Biography

Winafred was an inward thinker from a young age. She grew up in Puget Sound and received her B.A. from the University of Washington. In the 1930s, she traveled to Europe, where she embarked upon doctorate work in Sanskrit and entered Jungian analysis. When World War II broke out, Winafred returned to the United States, where she transitioned to studying psychanalysis.

At the time, psychotherapy was limited to Freudian and behaviorist approaches. Not surprisingly, Winafred's introspective character led her to Freudian psychoanalysis. She obtained her doctorate from the University of California, Los Angeles in 1949 (only the 8th year in which UCLA awarded Ph.D.s to women). Initially, Winafred specialized in work with children and Rorschach tests. In time, Winafred's interests led her away from psychoanalysis to Rogerian therapy, transpersonal psychology, Transcendental meditation, Progaff Journal Therapy, encounter & adolescent groups, and Roberto Assigoli's Psychosynthesis, which introduced a spiritual dimension into psychotherapy. She developed a reputation for understanding gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender psychology at time when most clinicians treated homosexuality as pathological.

In the late 1970s, when analytic therapists around the world asked clients to go back to childhood, they discovered that they were going to other times and places. Past Life Regression Therapy and Prenatal & Perinatal psychology emerged during this time. Winafred was a pioneer in the new field of Past Life Regression Therapy. Her book, Regression Therapy: A Handbook for Professionals, remains the definitive textbook. She was one of the founding members of the International Association for Regression Research & Therapies (formerly APRT), with Hazel Denning and Ron Jue. Editor of APRT's journal for over a decade, she also founded and ran the Institute of Regression Therapy Training program in Sedona, AZ, and served on the core faculty of the California School of Professional Psychology (now Alliant University).

Links:

An interview with Dr. Lucas about the beginning of the Journal published by IAART (previously APRT).