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of materialistic science—which has indoctrinated us with the belief truck, he was devastated and the grief remained with him right up that life is simply a march toward annihilation and nothingness—it to that 1995 session with Botkin. is being ignored or resisted by many therapists. During the EMDR, Sam saw Le as a beautiful woman with long "It's still very new, but it's starting to explode now," says Botkin black hair in a white gown, surrounded in a radiant light. Le spoke of IADC therapy. to him and thanked him for taking care of her before her death. He mentions that his book Induced After-Death Communication, Sam was ecstatic. He was convinced that he had just co-authored with R. Craig Hogan, PhD, was released in 2005 and communicated with Le and that he had felt her arms around him. is in its second printing now, along with the fact that television is Initially, Botkin assumed that Sam had hallucinated; he was beginning to show an interest. He had just completed an HBO concerned that Sam had compromised his ability to distinguish documentary at the time of his interview for this NEXUS article between reality and fantasy. But after similar experiences reported and will be appearing on Good Morning America sometime soon. by several other patients, Botkin decided to experiment. After receiving his Doctor of Psychology degree from Baylor His first intentionally induced ADC was with a patient named University in 1983, Botkin went to work at a veterans’ hospital in Gary, whose daughter, Julie, had died at age thirteen. Because she the Chicago area. Over the next 20 years, he specialised in treating had been severely oxygen deprived at birth, Julie had never combat veterans from World War II, the developed mental abilities beyond those of a Korean War, Vietnam and Desert Storm who six-month-old child. After suffering a heart were suffering from post-traumatic stress attack and being rushed to hospital, she was disorder (PTSD), a condition known until the placed on life support. As she later showed late 1970s as "shell shock" or "combat some signs of being able to breathe on her fatigue". The condition arises from own, she was taken off the respirator. She experiencing or witnessing the terrors and . struggled to breathe, and died in Gary's arms. horrors of war. In many cases, the effects are Whereas it often "Tears rolled down Gary's cheeks as he long-lasting. Sometimes th ies a told his st " Botki calls. "I buried in the subconscious and detrimentally took years to see explained my new procedure to him and affect the personality years later in ways that changes in patients asked him if he wanted to give it a try. He are not always clearly linked to the battlefield A said he was willing if I thought it might help, experiences. under conventional but he was convinced it wouldn't work for For the first dozen or so years of his psychotherapy, him because he was an atheist and didn't practice, Botkin was often frustrated by limited results from "exposure therapy", which was then the prevailing method of treatment. As Botkin explains it, the patients were repeatedly exposed to reminders of their traumatic experiences in a safe, supportive environment, in the hope that as a result their emotional responses would decrease in intensity. More positive results came after Botkin was trained in EMDR during the early 1990s. Whereas it often took years to see changes in patients under conventional psychotherapy, Botkin began to see dramatic changes in a single session with EMDR. He found it especially effective in a very different place." healing grief. But Gary's look of amazement then shifted to one of sadness. According to Botkin, most grieving patients experience three When Botkin asked him what was wrong, Gary replied that he still basic emotions: guilt, anger and sadness. He discovered that the felt sad because he missed his daughter. Botkin then administered guilt and anger served only to protect the patient from the deep another set of eye movements and asked him to keep that thought sadness, and so he began encouraging patients to go directly to the in mind. Gary closed his eyes and sat quietly for a few moments. elieve in such things." After Botkin took him through the entire procedure, Gary closed his eyes. "When he opened his eyes, he had a look of amazement," Botkin continues the story. "He then said, 'I saw my daughter. She was playing happily in a garden alive with rich and radiant right colours. She looked healthy and seemed to move around without the hysical problems she had when alive. She looked at me and I could feel her ove for me.’ We then talked about his experience. Gary was convinced that his daughter was still alive, although in Botkin began to see dramatic changes in a single session with EMDR. core sadness, thereby bypassing the guilt and anger. He also found "When Gary opened his eyes, he was smiling," Botkin recounts. that patients responded better when they closed their eyes briefly "He said, 'I was in the garden again and I could see Julie looking at after a set of eye movements. By addressing the sadness, the guilt me. She said to me, "I'm still with you, Daddy"."" Gary told and anger disappeared. Botkin that Julie couldn't talk when she was alive. He left the session feeling happy and reconnected to his daughter. Experiences with IADC therapy A year later, Botkin contacted Gary, who informed him that he Botkin accidentally discovered IADC during a session with a still felt reconnected with his daughter. Gary's new belief was that patient to whom, for privacy purposes, he gives the pseudonym "people don't really die; they just take on a different form and live "Sam". While a combat soldier in Vietnam, Sam had befriended a in a different place, which is very beautiful". 10-year-old orphaned Vietnamese girl named Le. In fact, he had A Vietnam veteran volunteered to tell of his experience with decided to adopt Le and bring her home. One day, while Sam and IADC for this article, although he prefers to remain anonymous. other soldiers were helping Le and other orphaned children board a = We'll call him "Mark". As a helicopter gunship pilot, Mark killed truck to take them to an orphanage, they came under enemy attack. many people during his 18 months in Vietnam, but the When Sam discovered Le's lifeless body in the mud behind the confrontation that bothered him the most involved four boats filled changes in patients under conventional psychotherapy, Botkin began to see dramatic changes in a single session with EMDR. Experiences with IADC therapy Botkin accidentally discovered IADC during a session with a patient to whom, for privacy purposes, he gives the pseudonym "Sam". While a combat soldier in Vietnam, Sam had befriended a 10-year-old orphaned Vietnamese girl named Le. In fact, he had decided to adopt Le and bring her home. One day, while Sam and other soldiers were helping Le and other orphaned children board a truck to take them to an orphanage, they came under enemy attack. When Sam discovered Le's lifeless body in the mud behind the 42 = NEXUS Whereas it often took years to see www.nexusmagazine.com AUGUST - SEPTEMBER 2006