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January/February 2004 Spirituality
New Discovery for Inducing After-Death Communication

by Hannah Zaiv

The most awesome article has recently come out, in the magazine of The International Association for Near-Death Studies, Inc. On 11/30/03, Allan Botkin, psychologist, published a report called "The Induction of After-Death Communications Utilizing Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing: a New Discovery."

Dr. Botkin and his coworkers have found, over two years of experimentation with many clients, that they are able to induce vivid after-death communications (ADC's) with a 98% success rate, by directing the clients in the simple eye movements which are a component of Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR). The after-death communications tend to be multi-sensory and elaborate, typically involving visual and auditory components and, frequently, a radiant quality as well.

Dr. Botkin reports that they experienced equal success with atheists and people of a variety of religious beliefs, and that clients come away from the experience with a profound new certainty that there is life after death, frequently with any psychological issues related to their grieving vastly more resolved than before the procedure.

The therapist begins the procedure by asking the client to talk about the deceased, his or her relationship with the deceased, the circumstances of the death, etc. If there are guilt, anger, or very intense grief present, the therapist uses EMDR to desensitize these, as it is important that the client be in a relaxed state of receptivity. The therapist then simply asks the client to hold the thought of the deceased in his or her mind, and directs the client in eye movements. After that, the client closes his or her eyes, and nearly always - although it may take a few tries - experiences vivid contact.

Conversations occur; questions are asked and answered; most of all, the client experiences the deceased as happy, and still very much existing.

Dr. Botkin writes that the ADC induction technique should only be practiced by those trained in EMDR, a procedure developed by Dr. Francine Shapiro. Dr. Shapiro offers EMDR training only to mental health professionals recognized by state or federal licensing authorities as independent providers of mental health services. This is because there is, according to Dr. Shapiro, a danger that EMDR could create an adverse reaction: a psychotic episode, psychological decompensation, or the possibility of inadvertently uncovering repressed traumatic material. (Dr. Botkin reports no problems of any kind, with his ADC-induction procedure.)

The good news is that many licensed mental health practitioners are now trained in EMDR; and this new procedure is an amazingly simple one, especially considering that it produces such nearly unbelievable results.

The day after reading the article, I couldn't resist trying the procedure out with my first client, an 18 year old woman grieving the loss of her beloved dog. Despite the fact that she was raised in a religion which held that dogs don't have souls, she was able immediately to make clear contact. On the other side, she experienced her cocker spaniel as joyfully playing in a field with a pack of other dogs. He communicated to her the answers to several questions, particularly his purpose in having been in her family, which was, basically, to bring love into a distressed situation. The experience of reconnection with her dog was obviously very real, and my client left the session beaming.

Dr. Botkin's stunning article is available on the internet at http://chicagoiands.org/Induction_of_ADCs_html. Wow! What a gift we are given, to be able to connect with the other side so directly, vividly, and individually, with this slightest of effort!

Hannah Zaiv is a Licensed Professional Counselor trained, among other things, in EMDR. She can be reached at 503-659-9384.