S1 Reconnections

Reconnections
Allan Botkin, Psy.D.

Allan Botkin is a clinical psychologist with over 20 years experience treating post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) at a Chicago-area Veterans Administration hospital. In 1995 he began to experiment with a newly emerging psychotherapy technique called eye-movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR). He found that a variation of the technique reliably induced after-death communications (ADCs) in his patients. Since that discovery, Dr. Botkin and his colleagues have induced well over 3,000 ADCs. His article reporting the discovery appeared in the spring 2000 issue of the Journal of Near-Death Studies.

In his presentation, Dr. Botkin will describe the sequence of events that led to his discovery. He will also discuss the striking similarities between induced ADCs, spontaneous ADCs, and near-death experiences (NDEs). Although in nearly all cases his patients are convinced of the spiritual authenticity of their experience, Dr. Botkin will emphasize the consistent observation that these experiences heal grief and traumatic loss to a degree that has not heretofore been considered possible. Beyond the therapeutic value of these experiences, however, he will also make the case that given the control that we now have over the production of the experience, we can now, and for the first time, study ADCs, and logically NDEs as well, in controlled scientific settings.

Dr. Botkin received his Doctor of Psychology degree from Baylor University in 1983. He then joined the psychology staff at the North Chicago Veterans Administration Medical Center, where he specialized in the diagnosis and treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder. He has published on many topics, including brain functioning, PTSD, EMDR, and induced after-death communication (IADC). In 1995, he developed the Intensive Trauma Program at North Chicago Medical Center, and served as its Program Coordinator until his retirement in 2003. Currently Dr. Botkin directs the Center for Grief and Traumatic Loss in Libertyville, Illinois. During the last year he has been interviewed on a number of radio talk shows and has presented his findings to a variety of audiences, including Chicago-IANDS.