Archives: JRT Articles

Agoraphobia: Trauma of a Lost Soul? – Dr. Marianne de Jong (Is.10)

by Marianne de Jong

APRT is, indeed, fortunate to count among its members a growing number of colleagues in other countries who bring new understanding and perspectives to our work. We welcome their contributions. Dr. de Jong presents the reader with an exciting theory based on her work with agoraphobia.

As a psychotherapist with many phobic clients, I have found regression therapy to be an effective method for overcoming a specific fear. Agoraphobia, however, puts special demands on the therapist.

Staats (1975) defines a phobia as a defective stimulus or response control. For example, if the stimulus is a quiet street and the response is panic, fear, avoidance, and running away, clearly the response is not one that is normally … Read the rest

“Pro-Love” and the Ensoulement Dilemma – Amy Shapiro (Is.10)

by Amy Shapiro, M.Ed.

Abortion is the focus of discussion, debate, and argumentations today perhaps as never before. It is an explosive emotional issue mired in a confusion of politics, theology, ethics, and traditions which, given contemporary attitudes and polemic polarizations, provokes more heat than light. For PLT practitioners, there are several special issues which Amy Shapiro raises for us to consider as she presents some new insights into this old and difficult dilemma.

As Past-Life Therapists, we can play a unique role in the healing process concerning pre- and post-abortion dilemmas. Using our navigational skills within the inner realms of spiritual frontiers, we can guide women to see that the Spirit of the unborn soul to whom they … Read the rest

Restructuring A Past-Life Body – George Schwimmer (Is.10)

by George Schwimmer, Ph.D.

Dr. Schwimmer proposes that the impacts and the memories of both physical and mental traumas – from either past or present lives – become lodged in individuals’ chakras. These energies and images, along with their concomitant feelings, are symbols (often expressed as symptoms in the present life) for an underlying issue/lesson that an individual’s Higher Self is using to prod the Lower Self to work upon. However, the traumas are very real in an individual’s being, and therefore the negative images must be replaced by positive ones and the underlying disorder in the human chakras must be healed, in order to provide the individual with the psychic energy necessary to learn the needed lesson and Read the rest

Understanding the Request for Past-Life Regression: A Case Example – David Hammerman (Is.10)

by David Hammerman, Ed.D.

Practitioners of PLT, like all therapists, must be constantly mindful that clients who seek our services may not be aware of what they actually need. In other cases, they may know but are unwilling to acknowledge or express this openly. In the case of a request for a past-life regression, one needs to be aware that it may be a cover against exploring painful present life issues and concerns. Dr. Hammerman has conducted research in this area with his clientele and presents a case study which addresses this issue, illustrating the multifaceted nature of a request for a past-life regression. It also focuses on how hypnosis, as a clinical tool, facilitates the process.

Discussions of … Read the rest

Research in a Strange New Field: The Potluck Principle – Thelma B. Freedman (Is.10)

by Thelma B. Freedman, M.A.

Shortly before closing this issue of the Journal, I asked Thelma to share with our readership her thoughts and wisdom on this vital topic. The need to encourage research looms so importantly in my own thinking, that it also became the topic of the Editor’s Page. (Did you take the time to read it?) In a manner so typical of her, Thelma drew from her knowledge and experience, and penned the following. I am not sure whether it is most appropriately called an article, an encouraging lesson, a set of instructions, or an admonishment. Perhaps all four. First and foremost, it presents the reader with thoughtfully prepared and practical advice. Her style is Read the rest

Critical Skills for Past-Life Therapy – Paul A. Hansen (Is.10)

by Paul A. Hansen, Ph.D.

This article addresses two of the most significant problems observed in training therapists to do Past-Life Therapy. While these appear to be unique to Past-Life Therapy, they are really two skills very basic to all modes of therapy. The problems are:

 a) “Leading” clients and not staying with them.

 b) Taking the clients out of their experience.

 Dr. Hansen’s article addresses several basic issues. For the less experienced PL therapist, the information is vital, and for those with years of practice, a healthy review and reminder.

 

Staying with the Client

One of the commonly made assumptions by the beginning therapist, and sometimes experienced ones, is that it is the therapist’s job to fix … Read the rest

The Weighing of the Heart and Other Hells: Guilt and Fear as Inhibitors in the Process of Transition – Winafred B. Lucas (Is.6)

by Winafred B. Lucas, Ph.D.

In a recent stay in Egypt I deepened my understanding of the nature of entity attachments. Our group of 23, under the leadership of Dr. Brugh Joy, was spending a week riding camels across the Sinai and climbing mountains there. During a particularly steep climb, in which a fixed rope was used to assist the ascent, the rope broke and the person on it, Mark, fell some distance, scraping rocks on the way down and landing on his left ankle in a shallow pool. Several of the men carried him back to where the camels had been left, where the group, many of whom were healers, succeeded in reducing the inflammation. However, the possibility … Read the rest

Overcoming Resistance to a Past-Life Scene – Garrett Oppenheim (Is.6)

by Garrett Oppenheim, Ph.D.

One of my most challenging cases of resistance was that of a young man of executive fiber who appeared to be well motivated, and whose regressions were both vivid and interesting. However, these regressions seemed to have nothing to do with his presenting problem, which was a profound fear of speaking in front of an audience. We worked under pressure because he had allowed only a few weeks to deal with this problem before giving an important talk which, if successful, would clinch a promotion to a higher executive position in his company.

My patient, Monty, had regressed to lifetimes as a prostitute in Algeria, a farmer in southern England, and a caveman in some … Read the rest

The Navajo Mountain Way Myth as a Metaphor for Past-Life Experience – Kathleen Jenks (Is.6)

by Kathleen Jenks, M.A.

The Mountain Chant is a Navajo ceremony collected and translated in 1883-1884 by Washington Matthews, an army doctor stationed at Fort Wingate, New Mexico. The origin of the myth itself is unclear, but the resulting ceremony, based upon the requirement for specific items of ceremonial paraphernalia, can be dated at least as far back as the 1700’s. The ceremony can be celebrated only in the winter when rattlesnakes and bears are hibernating; it is sung to treat mental disturbances or uneasiness, which are considered “bear sickness,” and also fainting spells, as well as kidney and stomach problems attributed to a variety of mountain animals such as bears, snakes, weasels, and porcupines.

The myth begins in … Read the rest

The Origin of the Victim Role in Past-Life Guilt – Dree K. Miller (Is.6)

by Dree K. Miller, Ph.D.

It is commonplace for therapists to hear the variety of ways in which their clients are victims. Some clients are victims of child abuse or dysfunctional family backgrounds. Some are victims of abusive relationships with mates, friends, employers, family. Others are the victims of circumstances, never being able to succeed in school, find and hold a job, or have even an adequate living environment. Occasionally there seem to be those who are just “victims of life.” Or could it be that they are the victims of past life? Within the context of past-life therapy the concept of victimization shifts from an external experience to an internal design. Being a victim is no longer a … Read the rest