William Baldwin writes for the novice as well as for experts in the field of hypnosis. His technique for releasing blocks and "dark" energy is greatly enhanced with actual accounts from clients in his spiritual work. As a hypnotherapist, I recommend this book to anyone in the field of hypnosis and related modalities. Thank you Dr. Baldwin for your research and thoughtful writing.

I am not going to try to add more details about what's in the book because the previous review covered it all. I can honestly say that I have learned more from this one book than any other book I have ever read. I have read so very many books on hypnosis, past life regressions, spirituality... you name it, I've read it. What makes this such a must-read is not it's significant background information (which it has), nor is it the specific examples of exactly what to say given different situations (these are invaluable - I wish I had read this book the first time I was suddenly confronted with an "attachment" because my skeptic self very much freaked!), but it's the many, many examples provided. So many! Not only did I discover a whole new world of knowledge but I didn't want to stop reading as there were so many stories. Every therapist needs to read this book. It is a masterpiece.

Reviewed by Roger Woolger, Ph.D.

William Baldwin's eagerly awaited book, Spirit Releasement Therapy, A Technique Manual is a brilliant, daring tour de force whose appearance I am delighted to celebrate. Dr. Baldwin has integrated an enormous range of techniques and much accumulated wisdom gleaned from past life therapy, spirit possession syndrome, soul retrieval, inner child work, multiple personality disorder (MPD), or dissociative identity disorder (DID), and traditional psychotherapy.

In the Introduction he offers a very useful and concise overview of spirit possession and its treatment throughout history. In section two, Regression Therapy, he presents an up-to-date survey of the principles and techniques currently used in present life and past life regression therapy by clinicians working in the field. Dr. Baldwin outlines induction techniques, ways of working though the life, remembered traumatic events, the death transition and many other techniques, and includes useful examples of how to apply them.

Section three, Recovery of Soul-mind Fragmentation, though relatively short, is in many ways the pivotal section of the book, theoretically speaking. Dr. Baldwin outlines and integrates the shamanic concept of "soul loss" in reaction to trauma with psychiatric views of personality splitting and the kind of dissociation to be found in extremis in MPD (DID). The key concept here is the idea of subpersonalities or fragmentary souls. This notion figured quite prominently in the early psychiatric work of Jung, Janet and Assagioli, and later came to form the basis of those techniques for the psychotherapeutic integration of the personality developed by Psychosynthesis, Jungian analytic psychology, psychodrama, Gestalt therapy, Voice Dialogue and, most recently, Inner Child work.

Section four, Spirit Releasement Therapy, is the longest of the book. It contains the highly original battery of techniques developed by Dr. William Baldwin during years of research and therapeutic practice. Because of its extraordinary comprehensiveness and mass of critical detail, will surely stand as a major reference source for years to come. Dr. Baldwin describes and illustrates therapeutic strategies for working with a huge range of possessing entities or psycho-spiritual formations. Most importantly, he provides specific lines of inquiry that enable the therapist to make a differential diagnosis in difficult cases (e.g. sub and alter personalities vs. human spirits, dark force entities, and those from "far away" that might be designated aliens or extraterrestrials).

This highly important breakdown of these confusing phenomena into three orders or types of possession necessarily implies a different metaphysical and metapsychological status for different possessing entities. There are different strategies for releasing a human entity and a demonic entity, or working with a multiple personality alter, for example. It is precisely such crystal clear differentiation between the different orders and types of attachment, along with an abundance of clearly illustrated case examples that makes this section so valuable and quite unique.

The notion of attributing numerous varieties of psychopathology and physical conditions to the intrusion of non-resident spirits or entities is one that has been assiduously resisted and ridiculed by main stream psychologists and psychiatrists for most of the century. If the straight psychological world scoffs at past lives and reincarnation it is openly contemptuous about practices that go by the name of exorcism, depossession, or spirit releasement therapy (Baldwin's own user friendly coinage). After all, they would say, haven't the great advances in psychoanalysis and the grounding of psychological research in empiricism and scientific method come about precisely because the old superstitions about ghosts, witchcraft and magic have total discredited?

Apparently not. Much of the populace at large still continues to believe in "the presence of other worlds" (to borrow a phrase from Swedenborg) while the open antagonism of the split between religion, channeling, esoteric healing, etc. (the perspective of spirit) and psychology (the perspective of soul or psyche) refuses to go away. The very fact that Dr. Baldwin does not publish separate books on past life therapy and spirit releasement therapy is of crucial significance in and of itself. And secondly he implicitly recognized that regression therapy and spirit releasement therapy complement, in the sense of complete each other. They are part of a greater endeavor, as Dr. Baldwin himself puts it:

The purpose of regression therapy is to heal the scars of the soul. Nothing is left out, no human experience is denied; the aim is uncovering the truth. No amount of narrowly defined professional training, no restrictive religious training, no arbitrary limits of any kind can be allowed to interfere with the exploration of the spiritual reality (p.38).

This long overdue reintegration of the spiritualist/shamanic perspective back into psychotherapy and spiritual healing is, I believe, the next and essential stage in the development of psychology, a kind of return to the source. And right at the vanguard of this reunion we have William Baldwin's remarkable book. It is a milestone we will all look back to. I predict it will be referred to and argued about for years.

I found "You Have Been Here Before" in a used book shop, while on a weekend trip... Upon returning home I couldn't put the book down! Having read almost the entire thing in one sitting, I must say it was an enjoyable piece of literature. I have read many books on past lives, but this one was different. The author's focus is on how events in our past lives influence our behaviors (even mental health!) in THIS lifetime. It was fascinating to learn of real cases of people being overly affected by traumas in an entirely other lifetime... and thouroughly different from the usual focus of books on reincarnation.

There isn't much exploration of the afterlife, but only of the effects of past events on our present lifetimes. That is what makes this book unique... to view the metaphysical world through its influence of the world of psychology.

Dr. Fiore's writing style is very casual, making the reader feel as if she is TELLING the stories, and logically arranged. She even renders the transcripts of her hypnotic regression sessions easy to follow... that's no small feat, as all to often such material can leave a reader confused. In all, it is not a challenging book, but one that is easily understood, yet thought- provoking.

The cases were obviously well researched, seeing as she personally obtained the material from her patients... and verified it through the effects upon their lives and mental states. Therefore, there is no need to bog down the readers with tireless historical data, as some authors do, since the focus is on verification through the psychological effects on her patient.

Dr. Fiore is a psychologist trained in traditional treatment methods and later in hypnosis. She began to use hypnosis to treat clients and one day she asked a client to go back in time to the origin of his crippling sexual problems. To her surprise, the client jumped back into a life as a seventeenth century priest. The patient and Dr. Fiore explored this lifetime, released the sexual issues and the patient made a startling recovery that traditional therapy had not given him. Dr. Fiore does not try to disprove or prove the theory of reincarnation in this book. She merely tells the fascinating stories of her patients and their recovery using past life therapy.

This was a wonderful book. If you are unsure of reincarnation and are looking to learn more go with this book. There are real life accounts of Ediths patients in dialog form. Easy to read and get into. This book made me a firm believer. Even if you don't believe in reincarnation is a great book to read to gain insight in to these beliefs.

Have you ever known someone who was so self-destructive that you couldn't imagine how he/she would choose those choices? This book provides a possible explanation.

If you have never had a paranormal experience (specifically ghosts, spirits), you may not find this credible. But, if you have had one of those odd experiences such as seeing a ghost, being touched when someone is not there, or just having that creepy feeling of someone watching you, then this book makes the next leap in those experiences.

What if that ghost/spirit liked you enough to hang out with you forever? Well, this book provides a method to get rid of entities that just "love you to death".

Dr. Fiore tells you how she handles the "Unquiet Dead" in her clinical setting.

This book is a great read and I would highly recommend that you also read the book, "Remote Depossession" by Dr. Irene Hickman.

This will open up a whole new world of entities! This book is a jewel! Everything is explained and makes so much sense about entity attachment! You will be convinced that Dr. Fiore is right. You can help your clients by doing depossessions. A must read for the serious psychic!

This book was a godsend to me. It is both an excellent (many) case study of possession as well as a "how-to" book to dispossess oneself of resident beings. Also describes how you keep from gathering beings into yourself. Years ago I quit smoking. For over three years I tried many popular methods, without any luck. One night I realized that the smoking habit was "my best friend". So, I said good by to this friend. This is the short story, but I finally was successful. After reading The Unquiet Dead, I found out what I had done. I had purged a being from myself that kept me smoking. With this real life experience, I now have had the faith to get rid of other beings, thus making major changes in my life. I am much happier now. An EXCELLENT READ, I challenge everyone to read it!