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Research into IADC Therapy

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 has now commenced 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.

How to Participate in Our Australian IADC Therapy Research Study

First, download the Participant Information Sheet.

Once you have read and understood the information sheet, if you wish to participate, please email Dr Tom Nehmy at tom.nehmy@adelaide.edu.au indicating your wish to participate.

You will then be sent a consent form to complete and email back.

You will then be asked to participate in a confidential 25-minute Zoom screening call to confirm your eligibility and suitability for this trial. (Eligible participants are provided with the two sessions of IADC Therapy at no cost.) 

Reference list (selected relevant research papers and books):

Beischel, J. (2019). Spontaneous, facilitated, assisted, and requested after-death communication experiences and their impact on grief. Threshold: Journal of Interdisciplinary Consciousness Studies, 3(1), 1-32.


Botkin, A. (2014). Induced after death communication: A miraculous therapy for grief and loss. Hampton Roads Publishing.


Botkin, A. L. (2000). The induction of after-death communications utilizing eye-movement desensitization and reprocessing: A new discovery. Journal of Near-Death Studies, 18(3), 181-209.


Hannah, M. T., Botkin, A. L., Marrone, J. G., & Streit-Horn, J. (2013). Induced after-death communication: An update. Journal of Near-Death Studies.


Holden, J. M., St-Germain-Sehr, N. R., Reyes, A., Loseu, S., Schmit, M. K., Laird, A., Weintraub, L, St Germain-Sehr, A., Price, E., Blalock, S., Bevly, C., Lankford, C., & Mandalise, J. (In press, 2021). Effect of induced after-death communication on grief. Grief Matters: The Australian Journal of Grief and Bereavement.



Parnell, L. (1996). Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) and spiritual unfolding. Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, 28, 129-154.


St. Germain-Sehr, N. R. & Maxey, G. A. (In press, 2021). Case studies in Induced After-Death Communication (IADC). Grief Matters: The Australian Journal of Grief and Bereavement.


Valdez, C., Jordan, J. R., & Botkin, A. (2021). Induced After-Death Communication. In New Techniques of Grief Therapy (pp. 280-283). Routledge.

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