Have you ever seen a movie that involved age regression with hypnosis? Think about what you remember about the movie. In many of them, subjects are taken back to their childhood to discover the roots of their problems. Even in one episode of the infamous reality show “Keeping Up With The Kardashians”, Khloe Kardashian visits a hypnotherapist to recover some of her lost memories from her childhood. In other scary movies, we see adults getting stuck in their childhood and acting like a 5-year-old.  

Although hypnosis has been depicted as one of the successful methods of age regression, there is a huge controversy around this topic. As more and more research is done in this area, scientists argue that hypnosis may not be an accurate method of memory recollection. So, why is hypnosis still being used for age regression? And how are the results? Let’s look at the facts and evidence more closely.

 

What is Age Regression Therapy?

Age regression is a therapeutic tool that takes the person to early childhood memories or events in which the person was impacted negatively. The time frame can start as early as being in the mother’s womb.

There are a few ways to do age regression therapy and hypnotherapy is one of the widely used methods. During hypnotic age regression, the hypnotherapist takes the person back to the age and time when the negative events took place. As the person recalls, it may even feel like the event is happening all over again. Some people even speak in a childish manner or use expressions as if everything is happening in the present moment while hypnotized. The goal of hypnotic age regression is to revisit the event and bring a resolution with the help of the hypnotherapist. In other words, hypnotic age regression is mostly done for healing from trauma purposes.

 

Can Age Regression Therapy Be Dangerous?

At a glance, finding the core reason for a problem sounds very enticing. Plus, there have been many successful cases in which people overcame their fears, anxieties, weight problems, or phobias with the help of age regression with hypnosis. However, when it comes to traumatic events, we need to be careful with the age regression technique. There are three important reasons for that:

1- Memories recalled under hypnosis may not be accurate

For example, according to a 1970s study, although subjects were very confident in their memory recollection under hypnosis when specific details were asked, they couldn’t provide an accurate answer. Especially with a little leading during hypnosis, it is easy to create false memories. For example, in the same study, the subjects were asked to remember the correct day of the event. When assessing the results, researchers realized that the hypnotherapist already knew the accurate date and was asking leading questions such as “Was it Monday?” or “Was it the middle of the week?”. Consequently, subjects provided similar results. Regardless, the accuracy of the subjects’ date predictions didn’t go any further than simple luck.

According to the British Psychological Society Chair Professor John Morton, the evidence points out two things; you are more confident of the things you remember under hypnosis and you are more susceptible. The combination can be dramatic. The deeper the hypnosis, the less reliable the memory. 

2- The mind is very complex and has a system of its own to protect you.

If you cannot remember a memory from your childhood there may be a greater reason for that. The mind is powerful enough to block memories that can be too painful to handle at the time. Some people even start having flashbacks of their traumatic childhood memories during their adulthood. These memories usually surface as much as the person is ready to process. Uncovering these memories during hypnotic age regression may be more traumatic than healing.

3- There are many methods of helping someone to heal and age regression is not the only one nor the most effective one out there.

For example, there is usually a training period involved for a successful age regression therapy with hypnosis. Following this hypnotic training, people who can go into a deep state of hypnosis can get back to their childhood and start reliving the events. Some have successful results and some still don’t. Instead of spending that amount of effort and time on age regression therapy, it is possible to use hypnosis to release the trapped emotions, deal with the symptoms, and move forward in life. In other words, in most cases, problems can be helped without a hypnotic age regression. 

In conclusion, the consequences of an improper age regression can be very traumatic. False memories can lead to broken families, surfacing traumatic emotions for no apparent reason, or being retraumatized even if the memories are accurate.

Can hypnosis lead to age regression spontaneously? 

When the mind is ready to process and heal, suppressed thoughts and emotions start to surface themselves at different times. We call these “flashbacks” which are sounds, images, or smells related to the event drop into the conscious awareness unexpectedly.

During hypnosis, the mind becomes more open to spontaneously regressing to childhood or memory recollection. When the mind is calm and the body is relaxed, the focus is on the subconscious mind which creates the perfect condition for the emotions and images to emerge. During hypnosis, it’s common for the person to randomly regress to memory even without direction from the hypnotherapist.

Re-viewing memories vs Re-visiting  memories

Not in all cases do we have to relive the entire traumatic event. Instead, we can just facilitate revisiting the event without being in the actual event. The British Hypnosis Research summarizes the difference between reliving and revisiting very well; “Most clients seem to find it easier to re-view early life experiences rather than re-experience. The review does not imply that the client is not actually going through the experience. Whilst reviewing, the Client is in fact often experiencing the early life event but at the same time maintains an awareness of an adult existence and the therapy situation.” 

As an adult, most people can rationalize how the events unfolded from their early childhood experiences but the subconscious mind still reacts like a child. During hypnosis, by revisiting an early event, the person can bring the rationalization of an adult to the event and eventually soothe the child who is stuck with those traumatic emotions and memories. This allows the person to dissociate from the event and leave the past in the past rather than carrying it to their everyday life.

  

The Choice is Yours

If you decide to try age regression therapy with hypnosis, there are plenty of hypnotherapists out there providing hypnotic regression. The key here is finding a qualified hypnotherapist who is experienced in this area, who will not unconsciously lead the memories with questions, and who is reliable enough to ask for professional outside help when needed. However, keep in mind that hypnosis is a very powerful tool itself. There are many approaches and techniques that can help with the majority of the problems without having to search for an unknown memory. The choice is yours…