Dancing Past the Dark ~ distressing near-death experiences

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Side notes, Summer 2013

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Not a major post this week, but a few side notes on happenings you may want to know about:

Two conferences, both on their East Coast site rotations:

IANDS

Aug 29 -Sept 1  Sheraton Crystal City  Arlington , VA

The annual IANDS conference has been a sort of Mecca for near-death experiencers for 25+ years. This year’s lineup of speakers is top-notch. I am not presenting this year (unrelated to the top-notch issue!), but will be offering some discussion opportunities.

http://www.iands.org/news/news/front-page-news/928-2013-conference-featured-speakers.html

ACISTE

Oct 3-5  Hilton Crystal City Arlington, VA

2nd annual conference on Therapeutic Issues of Spiritually Transformative Experiences. Bruce Greyson, MD, will be keynoter (reason enough to consider attending). I will be presenting on “Therapeutic Challenges of Distressing Near-Death Experiences.” Specifically directed to mental health professionals and ‘spiritual guidance counselors,’ this conference is sponsored by the American Center for the Integration of Spiritually Transformative Experiences (ACISTE).

http://www.aciste.org/

For experiencers with an interest in participating in a research study:

[Please note: The following notice is for your information only; it is not a recommendation. If you are in an emotionally or psychologically fragile state, consult with your therapist, physician, or spiritual director before undertaking any experiential probing.]

Joseph Dillard, LCSW, PhD, author of Fire From Heaven: Deep Listening to Near-Death Experiences and creator of Integral Deep Listening, is conducting a study on the effects of integral deep listening on people who have had stressful or frightening NDEs.

Even if your NDE occurred years ago, Dr. Dillard believes that it is possible to maximize the positives hidden in unpleasant aspects of NDEs while minimizing the residue of stress that such experiences can create.

Participation in his study is simple. While an hour Skype or Google Chat interview is preferable, Dr. Dillard can also send questionnaires by email. The hope is that your participation will help validate a new approach to helping to reduce the stress of those who have distressing NDEs.

You may contact Dr. Dillard at: 

 

Distressing—even hellish—NDEs coming into their own?

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There’s an amazing, dam-busting conversation going on in the forums at the near-death.com site: http://ow.ly/8vfXj

Titled “The case for distressing/hellish NDE study,” the thread has grown to 104 posts in a week’s time. And they’re substantive, interesting (sometimes downright fascinating), mostly respectful posts. I called the thread “dam-busting” because of both its size and the richness of its content.

All sorts of sub-topics are emerging: questions of what constitutes “reality,” the nature of being, whether distressing NDEs are morally contingent, the role of personality and behavioral history. In short, it’s the kind of conversation we haven’t heard in the past three decades.

Even if you want simply to lurk, it’s worth sitting in. Read through the comments and see the range of discussion. It’s just great! Huge thanks go to RabbitDawg (yes, our own RabbitDawg) for opening the conversation. He really started something! And as always, thanks to Kevin Williams for the near-death.com site and its wealth of forums. See you there!

In local news, Bruce Greyson has returned from presenting an invited paper at a conference with the Dalai Lama at his compound in Dharmasala, India, and has sent the foreword for Dancing Past the Dark. The book’s index is almost finished, and it and the cover are expected by week’s end. Its appearance for Nooks, Kindles, and other e-readers is definitely coming closer! And because of that, I am awash in the major task of today’s authors, preparation for marketing the book. (If you Tweet, look for me at @nancyevansbush, or from your browser, type http://twitter.com/nancyevansbush ). It’s a whole new world out there!  There is no end to learning curves.