Many Lives, Many Masters

Chapter 1
The first time I saw Catherine she was wearing a vivid crimson dress and was nervously leafing through a magazine in my waiting room. She was visibly out of breath. For the previous twenty minutes she had been pacing the corridor outside the Department of Psychiatry offices, trying to convince herself to keep her appointment with me and not run away.
I went out to the waiting room to greet her, and we shook hands. I noticed that hers were cold and damp, confirming her anxiety. Actually, it had taken her two months of courage gathering to make an appointment to see me even though she had been strongly advised to seek my help by two staff physicians, both of whom she trusted. Finally, she was here.
Catherine is an extraordinarily attractive woman, with medium-length blond hair and hazel eyes. At that time, she worked as a laboratory technician in the hospital where I was Chief of Psychiatry, and she earned extra money modeling swimwear.
I ushered her into my office, past the couch and to a large leather chair. We sat across from each other, my semicircular desk separating us. Catherine leaned back in her chair, silent, not knowing where to begin. I waited, preferring that she choose the opening, but after a few minutes I began inquiring about her past. On that first visit we began to unravel who she was and why she had come to see me.
In answer to my questions, Catherine revealed the story, of her life. She was the middle child, reared in a conservative Catholic family in a small Massachusetts town. Her brother, born three years earlier than she, was very athletic, and he enjoyed a freedom that she was never allowed. Her younger sister was the favorite of both parents.
When we started to talk about her symptoms, she became noticeably more tense and nervous. Her speech was rapid, and she leaned forward, resting her elbows on the desk. Her life had always been burdened with fears. She feared water, feared choking to the extent that she could not swallow

Brian L. Weiss, MD, a psychiatrist, lives and practices in Miami, Florida. He is a graduate of Columbia University and Yale Medical School and is the Chairman Emeritus of Psychiatry at the Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami. Dr. Weiss maintains a private practice in Miami and conducts international seminars and experiential workshops as well as training programs for professionals. He is also the author of Through Time into Healing and Same Soul, Many Bodies. You can visit his website at BrianWeiss.com.

Edith Fiore, Ph.D., clinical psychologist and author of You Have Been Here Before This thought-provoking, beautifully written book breaks through the barriers of conventional psychotherapy and presents an innovative and highly effective treatment. It should be taken seriously by those in the mental health profession.