The Possible Effects on Bereavement of Assisted After-Death Communication during Readings with Psychic Mediums: A Continuing Bonds Perspective

Abstract

Unresolved, complicated, prolonged, or traumatic grief can have detrimental effects on mental and/or physical health. The effects of traditional grief counseling, with its focus on the client's acceptance of separation and integration of loss, are unclear. Within the model of continuing bonds, however, grief resolution includes an ongoing relationship between the living and the deceased. Spontaneous and induced experiences of after-death communication (ADC) have been shown to be beneficial in the resolution of grief by demonstrating these continued bonds. Presently, many bereaved individuals are experiencing assisted ADCs by receiving readings from psychic mediums and though little is known about the effects of this selfprescribed treatment option, anecdotal reports and exploratory data posit a positive outcome. This article aims to inform those who work with the bereaved about the relationships between grief, spontaneous, induced, and assisted ADC experiences, and the continuing bonds paradigm. Suggestions for future research are also included.

Psychopathology, normal psychological processes, or supernatural encounters? Three ways to frame reports of after-death communication.

“…The many modes of ADC parallel the diverse ways that people see themselves as receiving messages from God: Through interpersonal encounters, meaningful events, physical sensations, sacred texts, spontaneous thoughts, and nature experiences, to name just a few (Harriott & Exline, 2017; Liebert, 2008). Although ADCs often occur spontaneously (Guggenheim & Guggenheim, 2005; Houck, 2005), people can also pursue ADCs, perhaps via mediums (Beischel et al, 2014–2015, 2018; Houck, 2005; Krippner & Friedman, 2010; Lee, 2015) or through techniques based on eye-movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR; Botkin, 2000; Botkin &, Hogan, 2005; Hannah et al, 2013).…”

“…How might ADCs be approached in a therapy setting? Other writers, drawing from years of clinical and research experience, have offered excellent suggestions (Arcangel, 2005; Beischel et al, 2014–2015; Callanan & Kelley, 1992; LaGrand, 2005, 2006; McCormick & Tassell-Matamua, 2016); my own contribution, which reflects my own, much more modest base of clinical and personal experience with ADCs, draws from our research programs on supernatural attributions (Exline et al, 2020) and spiritual struggles (Exline & Rose, 2013; Pargament & Exline, in press). Specifically, I will describe three conceptual “lenses” that therapists and clients might use to frame ADCs, and I will consider possible benefits and limitations of each lens.…”

Electrocortical activity associated with subjective communication with the deceased

“…Scientific research on mediumship has also witnessed a small resurrection within the last decade. More recent research has examined the accuracy of statements provided by mediums under double- and triple-blind conditions (e.g., Roy and Robertson, 2004 ; O'Keefe and Wiseman, 2005 ; Beischel and Schwartz, 2007 ; Jensen and Cardeña, 2009 ; Kelly and Arcangel, 2011 ) as well as mediums' phenomenology (e.g., Rock and Beischel, 2008 ; Rock et al, 2009 ), psychology (e.g., Roxburgh and Roe, 2011 ), neurobiology (e.g., Hageman et al, 2010 ), and the therapeutic potential of mediumship readings for the bereaved (Beischel et al, in press ). Recent research has also confirmed previous findings that mediumship is not associated with conventional dissociative experiences, pathology, dysfunction, psychosis, or over-active imaginations (Roxburgh and Roe, 2011 ).…”

Reported paranormal experiences associated with improved outcomes of personal development workshops

“…Many people positively bene t from these experiences (Moreira-Almeida & Cardeña, 2011;Wahbeh & Radin, 2018;Wahbeh et al, 2019;Wahbeh & Butzer, 2020). For example, contact with the dead through mediumship sessions has supported the grief process and grief resolution (Beischel, 2019(Beischel, , 2014Beischel et al, 2015). Moreover, the growing de-pathologizing of communication with the dead as hallucinations enable people to share their experiences and feel a sense of understanding community (Kwilecki, 2009).…”