Is the Past...Past?

"Insight is the booby prize of life" -David Levy, psychologist and author

A question that comes up occasionally with prospective clients in my hypnosis counseling practice is whether we have to extensively explore their past in order for the them to achieve their goals. Is it necessary to drift back in time and "set things straight" ?

This belief comes from the field of "psychodynamic therapy."  Figures such as Sigmund Freud insisted that present problems of thought and behavior had their origin in childhood experiences, the memories of which were often repressed from conscious awareness. The process then would be to reconnect to those memories, create an awareness of how the negative patterns came to be and that once you have this knowledge in your conscious awareness, you can resolve them. In this model Insight=Healing.

However, there is little evidence that this is an effective approach and actually it has the potential for harm. One danger is the phenomena known as "false memories," where a suggestible individual begins to "remember" events that didn't happen, especially if the therapist asks leading questions. Quite a few individuals had their lives ruined by accusations made because of false memories of abuse that never took place except in the accuser's imagination.

Another pitfall to consider is that what is called "repression" may actually be a healthy coping strategy-that there can be some very good reasons to push negative memories out of conscious awareness. Ponder this: if remembering trauma was curative, post-traumatic stress (PTS) would simply heal itself quite rapidly since the person is repeatedly experiencing the upsetting event as if were happening now. PTS is really a problem of remembering too well.

So as a rule a very small percentage of my interactions with clients involve exploring the past. One exception is having them retrieve some good, empowering memories so we have some positive anchors to work with-and you would be surprised how many people seem to have repressed those!

But what if you are carrying around a lot of negative memories and imprints-what can be done?

Current thinking suggests that while you cannot alter the past, practices such as mindfulness and self-hypnosis can help you learn to live more fully in the present moment. Thanks to what is called neuroplasticity, with some persistence you can rewire patterns and associations in the brain that may be keeping you tethered to a negative past. The past does not have to determine your future!

If you have any questions, I'm here to help. Feel free to connect by calling (732) 714-7040.