Exciting news! We're mainstream — at last! At least, the concept of past life regression is. We've facilitated Past Life Regression therapeutic sessions for 11 years, and now Oprah has featured it on her show and helped remove the "woo-woo" around the process.

Hope May Be Where You Least Expect It

by John Aubichon

My life as a boy was filled with violence, blood, and hiding places. Shuffled back and forth between violently alcoholic parents and a horribly abusive convent, my siblings and I lived in constant fear.

I carried the abuse inside me like a brick and at one point stopped talking altogether. I was also in perpetual mourning for my brothers and sisters. Hiding under the bed, crying, we promised each other, while real monsters roared and no heroes came to the rescue, that no matter what, we would always be together. This was easily whispered by a terrified child, but we were inevitably split up and thrown to the mercy of the convent again.

Between my mom and the nuns, I had never had any positive experiences with women in my life. That's why I was filled with dread when my second-grade teacher asked me to stay after school. As the seconds ticked by that afternoon, I wondered what new torture I was in for. At the end of the day, the final bell found me numb with fear and anguish. I sat at my desk as kids bustled by me with taunts of "You're really gonna get it this time" and "What kind of flowers do you want at your funeral?"

The classroom soon emptied. Mrs. Shannon smiled and assured me that I wasn't in any kind of trouble, that she just needed some help cleaning up. I was only slightly relieved as we started tidying the classroom, but she seemed to know that I was afraid to speak, so she spoke for both of us. She talked about school, her love of kids, and how she became a teacher. I heard with loving detail stories of family and friends that I secretly longed for.

She began to keep me after school regularly, and I began to look forward to these sessions. Once, she gave me a sparkly eraser, and I kept it in my pocket for weeks, fingering it with a smile on my face. She encouraged me to read and showed me that not all adults were monsters. I was told that if I really tried, I could do anything that I wanted. She gave me hope.

I would like to say that was the start of a new life for me, but it wasn't. I was soon moved back to the convent, and I lost touch with Mrs. Shannon. Eventually, after my parents divorced, Social Services returned me to my dad. He soon resumed drinking and became violent again. It escalated until one June day when he took his own life.

I moved aimlessly through life after that, until one day my sister called and said she'd found some boxes of old toys in the attic. In one I found the eraser Mrs. Shannon had given me. I changed my life that day. I stopped drinking and started to write. I found God and have turned my life around completely now. I am married and have a thirteen-year-old daughter, who also loves to write. I owe it all to a lady who gave me my greatest gift as a child — kindness, hope, and a sparkly eraser.

John Aubichon can be reached at drmrjohn@hotmail.com.

Blending Hypnotherapy and Psychotherapy

by Dr. Phebe-Jane Poole

A client's presenting issue is often not the real reason for his or her visit, but my psychotherapy training enables me to get to the root of the issue. Everything that I need to be able to understand clients is in what they're saying, the words they're using, what they're not saying, their tone, their body language, and their energy field. Using questions based upon "inquiry" (open-ended questions based on feelings, how, what, when, and where) rather than "inquisition" (close-ended questions or questions based upon why) also helps. When I'm using inquiry-style questions, I'm focused on the client and his or her inner experience rather than on the problem, the issue, or the client's external experience.

I have found gathering all of this information so important when working with a client. The hypnosis script for the client becomes their words, their feelings, their emotions, their goals and visions. A hypnosis client once said to me, "It was so powerful to hear my own words."

Using hypnosis to communicate with the client's subconscious mind is extremely effective in a psychotherapy session. For example, I've used hypnosis to help clients with a terminal illness experience deep relaxation, manage pain, find their spiritual direction, and so on. One client told me, after hypnosis, that for the first time in months she was relaxed and her pain had subsided. Hypnosis is a wonderful tool that I can give clients to take home and use on their own, which empowers them and provides them with a feeling that they have some control over how they react to things in their life.

Another wonderful dance I've taken with psychotherapy and hypnosis is with clients for whom "I don't know" is a frequent response. These clients have trouble accessing what is happening for them, what is going on in their bodies, what their emotional response is, how to change what is happening to them, or how to alter their response to something or someone. Since all of the answers lie within clients, I use hypnosis to help them bypass their conscious mind chatter and get in touch with their subconscious, where they can access their emotions and the answers to their questions. Psychotherapy is most effective when clients reach their own conclusions rather than have them provided by the therapist.

In almost every one of my psychotherapy sessions, hypnosis is part of the process. The dance would not be the same if one of the partners was missing!

Dr. Phebe-Jane Poole, a graduate of the OHC school, practises psychotherapy and hypnotherapy. She is the director of Isle of Avalon Wellness Centre. Her website is www.isleofavalon.ca, and she can be reached for an appointment at 905-619-2131.