Always the gentleman. Meet Bert Smit!
Transcript
Anna: All right. Hello and welcome to our next episode of Estafet, which we go around the globe and introduce and meet our colleagues from EARTh. And today we have moved from Greece back to Holland. And today we’re with Bert Smit. Hi, Bert.
Bert: Hey Anna, nice to see you.
Anna: Nice to see you. How are you?
Bert: Yeah, I dressed up a bit, not for the interview, but today, in Holland- these days in Holland, it’s Sinta Klaus, so that’s a celebration with a lot of presents and poems for children and grandchildren. And this afternoon we do it with the family. So that’s why I’m in full.
Anna: You’re ready to go, yeah.
Bert: Yeah, very great. Nice to see you.
Anna: Nice to see you too. So, let’s dive into it, and don’t keep you too long, so, you can go and enjoy the Santa with the kids. So, just introduce yourself to our viewers; who you are, where you from, where you were born and what you do.
Bert: OK, well, my name is Bert Smit, I’m from Holland. I’m originally born in Indonesia, which was a former colony of the Netherlands, but we went back with the family when I was two years. So, it’s only by memory, not by memory, but by stories that I am connected to that part of the world. I travelled a lot in my life. I became a paediatrician and specialized in neonatology.
So, that’s the care for newborn babies, mostly premature, from 500 grams until 5000 grams. That’s my region of weights. And so, I worked for quite some time, I think, almost 40 years. I’m retired now as a paediatrician, but during my career, I came across regression therapy. And in fact, a friend of mine, he did the workshop with Hans TenDam and told me about it.
And I thought, wow, there was something resonating. I thought this is interesting, you know, because 10% of my patients died and that was always very hard to see those beautiful babies just born, dying. And so, I had quite some questions about life and death and the meaning of life, if your life is so short. And of course, it gave such an impact on the life of the parents. So, there were a lot of thoughts and ethical issues about this, giving treatments, stopping treatments after a medical decision.
So, life and death has always been a big part of my life. My own mother died when I was 20, so, that had also a huge impact on my life. So, this story of my friend about his course with Hans TenDam, I thought, wow, I want to be introduced in this world and have an introduction course myself. So, that was a weekend course. And then I waited until Sunday, because Hans would arrive and he will do a session and I thought that session that will be my session and it was a great experience.
Anna: Right. So, that and then, after that you decided.
Bert: And then I thought, I want to learn that. I want to work as a regression therapy in my spare time. So, next to my career as a paediatrician, I became a system therapist, a regression therapist and also a few years ago I was educated as a sexologist. So, I have a quite broad practice, and now I’m retired, I can expand it for a little bit more. So, I do two days of therapy, nowadays, yeah.
Anna: So that was actually a nice reply to a question that Nassos has asked you.
Bert: Oh, really?
Anna: -was about how did you come to regression therapy?
Bert: Yeah, well, maybe it’s nice to tell you the story about my first congress. That was in Tallin, so in Esland, and Nassos was my roommate. And that was a lovely, lovely get together. It was for me the first time to attend and we had a great match and I’m very honoured that he chose me as the next person to interview. I’m very grateful, Nassos. I still feel a lot of connection with you. I hope to see you again very soon. Thank you.
Anna: Yes, we hope so too that I will see Nassos also soon. So, that question being answered, my next question would be, so in the years that you’ve been also doing regression, were there any very interesting cases that you had that you could share, an interesting story, like something more unusual than normal?
Bert: Yeah. So, yeah, yeah, I think I’m in practice now for 10 years. So, there have been really some amazing- in fact, every regression therapy session is amazing. I mean it’s an adventure.
You don’t know what’s will come up. I think the story that made quite some impression, not that long ago. It was a young woman, she had couple therapy at one of my colleagues and there was an item, a problem, a complaint for which she was referred to me for a regression therapy; and that this her fear of become pregnant. She was talking with her partner about having children and she had the enormous fear to get pregnant and especially childbirth was something that freaked her out. So, we went into this session and we came to the story of her being one of a twin; and that at the end of the pregnancy, all of a sudden, her twin sister disappeared, and she was not prepared for this.
And there was such a deep sadness and anxiety to be just all alone in the womb where she had been there for a couple of months together with her twin sister. And then after that realization, that fear and that anxiety, she was born by vacuum extraction. So that’s an artificial way of being born, especially when the time between a twin gets too long it becomes, you know, dangerous because the placenta comes loose, so then the baby can die. So that’s quite an acute problem that people pull you out, you know. So that was a traumatic event.
So during the session we went into this experience, to be alone, to be to have this anxiety, this enormous sadness; and then, the traumatic event of giving being born; and we went through it and well, this inner child work, energy exchange and it was such an amazing effect. She was so relieved and I saw her actually on Friday, so that’s, yes, yesterday was two months after the session and she yeah, she told me that it was a frame changing therapy, that she had a totally different view on things and she knew where her feelings came from, as if everything you know fell in place, and then, we could talk about –you know that becoming pregnant is one of the most– well, it’s very insecure. You’re very insecure. You don’t know what child you will have and how birth will be going.
So, we also went into a future pace that she was in good company; because if we are born, ourselves, because our mothers were able to conceive us and to give life to us, and that she is now in good company but with normal feelings about becoming pregnant, being pregnant and give birth with all the support nowadays. It’s not that you go in the bush and you have to do it yourself. No, there’s a lot of caretakers, midwives, whatever is needed. So, she was very relieved and felt supported in this new realization. So, I think this is a nice story and it’s also nice to underline that, you know, your clients come to you for a certain reason.
So, I thought this is a client that fits the picture. Me being a paediatrician, you know, neonatologist, and a regression therapist with this claimed it was just you know, all in one.
Anna: Wonderful. Yeah.
Bert: So, it’s me also a lot of joy and fulfilment and satisfaction that I think, if I compare regression therapy with system therapy, you know, sometimes with one session of regression therapy, you can have results that is maybe possible after 30 sessions of system therapy, 30 talking sessions.
It’s such a profound experience that makes a lot of difference. Yeah. So, I’m very happy and grateful that I can do this for my clients. Yeah, yeah.
Anna: And did you notice this kind of synchronicity before like with other clients that because you are this kind of doctor that you have more this kind of sessions about this specific topic or that just happens sometimes?
Bert: Well, I think so. Of course, some people say that you get, you get the clients of the doctor, get the patients that is fitting them. And of course I have a website. So, some people select you because there’s something in your story. And they also tell me this when I asked them how are you, how did you come to my place; then sometimes, they are referred but sometimes they look in well in the also in the list of the of EARTh or you know that they find you and they find your credentials.
And so I think there is some selection from them but if yeah, trauma, medical issues, of course that fits me very well; and but also, some issues that I think, wow, this is resonating with my own issues and of course, that’s surprising and but maybe it’s not surprising at all. It’s just as how the universe works.
Anna: Right. Distribute, so to say.
Bert: Yeah. Amazing.
Anna: And so, with all these experiences and also the way you came into it, now because you had certain questions about life, what you just said, what is there that you learned for yourself? Yeah, being regression for yourself or working with people as a therapist.
Bert: Well, it goes back to the to the issues I just mentioned that if at first, I thought, you know, when you die, it’s over, over and done with, you know there’s nothing left. And by my studies, I got a totally different view. Also, with the past live sessions I had myself and with my clients, so the– yeah, the knowledge of reincarnation. So, what really changed is that when you lose people who die, it’s less sad. Of course it’s still sad, especially if you if you lose a child, but the knowledge that it’s that is that it’s only the body that is dying and that the soul is there to continue it, the circle of life.
For me that makes a lot of difference. And also, for, yeah, dealing with it, also supporting others in well, I had a colleague, a friend who died, and we had a wonderful conversation about this transformation, it’s not an end of everything. And so that made a huge difference.
Anna: Right. This reminds me of our next topic for the World Congress actually. So, we are already preparing for that and the topic is about death and the art of dying. So, kind of—I think of giving a workshop.
Bert: I think I will do one.
Anna: There you go. We just made a plan.
Bert: I’m already thinking about it because I did some thesis during my study about children who died and the effect on their parents and grief and the effect of regression therapy on that process. That was really a very nice topic, so maybe I can give some workshop about that.
Who knows?
Anna: Wow, that sounds very interesting. I am looking forward to that. And I’m sure one also makes more reason to come to world congress in October. Yes, in Baarlo, in Netherlands. So, Bert, thank you so much for sharing all this. Now, I would go to our next step, which is who will be next?
Bert: Yes, well, it was not easy to. It was not difficult to find another person. The first one that came into my mind was Adina. She has a difficult family name. I wrote it down Adina Radulescu; and well we met during the Earth Conventions and the world convention and yeah, we became good friends.
And I think this is also an example of what happens during these conventions that it feels more and more as an extended family. And so, if we meet, there’s always a lot to talk about and of course major life events that have to be exchanged. And yeah, we’re, we became very close to each other. So, that’s lovely. And also, yeah this, this atmosphere during the conventions that’s really, I think it’s great to be part of this extended family.
Yeah. And that’s also my invitation to the people who listen who watch this interview that they should, they should go there and to. show themselves so, and really make close connections with each other. There’s so much to exchange and to inspire and to be inspired.
So, that’s really my invitation to all the viewers.
Anna: Right, great. Thank you. So, Adina will be next. So, we’re going to Romania next time. And do you have a question for Adina that I can pass on?
Bert: I think my question for Adina would be she’s a psychotherapist and she’s a very well trained professional and I would be curious, how she could combine things. You know she has a client for a psychotherapy in a regular atmosphere, a regular way of working and how she would maybe choose a client complaint or a process to offer a session or maybe it’s more separate that she said, well this is for those and so, how she organises this and how she combines it or how this regression therapy fits in her regular work as a psychotherapist and a teacher.
Anna: All right, good, so we’ll find out that next.
Bert: Yeah, I’m looking forward to see her.
Anna: Yes, yes, you will. And I will be there with her. So, thank you so much. It was really a pleasure. Enjoy your events with the Santa, the Claus and the children and grandchildren and family. And again, thank you so much for being here.
Bert. Thank you.
Anna: And thank you everyone also for watching us. And we’ll see you in the next episode.
Bye, bye.
