How Past Life Regression Can Release Present-Day Fears (Even if You’re New to the Idea)
- Jo Moore
- Sep 27
- 9 min read
A gentle starting point
Maybe you’ve heard a friend say that past life regression helped them feel less anxious about flying, relationships, or public speaking. Maybe you’re curious - but also skeptical. Fair! You don’t need to “believe” in literal past lives to understand why a PLR session can feel powerful. Many of the ingredients in a typical regression - deep relaxation, focused imagery, and a meaningful personal narrative - are the kinds of mind-body tools that modern psychology already uses to reduce fear and stress. The open question (and fair debate) is whether the content explored is literally past lives or a symbolic story your mind uses to work through stuck feelings.
Either way, let’s walk through what PLR is, how it’s supposed to work, what the research says, how it can go wrong, and how to try it safely if you decide it’s right for you.
What is past life regression?
Past life regression is a guided experience - often under light hypnosis or a deeply relaxed state—in which a facilitator invites you to “tune into” scenes, sensations, or narratives that feel like they’re from another lifetime. The session typically includes:
Relaxation or hypnotic induction (slow breathing, muscle relaxation, guided focus)
Open-ended prompts to notice images, feelings, or impressions
A narrative phase where you describe what you’re experiencing
A processing phase where insights are related back to your present-day life
A re-orientation back to normal wakefulness
Some people treat the images as literally “past lives.” Others treat them as inner metaphors - like dreams - that reveal hidden patterns, unmet needs, or emotional conflicts. Both approaches aim for the same outcome: relief in the here and now.
How past life regression can release fear: four plausible mechanisms
Regardless of whether past lives are literal or symbolic, PLR blends methods that are already used in mainstream therapy. Here are mechanisms that make sense from a psychological point of view:
Hypnotic relaxation reduces arousal. Hypnosis isn’t mind control; it’s a learnable state of focused attention and openness to suggestion. In clinical settings, hypnosis paired with psychotherapy has shown benefits across pain, anxiety, and procedure-related distress. Lower physiological arousal can make fear memories feel less “loud,” creating room to process them differently. (PMC, APA)
Imagery changes emotional “coding.” PLR invites vivid mental imagery. Contemporary therapies use imagery rescripting to safely revisit troubling memories and then change the scene (for example, adding adult-you to protect child-you, or choosing a different outcome). This can reduce fear and other difficult emotions by updating the brain’s prediction of “what happens next.” PLR often does a version of this organically. (PubMed, PMC, ScienceDirect)
Narrative reframing creates meaning. Humans heal through story. A compelling narrative - whether literally true or symbolic - can help you reinterpret what you fear. When a fear “makes sense,” it often loosens. PLR provides a container to author such meaning.
Exposure without overwhelm. Many fears persist because we avoid triggers. Guided imagery can provide a safe “distance” - a you-but-not-you vantage point that lets you encounter themes of danger, rejection, loss, or guilt and “stay with” them long enough for the body to learn there is safety now. This resembles imaginal exposure, a well-studied ingredient in trauma and anxiety treatments. (ScienceDirect)
Bottom line: even if you bracket the metaphysics, PLR leverages ingredients - relaxation, imagery, narrative reframing, and graded exposure - that are known to soothe fear for many people.
What the research actually says (and doesn’t)
Let’s be candid: there’s no strong scientific consensus that PLR, specifically, is an evidence-based treatment for fear or anxiety. High-quality randomized trials are sparse. What we do have is:
Good evidence for hypnosis as a clinical aid (especially for pain and anxiety), which is often part of PLR. Reviews and meta-analyses suggest hypnosis can boost outcomes when paired with therapy or medical care. That doesn’t prove PLR itself works, but it supports one of PLR’s core ingredients. (PMC, APA)
Growing evidence for imagery-based methods (like imagery rescripting) that reduce fear and other tough emotions by changing the felt meaning of mental pictures. Again, this is not PLR per se, but it explains why a regression-style session that uses imagery and meaning-making could lead to relief. (PubMed, SAGE Journals, ScienceDirect)
Weak and mixed evidence for PLR outcomes specifically. A 2000 master's thesis from the University of Wisconsin–Stout reports that 80–90% of clients undergoing past-life therapy experience vivid imagery that they—and their practitioners—interpret as transformational, though the findings are based on descriptive surveys and case reports rather than controlled trials (University of Wisconsin–Stout, 2000). A recent exploratory study in the International Journal of Indian Psychology examined past-life regression for issues such as chronic anger and loneliness but likewise offered limited methodological rigor (IJIP, 2025). Adding depth to this practitioner-based literature, Jungian analyst Roger Woolger -in his influential book Other Lives, Other Selves and later through his Deep Memory Process - presented detailed case studies showing how regression imagery could help clients resolve fears, phobias, and even psychosomatic symptoms, while cautioning that such powerful material should only be worked with by trained therapists (Regression Journal). Taken together, these sources are compelling in narrative richness but remain limited in scientific rigor, reinforcing the view of PLR as a complementary, meaning-centered practice rather than a first-line, evidence-based treatment.
Roger Woolger’s Contribution to Past Life Regression
One of the most cited figures - and one of my personal leading influences - in the therapeutic exploration of past lives is Dr. Roger J. Woolger (1944–2011), a Jungian analyst and psychotherapist trained at Oxford and the C. G. Jung Institute in Zurich. In his influential book Other Lives, Other Selves (1990), Woolger presented detailed case studies showing how PLR could be used to address persistent fears, phobias, relationship struggles, and even somatic complaints. What set his approach apart was his insistence that past-life material should be treated with the same seriousness as deep unconscious imagery in Jungian analysis: whether literal or symbolic, the imagery has the power to reshape present-day symptoms.
Woolger later developed a methodology called Deep Memory Process, which combined regression work with Jungian active imagination, psychodrama, and body-centered therapy. He emphasized that PLR could open “Pandora’s Box” of powerful emotions and therefore should be undertaken only by trained therapists who could safely contain and integrate the experience (Woolger, Other Lives, Other Selves; Regression Journal). His recorded regressions show how past life regression can release present-day fears.
Woolger’s work is important because it underscores two key themes we’ve already explored:
The therapeutic value of narrative and imagery, regardless of whether past lives are considered literal.
The need for ethical safeguards so that regression doesn’t overwhelm or mislead clients.
Important cautions: memory is malleable
The single biggest risk in regression-style work is taking vivid imagery as historical fact. Decades of memory science show that suggestion can produce detailed, sincerely believed - but false - memories. This doesn’t mean every unusual memory is false; it means vividness is not proof. Regressions, by design, use suggestion and imagination, so you want a facilitator who knows how to minimize memory-distortion risks and never pushes you toward particular “answers.” (PubMed, APA, PMC)
Even research groups open to survival-of-consciousness questions (like the University of Virginia’s Division of Perceptual Studies) caution against hypnotic regression for “past lives” because of the elevated risk of self-deception and confabulation. Their stance: if you’re investigating survival claims, hypnotic regression is not reliable evidence. If you’re pursuing personal meaning or stress relief, treat the material as symbolic. (UVA School of Medicine)
Key takeaway: use PLR as a tool for insight and emotional processing, not as a historical detective method or a way to accuse real people of real-world wrongdoing based on “recovered” content. (This caution has real-world stakes; suggestive techniques have contributed to false memories in legal and family contexts.) (WIRED, The New Yorker, The Times)
What a beginner-friendly PLR session looks like
If you decide to explore PLR, here’s what a safe, grounded session often includes:
Intake and consent A qualified practitioner explains the process, screens for contraindications (for example, certain dissociative conditions), sets goals (reduce fear of X), and clarifies that content may be treated as metaphor. You’re invited to pause or stop at any time.
Relaxation / induction You’ll be guided into a calm, focused state - slow breathing, progressive muscle relaxation, attentional focus - similar to guided meditation. This isn’t sleep; you remain aware.
Exploration The facilitator asks neutral, non-leading prompts like, “What do you notice now?” rather than, “Are you in the 18th century?” You describe images, sensations, themes, or scenes as they arise.
Processing and rescripting If fear shows up - abandonment, danger, shame - the facilitator helps you update the scene: letting adult-you intervene, witnessing with compassion, or “rewriting” the ending so your nervous system learns a new template. This technique parallels imagery rescripting and imaginal exposure strategies used in mainstream therapy. (PubMed, ScienceDirect)
Integration You link insights to today’s life: boundaries you might set, conversations to have, practices to continue (breathwork, journaling, gentle exposures). Often you’ll leave with a simple audio to reinforce calm responses to old triggers.
Signs your PLR is being done ethically
Because the field is largely unregulated in many places, choose your practitioner carefully. Look for:
Clear scope and honesty: They state that PLR is not a substitute for medical or mental-health care and avoid definitive claims about historical accuracy.
Neutral, non-leading language: No steering toward abuse narratives, celebrity identities, or grand revelations.
Trauma-informed pacing: They check in with your body cues, titrate intensity, and prioritize your sense of choice.
Integration skills: They can translate imagery into practical steps (self-soothing skills, boundary scripts, graded exposure), not just “mystical” interpretations.
Willingness to collaborate: If you’re in therapy, they’re open to coordinating with your clinician.
These best practices align with concerns raised by researchers and ethicists: the principal risk isn’t “weird memories,” it’s harm from suggestive techniques or overwhelm. Good practitioners work to prevent that. (PMC)
Frequently asked questions (from curious beginners)
Do I have to believe in past lives for this to “work”? No. Many people approach PLR as a creative, meaning-making exercise within a relaxed, hypnotic-like state. The relief can come from how your brain recodes fear and meaning, not from the metaphysical status of the story. There’s good evidence that hypnosis and imagery techniques (the “engine” inside many PLR sessions) can reduce anxiety and other difficult emotions. (PMC, PubMed)
Isn’t hypnosis risky? Hypnosis itself, done by trained professionals, is generally safe. The risks arise when suggestive techniques are used to “recover” memories or when practitioners overstep their scope. Choose someone who uses neutral language, emphasizes present-day wellbeing, and treats imagery as exploratory, not as courtroom evidence. (PMC, PubMed)
How many sessions will I need? There’s no standard. Some people feel a shift in one or two sessions; others integrate it into ongoing personal work. Since the research base for PLR is limited, think of it as a complement, not a replacement, for evidence-based care when you need it. (www2.uwstout.edu)
Can PLR make fears worse? It can - if done without pacing or if you become overly attached to disturbing images as “facts.” That’s why ethics and trauma-informed practice matter. If you notice increased distress, step back and return to stabilizing skills, or consult a licensed clinician. (PMC)
A balanced conclusion
Past life regression sits at an intersection of ancient storytelling and modern mind-body techniques. People don’t have to agree on metaphysics to get value from the process. If your goal is to loosen present-day fears, what seems to help is the how: deep relaxation, vivid imagery, safe exposure to difficult feelings, and a new narrative that restores agency. These ingredients overlap with methods that have a growing evidence base - especially clinical hypnosis and imagery-focused therapies - even though PLR itself hasn’t been validated by rigorous trials.
If you try PLR, do it safely: pick an ethical practitioner, use neutral prompting, treat imagery as symbolic unless independently verified, and integrate any insights with practical, evidence-based steps. That way, you reap the benefits - less fear, more freedom - while respecting what science knows (and doesn’t) about memory and healing. (PMC, PubMed)
Final thought
It’s okay to approach PLR with curiosity and discernment. You can use it as a structured way to meet your fears, feel them fully in a safe container, and rewrite their script - without needing to settle the question of where the story comes from. Keep what helps. Leave the rest.
Experience PLR on Retreat in Southern France
Become a Past Life Regressionist - Fast-Track
References & resources (for beginners who want to read more)
Clinical hypnosis and anxiety/pain: Accessible overview from the American Psychological Association; recent reviews and meta-analyses on hypnosis in clinical care. (APA, PMC)
Hypnosis for anxiety (mechanisms & outcomes): Narrative review covering autonomic effects and symptom change. (PMC)
Imagery rescripting & imaginal methods: Meta-analyses and reviews on how changing mental imagery can reduce fear and other difficult emotions. (PubMed, SAGE Journals, ScienceDirect)
Memory science & caution with regression: Reviews on recovered/false memories and hypnotic suggestion; public-facing APA podcast with Elizabeth Loftus. (PubMed, PMC, APA)
Ethical considerations of PLR: Overview article discussing risks vs. potential benefits; cautious perspective from UVA’s Division of Perceptual Studies. (PMC, UVA School of Medicine)
PLR-specific reports: Descriptive/practitioner-based findings and small recent studies (interpret with caution). (www2.uwstout.edu, ijip.in)
Roger Woolger’s work: Other Lives, Other Selves (1990) - case studies and theory from a Jungian psychotherapist’s perspective, introducing the Deep Memory Process method. See summaries and reviews at Regression Journal and ThriftBooks.
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