Henry has been troubled by obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) since middle school, and it has persisted for over 10 years. His OCD symptoms include frequently checking if doors, appliances, and electrical wires in his home are properly closed or put away. Every day before leaving home, he needs to spend more than 10 minutes checking everything before he can leave. Upon further investigation, it was understood that Henry's checking was driven by a fear of his family getting hurt, such as tripping over electrical wires. He also had a particular aversion to certain numbers, especially those related to his family members' ages. Henry would feel the need to avoid these numbers to be at ease. He often experienced a sense of unease, and if he heard about disasters or accidents on the news, he would inevitably imagine his family members being involved in such dangers. He was constantly worried about his family encountering accidents, which affected his sleep and overall well-being. He knew these thoughts were baseless, but he couldn't shake them off, causing him great distress.
He couldn't understand why he had these OCD symptoms. To him, these behaviors and thoughts were meaningless, yet he couldn't stop them. He always felt forced to complete these checking tasks, which affected his emotions and his relationships with his family. Under his family's urging, Henry finally saw a psychiatrist recently and was diagnosed with OCD. However, he did not want to use medication for treatment, so he also sought psychotherapy. During our meeting, I explained the cognitive-behavioral therapy plan for treating OCD and regression therapy for him to consider. Henry wanted to try regression therapy first to address his OCD. Thus, we arranged a regression therapy session to see if it could effectively help with his condition.
Through hypnosis, Henry entered past-life memories where he saw himself as a middle-aged man dressed in explorer attire, venturing alone into a primeval forest. Unfortunately, he accidentally stepped into a trap meant for wild animals, severely injuring his right foot. He was lucky to be saved by the local indigenous people and managed to survive. While recuperating in the indigenous village, he witnessed the invasion of European soldiers who destroyed the village. He then followed the soldiers back to the city, where, due to his injury, he had to have his right foot amputated. The scene shifted, and Henry saw himself in his past life attending his daughter's wedding, feeling extremely happy. However, halfway through the wedding, several men dressed in European military uniforms, armed with knives and guns, kidnapped his daughter and stabbed her fiancé. He clearly saw himself struggling to run out of the church to try to save his kidnapped daughter, but the abductors had already fled. He fell to his knees in despair, feeling powerless and in pain. He spent the rest of his life searching for his daughter, following the army to different places in search of her. However, he never found her and passed away with regrets and guilt.
During the past life regression therapy, Henry was able to release feelings of guilt and pain associated with his inability to protect his daughter. He also came to understand that the anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) he experiences in this lifetime stem from traumas in his past life, allowing him to let go of his current distressing emotions.
Three weeks after completing the regression therapy, I contacted Henry to learn how he was feeling. He shared that the severity of his OCD symptoms had been reduced by half since the therapy, and he was able to start ignoring the distressing thoughts and gain control over his compulsive checking behaviors. I went on to share strategies for coping with the remaining OCD symptoms before ending the call.
Curious about how long the effects of past life regression therapy could last in treating OCD, I reached out to Henry again two months after the therapy. He shared that his OCD symptoms had further decreased within a month after treatment, and he was no longer troubled by the disorder. Although he sometimes still experienced small urges to check, he successfully resisted them, and the intrusive, anxiety-provoking thoughts had significantly diminished as well.
Seeing Henry's significant improvement filled me with joy. Typically, psychological and pharmacological treatments for OCD take a considerable amount of time, as the disorder is often difficult to treat. However, in Henry's case, we only had two sessions – an assessment and the regression therapy – and the remarkable results were truly exhilarating. While the regression therapy was effective quickly in this instance, it's important to note that every OCD patient's situation is different, and some may face varying degrees of severity and complexity. As a result, more extensive treatment, possibly combined with cognitive-behavioral therapy, may be necessary to achieve similar outcomes.
Σχόλια