Eric Goldsworthy, a therapist who believes in death before life, is about to take me on a journey through the mists of time.

But as I sank back into a leather armchair and prepared to find out about my past life, he offered a few words of advice: "Be prepared - you could be a woman, you might even be Hitler."

Eric, 49, who runs The Tranquillity Centre in High Street, Worthing, specialises in past life regression therapy, where the therapist induces a deeply relaxed state by talking.

There have been cases of people who believe they have been Elvis, Cleopatra or another famous face.

Eric, however, says his clients usually get images of being ordinary people.

But would I be different? Maybe I was a world-famous footballer, a model, an award-winning scientist? Sadly not.

During my hour-long journey, I had rather uneventful visions of being a man in a green suit on a train in Europe. My past life, if that is what it was, was mundane.

But before I returned to the present, I found myself talking about being that green-suited, older man on his deathbed.

Eric kept asking me to describe how I felt.

I rambled on about being in a panic, saying how angry I was that no one was helping me get better.

Then, after what seemed like a few minutes but was in fact an hour, I was back to reality, unsure if I had lived before or if my mind had recalled a scene from a film.

Eric had explained some people are not receptive to regression and I suspect my eagerness to see something exceptional may have stifled the effect.

Afterwards, he said: "I'm not one for religion but I've got a completely open mind.

"People come up with names, dates and places which they could not have possibly known about and they turn out to be true.

"The serious effect is often stuff from the past has been carried forward and is causing problems. By going back and reliving that experience, they can clear the problem.

"This could include a person with a fear of drowning because they had drowned in a past life."

Eric said most people finish a session feeling completely relaxed but occasionally a disturbing recollection may cause upset.

Call 01903 219933 for more details about the range of holistic therapies on offer.