Generally, regression is a move backwards. Specifically:
A term for the exploring, with the assistance of a therapist, of (possibly unpleasant) past memories as part of the treatment for mental illnesses. See psychotherapy, hypnotherapy.
The phenomenon that, when two related variables are measured, the expected value of the second is closer to the mean than the measured value of the first. See regression toward the mean.
... statements
about the uses of adversity, advice for submission
to authority, warnings against temptation and how
to resist it, reflections about death and the judgment, ...