American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis
ISSN: 0002-9157 (Print) 2160-0562 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/ujhy20
Guilt Clarification via Age Regression Abraham J. Twerski M.D. & Ray Naar Ph.D. To cite this article: Abraham J. Twerski M.D. & Ray Naar Ph.D. (1976) Guilt Clarification via Age Regression, American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, 18:3, 204-206, DOI: 10.1080/00029157.1976.10403799 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00029157.1976.10403799
Published online: 20 Sep 2011.
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Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=ujhy20 Download by: [University of Birmingham]
Date: 11 November 2015, At: 22:58
THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF CLINICAL HYPNOSIS
Volume 18, Number 3, January 1976 Printed in U.S.A.
BRIEF CLINICAL REPORT
Guilt Clarification via Age Regression
Downloaded by [University of Birmingham] at 22:58 11 November 2015
ABRAHAM J. TWERSKI, MD. St. Francis General Hospital Pittsburgh, Pa.
Two cases of a somewhat similar character were essentially refractory to treatment until resolved via age regression under hypnosis. The cases are being presented as examples of both the resistance to therapy and the resolution by clarification under abreaction.
and
RAY NAAR, Ph.D. Medical School University of Pittsburgh
gious rites, but her guilt persisted. Repeated efforts to help the patient recognize the incident as a tragic accident for which she should bear no blame were fruitless. Although the patient appeared to understand this very well intellectually, her sense of guilt was unrelieved. We therefore concluded that there was more meaning to the CASE No.1 event than was superficially attached to it. Under hypnosis the patient was regressed M.e., a 32-year-old single female, came into treatment because of depression of to the incident in question. She then about two years' duration and of progres- described how she had been cleaning the sive severity. In addition to insomnia, she house that day, which her mother had made had developed crying spells, and episodes her do as a condition for inviting her of virtually uncontrolled rage of sufficient friends. The younger sister had asked the magnitude to warrant hospitalization. patient to come and play with her, but the Anti-depressant and tranquilizing medica- patient continued her cleaning, whereupon tions were prescribed, and the patient was the sister took a throwrug and threw it down seen in frequent psychotherapeutic ses- the steps at her. The patient then became sions, leading to discharge after two angry and ran after the sister. (At this point months. She was then seen in weekly out- the therapist asked the patient why she was chasing the sister, and she stated that she patient sessions for the next year. The patient described a traumatic inci- wanted to hit her. She was helped to see dent that had occurred when she was 12. that she was indeed angry at the child and She had been playing "tag" with her little wanted to punish her, and that there was sister, four years of age, and the latter was nothing horrible about this feeling.) As she running while holding a collapsed rubber chased the child outside of the house, the balloon between her teeth. During the child ran into the driveway, and the patient chase, the child aspirated the balloon, was yelled, "Stop!" (The therapist asked the asphyxiated, and died in the patient's arms. patient why she did so, and she responded The patient cried while relating this tragic that she did not want the child to run into incident, and stated that she had always felt the driveway, because she might be hurt by guilty of having caused her sister's death. an oncoming car. The therapist seized upon She had confessed this many times and had this point to clarify for the patient that alsought expiation by means of various reli- though she had been angry at the child and 204
Downloaded by [University of Birmingham] at 22:58 11 November 2015
BRIEF CLINICAL REPORT
had wanted to punish her, she had certainly not wanted her seriously hurt or killed.) The patient then continued to describe the scene of the aspiration, in all its gruesome details, and it was evident from her reaction in the trance that she was actually reliving the experience. It appeared that the patient's hostility toward the child which had been linked temporally with the child's death, subsequently had become causally associated, because, as she had in reality felt anger toward the child, she had attributed the death as the consequence of her anger. Under the trance, the patient was helped to distinguish between the two, and recognize that the anger was in no way related to the death; and in fact, at the height of her anger, she had alerted the child to be cautious of the driveway, to protect her from serious harm. Following this session the patient's therapy took a significantly upward course, with rapid marked improvement and discharge from treatment. CASE
No.2
T. I. is a 34-year-old female, who sought therapy because of a chronic depression. Medication had made no impact on the severity of the depression, and in three years of psychotherapy, there had been only slight improvement. Toward the end of the third year, she confided in her therapist that there is one episode in her life which she had never revealed to anyone. As a very young child, she had an urge to touch other children's genitals, and her mother had severely beaten her for it. When she was five years old, she had touched another little girl, and the latter said that she would tell her mother. The patient had asked her not to, fearing a beating, but when the child persisted that she would, the patient pushed her. At that time, they were standing up on top of a tall hill, and the push caused the child to roll down the hill,
205
and she was killed. The patient stated that she had borne the guilt for this child's death throughout her lifetime, and had not been able to expiate it. It was apparent that the patient was interpreting the incident at age five as though it had occurred at a level of greater maturity. It was explained to her that a child of five hardly has a concept of the finality of death, and indeed, is accustomed that in play you fall down "dead" and then get up and walk away. The act of pushing was indeed a hostile act of a five-year-old child, but the death of the other child had to be considered a tragic accident rather than an act of murder. Intellectual insight, however, did nothing to alleviate the patient's guilt, and it was therefore decided to do an age regression under hypnosis. In the trance, the patient re-enacted the scene, and at the part where she was pleading with the child not to tell her mother because her mother would beat her again, the therapist suggested that the mother was acting with excessive severity to the play behavior of a five-year-old child. As the patient approached the pushing scene, the therapist asked her what she was doing. She responded that she was going to push Laura because she was mad at her. The therapist asked whether she expected to play with Laura again the next day. The patient answered, "Sure, I do. She is the only one who wants to play with me." The therapist then pointed out that although she had been angry at Laura for threatening to tell on her, she had only wanted to push her to show her how angry she was, but had not intended to send Laura away forever. The scene was then completed, with repeated clarifications by the therapist, regarding detaching the intention from the consequence that followed the act. The patient's response in subsequent sessions was remarkable, and the insight achieved actually went beyond the therapist's expectation. "I now know that I
206
BRIEF CLINICAL REPORT
really loved Laura. I have never been able to accept her death until now .... It wasn't Laura I was really angry at, but at my mother . . . . It's more like it was my mother at the top of that hill."
Downloaded by [University of Birmingham] at 22:58 11 November 2015
DISCUSSION
In both cases cited, the depressive affect seemed inappropriate in its intensity and duration. The two traumatic events, looked at objectively, appear to warrant some affect, but not the profound guilt for apparent accidental events. Intellectual understanding of the excessive guilt had not alleviated the feelings. Furthermore, the depression indicated that there had been significant internalization of unresolved aggression. The re-living of the trauma in each case allowed the therapist to determine where
the guilt originated and that it was attached to the aggressive and hostile feelings rather than to the act. In the second case, there had also been a displacement of the hostility. The association of hostility with death in the first case, and the displacement of the hostility in the second case, had rendered both refractory to resolution, and had led to inward direction of anger in both cases. Age regression can be an effective method of obtaining a better understanding of a significant episode, and of enabling a re-direction of displaced affect. Nevertheless, it should be noted that in both cases this technique was part of an intensive therapeutic involvement over a long period of time, and it is unlikely that it would be as effective as an isolated therapeutic maneuver.
ISSN: 0002-9157 (Print) 2160-0562 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/ujhy20
Guilt Clarification via Age Regression Abraham J. Twerski M.D. & Ray Naar Ph.D. To cite this article: Abraham J. Twerski M.D. & Ray Naar Ph.D. (1976) Guilt Clarification via Age Regression, American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, 18:3, 204-206, DOI: 10.1080/00029157.1976.10403799 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00029157.1976.10403799
Published online: 20 Sep 2011.
Submit your article to this journal
Article views: 26
View related articles
Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=ujhy20 Download by: [University of Birmingham]
Date: 11 November 2015, At: 22:58
THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF CLINICAL HYPNOSIS
Volume 18, Number 3, January 1976 Printed in U.S.A.
BRIEF CLINICAL REPORT
Guilt Clarification via Age Regression
Downloaded by [University of Birmingham] at 22:58 11 November 2015
ABRAHAM J. TWERSKI, MD. St. Francis General Hospital Pittsburgh, Pa.
Two cases of a somewhat similar character were essentially refractory to treatment until resolved via age regression under hypnosis. The cases are being presented as examples of both the resistance to therapy and the resolution by clarification under abreaction.
and
RAY NAAR, Ph.D. Medical School University of Pittsburgh
gious rites, but her guilt persisted. Repeated efforts to help the patient recognize the incident as a tragic accident for which she should bear no blame were fruitless. Although the patient appeared to understand this very well intellectually, her sense of guilt was unrelieved. We therefore concluded that there was more meaning to the CASE No.1 event than was superficially attached to it. Under hypnosis the patient was regressed M.e., a 32-year-old single female, came into treatment because of depression of to the incident in question. She then about two years' duration and of progres- described how she had been cleaning the sive severity. In addition to insomnia, she house that day, which her mother had made had developed crying spells, and episodes her do as a condition for inviting her of virtually uncontrolled rage of sufficient friends. The younger sister had asked the magnitude to warrant hospitalization. patient to come and play with her, but the Anti-depressant and tranquilizing medica- patient continued her cleaning, whereupon tions were prescribed, and the patient was the sister took a throwrug and threw it down seen in frequent psychotherapeutic ses- the steps at her. The patient then became sions, leading to discharge after two angry and ran after the sister. (At this point months. She was then seen in weekly out- the therapist asked the patient why she was chasing the sister, and she stated that she patient sessions for the next year. The patient described a traumatic inci- wanted to hit her. She was helped to see dent that had occurred when she was 12. that she was indeed angry at the child and She had been playing "tag" with her little wanted to punish her, and that there was sister, four years of age, and the latter was nothing horrible about this feeling.) As she running while holding a collapsed rubber chased the child outside of the house, the balloon between her teeth. During the child ran into the driveway, and the patient chase, the child aspirated the balloon, was yelled, "Stop!" (The therapist asked the asphyxiated, and died in the patient's arms. patient why she did so, and she responded The patient cried while relating this tragic that she did not want the child to run into incident, and stated that she had always felt the driveway, because she might be hurt by guilty of having caused her sister's death. an oncoming car. The therapist seized upon She had confessed this many times and had this point to clarify for the patient that alsought expiation by means of various reli- though she had been angry at the child and 204
Downloaded by [University of Birmingham] at 22:58 11 November 2015
BRIEF CLINICAL REPORT
had wanted to punish her, she had certainly not wanted her seriously hurt or killed.) The patient then continued to describe the scene of the aspiration, in all its gruesome details, and it was evident from her reaction in the trance that she was actually reliving the experience. It appeared that the patient's hostility toward the child which had been linked temporally with the child's death, subsequently had become causally associated, because, as she had in reality felt anger toward the child, she had attributed the death as the consequence of her anger. Under the trance, the patient was helped to distinguish between the two, and recognize that the anger was in no way related to the death; and in fact, at the height of her anger, she had alerted the child to be cautious of the driveway, to protect her from serious harm. Following this session the patient's therapy took a significantly upward course, with rapid marked improvement and discharge from treatment. CASE
No.2
T. I. is a 34-year-old female, who sought therapy because of a chronic depression. Medication had made no impact on the severity of the depression, and in three years of psychotherapy, there had been only slight improvement. Toward the end of the third year, she confided in her therapist that there is one episode in her life which she had never revealed to anyone. As a very young child, she had an urge to touch other children's genitals, and her mother had severely beaten her for it. When she was five years old, she had touched another little girl, and the latter said that she would tell her mother. The patient had asked her not to, fearing a beating, but when the child persisted that she would, the patient pushed her. At that time, they were standing up on top of a tall hill, and the push caused the child to roll down the hill,
205
and she was killed. The patient stated that she had borne the guilt for this child's death throughout her lifetime, and had not been able to expiate it. It was apparent that the patient was interpreting the incident at age five as though it had occurred at a level of greater maturity. It was explained to her that a child of five hardly has a concept of the finality of death, and indeed, is accustomed that in play you fall down "dead" and then get up and walk away. The act of pushing was indeed a hostile act of a five-year-old child, but the death of the other child had to be considered a tragic accident rather than an act of murder. Intellectual insight, however, did nothing to alleviate the patient's guilt, and it was therefore decided to do an age regression under hypnosis. In the trance, the patient re-enacted the scene, and at the part where she was pleading with the child not to tell her mother because her mother would beat her again, the therapist suggested that the mother was acting with excessive severity to the play behavior of a five-year-old child. As the patient approached the pushing scene, the therapist asked her what she was doing. She responded that she was going to push Laura because she was mad at her. The therapist asked whether she expected to play with Laura again the next day. The patient answered, "Sure, I do. She is the only one who wants to play with me." The therapist then pointed out that although she had been angry at Laura for threatening to tell on her, she had only wanted to push her to show her how angry she was, but had not intended to send Laura away forever. The scene was then completed, with repeated clarifications by the therapist, regarding detaching the intention from the consequence that followed the act. The patient's response in subsequent sessions was remarkable, and the insight achieved actually went beyond the therapist's expectation. "I now know that I
206
BRIEF CLINICAL REPORT
really loved Laura. I have never been able to accept her death until now .... It wasn't Laura I was really angry at, but at my mother . . . . It's more like it was my mother at the top of that hill."
Downloaded by [University of Birmingham] at 22:58 11 November 2015
DISCUSSION
In both cases cited, the depressive affect seemed inappropriate in its intensity and duration. The two traumatic events, looked at objectively, appear to warrant some affect, but not the profound guilt for apparent accidental events. Intellectual understanding of the excessive guilt had not alleviated the feelings. Furthermore, the depression indicated that there had been significant internalization of unresolved aggression. The re-living of the trauma in each case allowed the therapist to determine where
the guilt originated and that it was attached to the aggressive and hostile feelings rather than to the act. In the second case, there had also been a displacement of the hostility. The association of hostility with death in the first case, and the displacement of the hostility in the second case, had rendered both refractory to resolution, and had led to inward direction of anger in both cases. Age regression can be an effective method of obtaining a better understanding of a significant episode, and of enabling a re-direction of displaced affect. Nevertheless, it should be noted that in both cases this technique was part of an intensive therapeutic involvement over a long period of time, and it is unlikely that it would be as effective as an isolated therapeutic maneuver.
