I first read this book in 1996. A friend’s father has recently passed and another friend suggested he read this and then all of a sudden it was making the rounds of our friend groups. It’s not THE thing that inspired me to become a therapist but it’s probably one of them.
The book was written by a psychiatrist who uses hypnotherapy to help clients deal with trauma. It can be a really effective tool and yes, I use it sometimes too. When trying to help a client go back in her mind to find a past forgotten trauma that the psychiatrist hypothesized was causing symptoms he used hypnotherapy and oops, found that they were discussing a past life rather than early childhood as he expected.
Is this a real thing? Is it not? I don’t know and I’m not sure it matters. But what this book does do is open the mind a bit to possibilities. And I’m certainly willing to explore with you. I think the possibility that we might be impacted by past lives can take some of the pressure of feeling at fault for our mental illness out of the equation. It can give us a little grace, to be a little at peace as we do the work that needs doing so that we feel more balanced in our present circumstances.