Age Regression in Hypnosis: A Powerful Tool To Be Used with Caution
Age regression in hypnosis is a technique used to help individuals access earlier stages of their life, often in an attempt to uncover unresolved issues, heal emotional wounds, or understand the origins of current problems. When used appropriately, age regression can be a transformative and healing experience. However, it is also a highly sensitive and complex tool that must be handled with the utmost care, expertise, and ethical responsibility.
What Is Age Regression?
Age regression involves guiding a person back to a younger version of themselves in hypnosis or in the psychotherapy. This may include revisiting childhood experiences, adolescent years, or even pre-verbal memory states. The goal is not only to remember but also to emotionally process and reinterpret past events in a therapeutic way.
Common reasons for using age regression include:
- Resolving childhood trauma or neglect
- Reframing early emotional experiences
- Working through anxiety rooted in the past
- Supporting inner child work or attachment healing
The Risk of False Memories
One of the most serious concerns in using age regression is the potential creation of false memories. Under hypnosis, individuals are highly suggestible, and if questions are leading or the environment is not carefully managed, a client may inadvertently fabricate memories. These imagined experiences can feel just as real as true memories, leading to confusion, distress, or even false accusations involving others.
Because of this, only practitioners with rigorous training in psychology, trauma, and memory theory should attempt age regression techniques. Misuse can have profound psychological consequences for the individual involved.
Risk of Re-Traumatization
Another significant risk with age regression is re-traumatization. If the process is not handled gently, the client may relive traumatic experiences with the same emotional intensity they originally felt — sometimes with even greater distress. For this reason, it is essential that therapists remove or neutralize the emotional charge from the event before encouraging any direct exploration.
A common and safer method involves the timeline approach, where the client visualises a personal timeline and moves through it under guidance. Before “floating down” into a specific memory, the emotion is taken out of the situation — often by viewing it from a dissociated perspective or using grounding and resourcing techniques.
Safer Alternatives: Age Progression and Protective Imagery
In many cases, age progression — imagining the self in the future with more skills, confidence, or insight — can be more empowering and less risky than age regression. It supports the client in building positive expectation and resilience.
When age regression is necessary, it is best combined with supportive visualisation techniques, such as:
- Inviting the “older, wiser self” into the regression process to provide guidance and reassurance
- Using a “compassionate friend” figure who acts as a protector or mentor for the younger self
These techniques help create emotional safety and allow the client to access and process difficult memories with reduced psychological risk.
Always Work with a Trained Professional
Given the risks involved — including false memory creation and re-traumatization — age regression should only be used by practitioners with specialist training in trauma and hypnosis, such as chartered psychologists or registered psychotherapists. A responsible clinician will assess whether this method is appropriate and ensure that the process is carried out with care and sensitivity.
One such experienced practitioner is David Kraft, PhD, a UKCP-registered psychotherapist with extensive training in hypnosis and trauma work. He is the former President of the Section of Hypnosis and Psychosomatic Medicine at the Royal Society of Medicine and is highly regarded for his ethical, client-centred approach.
Contact Information
Dr David Kraft PhD
Former President, Section of Hypnosis & Psychosomatic Medicine, Royal Society of Medicine
Registered UKCP Psychotherapist
Harley Street Practice:
10 Harley Street
London
W1G 9PF
UK
Enfield Practice:
Flat 70, Cosmopolitan Court
67 Main Avenue
Enfield
Middlesex
EN1 1GD
📞 General Enquiries: 0207 467 8564
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