Induced After Death Communication: A Miraculous Therapy for Grief and Loss Paperback – May 1, 2014

I first read Dr. Botkin's book in 2006. It spoke to the need I had noticed consistently since I began my counseling career in 1975 that people's unresolved grief was THE major obstacle that prevented them from fulfilling their potential, and appreciating their lives. People don't want to "put the past behind them" as they are often told to do when there is a death. They instinctively hold on to their agonized longing for the loved one because it's the last visceral connection they have with them. If that's where they think their loved one is, that's where they want to be. But, if they stay in the past, then life goes on without them, they can't attend to other relationships, or maybe they have to relieve that terrible pain with substance abuse. It seems to be a "catch-22".With Botkin's discovery, the whole context for grieving is changed. It is no longer a process of trying to recover from the absence of a relationship that was life itself to people in many cases. It is by the accelerated processing of the sadness of the loss through a non-invasive, psychophysical therapy technique that the experience of reconnection with the loved one is discovered. People can have great losses, but they can go on to have joy and involvement with the world again and FEEL their loved one with them while they do. The sadness that may have been seen as a precious wound can now be released in favor of experiencing a renewed connection with the person who was so treasured.After reading this book back in 2006, I learned Dr. Botkin's technique from him personally, and have been practicing it and teaching it to other therapists myself. It quite literally is, as one widow told me "a game changer." It certainly has been for me, and for the many, many grieving clients I have been able to help since I first read it.The book itself is of interest to people who may not know about psychophysical therapies, such as EMDR and IADC, but it is also a story of hope and wonder, open to all, that inspires gratitude for the way that consciousness and love are so inextricably bound together that a simple technique, carefully done, reveals their continued connection, even after death.

When one first reads about the subject of NDEs (Near Death Experiences), spontaneous ADCs (After Death Communications), it is easy to be skeptical, especially in light of the dreck that has flooded the digital book market in recent years, of any "expert's" evidence that points toward life after life. I have been surveying clinical psychology bookshelves for a number of years since reading Dr. Raymond Moody's plea for honest, rigorous, scientific research into the way the human mind works, and in particular, the way it processes trauma, grief, and loss, and NDEs (Near Death Experiences) in his book "Life After Life" in 1985. At last, a respected and well-educated clinical psychologist, Dr. Allan Botkin in his efforts to initiate a reliable and safe way to treat the men and women residents of the PTSD ward of the VA Hospital in Chicago, was willing to free himself from the paradigm prison of what was considered an acceptable provable practice, when in his search for better treatments for his patients, he stumbled upon a new way of treating them, that has all the hallmarks of a miracle!He began by working with a relatively new method of helping those with PTSD, called EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing). EMDR is a way of reprogramming an awake patient's rapid eye movements. The long-term agony of anger, guilt, fear, grief, and loss that plague sufferers of PTSD, is their inability to normally process and accommodate, then mentally and spiritually move beyond the traumatic event, and back to a full and productive life. They have become psychologically "stuck" at the moment of the event, constantly replaying it in their mind's senses, consumed with pain, sadness, rage, and a host of paralyzing and crippling emotions. When one of Dr. Botkin's patients spontaneously transitioned through a course of EMDR therapy to receive a profound sensation of having communicated with the deceased victim of his rage during the Viet Nam war, and found forgiveness and peace. Dr. Botkin set about trying to duplicate the experience with other patients. The method, honed and adapted, has proved over the past 30+ years to achieve permanent and reliable relief.When used properly, by licensed clinical therapists, the method has shown itself to be curative in about 75% of those with whom it is used.Whether one believes in God or a higher power or not, irrespective of any and all religious persuasions, when the patients find themselves able to communicate freely with the spirits of deceased loved ones or even victims of their anger and/or abuse, the experience proves to be 100% positive and life affirming.What happens in the brain, and why and how achieving an IADC works is not known. Genuine scientific research into this phenomenon is growing and gaining a more wide-spread willingness to at least consider it among the scientific community.I cannot recommend more highly this beautifully-written, well thought out, fully accessible, and carefully presented book. The many case-studies he relates are incredibly touching. I urge anyone with any degree of interest in the subject of communicating with those who have died to read this book. Moreover, I especially urge the skeptics to take the opportunity to read it. As Dr. Botkin points out so well, it doesn't matter how or why it works, or if it is paranormal or an entirely natural built-in mental process we all possess - SO WHAT? There has to date been no "downside" to this treatment, and being one familiar with the devastating effects of PTSD, I will be keeping my eyes, ears, mind and heart open to the wonderful possibilities inherent in propagating the miracle of the IADC.Thank you, Dr. Botkin!

The account of IADC communication is very methodical and well done. Probably deserves 5stars but some of it was a little repetitive and I would have liked a discussion of the technique outside of the confines of grief therapy, vital though that is. Don’t let my minor issues deter you from reading this very important book.

This book will become a classic read in the treatment of loss and grief, if it hasn’t already. Dr. Botkin’s work has motivated me into researching what I need to do to be trained in this modality in order to come out of retirement and provide IADC counseling on a part time basis. Thank you Dr. Botkin!

This book is very well written and has tons of fascinating case studies that directly show how Induced After Death Communication (IADC) works. The author also gives answers and provides research to the skeptical, showing that belief, religion, race, culture, and expectation do not play a role in the experience of having an IADC.I work in clinical hypnosis, and I know how deeply devastating grief, PTSD, and trauma can be. When something heals these things almost instantly and in such an elegant way - and the results remain life enhancing over time, I agree with the author that it is unethical not to use this therapy. While only a mental health professional can provide the technique outlined which is a modified EMDR modality, I would most definitely refer someone to a trained therapist based on the information in this book.If you already believe in NDEs and an afterlife you will absolutely love this book, and if you don't but are willing to step outside your box a little bit you won't be disappointed.