What is IADC Therapy?

Psychotherapists today are consistently helping grieving people experience a reconnection with someone who has died, resulting in healing deep sadness associated with grief. The method of facilitating this experience, called “induced after-death communication” or IADC, was discovered in 1995 by Dr. Allan L. Botkin, Psy.D.

Dr. Botkin’s protocol for IADC, was derived from Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), an evidenced-based treatment for trauma, but IADC differs significantly from the standard EMDR protocol. Conducted by a licensed mental health provider, IADC is a brief psychotherapeutic intervention that generally involves only two treatment sessions, typically 90-minutes each.

IADC is a psychotherapeutic treatment for grief that has at its core the goal of reducing the intense sadness and emotional distress associated with grief and traumatic loss. When the grief-related sadness surrounding the loss diminishes, clients generally experience a state of calmness, openness, and receptivity. In this state, about two-thirds to three-fourths of clients report experiencing a deep sense of connection with the deceased loved one, which may be experienced through sensory means (sight, sound, smell, taste, etc.) or as a “sense of presence” of the loved one. This sense of connection is a well-researched phenomenon referred to in the scientific literature as “after-death communication” or “ADC,” which has been shown to have significant beneficial impacts related to bereavement (Elsaesser, et al. 2020; Streit-Horn, 2011).

Although the protocol is called “induced after-death communication,” the method does not actually “induce” after-death communication. ADC has an essential quality of being a spontaneous experience that cannot be directly induced. Rather, through diminishing the distressing effects of intense grief-related sadness, IADC helps to facilitate in the client a state of mind in which ADC is more likely to occur. Most people believe their experiential reconnection is real, but they do not have to believe in the authenticity of the experience to benefit from its profound healing effects.

Consistent, robust clinical observations by a growing number of IADC trained therapists across a broad variety of clients indicate that IADC heals the deep sadness that is associated with death of a loved one and the results appear to hold up very well over time. The vast majority of clients who have participated in IADC therapy report significant improvement in grief-related symptoms.

Results of the first experimental study of IADC by Dr. Janice M. Holden and colleagues, which was published in Grief Matters: The Australian Journal of Grief and Bereavement, compared the effects on grief symptoms of two sessions of traditional grief counseling as compared to two sessions of IADC Therapy. Results of the study indicated that IADC clients improved significantly more overall than did clients who participated traditional talk therapy for grief. Statistical analyses indicated that 40% of the variance seen in overall grief symptoms was attributable directly to differences in the treatments.

Research is continuing on IADC Therapy worldwide including studies including a study conducted at the University of Adelaide in Australia, led by Dr. Tom Nehmy, IADC Therapist. Information about Dr. Nehmy’s study can be found at http://www.HealingGriefWithIADC.com/research.

To learn more about the IADC protocol, visit the IADC Therapy Sessions page.

The IADC International Institute

In the fall of 2020, IADC Therapy founder, Dr. Allan Botkin, announced his retirement and appointed César Valdez, MSW and Dr. Noelle St. Germain-Sehr as Co-Executive Directors of the International IADC Therapy Board. As IADC has expanded across countries, languages, and professional disciplines, our organization has evolved to meet this expanding growth. Thus, The IADC International Institute was born—a new coordinating body that will serve as the organizational home for IADC worldwide. The Institute will provide the infrastructure for training, standards, research alignment, and financial sustainability, ensuring coherence and stability for the work as it continues to grow.

The IADC International Institute Leadership Team:

César Valdez, LMSW – Executive Director and Lead Trainer

Noelle St. Germain-Sehr, PhD – Director of Research

Tom Nehmy, PhD – Assistant Director of Research

Allan Botkin, PsyD – Founder and Advisor Emeritus

César Valdez, MSW

César Valdez, MSW, Executive Director, The IADC International Institute

César is an IADC therapist and certified IADC trainer. He serves as the liaison between the EMDR and IADC communities and is in Ann Arbor Michigan. César co-authored a chapter on IADC Therapy in the book New techniques of grief therapy: Bereavement and Beyond by Robert Neimeyer, a prominent figure in the field of grief therapy. César offers individual and small group IADC training for licensed mental health professionals virtually. To contact César or to learn more about IADC training see his website at www.iadctherapy.com.

Noelle R. St. Germain-Sehr, Ph.D., LPC-S, NCC, ACMHP

Noelle R. St. Germain-Sehr, Ph.D., NCC, LPC-S, ACMHP, Director of Research

Dr. Noelle R. St. Germain-Sehr is a Licensed Professional Counselor Supervisor in Texas, a National Certified Counselor and an ACISTE Certified Mental Health Professional trained to assist individuals with integrating spiritually transformative experiences. She is an IADC therapist and trainer with advanced training and expertise in transpersonal counseling. Dr. St. Germain-Sehr has been in clinical practice since 1993, holds membership in multiple professional counseling organizations, and has served on several editorial and professional boards. Her research focuses on improving mental health providers’ effectiveness in addressing transpersonal issues, especially related to after-death communication. She has several publications and has presented extensively on after-death communication and transpersonal counseling.

Tom Nehmy, Ph.D.

Tom Nehmy, Ph.D., Assistant Director of Research

Dr. Tom Nehmy, is a clinical psychologist based in South Australia. He has co-authored 10 scholarly peer-reviewed scientific papers and received the 2014 Flinders University Vice Chancellor’s Prize for Doctoral Thesis Excellence for his PhD research into the prevention of psychological disorders. He is also author of the books Inspired Life, Beautiful Death: Healing Grief, Overcoming Fear of Death & Living a Spiritual Life, and Apples for the Mind: Creating emotional balance, peak performance & lifelong wellbeing.

Tom’s enthusiasm for IADC therapy has led to the creation of Healing Grief International Pty Ltd, healinggriefwithiadc.com, his pursuit of a research project as a Visiting Research Fellow in the School of Psychology at the University of Adelaide, and his book Inspired Life, Beautiful Death.

He has been a featured guest on Sandra Champlain’s We Don’t Die Radio & Shades of the Afterlife; Coast to Coast AM; Helping Parents Heal; Stephen Berkley’s Life With Ghosts ‘Let’s Chat’; Life, Death & the Space Between with Dr Amy Robbins; and the Path 11 Podcast IADC Series with April Hannah.

Allan L. Botkin, Psy.D

Allan L. Botkin, Psy.D., IADC Therapy Founder and Advisor Emeritus

A Message from IADC Founder Dr. Allan L. Botkin

It has been 25 years since I discovered IADC by accident. I had no idea that the changes I was making to standard eye-movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) would result in my patients consistently experiencing an after death communication (ADC). The only thing that was clear to me at the time was that my patients were healing to a degree that I had thought was not possible.

Along the way, many trusted colleagues joined me in my journey. IADC is now growing all over the world, and continuing research and thousands of cases support its clinical effectiveness. There is no better feeling for a therapist than to witness a client’s tears of pain turn into tears of joy and a sense of peace in just two 90-minute sessions.

Now that I have a great international team to carry on, I have decided to retire. I have complete confidence in those who will continue the mission. The people who will take my place as leaders of The IADC International Institute are César Valdez, Dr. Noelle St. Germain-Sehr, and Dr. Tom Nehmy.  IADC is in good hands.