IADC therapy has enormous potential to help grieving people all over the world. It truly harnesses the power of EMDR but in a new way that can have very rapid and lasting effects on sadness. It also predisposes clients to having after death communications, which can provide further healing and a sense of reconnection with the deceased. This is consistent with the ‘continuing bonds’ theory of grief, which suggests it is more healthy and helpful to remain connected in some way to the person who died.

However, until the publication of Dr Allan Botkin’s book, and the subsequent feature film Living with Ghosts by Stephen Berkley, IADC therapy was a very new and obscure approach, not widely known by therapists and researchers.

The first controlled trial of IADC Therapy was conducted by Professor Jan Holden and colleagues at the University of North Texas. It examined IADC Therapy in comparison to traditional grief counselling, with several favourable outcomes for IADC Therapy. This paper is currently ‘in press’ with Grief Matters: The Australian Journal of Grief and Bereavement.

Dr Tom Nehmy, Director of Healing Grief International and Principal Psychologist at healinggriefwithiadc.com is currently conducting a research study for 2023-24 through the School of Psychology at the University of Adelaide. 

Tom says: “The healing potential of IADC Therapy is such that it demands further research attention. I am interested in seeing if we can replicate some of the promising early evidence and bring this important treatment option into the mainstream.”

The study has been granted approved by the University of Adelaide Human Research Ethics Committee, and is open to English-speaking adults in Australia.

** All places in the Adelaide University IADC Therapy study are currently booked out **

Therapy and data collection will continue until the end of June 2024.

Data analysis and manuscript preparation is planned for July 2024 onwards.

Results will be announced here in due course.