Hypnosis for Past Life Regression: Any Truth to It?

This past weekend I had the privilege of being part of the entertainment line-up at Nourish Now’s annual fundraiser, themed a “Night in Vegas.”   

This charitable group collects fresh food from restaurants in the Washington, DC region and distributes it to facilities that shelter and care for the homeless.

At the event, I met a young woman who has an interest in the use of hypnosis for past life regression.  She claimed to have helped a group of her friends relive experiences from a prior existence.

Although I am aware of this application of hypnosis, I have yet to formally study or train in this area, so it’s not a part of my “Hypnotic Experience” show or teaching of self-hypnosis.  The woman I met over the weekend also lacked any training, so I declined her invitation to walk me through the process.

An Internet search reveals a lot of interest in the topic of past life regression and even a profile segment on the Oprah Show.

I’d like to learn more and welcome any insight, experiences or anecdotes you can share.  Please message me via a comment on this blog or at m.russell.hausman@gmail.com.  

------------------UPDATE-------------------

I am a member of an online community of hypnotists called Hypnothoughts.  I created a discussion about this topic and would like to share interesting comments I received in response.  I've removed the names of the respondents out of respect for their privacy.
 

My faith teaches reincarnation, and I have experienced PLR, spontaneously and in formal hypnotic settings.

That said, I haven't found sufficient evidence to convince me that a past life regression is anything more than a story the unconscious makes up to tell the conscious mind. Now, it might be a very important or useful story that may lead to healing. If treated as gospel truth, it could be a very harmful story that destroys relationships or makes one act like an idiot.

What's sad to me is that half the time I find people who are open to hypnosis, they assume that I'm into PLR . . . There is so much that hypnosis can do that gets left by the wayside.

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I have done this with my daughter, she not only recalled past lives but she actually took on the mannerisms of the people she claimed to be, the only reason is that we were both interested.

I have also had clients that say the issue comes from past life (during time line therapy and regression to cause). I don't know if it is true or not or just the mind being symbolic.

I also regressed a client to past the point of birth without prior warning to the client "this was a natural progression of the therapy we were doing" there was no past lives but there was a place with people.

I have had clients report that the issue comes from past life and report they do not believe in past lives. I have seen a report somewhere that claims that several people who thought they were, lets say Winston Churchill reported to be him. It does not matter to me if it is true or not, what I do know is it can be a useful tool especially if the client believes.