Archives: Book Reviews

Loving Mozart by Mary Montano

Reviewed by Chrisanthe E. Nicholaou, M.B.A., C.M.T., C.C.Ht., Reiki Master
In JRT Issue 13, 1995

 

Loving 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 … Read the rest

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

Reviewed by Rabia L. Clark, Ph.D.
In JRT Issue 13, 1995

Henry 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 … Read the rest

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

Reviewed by Hazel M. Denning, Ph.D.
In JRT Issue 13, 1995

 

Dr. 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 … Read the rest

Remote Depossession by Irene Hickman, D.O.

Reviewed by Russell Davis, Ph.D.
In JRT Issue 13, 1995

 

Although 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 … Read the rest

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

Reviewed by Chet B. Snow, Ph.D
In JRT Issue 13, 1995

 

Dr. 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 … Read the rest

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

Reviewed by Russell C. Davis, Ph.D.
In JRT Issue 12, Fall 1994

 

It 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 … Read the rest

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

Reviewed by Daniel Kealey, Ph.D.
In JRT Issue 12, Fall 1994

 

Dr. 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 … Read the rest

Reincarnation Therapy by Ingrid Vallieres

Reviewed by Anastra L. Madden, Psy.D.
In JRT Issue 12, Fall 1994

 

Originally 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 … Read the rest

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

Reviewed by Thelma B. Freedman, M.A.
In JRT Issue 11, 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 … Read the rest

Past Lives, Future Lives by Bruce Goldberg, D.D.S., M.S.

Reviewed by Russell C. Davis, Ph.D.
In JRT Issue 11, Fall 1993

 

This book has been in print and available to the general reader for over a decade. In an era of “today’s best seller and tomorrow’s marked down budget book” this, of itself, is no small accomplishment. In the opening lines in the introduction the author states:

The purpose of Past Lives, Future Lives is to present the idea of reincarnation and karma to the reader in an attempt to explain why we are here and how we can all better ourselves.

However, when reading this book, one quickly gains the understanding that Goldberg is asking—no, actually telling—readers to extend and expand their concepts of reincarnation, other … Read the rest