Dutch Past Life Regression Therapy - Another Rubber Ducky

It's another Rubber Ducky of Woo that refuses to sink - past life regression therapy. But now it's taken on an official role in the case of the jobless Dutch. They are being forced by local counselors to attend courses in regression therapy to confront their past lives in hopes of getting them back into the job force.

Ruh roh. Somebody in charge is not only drinking the Kool Aid, they're snorting it! And they're trying to inject their welfare recipients with it. Haven't they ever heard of job retraining? Britain's Telegraph news site brings us the story:

Klaas Boffcher, at the Dutch Ruach Boraka Centre for Complementary Therapy, uses the technique to help “people find experiences from past identities that could be negatively affecting them today”.

“It is very useful. When someone has a problem finding work it is often more about the need to find out about themselves. Reincarnation therapy can help,” he said.

“Reincarnation therapy is regression to a previous life. People’s complaints and problems have causes not just in the present but also in previous lives.”

Somebody needs to say something to the Dutch social affairs minister. This is really silly. Oh, wait...

Piet Hein Donner, the Dutch social affairs minister, is facing growing calls from MPs for an explanation as to why therapies including reincarnation, tarot card readings and astrology are getting government funding as part of efforts to get people back into work.

Ian Stevenson, MD, a guy who has experimented with hypnotic regression, has this to say:

In fact, however, nearly all such hypnotically evoked "previous personalities" are entirely imaginary just as are the contents of most dreams. They may include some accurate historical details, but these are usually derived from information the subject has acquired normally through reading, radio and television programs, or other sources. The subject may not remember where he obtained the information included, but sometimes this can be brought out in other sessions with hypnosis designed to search for the sources of the information used in making up the "previous personality."

So, we can't tell the Dutch how to run their train, but we can let them know they're heading off in the wrong direction, and their engineer is a big Rubber Ducky that won't sink.