Regression Hypnosis – What is it and how do you do it?

Unlike past life hypnosis, age regression is commonly used in hypnosis therapy, often without even being recognized as being regression hypnosis by the hypnotist themselves.

For example, if I ask someone to think of a time when they were happy and they remember an event from when they were 5 years old then that is a form of age regression hypnosis.

One way in which age regression hypnosis is used is to take a client back in time to before a specific event to access a resource or feeling. For instance, if the client was a confident person until a specific event then taking them back to before that event should make that resource accessible in the present. This is also a good way to remind the client of that resource, feel it again and realize that they have that resource available. This kind of regression is often used in NLP specifically when using time lines. There are several NLP Timeline exercises on PlanetNLP.com.

Using the specific event that the client believes caused the problem in the first place (whether it actually did or not) and taking the client to a time before that acts as a good convincer - it will show that we are taking their own definition of the problem seriously.

On the other hand, if we do not have a specific event to work with, we could simply ask them to remember a time when they were confident which may allow the client to reach more understanding about how they've changed in ways that the hypnotist could not be able to work out or lead them to understand otherwise.

A regression hypnosis session to allow a client to access a past state in the future may go something like the following. The text assumes that the client is already in a good relaxed trance state, and uses the NLP techniques of Timelines, and anchoring. Note that this is only a short outline of the process.

Now I know that there is an area of your live where you don’t feel that you can let go and just have fun.

I want you to think back to your childhood; to when you could play for hours with nothing more than a bucket and spade, where you could just let yourself go and play with no fear or anxiety.

Can you remember a time like that? And I want you to remember that time fully now. See what you saw, hear what you heard and feel what you felt, and notice how good that makes you feel now.

As you continue to remember allowing that feeling to build stronger and stronger.

[Anchor it!]

Good, now I want you to return to the present.

And you know that there is going to be a particular time in your future where you are concerned that you will be too serious.

Can you think of that now?

And as you think of that future event, I want you to imagine it with a big smile on your face.

[Fire Anchor]

Notice how playfully you can be in that situation and notice that as you imagine that now the feeling can build stronger and stronger.

And now I want you to remember your timeline and starting from the present move slowly along your time line searching for any similar events, taking this playful feeling with you and inject that feeling into every future event including the ones where it will be useful you don’t even know exist yet.

And when you have done you can relax in that wonderful feeling that is available to you whenever you wish.

In the movies, age regression hypnosis is seen as some dark and dangerous technique. In reality it is much simpler and natural, though sometimes if you age regress someone to an event from their childhood it's amazing how much more youthful that person can appear while in trance!