This idea for this blog post has been percolating for weeks. Inspired by direct clinical transpersonal Internal Family Systems (IFS) Therapy-related experience, and recent deep dives into traditional shamanism. Glad to finally get around to writing it.
A provocative title, eh? Intentional. Bare/bear with me…(take your grammatical pick there).
So you’ve probably heard the saying: "Even God can’t change the past,” often attributed to Agathon, or anonymous. However you interpret this doesn’t really matter. I’m not quibbling with the literal God concept per se, if only because I don’t wish to spur on an ontological debate, or come across as claiming to know the will of God.
If only!
you can heal your life
I am however using this idea in part, firstly, as something of a sensational and sentimental homage to the late mother of self-help, Louise Hay, who titled her best known book “You Can Heal Your Life.” Long before ‘The Secret,” authored by an accomplished an infomercial producer, muddied the waters with an omission-filled, inchoate version of ancient esoteric spiritual principles for western masses hungry for Divine intervention while sitting on the couch, Louise Hay had pretty much written the book on healing thyself and manifesting already. So did others steeped in deep esoteric and mystery school traditions before her, to be fair.
Louise didn’t claim to be able to change the past, or be a spokesperson for God (People like Billy Graham, Jerry Falwell and Benny Hinn had the market cornered anyway, so why compete?). But what she did with/about the horrors of her personal past was phenomenal. And she sure found an audience. And with this, laid the foundation for an unintentional empire (Hay House Publishing) built on her subjective experience of understanding that her cancer diagnosis, in her view, was root-cause attributable to repressed emotions carried in the body, resulting from early childhood sexual abuse.
She wasn’t the first to propose this mond-body connection, of course. It’s a given in Ancient Chinese Medicine (TCM). And even Freud famously said:
“Unexpressed emotions will never die. They will come alive later in even uglier ways.”
Relatedly, like other mind-body pioneers before him, the late Dr. John E. Sarno, originator of the psychosomatic pain condition he named TMS, and author of ‘Healing Back Pain,’ and ‘The Divided Mind,’ believed that over 95% of all back pain was the result of repressed (unacknowledged/denied/stuffed or, in IFS terms ‘exiled’) emotion. He said in the documentary about his life’s work:
“All of this because of one simple idea: the fact that the mind and the body are intimately connected. That’s the whole story.”
In any case, Louise Hay was a proponent of the power of the spoken word through journaling and a kind of self-led narrative therapy. Through assisting others in a quasi counseling role as a metaphysical minister, seeing similar patterns as her own in so many, she ultimately landed on the power of the affirmation (autosuggestion) as her main tool. In fact, she claimed till her dying day to have cured her cancer solely through the power of intention, practice and repetition of well-crafted daily self-love, acceptance, healthy mind and body, and forgiveness-based affirmations.
In other words, she put “Ask, Believe, Receive” to the ultimate test. She proved it to herself and many others over many decades of metaphysical ministry, authorship, and walking the talk. And if entirely true about her cancer, I’d call it miraculous in a sense, definitely. She obviously understood how to harness God Consciousness/Divine Intelligence to the degree that she didn’t have to change the past to heal. She just committed herself to the belief that it was possible to neutralize the negative, potentially deadly effects of the past to the point of permanent cancer remission, all from the standpoint of the future-present. Again, if entirely true, miraculous.
Yet, even Jesus said:
“Greater works than these will you do”
Whose to argue?
Dr. Candace Pert, M.D., author of Molecules of Emotion said:
“The body is the subconscious mind.”
Louise Hay obviously believed this to the core of her being. And while I love the idea of affirmations/autosuggestion for healing, and I know how effective they can be in moving the needle in the right direction of a healthy mind, body and spirit, to have accomplished what she did with her terminal (or terminal appearing) health condition is next level. To accomplish things of this magnitude using the power of the mind-based positivity and repetition alone requires a near 24-7 applied mind-state and lifestyle shift that most of us lack the time, energy, will, or whatever to be able to commit to.
For many, the weight and power of unhealed trauma, inner conflicts/limiting beliefs, generational burdens and energetic blockages are simply too much for even the most potent and consistently applied affirmations on constant repeat.
energy stuck or flowinG
The power of the spoken word / the ancient art of invocation (in other words, speaking things into existence/reality) goes way back, arguably to creation itself. (“In the beginning was the word…”). And the spoken word via affirmations/autosuggestion are the basis my own energy psychology-based Subconscious Heal and Release® approach. This method provides something of a ‘hack’ in the way it precisely identifies the exact causes of our misalignments with our target goal, and offers a quick n’ dirty (and safe) way to dissolve the ‘energetic signatures’ at the root, getting us into a state of alignment with our goals—be they health, prosperity, life purpose, or virtually anything else that’s in our ‘highest and best good.’
Does this actually change the past? No. It uses the wisdom of the body (muscle testing by proxy + my own higher guidance (claricognizance/clairsentience) to source and clear the aforementioned markers of overwhelming life experiences and/or generational burdens that, from the energy psychology perspective, either creates or exacerbate subconscious- level limiting beliefs and trapped emotional energies which lead to/exacerbate states of mindbody misalignment and/or dis-ease.
Actually change the past?
So, if not even God can change the past, how can we? And what does change the past really even mean?
Here’s where a little leap of faith ability/willingness comes in handy. The first of which requires consideration of the quantum mechanical view of linear time as illusion. Meaning past/present/future not even being a thing in the way we’ve been conditioned to perceive it. In short, in quantum terms, there’s only now. All is happening now. But…maybe multiple now’s? How exactly this squares with multidimensionality and parallel universes and the multiverse theory (which quantum models seem to strongly support), I don’t know. And if past lives exist, then are they really then more simultaneous other-present lives? Beyond my pay grade.
Suffice to say, experientially, in certain realms, at certain times, under the right conditions, we can all experience this sense of only-now-ness, or timelessness. This I know. So do many dedicated meditators, shamans, mystics, saints, sages, psychedelic explorers…and some of my IFS clients especially as of late.
Internal Family Systems (IFS) as Shamanic-Based Therapy
Shamanic traditions and practices offer a corollary in shamanic journeying—to the lower, middle and upper worlds—that traditional shamans experience in the imaginal, timeless inner realm.
Imaginal, but as real as anything.
To illustrate, and as tie-in to IFS, noted trainer and author of Transcending Trauma: Healing Complex PTSD with Internal Family Systems, Dr. Frank Anderson, says:
“Imagination is a very powerful neuroplastic agent. The work we do in IFS—which is very much imaginary—absolutely has neurophysiological effects on the brain and body. Its a beautiful intersection between psychotherapy and neuroscience. And we have more evidence to show the ways they’re linked together.”
So now into the heart of this ‘change the past’ idea.
In IFS, there’s the concept of a do-over. When I first came across it, I didn’t give it special credence. But like so many things in and about this beautiful and ever-evolving model, it takes time and experience to grasp it all. I’ve been practicing IFS on/off for about 15 years and I’m still surprised and humbled by its power, efficacy and scope on the regular.
In essence, there are times doing IFS where, when working with a young, vulnerable part—getting to know it, inviting it to have us feel some of the extreme beliefs and emotions its been carrying— that we invite the part to show us a scene or memory from the past for our Self to witness. A scene or memory that helps us better understand the part, what ‘exiled’ it, and what created the burdens (wounds and extreme beliefs) this part of us carries.
The witnessing (Self to part) is powerful enough alone. Depending on the events of the scene/memory itself, we might also ask the part if it would like us (The Self) to intervene in some way—to advocate, to speak on behalf of/speak up for, or otherwise put a stop the the hurtful or frightful action within the seven/memory. Even initiate and create an entirely different outcome.
This is the aforementioned “do-over.”
Sometimes, the part does not wish for this, doesn’t believe it possible, would help, or change anything. By definition, our child parts are frozen in time at a particular age. So sometimes to them, what happened happened. It’s over. They’re just sitting there, alone, stuck holding the bag, so to speak. They have no reason to believe anything can or will change about it. Occasionally, there’s even a palpable distrust on the part’s part (yup) that’s sometimes expressed as some version of “Why now? Where were YOU then, when I needed the help??” Which is understandable. In which case, from Self, we empathize, even apologize to the part for being unaware and absent, and reiterate the offer of intervening and helping the part now.
But, when the young part has enough trust in the Self, feels open, or perhaps just feels desperate for intervention and advocacy, then the do-over can immediately commence.
Whether or not the part understands that this can and does actually rewrite/rewire the event and essentially transmute the negative/painful/traumatic effects, their willingness is what opens the door for the Self to advocate or intervene in the way was most needed then and change the entire event i.e. change the past. Once this happens, we check in on how the part experienced it, what it feels and believes now, and what other effects this had on the young part.
The effects, I will tell you, are often fucking profound. The part often completely transforms into who or what it was always meant to be/become right there as a result.
This reminds me of a Dr. Joe Dispenza saying:
“Trauma without the negative charge equals wisdom.”
“there’s No Such Thing as The Past”
Sight detour…
This line is something of a Jungian mantra. Not that Carl Jung ever said it that I know of, but modern Jungian writers and analysts say it. From this perspective, the past is always alive within us. Were always living it out, projecting it from our unconscious, enacting and re-enacting. And Jung was of course an absolute pioneer of unconscious and collective consciousness exploration, and quite familiar with the inner worlds the shamans transverse.
But Jung didn’t recognize or conceive of ‘parts’ of recognize a Self per se. He therefore didn’t directly work with them in the way we do in IFS. Jung’s complexes and archetypes were in some sense versions of what we call parts, but not living, fully-formed, transformable subpersonalities within us. Although toward the end, as revealed in The Red Book, he had quite a relationship with an wise inner elder being who identified himself as Philemon, who in IFS terms would be probably considered an Inner Spirit Helper (ISH). Not a part in the conventional IFS sense, but an accessible, internal(ized) guide, akin to an elder, that lives within, or in our ‘field,’ the way our parts can and do.
Amway, using sing active imagination, Jung worked closely with the various elements of his/the psyche, but presumably, never had the experience of unburdening or initiating a ‘do over” for any element/complex/archetype (part), and therefore like most Jungians, would be inclined to see the (hurts of) the past as repeating in the present until the unconscious is amplified, made more and more conscious, and essentially outgrown or somehow magically otherwise transformed.
Jung experimented with other adjunctive ways of creatively externally embodying and assisting in this. Presumably again, because he didn’t see and treat our complexes/archetypes/neurosis/personas as [manifestations of] parts as we do in multiplicity-based IFS.
‘May The Schwartz Be With You’
By contrast, I’ve heard Dr. Richard Schwartz, creator of IFS, say that through IFS we can absolutely change the past. The first few times, I understood what he was meaning, but that’s where it ended. It wasn’t until I began deep-diving shamanism—not just the shamanic elements of IFS (the unburdening ritual to the elements)— but the true roots, history and methods of ancient shamanism, and doing some trainings and shamanic journeys that I began to understand the implications.
It also coincided (un-coincidentally) with the arc of my post-DNOTS/psychic dismemberment (itself shamanic)/spiritual awakening-based ongoing initiation odyssey, and the shamanistic tone that began emerging through this personal work.
To elaborate, in addition to my being visited by the consciousnesses of various ascended masters, spirit guides, ministering angels, multidimensional [cosmic culture] soul family guides, saints, sages, mystics, avatars and others from time immemorial coming in to work with me in my personal meditations, suddenly, the energies of ancient shamans (South American, Siberian and European) have started to appear as my hosts/guides, deepening my understanding of things like the ephemerality of past/present/future, and the absolute truth/reality that there is no death but of the body.
All of this also greatly informs my Spiritual for Extraordinary Experience (S.E.E.) work for experiencers of the whole range of non-ordinary phenomenon.
As this has gone on, my transpersonal IFS work with my spiritually-inclined clients (and even some not so much) has gone deeper, and gotten wilder. Still safe, and incredibly healing, but just wilder. More often now spirit guides, ancestors, deceased loved ones, shamanic animals and elementals from the nature kingdom are entering the fold. My clients imaginal realm experience is taking on more and more of the qualities of this quantum timelessness experience. Its also mor4e common now to connecting to Inner Spirit Helpers (ISH) that have a fondness for imparting profound pearls of wisdom and assisting the work in subtle ways.
My view is, as long as it’s of the highest Light and reflective of Absolute Truth, we’ll take the help from anyone who desires to provide it.
And young, exiled parts, often with the assistance of the spiritual realm, are welcoming the “do-over” offer. As a result, these young parts come alive before our very eyes with a new, profound trust in the Self, a readiness to unload their burdens, leave the “past,” come into “the present” (where the Self resides) and invite in new qualities and new roles in the system.
The parts that are their protectors are more often than not surprised and pleased by the effects of the “do-over,” enabling them to consider their place in time, an unburdening of their old roles, and an update in what they do for the Self.
Verdict?
So. Can we change the past?
Whether God can, can’t, would or wouldn’t anyway, and if there’s truly no such thing as the past as some Junginans like to say, or no such thing as the past because there’s only the eternal now as ancient spiritual mystery schools and modern quantum models demonstrates, hell if I know. You tell me.
All I know is that in the Therapy Outside the Box transpersonal-imaginal-shamanic IFS space, I see young, vulnerable parts reaping the benefits of ‘do-overs’ in past events that brought great harm and saddled these young parts with extreme beliefs and emotions. And that ‘do-over-ing’ transforms the meaning and effects of the event itself for that part, often with the support and direct assistance of non-material forms in/of the hereafter/beyond the veil.
And hey, if the body (i.e. the subconscious mind) truly doesn’t know the difference between imagining being at the beach under hot sun and literally being there—if it responds physiologically just the same (it does), then I guess it’s all good, as the kids say.
If YOU are looking for a Nashville Therapist, or a Therapist in Franklin, TN and would be interested in ‘changing the past’ for some part of you, I’d LOVE to help. Back here in linear time though, I’m on a waitlist for new clients. But if Divine Timing prevails, perhaps by the time I could get you onboard, it would be perfect.
Feel free to reach out here, or contact me directly @ 615.430.2778 with questions or to get on my wait list.
Some services also available via Telehealth/Secure Video the world over (Time zone reconciliation allowing).
Peace, Love, and Imaginal Spaces,
Chris Hancock, LCSW, ACMHP
Franklin, TN