Recently I watched a TED talk about treating depression with the active chemical in magic mushrooms, psilocybin. Rosalind Watts, a psychologist who is part of a research term at the Imperial College London, gave the talk.

Twenty people who had long-term, treatment-resistant depression were given a high dose of psilocybin in a therapeutic setting. Each individual listened to music while being with a therapist who was there mainly for safety. The sessions were not structured by the therapist and lasted for about six hours.

Of the twenty people, six were completely cured of their depression, three experienced no change and eleven had their depression lift for two months before it started returning.

Using brain-imagining techniques, the researchers identified those areas of the brain affected by the psilocybin. Their conclusions? That the drug increased flexibility and neural connectivity, effectively unlocking the brain.

The results were positive but the real mystery to the researchers was: What did these people actually experience? Each individual was interviewed six months later. This is what the researchers found:

• Most surfaced unconscious memories and past traumas.
• They received insight into their negative patterns of behaviour.
• They were liberated emotionally. Most had been numb or shut down emotionally. During the session many cried and released emotions.
• They now felt connected when before they were isolated. Some reported feeling closely connected to friends and family. Others felt connected to nature. Many experienced a spiritual awakening with a sense of harmony and unity.
• Their experience was perfectly structured and unfolded in a way that was optimal for their personal transformation.

Several of them, the researchers claimed, experienced six years of therapy in six hours. Some of these described their experience as “my brain being defragged,” “the fog lifting” and “the lights being turned on in a dark house.”

After these results, the researchers wondered if psilocybin could cure depression. They decided that the chemical only created conditions for the individual to cure him or herself.

It seemed the psilocybin was the magic that created the conditions, which appeared to be a special state of mind. In any case, that is what the researchers concluded.

But that wasn’t true either. You don’t need a chemical to reach that state.

People who come for a past life regression or a life between lives regression, don’t need magic mushrooms or psilocybin to create a state of mind where they transform. They revisit lost memories, resolve past trauma, gain insights, experience a sense of harmony and unity that we call the Oneness without ingesting any pharmaceutical. And they experience it all unfolding perfectly for their optimal learning. This state can easily be achieved with an experienced practitioner of life between lives hypnosis.

The sessions I facilitate with my clients mirror what was described in the psilocybin research. As soon as the client reaches a special state of hypnosis, I hand over to their guides who take them on the journey that is perfect for them. This journey and their experiences are beautifully designed for them by their guides.

A psychologist recently sent me a client who was suicidal after being depressed for two years. He had been in and out of hospital and was not able to work. He did two sessions with me and, according to his psychologist, his depression was gone. This is what he wrote a few months after his session:

You have been such a big part in my recovery and I am looking forward to the next time to see you.  The Guides have been very active in my life and the more I accept them, the more I succeed. Thank you for opening this door…for me to breathe and dream of the doorway beyond and that it has come to complete fruition. You might remember that I was given the motivation and wisdom to “open a door and expect a doorway”!

Of course, it is not only depressed people who benefit from these experiences, others do too.

Many people are helped, including those who want to understand:

• the challenges they are facing in their lives,
• whether they are on track with their life purpose,
• where their loved ones are and why they were taken,
• how to lift the fog of confusion or the distress of anxiety, and
• how to heal or manage their physical problems.

As the researchers discovered, the real magic of the process that so helped their depressed patients isn’t in the mushrooms and isn’t in the chemical. The real magic is everyone’s ability to access a special state of consciousness. This state of consciousness allows us to address our issues in the most powerful way possible, assisted by high-level spiritual guides who are focussed on our greatest good.