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False Memories:
Can We Have Two Memories of the Same Event?
(A Warning Regarding
Hypnotic Regression)
by C. Roy Hunter, M.S., FAPHP
Hopefully
the above title caught your eye more than just another article discussing the
benefits and pitfalls of regression therapy. The reason for my choice of words
with the title of this article is personal: my own experience answers the above
question in the affirmative - yes!
A number
of credible teachers and authors have warned hypnotherapists about the risk of
false memories resulting from inappropriate leading during regression therapy. Likewise,
I warn my own students - both in the classroom and in my text, The Art of Hypnotherapy. However, this
article will go where few have gone before: by sharing my own personal
experience with a mishandled regression. This journey started in the early
1990’s…
After a
local speaking engagement, a hypnotist from the audience approached me. She
claimed that she was doing extensive research into explanations of the
so-called "out of body" experiences (O.B.E.) that occur to children.
She asked me to have lunch with her so that she could discuss her theories at
length with me. Although I listened with an open mind, she raised my
skepticism. Nonetheless, being an adventurous soul, I agreed to allow her to
hypnotize me as a participant in her research project. Let's call her Linda (not her real name).
Before the
hypnotic regression, I told her about my own O.B.E. at age six after stepping
on a scorpion. The closest doctor was 23 miles away, so he gave my parents
instructions by telephone. (I'll spare you those details.) By the time I went
to bed, the excruciating and spreading pain caused by the poisonous sting made
my entire leg feel like it could explode any minute.
Later that
night, my leg went totally numb; and then I saw a brilliant white globe of
light hovering above my bed that appeared to be about the size of a basketball.
Even at that young age, I marveled that the rest of the room was dark,
reflecting none of the bright light. Then the numbness spread through my entire
body, and I was now unable to feel anything or move anything. Furthermore, I
could not look away from the light - so I tried to yell out to my sister who
was sleeping nearby.
Not only
was I unable to open my mouth, I realized that I was no longer breathing! Then
I started to float upwards…and knew that I was dying. With mental awareness
only, I cried out to God reminding Him that I was only six years old, and was
too young to die just yet. Following that short silent prayer came a sensation
of being slammed back into my body - and I cried out to my sister who told me
that I was dreaming. Over 25 years passed before I ever told anyone else of
that incident.
The next
night, a similar globe of light hovered above my foot, but it was only the size
of a baseball. This time the Light did not frighten me, because I was able to
move. Also, whatever (or whoever) this Light was somehow gave me a mental or
telepathic feeling that it was my guardian angel, and that it was there to look
in on me. Within minutes I fell asleep, and my foot was better the next
morning.
Armed with
only the information about the first night (but not the second night), Linda
hypnotized me to medium depth, and employed regression to specific event -
taking me back to the moment when I first saw the bright light. She asked me to
describe the room and my feelings, which I did. She then said, "I want you
to go through the light and tell me if you are taken into a spaceship."
(I've often told my students that the only thing missing was X-Files background
music!) She proceeded to ask me one leading question after another,
inappropriately leading me into "validating" her preconceived
opinions, with me allegedly orbiting the earth for an hour or more having a UFO
abduction experience.
When the
session was completed, I told her that it was fantasy. Linda's response was to
tell me that my mind had repressed those memories, and that most of her
subjects reported similar experiences. Does anyone wonder why?
As an
experienced hypnotherapy instructor, it is very easy for me to assume that what
emerged during the regression is false memory - especially in light of the
blatant inappropriate leading. For the next two years I simply accepted the
experience as false memory (other than what was remembered by me at a conscious
level prior to the regression). Eventually a competent hypnotherapist (whom we
will call Carol) regressed me back to the same childhood event. Here is a
summary of how that second regression unfolded:
When my
body was paralyzed and I prayed inside my mind, the bright light told me that
she was the death angel - but that it was not my time to die, because I had
something important to do. That is when my body jerked and I cried out to my
sister. There was nothing that apparently happened between the time I felt
myself starting to float up, and the time that I was slammed back into my body.
The next day my leg was still swollen and in pain. That next night, however,
when the globe of light hovered above my foot, it apparently spoke to me and
said, "I am your guardian angel, and I'm here to complete the healing of
your foot." I awoke the next day healed.
Here is
what I tell my students about the above conflicting regressions…
They both
seem equally true, and they both seem equally fantasized - except for what I
remembered prior to the first regression. Professionally speaking, I believe
that the mishandled regression gave me false memories. However, the second
regression may be just as fictional as the first one - because a client can create his or her own false
memories in order to "prove" a point to someone!
Please
note the importance of my last statement in the above paragraph. My own
spiritual beliefs could easily have resulted in my own subconscious mind
creating false memories on the second regression - in order to disprove the
first regression.
Since both
of these perceptions of the same event cannot be true, perhaps the truth might
be a combination of the two regressions. Many hypnotherapists sitting in my
workshops have offered to facilitate another regression to help me identify the
real memories; but there is a gift in
my having two sets of memories for the same event. I can look both students and
professionals straight in the eye and teach something emphatically from my own experience:
If you are on the receiving end of a mishandled regression, you may not
be able to distinguish fact from fantasy.
Can I
discover the truth of that O.B.E. that happened when I was only six? In my
opinion, the answer is yes - but this
experience serves as a constant reminder for me to emphasize the important
difference between leading and guiding what facilitating hypnotic regressions.
If you
have opinions about the cause(s) of someone's problems while facilitating
regressions, please set aside all those preconceived opinions. Whether those
opinions are based on professional analytical skills, spiritual beliefs,
intuition, or "psychic" awareness, you may drive your client farther
from resolution if those opinions are in error. Ask open-ended questions that
do not lead the client, and be prepared to deal with what emerges. Also be
prepared to handle abreactions when clients remember emotional experiences.
While
there is much more that I could write regarding regression therapy, my primary
purpose in this article was to share my personal experience so that others may
read and heed. Remember that the NGH Code of Ethics prohibits the use of
hypnotic regression to members who have not yet received adequate training in
regression therapy. Merely reading about regression is not enough training of
and by itself. My recommendation is that hypnotists and hypnosis students alike
should receive actual training before ever facilitating regressions.
Competent regression therapy can be far more valuable that suggestion alone in helping clients release the causes of problems - and can help bring permanent resolutions. For me personally, all of the hypnotic regressions that I've experienced as a client have helped me - except for the one that I wrote about in this article. And now, perhaps even that regression was helpful if it prevents other hypnotists from making the mistake that someone made while working with me.
I suggest that you consider
investing in
The Art of Hypnotherapy, 2nd Ed. (2000, Kendall/Hunt Publishing).
Click Here to Order your copy now!
******************
Roy Hunter, M.S., FAPHP, practices hypnotherapy near
For more info, visit:
http://www.royhunter.com/consulting.htm
You may
purchase
http://www.royhunter.com/hypnosis_books.htm
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Last
updated: January 8, 2008
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Originally posted:
May 11, 2007.