, not to past lives, but to traumatic situations earlier in the current life. The results were disappointing to him, wherefore he developed another approach, that of free association. Even then he failed to cure several of his patients. Why did that happen?

 In the author’s view this may well be because he avoided having the patients relive the emotions in the past trauma. However, reliving the emotions and dissolving them is an essential step to catharsis. This is Read the rest

PLT for Gilles De La Tourette’s Syndrome: A Research Study – Ronald van der Maesen (Is.16)

Ronald van der Maesen, M.A.

Ronald van der Maesen, of the Netherlands, is a newcomer to the Journal’s pages. Here he presents the results of his research on using past-life therapy for people suffering from Tourette’s Syndrome. Since Tourette’s has been thought to be a lifelong condition that usually has no cure, the results of van der Maesen’s study are exciting, both for past-life therapists and for the larger worlds of medicine and other psychotherapies.

Introduction

Gilles de la Tourette Syndrome (GTS) is a condition in which the sufferer experiences sudden involuntary and uncontrollable motor and/or vocal tics. It usually begins in childhood and is considered to be a lifelong affliction. It is one of the most socially disabling … Read the rest

Bridges to the Unconscious Living Images: A Case Study – Zelda G. Knight (Is.16)

Zelda G. Knight, Ph.D.

In 1995, Dr. David Edwards presented an article in the Journal in which he discussed the case of “Marian” and her processes of healing and growth through spiritual emergence (Edwards, 1995a). From the perspective of transpersonal psychology, Dr. Edwards’ colleague, Dr. Zelda Knight, now adds to our knowledge of “Marian,” focusing on two of her past lives that involved traumatic sacred initiation rites and the effect they have had on her insights and growth. On page 99 of this issue of the Journal, Dr. Janet Cunningham discusses similar difficult initiation rites, those of the ancient Egyptians.

Introduction

Transpersonal psychology has developed a particular approach to psychotherapy – transpersonal psychotherapy – which seeks to incorporate and … Read the rest

Reframing: The Magic of Change – Tibor Magyar (Is.16)

Tibor Magyar, Ph.D.

(aka Russell C. Davis, Ph.D.)

Reframing is a simple but potent technique that may be used by a therapist to gain resolution to “unfinished” issues which continue to traumatize a client/patient. Although the term “reframing” came into the vocabulary of therapists through the work of Bandler and Grinder in the late 1970s and early 80s, the author points out that the technique itself actually was being used in some form or other much earlier. One example cited involved the use of reframing by a Veterans Administration therapist who was using this technique when working with Vietnam veterans who were hospitalized for PTSD.

The Magic of Words

Of all the words of tongue or pen,
none Read the rest