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In 1980 a young woman Brian Weiss calls Catherine lay back in his office at Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami, went under hypnosis to find the source of her anxiety and phobias, and began describing a life thousands of years earlier. Weiss was the hospital’s head of psychiatry, trained at Columbia and Yale, and did not believe in any of it. He waited eight years before he published what happened over the following months. Many Lives, Many Masters made him the best-known name in past-life regression, and every book he wrote afterwards builds on that case.
By Lisanne Swart · 9 books · Spirituality · 1988–2012 · Updated October 2026
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Quick answer
Brian Weiss has written nine books, from Many Lives, Many Masters (1988), the case of his patient Catherine, to Miracles Happen (2012), written with his daughter Amy. Three of them, from 2002 and 2003, are short books that come with a guided recording. Below: all nine in order, which to start with, and what his critics say.
Where to Start with Brian Weiss
If you read only one
→ Many Lives, Many Masters. The case that started everything, and the clearest account of his ideas.
If you want the next step
→ Through Time Into Healing. From one patient to many, and the method behind it.
If you want the love story
→ Only Love Is Real. Two patients who do not know each other remember the same past lives.
If you want to try it rather than read about it
→ Mirrors of Time. A short book with a guided regression to listen to.
If you want calm without the reincarnation
→ Eliminating Stress, Finding Inner Peace. The least theory-heavy of the nine.
If you want other people’s stories
→ Miracles Happen. Short first-person accounts, written with his daughter.
All 9 Brian Weiss Books, in Order
Many Lives, Many Masters
Start hereThe True Story of a Prominent Psychiatrist, His Young Patient, and the Past-Life Therapy That Changed Both Their Lives
In 1980 a young woman Weiss calls Catherine came to him at Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami with anxiety, phobias and nightmares. Under hypnosis, looking for a childhood trauma, she began describing what sounded like earlier lives, and later passed on messages from what she called “the Masters”, including details about his father and his son, who had died as a baby. Weiss, then head of psychiatry and trained at Columbia and Yale, held the story back for years before publishing it. It is told as a true account, and everything he wrote afterwards grows out of it.
This is the book to begin with because it explains the entire Weiss worldview in one place, told through the actual case that changed his career. Accessible, dramatic, and the foundation for everything that followed.
— LisanneThrough Time Into Healing
How Past Life Regression Therapy Can Heal Mind, Body, and Soul
Four years after Many Lives, Many Masters, Weiss widens the frame from one patient to many. The cases cover physical illness, relationships, weight, addiction and grief, and he argues that problems which did not respond to conventional treatment eased once patients revisited what they experienced as earlier lives. The second half is practical: exercises, regression techniques and instructions for recording your own regression tape. In Spanish it is A través del tiempo.
It is the natural second read because it moves from one famous case to a broader method. If the first book introduces the idea, this one shows how Weiss thinks it can be applied more generally.
— LisanneOnly Love Is Real
A Story of Soulmates Reunited
Two of his patients, a woman named Elizabeth and a man named Pedro, are in therapy with him separately and do not know each other. Under regression each describes past lives that match the other’s, and Weiss, bound by confidentiality, cannot tell either of them. The book follows what he does with that knowledge, and what happens when their paths finally cross.
This is one of the most approachable books if the relationship between love and past lives is what interests you most. It softens the clinical frame and leans further into spiritual meaning.
— LisanneMessages from the Masters
Tapping into the Power of Love
Less one story than a gathering of what Weiss believes his regression work has taught him: about love, karma, soul connections and the place of spirituality in therapy, illustrated with case histories from his practice. It is the clearest statement of the beliefs behind his method, and of his view that psychiatry leaves out something it needs.
Read this if you want the clearest expression of Weiss’s broader spiritual message. It is a bridge between his clinical books and his more openly inspirational writing.
— LisanneMirrors of Time
Using Regression for Physical, Emotional, and Spiritual Healing
One of three short Hay House books built around guided audio, in which Weiss moves from describing regression to leading it. The book explains how the sessions work and what people report from them; the accompanying recording takes you through a regression yourself.
Read this if you want something more meditative and less narrative-driven. It sits closer to a self-help or spiritual-practice book than a conventional memoir.
— LisanneMeditation
Achieving Inner Peace and Tranquility in Your Life
A short companion book and guided meditation from the same year as Mirrors of Time, without the past-life material: how to quiet the mind, relax the body and come back to a sense of calm, using the same relaxation techniques Weiss uses to begin a regression.
Eliminating Stress, Finding Inner Peace
The third of the Hay House books, with a stress-reduction recording. It is about the tension people carry in their bodies and minds and how to release it, and it asks very little belief in reincarnation of the reader.
This is the book to choose if you want the least “theory-heavy” Weiss title. It is aimed at readers who want a direct wellness angle without necessarily buying into reincarnation as a framework.
— LisanneSame Soul, Many Bodies
Discover the Healing Power of Future Lives through Progression Therapy
Weiss turns the method around. Instead of guiding patients back into what they experience as earlier lives, he leads them forward into future ones, which he calls progression, and argues that seeing where present choices lead can change them now.
This is useful once you already understand his core ideas. It feels like a refinement of the earlier work rather than a total departure from it, with the future-life material as the main new addition.
— LisanneMiracles Happen
NewestThe Transformational Healing Power of Past-Life Memories
Written with his daughter Amy E. Weiss: dozens of short first-person accounts from people who attended his workshops and sessions over the years, of illnesses, fears and griefs that they say lifted after a past-life memory. It is his most recent book and the one most made up of other people’s voices.
This is a good final stop if you want a more uplifting, modern-sounding Weiss book after the foundational titles, and the collaboration with his daughter gives it a slightly different narrative voice than his solo work.
— LisanneThe Three Books with a Recording
From 2002 to 2003 Weiss published three short books with Hay House — Mirrors of Time, Meditation and Eliminating Stress, Finding Inner Peace — each sold with a guided recording, originally on CD.
The recording is the point. The books are short and explain what the exercise is for; the recording is where you do it. If you buy a second-hand copy, check that the CD or a download code is still with it, or look for the audio edition instead.
Only one of the three is about past lives. Mirrors of Time is a regression; the other two use the same relaxation techniques for meditation and stress, and ask for no belief in reincarnation at all.
Everything Else Published Under His Name
Not counted among the nine because it is not a book:
Past Life Oracle Cards · 2014
A 44-Card Deck and Guidebook. A card deck with a guidebook, made with Doreen Virtue and published by Hay House.
Bookshop.org and more
What His Critics Say
Weiss writes as a psychiatrist, and that is exactly why his books are argued over. It is worth knowing where the mainstream stands before you read him.
- The science — past-life regression is not an accepted treatment in psychiatry or psychology, and scholars who study it classify it as pseudoscience.
- Memory under hypnosis — research on hypnosis has shown that it can produce vivid, detailed memories of things that never happened, and that people under hypnosis are open to suggestion from the person guiding them. Critics argue that past-life memories are better explained this way than by reincarnation.
- The cases — Catherine and his other patients appear under changed names, and none of the past lives in the books has been independently verified.
- What readers take from it anyway — many readers come to his books after a loss, and find comfort in them whatever they conclude about the evidence. That is a different question from whether the method is proven, and the books are best read with both in mind.
The years · 1944–2012
Quick facts about Brian Weiss
- Known for
- Past-life regression and, from 2005, “progression” into future lives
- 1944
- Born in New York City
- 1966–70
- Columbia (BA), then Yale (MD)
- 1980
- Meets his patient “Catherine”
- 2005
- Turns to “progression”
- 2012
- Miracles Happen, with his daughter Amy
- Career
- Founding chairman, now emeritus, of psychiatry at Mount Sinai Medical Center, Miami
- Patients
- More than 4,000 regressed since 1980, by his own count
- On television
- Oprah, Larry King Live, 20/20, and Oprah’s Super Soul Sunday in 2013
- Today
- Lives in Miami with his wife, Carole, and still teaches through the Weiss Institute
The shaded stretch is the eight years between Catherine and the book, which was his first.
How Brian Weiss Writes
He writes as the sceptic who was converted. Every book returns to the same position: a doctor trained to distrust exactly this, describing what he saw in his own office. That framing is the source of his authority with readers, and of the suspicion of his critics.
The cases carry the books. He tells a patient’s story in scenes, with long passages of what they said under hypnosis, and keeps his own commentary short. The patients are anonymised, which protects them and also means nothing in the books can be checked.
The prose is plain and warm. No jargon, short chapters, an emphasis on love and healing rather than on the mechanics of reincarnation. If you have read Gary Zukav or Deepak Chopra, the register will be familiar; Weiss is the more clinical of the three.
Watch
Brian Weiss on past lives and what comes after
A long conversation with Bob Olson for Afterlife TV, released in January 2012: what decades of regression work have taught Weiss about consciousness, and what he believes happens after death. A useful way to hear how he talks about the work before you read it.
Frequently asked questions about Brian Weiss’s books
How many books has Brian Weiss written?
Nine: Many Lives, Many Masters (1988), Through Time Into Healing (1992), Only Love Is Real (1996), Messages from the Masters (2000), Mirrors of Time (2002), Meditation (2002), Eliminating Stress, Finding Inner Peace (2003), Same Soul, Many Bodies (2005) and Miracles Happen (2012), the last written with his daughter Amy E. Weiss.
What is the best Brian Weiss book to start with?
Many Lives, Many Masters. It is the foundational book that introduced his ideas to a wide audience, built around the clinical case that redirected his career, and everything after it assumes you know it.
Is Many Lives, Many Masters a true story?
It is presented as one. Weiss describes it as the true account of his patient Catherine, whom he began treating in 1980, with her name changed. Nothing in it has been independently verified, and mainstream psychiatry does not accept past-life regression; critics point out that hypnosis can produce vivid memories of things that never happened.
Who is Brian Weiss?
He is a psychiatrist, former head of psychiatry at Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami, who became the best-known advocate of past-life regression therapy after publishing Many Lives, Many Masters in 1988.
Is Dr. Brian Weiss still practicing?
He still teaches. In June 2025 he led two weekend workshops at the Omega Institute in Rhinebeck, New York, and his website, which describes him as chairman emeritus of psychiatry at Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami, still lists his three-day workshops and a page for appointments and referrals.
Is Brian Weiss still alive?
Yes, as far as anything public shows. He was teaching at the Omega Institute in June 2025 and thanked the participants afterwards on his own account on X. He was born on 6 November 1944, so he turns 82 in November 2026.
Where is Brian Weiss now?
He lives in Miami with his wife, Carole, and still runs workshops on past-life regression, most recently at the Omega Institute in New York State. His most recent book is Miracles Happen (2012).
Is Brian Weiss legit?
As a doctor, yes: he trained at Columbia and Yale and was head of psychiatry at Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami. Whether past-life regression works is a different question. Mainstream psychiatry does not accept it, scholars classify it as pseudoscience, and critics point out that hypnosis can produce vivid memories of things that never happened. Many readers still find comfort in his books.
What is A través del tiempo by Brian Weiss?
The Spanish edition of Through Time Into Healing (1992), his second book, about using past-life regression as a therapy with many patients rather than one. Many Lives, Many Masters appears in Spanish as Muchas vidas, muchos maestros.
What is past-life regression?
A technique in which a therapist uses hypnosis or guided relaxation to lead a person back to what they experience as memories of an earlier life. Weiss uses it to look for the origins of fears and symptoms. It is not an accepted treatment in mainstream psychiatry.
What is progression therapy?
Weiss’s name for the same technique pointed the other way: guiding people forward into what they experience as future lives. He introduced it in Same Soul, Many Bodies (2005).
Which Brian Weiss book is most practical?
Eliminating Stress, Finding Inner Peace (2003), which comes with a stress-reduction recording and asks for no belief in reincarnation. For a guided regression, choose Mirrors of Time (2002).
Which Brian Weiss book is most spiritual?
Messages from the Masters and Only Love Is Real are the most explicitly spiritual in tone, focused on soul connection and meaning rather than clinical case work.
Who wrote Miracles Happen with Brian Weiss?
His daughter, Amy E. Weiss. The book, from 2012, collects first-person accounts from people who attended his workshops and sessions.
Is Brian Weiss the same as Dr. Brian L. Weiss?
Yes. Brian Weiss, Brian L. Weiss and Dr. Brian L. Weiss, MD, all refer to the same psychiatrist and past-life regression author. His name is sometimes misspelled as “Brain Weiss”.
Footnotes
- Brian Weiss — Wikipedia
- Through Time Into Healing — Publishers Weekly
- Messages from the Masters — Publishers Weekly
- Eliminating Stress, Finding Inner Peace — Yale Medicine Magazine
- Same Soul, Many Bodies — Simon & Schuster
- Dr. Brian Weiss on his Omega Institute workshop, June 2025 — X
- Dr. Brian Weiss — official site
- A través del tiempo / Through Time Into Healing — Penguin Random House
- Brian Weiss on Afterlife TV with Bob Olson, 2012
Bibliography last verified 7 October 2026.
This list was not put together by a machine.
The notes are all mine,
and the books are all his.
Lisanne x
Written by Lisanne Swart, who has curated reading lists and author guides at lisanneswart.com since 2021.
See more on her personal bookshelf.
“By knowledge we approach God, and then we can rest.”
— Brian L. Weiss, Many Lives, Many Masters (1988)
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