Past life regression

[Hal 2001]

I saw a show last night on the Danish semipublic tv station TV2 called "På rejse med sjælen" (travelling with the soul).

I still have a hard time accepting public money funding programs like those. It was completely one sided and without and ounce of skepticism.

First a a psychotherapist named Rud Grandt, helped the subject remember his past life through a form of hypnosis/trance, then a team of researchers verified the information and took the subject too the place in France where he supposedly lived before. And he recognized everything of course.

I'm sure many people in the future will refer to that program and try to convince me of past life regressions.

I'm just waiting for my first heated debate on the subject.

Does anybody know of the psychotherapist in question Rud Grandt, or have any information on cases like his.

I know the ◊◊◊◊◊◊◊◊ about false memories and all that, but in this case it seemed at best like he (RG) planted specific information, or at worst (for public TV) like the whole program whas a fabrication from A to Z.

Mss Hal

 

[Ed]

I saw a show last night on the Danish semipublic tv station TV2 called "På rejse med sjælen" (travelling with the soul).


Does anybody know of the psychotherapist in question Rud Grandt, or have any information on cases like his.

I know the ◊◊◊◊◊◊◊◊ about false memories and all that, but in this case it seemed at best like he (RG) planted specific information, or at worst (for public TV) like the whole program whas a fabrication from A to Z.

Mss Hal

He is evidentially a "regression therapist" which means that he does some sort of least squares deal on his patients.

Seriously, this stuff is a load of crap and easily debunked. The problem is that you will bump into the same "rules" as you find with other frauds (JE et al) that preclude the debunking. That in itself is a sniff test.

BTW, are the Tundra Mammoths (tm) under control yet? Claus and Danish refuse to even admit their existance let alone fess up to the carnage that they cause.

 

[Marc]

False memories just somehow erks me more than a lot of other subjects. Possibly it is the violation of someone tampering with your memories. There is an excellent anime film that touches on that a bit, the implications for the self if all your memories could be nothing but a lie. Might also be that the first skeptic subject I got into in depth was $cientology, which has its basis in false memories and hypnotic regression.

Might want to check out the False Memory Syndrome Foundation for some information.

Regression therapy is used to bring up 'repressed' child abuse, 'repressed' satanic ritual abuse, ufo abductions, and past lives. Strangely the therapist that believes in past lives never uncovers ufo abductions or satanic abuse. The therapist who believes in satanic cults never encouters alien abductions or past lives. And the therapist looking for aliens never finds the satanists. Yet they all find what they are looking for in nearly all of their patients.

oh yea, might also look at my review of the book Many Lives, Many Masters, where Brian Weis claims to have discovered past lives through hypnotic regression.

 

[Suggestologist]

I saw a show last night on the Danish semipublic tv station TV2 called "På rejse med sjælen" (travelling with the soul).

I still have a hard time accepting public money funding programs like those. It was completely one sided and without and ounce of skepticism.

First a a psychotherapist named Rud Grandt, helped the subject remember his past life through a form of hypnosis/trance, then a team of researchers verified the information and took the subject too the place in France where he supposedly lived before. And he recognized everything of course.

I'm sure many people in the future will refer to that program and try to convince me of past life regressions.

I'm just waiting for my first heated debate on the subject.

Does anybody know of the psychotherapist in question Rud Grandt, or have any information on cases like his.

I know the ◊◊◊◊◊◊◊◊ about false memories and all that, but in this case it seemed at best like he (RG) planted specific information, or at worst (for public TV) like the whole program whas a fabrication from A to Z.

Mss Hal

Most hypnotists understand that past life regression most likely comes from the subjects' imaginations. Understanding this, it can be used for (controversially legitimate) therapeutic effects to help people deal with personal problems.

However, it would be interesting (for me) to see how the hypnotist (Mr. Grandt) structured his suggestions. This would show (me) whether he understands how suggestions work and is purposely introducing ideas into the trance; or whether he does not understand what he's doing and introducing things accidentally.

 

[Suggestologist]

Does anybody know of the psychotherapist in question Rud Grandt, or have any information on cases like his.

Here is what the authoritative Handbook of Hypnotic Suggestions and Metaphors edited by D. Corydon Hammond Ph.D., An American Society of Clinical Hypnosis Book, 1990; says about past-life Regression on pages 511 to 512:



PAST AND FUTURE LIVES

When the technique of age regression is discussed, questions about the possibility of regression to past life experiences are often raised. This controversy stemmed in large part from the famous Bridey Murphey case (Bernstein, 1956), in which a lay hypnotist hypnotized a woman who subsequently imagined herself to be the reincarnation of an Irish woman. Credible hypnosis experts immediately debunked the idea (Kline, 1956), and in fact investigative reporters discovered background experiences of the woman that accounted for her seemingly inexplicable knowledge about Ireland (Gardner, 1957).

The phenomenon of source amnesia (Evans & Thorn, 1966) thus seems adequate to account for this and the many similar cases (Barker, 1979; Edwards, 1987a, 1987b; Harris, 1986; Wilson, 1982), where investigations have both revealed flaws in the accounts of the subjects and have also identified that they had been exposed to historical information in the past that was related to their presumed past lives. In cases that have been investigated where the regressed subject supposedly spoke in another language, a linguist found the claims to be patently false (Thomason, 1984, 1986-87). Carefully controlled research (Baker, 1982) has also confirmed that having the experience of regressing to a "past life" is based on a combination of the expectations of the subject and of suggestions and the demand characteristics from the hypnotherapist. But, despite scientific evidence to the contrary, there has never been a dearth of gullible individuals willing to believe in anything from abductions by UFOs to people living inside the earth under the north pole (Hines, 1988). Thus, there continue to be individuals who will promulgate a belief in regression to previous lives, most of them lay hypnotists.

However, there are also skilled and respected professionals like Barnett (1981) and Cheek (Rossi & Cheek, 1988) who believe that it is possible to regress patients to birth experiences and even prebirth uterine experiences. Despite fascinating recent evidence about the ability of the fetus to hear, which may give one pause to wonder, regressions to uterine or birth experiences seem to me more likely to consist of projective processes. However, if a patient should spontaneously "regress" to such an experience, it may still be useful in promoting therapeutic change. From my point of view, such "believed-in imagining" may, because it is believed by such a patient, be a catalyst for altering perceptions and at the same time provide a face-saving excuse that some patients need.


And the bibliographical references follow in order of appearance:

Bernstein, M. (1956). The Search for Bridey Murphey. New York: Doubleday.

Kline, M. V. (1956). A Scientific Report on the Search for Bridey Murphey. New York: Julian Press.

Gardner, M. (1957). Fads an Fallacies in the Name of Science. New York: Dover.

Evans, F.J., & Thorn, W.A.F. (1966). Two types of post-hypnotic amnesia: Recall amnesia and source amnesia. International Journal of Clinical & Experimental Hypnosis, 14, 162-179.

Barker, D. (1979). Correspondence. Journal of Parapsychology, 43, 268-269.

Edwards, P. (1987a). The case against reincarnation: Part 2. Free Inquiry, 7(1), 38-47.

Edwards, P. (1987b). The case against reincarnation: Part 3. Free Inquiry, 7(2), 38-49.

Harris, M. (1986). Are "past-life" regressions evidence of reincarnation? Free Inquiry 6(4), 18-23.

Wilson, I. (1982). All in the Mind. Garden City, N.Y.oubleday.

Thomason, S. (1984). Do you remember your previous life's language in your present incarnation? American Speech, 59, 340-350.

Thomason, S. (1986-87). Past tongues remembered? Skeptical Inquirer, 11, 367-375.

Baker, R.A. (1982). The effect of suggestion on past-lives regression. American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, 25(1), 71-76.

Hines, T. (1988). Pseudoscience and the Paranormal: A Critical Examination of the Evidence. Buffalo: Prometheus Books.

Barnett, E.A. (1981). Analytical Hypnotherapy. Kingston, Ontario: Junica.

Rossi, E.L. & Cheek, D.B. (1988). Mind-Body Therapy. New York: W. W. Norton.

 

[Explorer]

Here is another one of my personal dreaded anecdotes from the days of my youth (thought I had exhausted them all, sorry folks).

When I was eight years old, along with my parents, I visited Croydon General Hospital in the UK, to see a sick relative. This was my first visit to the hospital, and I can recall looking at the entrance hall outside, while we were queing with others, waiting for the visitors bell to ring (Yes! thats how they did it then).

The entrance seemed so familiar to me. As we were led through the hall, I knew we had to turn left and felt comfortable leading my parents through the corridors to find the ward concerned.

Why was this familiar to me? My confidence in finding the ward was high, but I had never been inside this building before.

Perhaps a trick of "deja vu", or some other quirk of the brain coupled with coincidental luck.

It may be a sceptical world, but nonetheless, interesting!

 

[CFLarsen]

Marc,

When I read MLMM, I noticed how Catherine is interested in Ancient Egypt, but that this doesn't ring a bell with Weiss. She even asks (IIRC), during hypnosis, "Who is Hathor?", when she is regressing to a former Egyptian life, and Weiss takes this as proof that she really is reliving a life back then. Problem is, Hathor is not the Egyptian name, but the much later Greek one. In Egypt, Hathor was called "Het-Heru". Go figure...

Oh, and apparently, her hair was braided a LOT in her previous lives.

Your review is a classic tale of Folie à Deux, very suitable for publication in SkepticReport. Hint, hint, Marc...

 

[thaiboxerken]

I think that people implanting false memories into people "regression therapy" is totally unethical and should be outlawed, even if the hypnotist is unaware that they are doing so. They should be informed of what they are really doing and told to stop, or go to jail. Treating insanity is one thing, encouraging and causing it is totally wrong.

 

[Suggestologist]

I think that people implanting false memories into people "regression therapy" is totally unethical and should be outlawed, even if the hypnotist is unaware that they are doing so. They should be informed of what they are really doing and told to stop, or go to jail. Treating insanity is one thing, encouraging and causing it is totally wrong.

The problem is that it does not require hypnosis to implant false memories. If you were to accidentally implant false memories merely by talking to someone, should that be a crime?

 

[Ratman_tf]

The problem is that it does not require hypnosis to implant false memories. If you were to accidentally implant false memories merely by talking to someone, should that be a crime?

I think there's a difference between supposed therapy, which is supposed to help people get better, and the everyday goings about of life.

 

[thaiboxerken]

The problem is that it does not require hypnosis to implant false memories. If you were to accidentally implant false memories merely by talking to someone, should that be a crime?

That depends on the method. I'm specifically talking about hypnosis and psycho-therapy, in those instances, absolutely.

 

[The Mighty Thor]

As we were led through the hall, I knew we had to turn left and felt comfortable leading my parents through the corridors to find the ward concerned.

Erm, you were being 'led through the hall' by someone who knew where they were going?

Spooky, huh!

malc

 

[The Mighty Thor]

Originally posted by Explorer
As we were led through the hall, I knew we had to turn left and felt comfortable leading my parents through the corridors to find the ward concerned.

Or, maybe you were following the blue or red or yellow or black or other colour line on the floor, commonly used in some hospitals to help folk find their way about.

Many people got lost following the line to the 'colour blindness' dept.

malc

 

[Explorer]

Malcomdl said:

"Or, maybe you were following the blue or red or yellow or black or other colour line on the floor, commonly used in some hospitals to help folk find their way about.

Many people got lost following the line to the 'colour blindness' dept.

malc"

Of course! I forgot all about the the yellow line on the floor.

Well, that makes it a pre-cognitive experience too. The lines were not added until about twenty years later or so. We are talking 1952 here folks, in England, soon after the war, when sweets were still on ration.

 

[Hal 2001]

Thanks for all the references, I'll look into that...

TV pissed me of again this morning..I'll have to stop watching completely .

Mss Hal