The Relevance of After-death Communications to Bereavement Counselling

Abstract

After-death communications (ADCs) are spontaneously occurring experiences that are perceived as encounters with the deceased and have been the subject of recent scientific interest. In a recent German language study, the phenomenology and effects of ADCs were investigated. The present article draws on the findings of this study to consider whether and how ADCs can be included in bereavement counselling. The first part discusses the question of authenticity. From a psychological point of view, ADCs are usually regarded as grief hallucinations; however, in a significant number of cases, the ADC occurs at a time when relatives or friends were not yet aware of the person’s death (coincident experiences), which speaks against this. The second part is about the effects on the grieving process. ADCs seem to convince the bereaved that the connection to the deceased remains and acts to alleviate grief. This suggests that it may be unhelpful to dismiss ADCs as “hallucinations”, and that their coping potential for grief processes should be recognised and included in grief counselling. The third part asks how and under what circumstances ADCs can be included in grief counselling. In the case of complex grief, there is a risk that mourners will hardly be able to find their way out of their negative feelings. Grief experts therefore suggest supplementing the confrontation of loss with work on resources. From this point of view, ADCs can be included in that resource work.