NDE Experiences: 30 Years Of Research
October 25-28, 2006, Houston, Texas
The conference took place at MD Anderson’s
spacious conference room that is used for their
major medical conferences. That setting helped
to create the professional atmosphere that was
so much a part of this conference. The first
two days consisted of a review of the areas
of NDE research. Each section was presented
by a researcher well known in the field. The
sixteen presenters included Dr. Pim van Lommel,
Dr. Scott Taylor, Dr. Russell Noyes, Dr. Peter
Fenwick, Dr. Raymond Moody, Nancy Evans Bush,
Dr. Cherie Sutherland, Dr. Jason MacLurg, Farnaz
Ma’sumian, Dr. Bruce Greyson, Dr. Diane
Corcoran, Debbie James, Dr. Jan Holden, Dr.
Allan Kellehear, and Dr. Jeff Long.
Each researcher prepared a written presentation
that is being compiled into a Research Proceedings
book that will stand as an analysis of the research
to date on NDEs. This book will be ready for
purchase later in 2007.
Media was very interested in the conference.
It included not only local stations, but freelance
writers as well as reporters from regional TV
news programs and PBS. Many of the researchers,
clinical faculty at MD Anderson, other presenters,
and people with NDEs were interviewed by the
reporters.
During the noon hour, sandwiches were available
for people who wanted to stay to watch the BBC
documentary that is being used for education
throughout the country, “The Day I Died”
or to participate in discussions with other
conference participants.
The last two days of the conference started
with a keynote presentation and then had concurrent
sessions throughout the rest of the day. Many
of those concurrent discussions were panel discussions
relevant to people with NDEs. Some examples
included panels on combat NDEs, NDEs and suicide,
childhood NDEs, caregiver challenges, the effect
of NDEs on couple relationships and panels of
NDErs speaking about their experiences and the
aftermath. Concurrent sessions also included
research themes such as panels on veridical
perception, a five-year prospective hospital
study of NDEs in Wales, and research on after-death
communications. Another series of presentations
dealt with grief and death. Some of those included
“why NDEs bring comfort to the ill and
bereaved” and “the role of anomalous
experiences in healthy grief.”
In the evening, of course, participants were
eager to visit with each other about what they
had heard during the day and to share their
own experiences. There was one free evening
to meet with old friends, one banquet dinner
with a vocalist as entertainment, one evening
talk by hospice physician, Dr. Peralta, and
a celebration on the last evening with a Halloween
theme. Participants took full advantage of these
opportunities to enjoy each other’s company.
In all, the conference was informative, fun,
and inspiring. I hope that this summary has
inspired you to go to the website, www.iands.org,
to pick up tapes of talks that have intrigued
you (and to see a full outline of the talks).
I also hope that it has encouraged you to attend
the next IANDS conference which will be held
sometime in 2008. Details will appear on www.iands.org
as they are known. Also, there will be a NDE
retreat for NDErs March 31-April 8, 2007 in
St. Louis, Mo. I went last year and thoroughly
enjoyed myself. There are no presentations at
the retreat. It is simply an opportunity for
NDErs to spend time together, share their lives,
and envision the future. If this sounds intriguing
to you, you can now register through the www.iands.org
website. I would love to see you there!
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