Past Life Regressions are based on the belief that our soul reincarnates from lifetime to lifetime. The soul being remains constant through lifetimes as the physical body is simply the vehicle for the soul and its higher purpose. Reincarnation has always been part of the Hindu and Buddhist faiths. It was originally part of the Christian belief system but was removed from the doctrine somewhere around the 3rd century. A related belief is that we tend to reincarnate with the same souls over different lifetimes. Your brother/sister in this life may have been a former lover or grandparent or other relation in a previous lifetime. This is also where the concept of soul mate comes from.

In past life regression therapy, an individual looks into the possibility that some of their problems in this life actually have roots in other lifetimes. This is especially true when there seems to be no rational or reasonable cause to an individual's problem. By seeking a cause outside of this physical dimension as we know it, we can often find answers to otherwise unsolvable mysteries. For this very reason it can also benefit those who do not belief in reincarnation. It can help them because it helps them look outside the scope of their physical consciousness. In other words they have a problem that there seems to be no answer for. By looking outside of that which the conscience mind and sub-conscience mind know answers may be found.

Metaphorically speaking, the process of past life regression, allows us to create images that have some meaning to us. Our dreams are another example of images that have meaning though they are often more symbolic. The images in past life regression weather real or symbolic still have meaning as our sub-conscience has created them to explain a problem to us. The point of how it created them is the difference between believing in reincarnation vs. not believing.