People often seek therapy when they are struggling to deal with devastating events in their lives, which can range from bad relationships to death to sexual abuse.

Long Island psychotherapist Richard C. Scheinberg (who has sometimes been referred to as a psychic) believes that past life regression can answer patients' questions in their current lifetime.

During an interview with him, Scheinberg told me that past life regression can help reveal suppressed memories and even past lives.

It was the story regarding past life regression in Long Island's Milieu magazine that intrigued me with the idea of past life regression therapy in the first place.

Licia Avelar, the journalist from the magazine, first recalled one of her first days in kindergarten. Next, Scheinberg helped guide her to another lifetime where she said she was leading a tribe away from a tiger in the jungle. When she was probed to go deeper, Avelar was able to remember losing her lover from that lifetime, but even more shockingly she wrote in the magazine that she recalled the end of that life along with the lessons she learned from it.

As Avelar went deeper into her psyche, she explained after her death all she felt was happy energy and even though she couldn't see anyone she knew she wasn't alone.

After reading the "Holiday Spirit" issue of Milieu I knew I had to talk to Scheinberg myself.

I was apprehensive waiting for him in his office, but after he greated me with a warm smile and light handshake, I felt at ease.

Scheinberg made it clear to me that he’s not a psychic like TV star John Edward; he’s a psychotherapist and that’s quite different because he helps people experience their memories for themselves, in a profound way that feels very real, employing all five senses.

Everyone has psychic abilities to some degree, he believes.

“It’s a very natural and safe thing to do,” he said to me, referring to the past life regression therapy. “It’s clinical work for psychotherapy, insight and understanding. It’s not for entertainment.”

Scheinberg is the coach and the person has the free will to decide how far he or she wants to go into the past life regression, or what he calls the "adventure."

Successful PLR sessions are achieved through hypnotism, relaxation and trust.

Hypnotism is widely misunderstood from it use in magic shows, but Scheinberg insists that individuals remain in control and recall everything from their experience while hypnotized.

He relaxes people through breathing exercises and a guided meditation, which leads to muscle relaxation and puts the mind at ease.

In order for a PLR session to be as successful as possible, one must trust him—that’s why Scheinberg likes to meet people once or twice before they allow themselves to feel hypnotized.

The psychotherapist cited a patient who was suffering migraines that could not be medically explained. She wanted to figure out if something had happened in a past life to cause the pain, and during her adventure she realized she had been a Roman soldier who was stabbed in the eye during battle around 600 B.C.

A woman who had a stillborn was able to see her son while hypnotized, though he was in a different form than an infant. She found out that he was still with her.

“Energy can’t be created or destroyed, it only takes another form,” Scheinberg said.

When someone dies, his or her soul continues, he says. Love is always all around us and we’re never alone, Scheinberg believes.

Once the PLR session is over, the therapist talks to the client about the experience and what lessons from the past life can be applied to this life.

PLR helps people understand why the way they feel and how to make peace with those emotions and most of the time people go on to live happier and more peaceful lives.

Since I’ve only met Scheinberg once, he advised I meet with him one more time to ensure a successful past life regression therapy in the future.

Medicine