Using EMDR for Bereavement

In this counselling practice, EMDR is available for processing bereavement using Dr Botkin's IADC method which is described below.

Botkin’s Induced EMDR

In 1998, psychologist Dr Alan Botkin, who had been working for the US Veterans Association for 20 years on trauma reduction, used a technique involving rapid eye movement (Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing [EMDR]) to reduce post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), when a patient Sam had an ADC(after death communication) from a Vietnamese child that had been killed in the war which he had a special bond with. Botkin originally thought Sam had produced a hallucination, yet the same thing occurred the next day with a Korean war veteran Victor. Botkin realised he had used EMDR with additional eye movements with the patients who had the experiences. Botkin posited that while the patient is focused on anger and guilt, the sadness remains buried. Yet EMDR uncovered the sadness, and as the sadness lost its intensity, the distracting emotions (for example, anger and guilt) were put aside, and following the EMDR instructions allowed the patient to experience the ADC. Later, Botkin called this open state of mind the “receptive mode” (2005, p. 17). Dr Botkin named his technique 'Induced ADC'(after-death communication).

According to Botkin (2000), the ADC can be induced several times during one therapy session so that all the issues arising from the encounter can be addressed and resolved. The individual sees the deceased as happy, at peace and alive in a different place (Botkin 2000).

Since publishing Induced After-Death Communication in 2000, in the two years following his discovery, Botkin successfully induced over 3000 ADCs. Moreover, the ADCs he has induced have provided an effective form of grief therapy. In 2013, Botkin et al. (2013) conducted a statistical analysis of 71 of Botkin’s cases before and after induced ADCs. The results demonstrated significant improvement and reduction in grief, depression, and anger.

Furthermore, there was an improvement in “coping”, and beliefs in an afterlife were increased. Therapists trained by Botkin to conduct induced ADCs have had similar success and improved the well-being of patients. Botkin also used a sample of 16 therapists listed on his website and asked them to rate the outcome of induced ADC therapy. The therapists reported this therapy as “being between much better and dramatically better than other therapies used to treat grief” (p. 223). It is important to note that an ADC may not always be experienced.

Valdez, who is trained in IADC (2022) differentiates the IADC process from standard EMDR by asserting that, in EMDR, the client is asked to recall a traumatic memory or image, while in IADC, the client is asked to focus on the core emotional issue in grief – namely sadness – while receiving the bilateral stimulation. The therapist instructs the client to “just be open to anything that happens” (Valdez 2022, p. 281).

IADC practitioners claim that it is the processing of the core sadness that helps with grief. Induced ADCs are being utilised around the world and in some documented cases (e.g., Beischel et al., 2011; Beischel & Schwartz, 2007; Kelly & Arcangel, 2011; Roy & Robertson, 2004), it is reported that they assist the bereaved in reducing grief, reducing death anxiety, problem resolution, and spiritual connection provides positive therapeutic change (Hannah et al., 2013).

Affects of IADC on Grief

One study slated for publication in 2022 by Dr Jan Holden explores the effects of IADC on grief compared to traditional grief counselling (TGC). TGC includes interventions based on William Worden’s (2018) work, such as basic counselling skills along with the use of symbols, writing, drawing, role-playing, creation of a memory book, guided imagery, and use of metaphor (pp. 107-110). Forty-one bereaved participants (predominantly older white women) were randomly assigned to one of the two counselling conditions. The study found that participants receiving IADC significantly decreased their grief symptoms, compared to the TGC group, even when only 15% of participants met the criteria for prolonged grief and the treatment was brief. They asserted that their brief IADC intervention was successful due to the unique features of IADC that coincide with bilateral stimulation, including either a reduction in core sadness and/or facilitation of ADC. Given its effectiveness, there is no doubt that further research is needed regarding the potential use of IADC within grief counselling.

Adapted from Danielle Baillieu’s doctoral thesis on how contacting a medium affects the grieving process of the bereaved.

Further reading

Botkin, A. (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. https://doi.org/10.17514/jnds-2000-18-3-p181-209.

Valdez, C., Jordan, J. R., & Botkin, A. (2021). Induced after-death communication. In new techniques of grief therapy (pp. 280-283). Routledge.