IADC Therapy

Induced After-Death Communication (IADC)

Grief is a normal experience following the loss of a loved one. In addition to sadness, grief can include a variety of emotions, such as numbing, anger, guilt, and relief. People who are grieving often struggle with one or more questions:

• Does my loved one still exist? If so, where and in what condition of wellbeing?
• Am I still connected in some way to my loved one?
• How will I reconstruct my life in the physical absence of my loved one?
• Will I and my loved one ever be together again?

The experience of after-death communication (ADC) can play a role in addressing these questions.

In ADC, a living person experiences contact with a deceased person or animal. Between 1894 and 2006, 35 research teams conducted studies on ADC; altogether, they studied over 50,000 people in 24 countries. A systematic review of those studies (Streit-Horn, 2011) revealed that:

• ADC is a spontaneous experience; whether or not the experiencer hoped for or expected the experience to occur, when it actually happened, it came “out of the blue”—and it usually felt completely real.
• At least 33% of people report ADC sometime in their lives.
• About 75% of people report ADC within one year after the loss of a loved one.
• People of all ages and other characteristics report ADC about equally, except more bereaved people report them, and women report them somewhat more than men.
• ADC is not related to mental illness; that is, people both with and without mental illness appear to report ADC with about the same frequency.
• ADC can occur to a living person
  • In any state of consciousness, including awake, asleep, and meditating;
  • In any state of health, from completely healthy to being on one’s deathbed;
  • In any of a variety of circumstances, whether private or public;
  • In any of a variety of modalities, including visual, auditory, tactile, olfactory, as a non-sensory “sense of presence,” symbolic (for example, butterflies, flowers, song on radio), and technological (computer, telephone call);
  • Usually by oneself, but sometimes at the same time that another person experiences the ADC, a phenomenon called “shared ADC”;
  • Sometimes including information otherwise unknown to the person that, when checked out, turns out to be correct—a phenomenon known as “veridical ADC.”
• ADC is almost always a pleasurable and positive experience that leaves the experiencer comforted to still feel connected to the deceased, reassured that the deceased survives in a state of wellbeing, and hopeful that the living and deceased persons will someday reunite.
  • In the unusual case that the experience is distressing, it’s virtually never related to the experience itself but, rather, to the experiencer being uninformed or misinformed about the frequency and nature of spontaneous ADC among people worldwide and throughout history.

In the 1990s, psychologist Allan Botkin discovered a psychotherapy method for treating grief called induced after-death communication (IADC). IADC is a psychotherapeutic treatment for grief that has at its core the goal of reducing the intense sadness and emotional distress associated with 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 ADC with their deceased loved one.

The method doesn’t actually “induce” ADC per se; ADC retains its essential quality as a spontaneous experience that cannot be directly induced. Rather, the method helps to facilitate in the client a state of mind in which ADC is more likely to occur.

The method involves two main components:

1. Identifying and addressing core sadness. Whatever is the saddest aspect of a loss can vary from person to person. Our goal is to identify together what is the saddest aspect of the loss for you and, after a likely initial increase in your sadness, help you experience a lasting reduction of it.
2. Bi-lateral stimulation (BLS). BLS is a technique involving equal stimulation of both sides of the brain. BLS creates the possibility that you can process information and emotions differently than you usually do, resulting in shifts in how you feel and what you perceive. The counselor provides a series of “sets” of BLS; a set is, for example, a few seconds of guided back-and-forth eye movements or of alternating right-left taps on the backs of your hands. Between sets, the client introspects, noticing any experience that arises

Your job in the process of IADC is to:

• Put your beliefs and expectations aside as best you can. Just adopt an attitude of openness, and then let the experience unfold as it does. Being “intent” on experiencing ADC may actually interfere with the process; being inviting and open but not demanding may facilitate it.
• Accept if you feel anxious; some nervousness is normal any time you are venturing into something new like IADC, and it probably won’t interfere with the process.
• Let BLS do the work; you just notice and report what arises for you in the way of
  • An increase in something,
  • A decrease in something, or
  • Something new that comes up.
• Not judge, edit, think about, or analyze your awareness in any way; just report anything that arises exactly as you experience it.
• Be prepared for the possibility that you may or may not experience ADC but, at the least, you are likely to experience a decrease in your grief-related sadness.

Your IADC therapist can address any questions you may have during the initial phone call or initial session.

To locate an IADC therapist, please see the Trained Therapists Directory. As new IADC therapists are trained, their names and contact information will be added to the directory.

IADC therapy is not appropriate for everyone. A small percentage of people are not appropriate. If you contact an IADC therapist, they should first conduct a brief screening with you and provide you with all information you will need related to the therapy and associated costs.

The therapist will take you through the IADC procedure to address the core sadness related to your grief. Although there is no way to “induce” an ADC, the protocol has been shown in many cases to reduce the intensity of distress associated with grief and traumatic loss and to facilitate an open and receptive state. Clients report ADC experiences about 75% of the time. Even in grief cases when there is no ADC experience, or when the trauma is based on fear or terror, most clients report significant relief. The only requirement is that the client is both able and willing to address and access these core emotional issues while in session.