What do you think?
Rate this book
Repetition: Past Lives, Life, and Rebirth
This fascinating book by Doris Eliana Cohen, Ph.D., was written to help us create a shift in our own consciousness as well as that of humanity. In order to heal from traumas, we unknowingly repeat the stories of our lives again and again, reliving them in different scenarios in this life as well as in other lifetimes. This repetition of our behavior patterns is neither neurotic nor pathological. It is absolutely necessary, because painful though it may be, repetition offers us multiple opportunities for facing our issues, making new choices, and healing ourselves at last.
All of us have a God-given gift of free choice, although we may be unaware of it at times. Only when we acknowledge and take full responsibility for the choices we’ve made in our current and past lives can we begin to change our stories and end the suffering we’ve been causing ourselves.
This material is based on Doris’s 30 years of clinical experience with patients, using traditional therapy techniques combined with past-life regression therapy. It is guided and inspired by her communication with Guides and Angels of the Light, who have accompanied her for many years. Within these pages, Doris presents the 7 Steps of Rebirth, which provide a profound yet swift and simple route to change our lives and heal ourselves. Her 4 Steps of Joy offer a powerful tool for accessing the Light swiftly and easily. Remembering the events of our past lives provides a rich and fascinating tapestry of our journey, resulting in the humbling and uplifting realization that our souls are on a grand adventure. In owning our stories, we move fromseeing ourselves as victims of life to empowering ourselves as co-creators of our destiny.
- GenresNonfiction
234 pages, Hardcover
First published November 1, 2008
47 people are currently reading
118 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
February 11, 2018
Can be read once by folks who are interested in understanding behavioural patterns and roots behind the same from psychological point of view. Some of them as the book promotes; are having roots in past lives. All concepts are validated by real life examples.
Not anything additional in this if one has already read 1-2 books by Brian Weiss. Same points and almost similar examples.
Standing to its name author has redundantly repeated same points multiple times.
Not anything additional in this if one has already read 1-2 books by Brian Weiss. Same points and almost similar examples.
Standing to its name author has redundantly repeated same points multiple times.
did-not-finish
January 8, 2019I had this book on my Amazon wish list before it was even released. I was really looking forward to reading it. Unfortunately, Repetition did not live up to my high expectations.
I have read many books on reincarnation and past life regression therapy. The stories are usually intriguing. Here, though, I was rather bored. I'm not sure why. Perhaps I just couldn't identify with any of the anecdotes.
My main issue, however, was with the idea of repetition and Cohen's ideas of how to "overcome" it, which seem (to me, anyway) like an attempt to override the inherent wisdom of our soul. If reincarnation is true, then repetition may indeed be a factor. However, Cohen seems to view it as a bad thing, a cycle that must be broken out of. How are we supposed to do this? By remembering a past trauma and experiencing the associated "emotional charge". Only then, she claims, can we break free of the cycle of repetition. To me, this makes little sense and seems akin to re-traumatizing ourselves. Our minds can suppress events in this life that may be harmful for us to remember; our souls may do the same thing with regards to past lives. Trying to override that mechanism for a quick fix seems arrogant at best, and potentially dangerous at worst. Repetition, as painful and monotonous as it may seem, sounds like a much gentler way of dealing with what our souls have chosen to deal with. Do we cure PTSD patients by throwing them back onto the battlefield so they can re-experience the "emotional charge" that hurt them in the first place? Of course not. So why should we attempt to do something similar when it comes to past lives? (Note that I'm not saying that we shouldn't remember things at all. Past life regression therapy depends on remembering. However, sometimes simply knowing what happened is enough; there may not be a need to experience the intense emotions and potentially compound the original trauma.)
I've been hesitating to write this review because I never actually finished the book. I keep picking it up, but end up putting it back down. There may be some value in writing your life story and then changing it (one of the exercises in the book), but I haven't tried it. I was too put off by some of the author's statements (interpretations passed off as facts) and the whole "let's re-traumatize ourselves" message to really read the rest of the book in depth.
When it comes to past life regression therapy, I don't know if Cohen really needed to reinvent the wheel (or put her own spin on it... no pun intended). I think Dr. Brian Weiss's books do a much better job of exploring these themes and giving people an idea of the power of regression therapy.
Overall, I would not recommend this book. Instead, I would suggest any of the books by Dr. Brian Weiss, including Many Lives, Many Masters, or Healing Your Past Lives by Roger Woolger.
I have read many books on reincarnation and past life regression therapy. The stories are usually intriguing. Here, though, I was rather bored. I'm not sure why. Perhaps I just couldn't identify with any of the anecdotes.
My main issue, however, was with the idea of repetition and Cohen's ideas of how to "overcome" it, which seem (to me, anyway) like an attempt to override the inherent wisdom of our soul. If reincarnation is true, then repetition may indeed be a factor. However, Cohen seems to view it as a bad thing, a cycle that must be broken out of. How are we supposed to do this? By remembering a past trauma and experiencing the associated "emotional charge". Only then, she claims, can we break free of the cycle of repetition. To me, this makes little sense and seems akin to re-traumatizing ourselves. Our minds can suppress events in this life that may be harmful for us to remember; our souls may do the same thing with regards to past lives. Trying to override that mechanism for a quick fix seems arrogant at best, and potentially dangerous at worst. Repetition, as painful and monotonous as it may seem, sounds like a much gentler way of dealing with what our souls have chosen to deal with. Do we cure PTSD patients by throwing them back onto the battlefield so they can re-experience the "emotional charge" that hurt them in the first place? Of course not. So why should we attempt to do something similar when it comes to past lives? (Note that I'm not saying that we shouldn't remember things at all. Past life regression therapy depends on remembering. However, sometimes simply knowing what happened is enough; there may not be a need to experience the intense emotions and potentially compound the original trauma.)
I've been hesitating to write this review because I never actually finished the book. I keep picking it up, but end up putting it back down. There may be some value in writing your life story and then changing it (one of the exercises in the book), but I haven't tried it. I was too put off by some of the author's statements (interpretations passed off as facts) and the whole "let's re-traumatize ourselves" message to really read the rest of the book in depth.
When it comes to past life regression therapy, I don't know if Cohen really needed to reinvent the wheel (or put her own spin on it... no pun intended). I think Dr. Brian Weiss's books do a much better job of exploring these themes and giving people an idea of the power of regression therapy.
Overall, I would not recommend this book. Instead, I would suggest any of the books by Dr. Brian Weiss, including Many Lives, Many Masters, or Healing Your Past Lives by Roger Woolger.
September 13, 2011
Not just about past lives (thank goodness), but draws attention to how we repeat certain patterns (not necessarily good ones) in our lives for the purpose of finally learning our lessons. When we do this, we evolve as humans and spiritual beings. It was an eye-opener for me.
September 21, 2024
Loved this book. This book will change your life perspective.
May 27, 2018
My MD/PCP told me to get my hands on this book. She had asked about any workplace stress and I told her it was odd that a highly specific situation had re-occured in this job, like my previous job. The person who hired me/brought me in was leaving and it was just a perception, but caused panic nonetheless, I didn't necessarily think the people I'd be left working with like me or would have chosen me (not sure I felt psychologically safe). It's even more strangely specific, but to stick to reviewing the book...:
The basic premise of the book--that our souls may choose to experience similar situations over and over in order to complete the learning from them or to complete the healing needed, and that this may show up in any aspect of our lives--reminds me of the idea of fractals in our life stories that I encountered through Dawn Clark's work. The book basically gives four tools for completing the learning/healing: 7 steps of rebirth; specific process for writing your story; a less explicit process for rewriting your story; 4 steps of joy. Also like Dawn Clark's work, Cohen seems to say that shifting your own consciousness in this way will improve the lives of your family and other people, too, which seems intuitively true.
The example anecdotes do go on quite a bit; who knows, maybe stories I found boring are stories other readers will need, but this aspect, plus the references to God as well as the generalized "explanations" she gives for same-sex attraction did strike me as things that would dilute enjoyment of the book for some people (heck, even for me, like: "Was that necessary? Couldn't this book be perfectly fine without those?"). I would have knocked it down to 3 stars for this reason, however I feel it might be a life-changing book for which I normally give 5 stars.
I can only say it *might* be life-changing because I haven't done all the work yet (the writing is designed to take a long time). I did work with a shaman-type healer I have known for 12+ years and found two past lives where being left somewhere where the leaver thought I was safe had catastrophic consequences for me and all but one of my young children over those lifetimes. Internalizing the "medicine" of this discovery helped defray the feeling of PANIC this time when my co-worker/hirer left. After all, my "children" are college-aged, and people at this current job have known and been kind to them for over a decade. I'm confident these "repetitions" are gentler already in this lifetime. I look forward to seeing how doing the work can further improve life quality.
The basic premise of the book--that our souls may choose to experience similar situations over and over in order to complete the learning from them or to complete the healing needed, and that this may show up in any aspect of our lives--reminds me of the idea of fractals in our life stories that I encountered through Dawn Clark's work. The book basically gives four tools for completing the learning/healing: 7 steps of rebirth; specific process for writing your story; a less explicit process for rewriting your story; 4 steps of joy. Also like Dawn Clark's work, Cohen seems to say that shifting your own consciousness in this way will improve the lives of your family and other people, too, which seems intuitively true.
The example anecdotes do go on quite a bit; who knows, maybe stories I found boring are stories other readers will need, but this aspect, plus the references to God as well as the generalized "explanations" she gives for same-sex attraction did strike me as things that would dilute enjoyment of the book for some people (heck, even for me, like: "Was that necessary? Couldn't this book be perfectly fine without those?"). I would have knocked it down to 3 stars for this reason, however I feel it might be a life-changing book for which I normally give 5 stars.
I can only say it *might* be life-changing because I haven't done all the work yet (the writing is designed to take a long time). I did work with a shaman-type healer I have known for 12+ years and found two past lives where being left somewhere where the leaver thought I was safe had catastrophic consequences for me and all but one of my young children over those lifetimes. Internalizing the "medicine" of this discovery helped defray the feeling of PANIC this time when my co-worker/hirer left. After all, my "children" are college-aged, and people at this current job have known and been kind to them for over a decade. I'm confident these "repetitions" are gentler already in this lifetime. I look forward to seeing how doing the work can further improve life quality.
August 19, 2020
The past can heal the present
Well written, engaging lessons of how to live a happier, ZESTIER, fulfilling life. When you heal yourself you heal those around you, when you heal those around you, you heal yourself.
Well written, engaging lessons of how to live a happier, ZESTIER, fulfilling life. When you heal yourself you heal those around you, when you heal those around you, you heal yourself.
June 21, 2013
This book give you great tools for healing. Highly recommend for anyone ready to do the work.
April 21, 2014
Must read.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews