Regression Therapy is an approach to treatment that focuses on resolving significant traumatic past events believed to be interfering with a person’s present mental state and emotional wellness.
It is believed that people seeking this type of therapy for phobias, depression, intimacy issues, and a range of other concerns can see improvements in their state of mind by revisiting and reliving the early experiences that influenced the development of these issues.
It is believed that a traumatic event can often have a continued impact on a person’s ability to express emotions and interact with other people, though that person may not ever really understand the reasons why. Regression therapy can, therefore help the person – with the help and guidance of a fully qualified and competent therapist – to revisit the ‘trauma’ in order to understand the impact that trauma may be having on their behaviours and their choices in life.
Regression therapy is developed out of the theories and techniques of Hypnotherapy and Psychoanalysis with their emphasis on rediscovering details of past events in order to solve current issues, problems and difficult emotions.
There are three levels of consciousness recognised in Regression Therapy;
- The conscious mind, which represents the thoughts a person is aware of having
- The subconscious mind, which represents emotions, habits, and instincts a person is unaware of having
- The super-conscious mind or the spirit, soul, or higher element of a person.
How Does Regression Therapy Work?
Regression therapy focuses on areas of conflict and other potentially negative aspects in a person’s life with the goal of isolating the causes of negative emotions and understanding their cause in order to get better mental health and emotional wellbeing
Hypnotic regression therapy often occurs in five phases:
- Preparation
- Conducting regression techniques
- Expression and release of emotions previously repressedRelearning/Reprogramming of the subconscious
- Session conclusion.
To prepare for the session, the Therapist helps the person enter into a relaxed state of mind with the use of deep breathing, and general deep relaxation. Once this state has been achieved, the client then starts to revisit a past significant experience, outlining as much detail as possible about their surroundings and any sensory feelings, any emotions that arise as the event is re-visited and re-experienced.
It is believed that through this process, a person can access their subconscious mind and isolate the emotions associated with the past event.
Once these emotions are isolated and brought to the conscious mind, the Therapist and client work together to develop alternative ways of describing the past event that better promote a sense of resilience.
Regression therapy can work on accessing past-life regression, which considers the possibility of past life memories – although this is controversial – nevertheless, it is primarily used to look at significant memories from the earlier stages of a person’s life.
