Explore the Extraordinary  >>

2023 ALL Speakers by Day

2023 ALL Speakers by Day


NOTE: The schedule is subject to change.

2023 Day 1 - Thursday - SPEAKERS

2023 Day 1 - Thursday - SPEAKERS

Spiritual AND Religious: Bridging Mystical Experiences and Christianity

Moderator: Stephanie Bradbury, BA, MDiv/ Roberta Moore, MBA / Graham Standish, PhD/ Walt Scotson

Thu.
9:15 am
-
10:15 pm
ET
Rm 1 - Akimel Ballroom
60
Min.
Far too many have been told by Christians that their NDE or other mystical experiences simply can’t be true. Still, many other Christians know they are true because they’ve had their own experiences. We are a group of Christian clergy and leaders who embrace your experiences. Like you, we know that Jesus’ mission was one of love and inclusivity, and that your deep spiritual experiences (we call them STEs) are gateways to a deeper relationship with God. We will be sharing our insights in ways that can bring unity between STEs, NDEs, and Christian spirituality.

Stephanie Bradbury, BA, MDiv >> The Rev. Stephanie Chase Bradbury has been an Episcopal priest for 26 years, counseling many people who’ve had NDEs and STEs. She herself has had a number of Mystical Experiences. Stephanie is drawn to how material reality is intertwined with the transcendent. She feels called to help facilitate the processing of those who have been touched by the extraordinary. She has led NDE retreats, spoken at IANDS gatherings, and been interviewed for podcasts. Stephanie is both grounded in the Christian tradition, while welcoming insight from beyond organized religion. She serves an Episcopal Church in Massachusetts.

Roberta Moore, MBA >> Videographer, writer, and speaker, Roberta Moore is producer of NDEvideo.com specializing in spiritual topics. Having studied near-death experiences since the 1970s, she is a long-time, professional member and former vice-president of The International Association for Near-Death Studies. In partnership with IANDS, she has produced two training videos about NDEs, one for healthcare providers and another for Veterans; both are available at YouTube.com/c/NDEvideo. She is a former professor of English at Florida Southwestern College, where she taught for 20 years.

Rev. Dr. Graham Standish, PhD >> Graham Standish is the executive director of Samaritan Counseling, Guidance, Consulting in Pittsburgh, PA, and has decades of experience as a spiritual director, therapist, pastor, and teacher in the area of spirituality. He has guided many people in becoming more open to God’s presence and flow in everyday life. His PhD is in the area of spiritual formation. Beginning with his reading Raymond Moody’s “Life after Life” as a teen, he has been studying spiritual experiences related to NDEs and those in everyday life. He is the author of 10 books on different areas of spirituality.

Walt Scotson >> Walt has been teaching, instructing, and counseling since he was 15 years old. He retired as a Four Square Pastor after serving for 30 years, and was in the Montana National Guard and Army Reserve as a Senior Chaplain Assistant instructor for 22 years. Walt currently ministers in several healing modalities including Transformation Prayer Ministry, Reiki Level 2, Emotion Codes and is growing in mediumship and spiritual mysticism. He is currently serving as the Volunteer Coordinator for IANDS, assists with IANDS Groups and Events (IG&E), facilitates the Central Montana IANDS Local Group, and is the assistant to the Director of IANDS Local Groups.

presenting with ...

Hope From Heaven

Elissa Hope

Thu.
9:15 am
-
10:15 am
ET
Rm 2 - Kave Ballroom
60
Min.
Elissa will describe her near-death experience in which she encountered God as well as her extraordinary experiences of after-death communication with her deceased boyfriend, Todd. She will discuss the implications of her experiences for the knowledge that each person has an eternal soul and that our deceased loved ones are always with us.

“Elissa Hope >> Elissa was growing up in Oceanside, NY, when, in 1981 at age 14 while in the dentist’s
chair, she received too much nitrous oxide, died, and had an extraordinary near-death experience
(NDE). In it she met her guardian angels and God, learned that in time she would discover an
important Earthly purpose, and choose to return to Earthly life in order not to abandon her
mother. Several aftereffects have persisted throughout her life. Among her subsequent
experiences was the tragic loss of—but ongoing communication with—her twin flame, Todd.
Elissa recently completed her first book, Hope From Heaven, scheduled for release on August 1, 2023.”

presenting with ...

How Shared Death Experiences Catalyze Transformational Growth and Enduring Relationships Across the Veil

William Peters, MA, MEd, MFT / Linda Higdon, Trustee of Ripples International, Kenya

Thu.
9:15 am
-
10:15 am
ET
Rm 3 - Deer
60
Min.
Join William Peters the leading expert and bestselling author on the shared death experience (SDE), and Monica Williams, MD, the Medical Director of the Shared Crossing Research Initiative for a deep dive into the mystical world of the Shared death experience. Learn about the SDE and its transformational benefits including: accelerated spiritual development, enhanced appreciation for interpersonal relationships (including continuing bonds), and inspiration to serve the common good. Special guest Linda Higdon will share how her SDE with her 6-year old nephew, inspired her to start Ripples International an organization that serves street kids of Kenya.

In 2004, Linda Higdon experienced an SDE when losing her 6-year-old nephew, Jacob, to cancer. She traveled closely with him for his entire 18-month cancer journey. The SDE inspired her as a clear directive from Jacob to help the world’s children. As a result, for the past 20 years she has worked with thousands of children in Kenya. She helped launch a children’s welfare operation reaching thousands and led campaigns to rescue rural schools, street kids and feed an entire valley during COVID. She and Jacob are still at work as a light in the world.

William Peters, M.A., M.Ed., MFT, >> is a psychotherapist and the founder of the Shared Crossing Project whose mission is to positively transform relationships to death and dying through education and raising awareness about extraordinary end-of-life experiences (shared crossings) and their healing benefits. William is a global leader in shared death studies and end-of-life phenomenon. He teaches methods to facilitate the shared death experience and to assist experiencers in meaningfully integrating their experiences. His work is informed by his two NDEs and a variety of shared crossings. William’s book entitled At Heaven’s Door: What Shared Journeys to the Afterlife Teach About Dying Well and Living Better, is published by Simon & Schuster.

Linda Higdon >> A champion for global women, Linda Higdon is a philanthropic visionary, award-winning filmmaker, and photographer. Over the past 20 years, she has been “on the ground” working, traveling, and building relationships with women who are igniting change for children in the developing world. She has a deep passion for introducing Western women to these extraordinary women leaders who have transformed her life and seeks to help others take a similar enriching journey.

In designing “A Women’s Journey to Kenya: Beauty in the Unexpected”, Linda combined her lifetime career as a creative with her work in Kenya. Featured in USA
Today as “A Top 10 Best Tours for Women”. She is a classical pianist who has studied in Paris as well as a licensed ceramic artist whose work has appeared in galleries
nationwide.

In 2002, she leveraged her talents during the global AIDS pandemic to help found Ripples International, a prominent children’s welfare operation in Kenya, where she now
serves as Trustee. From 2005-09, she was a Director for an international women’s organization based in Washington, D.C. where she developed a global network of
hundreds of women, connecting them to women in the United States.

In 2010, she founded the Global Room for Women, a unique, visionary digital platform enabling American women to connect personally and directly with women on the
frontlines of change in developing countries and war-torn regions—from Iraq, India, Kenya, Palestine, Israel, Sudan, Nigeria, South Africa and beyond.

presenting with ...

Calling in Angel Messages and Loving Kindness with Singing Bowls, Breathwork and Journeying Through Music

Ellen Wier, MA

Thu.
9:15 am
-
10:15 am
ET
Rm 4 - Kave 3
60
Min.
Experience crystal singing bowl vibrations, high frequency visualizations and white light induction. Reconnect with your life’s purpose by calling in divine love and guidance. Release what no longer serves you to allow universal energy to flow effortlessly into your energetic being. You’ll be guided with magical sound vibration, “journeying” to music, and Angelic messages from Source. You’ll experience the embodiment of sound vibration and learn to balance your Divine Messages with your consciousness for powerful shifts in your life. Kimberly will also demonstrate her mediumship readings from the Angels. This warm, loving, guided experience of healing with the Angels will include a Theta manifestation exercise with a beautiful crystal bowl prayer.

Ellen Wier, MA is a highly acclaimed spiritual coach, sound healer, light worker, intuitive, board-certified music therapist and near-death experiencer. Ellen experienced an NDE at the age of 12 after being kicked in the head by a horse. During that time she experienced tremendous impactful, spiritual lessons and was drawn back to her body by music. She awoke from a coma to music and her experience of being healed by music led her to become a music therapist. She has a masters in transpersonal psychology, and supports connecting others to their higher self through high frequency modalities like music, crystal singing bowls, plant medicine, angel messages, altered states of consciousness work, and deep meditation techniques. She holds workshops regularly, having worked with celebrities and psychics to the stars.

presenting with ...

Integrating Near-Death Experiences and General Life Experiences Through the Practice of Qigong

Janice Messino, BA

Thu.
9:15 am
-
10:15 am
ET
Bookstore
60
Min.
Using gentle body movements, Qigong is known as meditation in movement. The benefits of Qigong are many, including improving spiritual, physical and mental health for longevity, strength, flexibility, and balance in body and mind by accessing the calm within. This practice may be done standing or sitting.

Janice Messino, BA >> Janice is the owner of ZenPora.com. Through her academic and holistic studies, along with near-death experiences, she has learned to return to wellness through the use of integrated energy therapies which includes the practice of Qigong. Janice is an inspirational speaker and writer as well. Her experience can help bring you into balance and wellness too.

presenting with ...

Beyond “After”: All the News That’s Not Fit to Print

Bruce Greyson, MD

Thu.
10:30 am
-
11:30 am
ET
Rm 1 - Akimel Ballroom
60
Min.
A couple of years ago, Bruce Greyson published a book called “After,” summarizing his half century exploring near-death experiences. Since then he has received a number of e-mails from people who were disappointed that he didn’t discuss in his book a specific topic that they thought he either didn’t mention or shortchanged. Many of those topics were specific religious or spiritual traditions, philosophical perspectives, or neurophysiological models that they thought could explain NDEs. In this presentation, Bruce will review some of the many aspects of NDEs that disappointed readers thought he should have included, focusing on the most commonly mentioned topics: God, animals, reincarnation, the conflict between science and spirituality, and the ultimate meaning of NDEs.

Dr. Bruce Greyson is the Chester Carlson Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry and Neurobehavioral Sciences at the University of Virginia. He co-founded the International Association for Near-Death Studies (IANDS), and for 27 years edited the Journal of Near-Death Studies, the only scholarly journal dedicated to near-death research. Through his research, he has discovered common and universal themes in near-death experiences that go beyond neurophysiological or cultural interpretations, as well as patterns of consistent aftereffects on individuals’ attitudes, beliefs, values, and personalities. He was a co-editor of The Handbook of Near-Death Experiences: Thirty Years of Investigation. His most recent book, After: A Doctor Explores What Near-Death Experiences Reveal about Life and Beyond, is his first trade book bringing his scientific research to a popular audience.

presenting with ...

Awakened by the Afterlife: Amirah Hall’s Transformative NDE in Egypt

Amirah Hall, PhD

Thu.
12:15 pm
-
1:15 pm
ET
Rm 1 - Akimel Ballroom
60
Min.
Amirah Hall will delve into her personal NDE in Egypt and how it has shaped her worldview, including her spontaneous mediumship abilities. She will offer insights on the afterlife and how her experience has inspired her loving actions in mentoring others on their spiritual journey. The talk promises to be an inspiring exploration of NDEs, the afterlife, and the transformative power of spirituality.

Dr. Amirah Hall >> Amirah holds a Metaphysical Science masters degree and is a PhD, Doctor of Divinity. She is dedicated to providing spiritual tools and guidance to seekers going through their ascension process, reaching higher levels of awareness and healing. Amirah has a reputation as being a world-class psychic, mystic, mentor with the honor of working with an international client list including Dubai Royals. She is the author of six books, Manifesting Miracles 101, LOVE UP Your Life, and The Essential Guide to Spiritual Awakening.

presenting with ...

Believing the Unbelievable: Processing NDEs in Counseling

Kailey Bradley, MA, LPCC-s, CT

Thu.
12:15 pm
-
1:15 pm
ET
Rm 2 - Kave Ballroom
60
Min.
Kailey will speak about challenges individuals may face in bringing up the topic of near-death experiences in a mental health counseling setting. Additionally, she will speak on how broaching the topic is both beneficial if done compassionately. Highly practical, this training will provide concrete suggestions for how mental health workers can facilitate conversations with clients on near death experiences in diverse clinical settings.

Kailey Bradley, MA, LPCC-s, CT >> Kailey specializes in working with individuals of all ages, with special interest and care given to children’s bereavement, complicated grief, perinatal loss, and chronic illness. Kailey has completed training at the center for loss and life transition and is a licensed clinical thanatologist. Kailey is also an adjunct professor at Ashland Theological seminary where she teaches grief and crisis counseling courses.

presenting with ...

Anomalous NDEs Panel

Moderator: Angie Wilson-Quayle, PhD / Alex Haley, JD / Glory Schneider, MFA

Thu.
12:15 pm
-
1:15 pm
ET
Rm 4 - Kave 3
60
Min.
These panelists have had experiences which are highly unusual, even confounding. The learning that has been transformational for them may be part of a personal history that is not even known or accessible. Demystifying and translating their experiences were necessary components of claiming their meaning— for themselves, and for sharing with others.

Angie Wilson-Quayle, PhD >> Angie has been running the IANDS Local Group near Washington, DC since 2019. Her interest in IANDS grew out of three spiritually transformative experiences she had years ago, which forever changed her life and got her on a spiritual path directed daily towards love, giving back, and a deeper awareness of true self. She is originally from the United Kingdom, and has lived in the United States since 1991 and has two daughters. She began studying psychology in London, then completed her research-based doctoral training in Developmental Psychology in Northern Virginia. After she could no longer ignore the long-time, clamorous call of the Universe to change directions, she recently moved from research to the clinical arena and a new path opened up effortlessly and mysteriously, and things have been falling into place ever since.

Alex Haley, JD >> Alex is a practicing attorney Oklahoma who had one NDE in 2003 and an out-of-body experience in 2022. Her spiritual awakening that generally occurs immediately upon return from an NDE did not occur for her until two years after the event. At that point, she learned from an audiobook by the Dalai Lama she happened to randomly purchase, that her NDE was a typical Buddhist practitioner’s conscious death. She had no previous background or interest in Buddhism before this.

Glory Schneider, MFA >> Glory Schneider is a filmmaker, lifelong traveler, and lover of Earth and it’s curiosities.

presenting with ...

Dying to Experience and Live Authentic Love

Kathy Winings, MDiv, EdD

Thu.
12:15 pm
-
1:15 pm
ET
Rm 3 - Deer
60
Min.
Our books, movies and TV shows are filled with stories of our search for true love. It took a near-death experience in order for Kathy to come face-to-face with the meaning of a profound experience of love. More importantly, it took time for her to realize how to live her daily life based on that new experience of authentic love.

Kathy Winings, MDiv, EdD >> Kathy is the Vice President of the Board of Directors of the International Relief Friendship Foundation, after having served as it Executive Director. She has traveled throughout the world conducting vital projects on literacy, education, capacity building, poverty, the environment and disaster work in the US. She is an educational consultant for public and private school. Kathy is an author in the areas of Character Education, Neuroscience and Social Justice. She has been active in her professional guild, the Religious Education Association, having served as its President in 2018.

presenting with ...

The Power of Story: An Act of Compassion Across the Veil

Virginia Chambers, MPH

Thu.
12:15 pm
-
1:15 pm
ET
Bookstore
60
Min.
After Virginia spent the night in an old B&B which had been a safe house in the Underground Railroad, she unexpectantly communicated with restless spirits. This extraordinary encounter not only elicited her respect for the countless acts of courage performed by unsung heroes of that time, but also spoke to the benefits of living a life of kindness and compassion and the profound benefits that storytelling can have for both the storyteller and the listener.

Virginia Chambers, MPH >> As a result of her spiritually transformative experience (STE), after retiring from a career in global public health, Virginia went on to study life coaching and received her certification as a Martha Beck Wayfinder Coach.

presenting with ...

But All I Wanted Was a Tony, an Emmy, and an Oscar! How Did I Get Here?

Vincent Genna, MSW

Thu.
1:30 pm
-
2:30 pm
ET
Rm 1 - Akimel Ballroom
60
Min.
Vincent is an internationally acclaimed Psychic Therapist, Medium, Spiritual Master, and Author. He has transformed thousands of people’s lives through his dynamic and inspiring radio and television interviews, podcasts, keynote presentations, workshops, classes, and private sessions. His teachings blend new and deep thought-provoking insights with science and ancient wisdom that universally resonate within the soul’s knowing. Diving deep into the human psyche, he enables a quantum leap of understanding to uncover and resolve maladaptive beliefs shielded below the conscious mind that are sabotaging best-laid dreams and desires. Vincent is the author of The Secret That’s Holding You Back.

Vincent Genna, MSW >> Vincent went from being a passionately driven professional singer, actor, and dancer who appeared in the original movie Grease, to being an internationally beloved spiritual mentor, psychic therapist, and medium. For Vincent Genna, this was a shocking and unforeseen change in his life’s purpose, and not an easily accepted one. Hear his incredible journey and how his entire life direction turned upside down after making a selfless and tearful plea to God to give him the ability to help a dear friend privately going through a traumatic crisis.

presenting with ...

Lessons Learned From the Place Between Here and There: A Spiritual NDE

Steve Weber, MBA

Thu.
1:30 pm
-
2:30 pm
ET
Rm 2 - Kave Ballroom
60
Min.
Life is good and people are good, even when very sad things happen. How an NDE experience helped a grieving father understand that loss and find peace in this world and any other which may come after. This presentation is especially helpful for those who are struggling with the passing of a loved one or have a fear of what comes after this life.

Steve Weber, MBA >> Steve is an IT Project Manager living in Florida. He hosts a weekly sound bath meditation and is currently finishing up the second book on the near-death experience, called Lessons Learned.

presenting with ...

Vibrational View of NDE and Life After NDE

Leena Zafary

Thu.
1:30 pm
-
2:30 pm
ET
Rm 3 - Deer
60
Min.
Leena Zafary will share how Bio-Acoustics helped her understand and integrate her NDE and STE. Bio-Acoustics can find what is out of balance in you at core levels and returning them to a state of balance can have a dramatic effect on how you feel, function, act, recover, and enjoy life. The state of your health is in the sound of your voice. Frequencies and architectures found in the human voice can be used to identify the innate mathematical biomarkers that represent states of health and wellness.

Leena Zafary >> Born in Kabul, Afghanistan, Leena Zafary arrived in the US at age 7, a naturally curious seeker. She became deeply interested in physical health, foods, herbs, and natural remedies and in 2003 opened her own health-focused café. In 2014, Leena underwent a near-death experience (NDE). She learned more about the reality of NDEs and discovered that her own NDE had opened a spiritual door for her. Leena’s passion has since expanded to encompass not only physical but spiritual wellness. From the sound and vibrational cadence of her clients’ voices, using Bio-Acoustic Vocal Analysis, Leena is able to extract information about their state of health and wellness, decode whatever is vibrationally off balance, and offer them healing insights.

presenting with ...

The Amazing Life of a Near-Death Experiencer

Norma Edwards, D.Div

Thu.
1:30 pm
-
2:30 pm
ET
Bookstore
60
Min.
In 1966 Norma Edwards died on an operating table. On the other side of the veil she gained insight on love/light, reincarnation and the Akashic Records. She was sent back with a message. A strong desire to relate to and incorporate lessons from the Akashic Records placed her on a path to practical spirituality and a fulfilling purpose driven life. Norma will examine life on both sides of the veil, share knowledge from the Akashic Records, with supportive stories from her own life. Examine the possibility of awakening to Oneness with or without an NDE and the potential role of NDEs in planetary evolution.

Norma Edwards, D. Div >> Norma is a near-death experiencer, a recognized change agent, Spiritual Therapist, and Certified Life Coach. She is recognized as an expert at merging spiritual orientation into clinical practice. A wisdom keeper on the planet, she is noted for her work in the fields of re-alignment, training/rehabilitation as well as spiritual transformation. An overachiever, she is perpetually open to inspiration and Divine guidance.

presenting with ...

Spiritual Soundings: Seeking the Source of Loving Action

Evan Premo, BM

Thu.
2:45 pm
-
3:45 pm
ET
Rm 1 - Akimel Ballroom
60
Min.
The music Evan Premo creates helps participants surrender the story of this incarnation in order to go deep within themselves into a place of expanded consciousness. Evan’s drone based, ambient style music facilitates a deep meditative experience which connects listeners to one another and all consciousness. Participants may meditate, pray, listen deeply, move, or sound along: humming, singing drones, or chanting.

Evan Premo, BM >> Musician Evan Premo creates heart-centered music that inspires audiences and musicians alike. His music has been commissioned by the Pittsburgh Symphony Chamber Orchestra, River Town Duo, the International Society of Bassists, The Pine Mountain Music Festival, Capitol City Concerts, and the Montpelier Chamber Orchestra. Evan is a member of Decoda with which he has performed in residencies around the world. As a member of Ensemble Connect, Evan has performed in concerts at Carnegie Hall. Evan resides in Vermont where he is Founder co-Artistic Director of Scrag Mountain Music with his wife, soprano Mary Bonhag. He is also Founder and Artistic Director of Beethoven and Banjos, a residency that brings together folk and classical musicians for cross-genre concerts in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

presenting with ...

The Light After Death, My Journey to Heaven and Back

Vinney Todd Tolman

Thu.
2:45 pm
-
3:45 pm
ET
Rm 2 - Kave Ballroom
60
Min.
Vincent (Vinney) Tolman was found dead in the bathroom of a small restaurant. He had been dead for over half an hour at the age of 25. When paramedics arrived, they put him in a body bag and took him away. A rookie paramedic had a feeling to risk his career, break all protocols, and try to resuscitate Vinney. Miraculously, the paramedic restarted his heart, and Vinney was in a coma for three days. During this time, he had his transformative near-death experience and wrote the book The Light After Death: My Journey to Heaven and Back about this experience.

Vincent (Vinney) Todd Tolman >> Vinney was born in Arlington, Texas, and has since traveled around the world, living in both Cambodia and Thailand. He has worked as a General Contractor in construction, as well as produced movies, and TV. Vinney as he is known by friends is a Healer, and he loves animals, meditating, and spending time in nature. His greatest priorities are his relationship with his Creator, his family, and the people he meets. He currently lives in Las Vegas, Nevada, with his wife, Andrea, and their two amazing children.

presenting with ...

Peace, Empowerment, and Freedom – The Power of Post- Taumatic Growth and Understanding That Feelings Can Heal

Nell Rose Foreman, BS

Thu.
2:45 pm
-
3:45 pm
ET
Rm 3 - Deer
60
Min.
Nell Rose will speak of the lessons learned through the most difficult times in her life. She will tell what happened during her spiritually transformative experience (STE) and what she continues to learn from the illness and death of her son Jack. As well as the many mystical experiences she continues to have with him.The loving and transformative power from her experiences helps her to empower people to shift from anxiety, fear, and trauma and create a life of peace and freedom.

Nell Rose Foreman, BS >> As a resiliency coach, hypnotherapist, author, and speaker, Nell Rose Foreman helps her clients find peace and calm to thrive in difficult situations. She is the creator of the Peace Boss Method, a unique evidence-based method using a blend of brain science, the power and vibration of emotions, transformational psychology, embodied cognition, and ancient wisdom. Nell Rose is no stranger to difficult times. Five years ago, her son waged a difficult nine-month battle with brain cancer and ultimately passed away. She lives with an understanding that her brokenness can crack her open to even more love and potential. Her greatest passion is to help others do the same.

presenting with ...

Awakening to My Purpose: How My Near-Death Experience and Other Spiritually Transformative Experiences Changed Everything I Believed About Myself and the World

Shaun Lether, BA

Thu.
2:45 pm
-
3:45 pm
ET
Bookstore
60
Min.
During Shaun’s 2018 NDE, he saw that earthly life was a dream. He was not the false beliefs he had about himself and the world. Through a series of Spiritually Transformative Experiences (STEs) and Near-Death Experiences (NDEs) with their powerful after-effects, Shaun Lether woke up to his true spiritual nature and discovered his life purpose of mind, body, and spirit healing, and being of service to others. He will share his story and remind you that we are worthy of the Love and support that is always available from the “other side.”

Shaun G Lether, BA, >> Shaun is Group Leader of Hawaiian IANDS. Shaun is a multiple STE and NDE Experiencer, and a highly sensitive (HSP) “empath,” with mediumship gifts. Shaun was previously a highly successful marketing and real estate businessman, and a Licensed California Landscape Contractor. During his Spiritual Emergency, Shaun started a small sharing group to support NDErs and STErs in Hawaii, which has grown to become Hawaiian IANDS, with over 6,000 members worldwide. Shaun has learned that as he helps others heal, so he is healed. Shaun facilitates experiencers sharing groups with many spiritual organizations as well as groups for PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress) Trauma survivors. Shaun is a passionate student and teacher of ACIM (A Course in Miracles), as well as a devotee of Paramahansa Yogananda (Self Realization Fellowship).

presenting with ...

Pronounced Dead for 20 Minutes: What He Saw in Heaven and How it Changed His Life Forever!

Scott Drummond

Thu.
4:00 pm
-
5:00 pm
ET
Rm 1 - Akimel Ballroom
60
Min.
Scott’s impactful, life-changing NDE completely altered his perceptions of life, family values and professional life. Being struck by lightening a few years after his NDE was a wake up call, reminding him of the gifts and goals he was given in Heaven. Scott will share the lessons he learned while in Heaven, such as the lmportance of being of service to others and to always be kind. He will describe the impact of finally receiving validation, education and support of his NDE after 40 years.

Scott Drummond >> After 40 years of public silence about his spiritual experience, disabled Vietnam Veteran, Scott Drummond finally decided to share his near-death experience at age 28. A filmmaker friend who knew Scott’s story, politely coaxed him to be filmed sharing his NDE publicly. Once uploaded to YouTube, it went viral, making him an international sensation with over 20 M views.

presenting with ...

My Near-Death Experience: Awakening the Divine Source Within

Pamela Nance, MA

Thu.
4:00 pm
-
5:00 pm
ET
Rm 2 - Kave Ballroom
60
Min.
Pamela will speak of her life-altering NDE and how she was transformed both mentally and physically. She will share her life’s journey and purpose since the NDE, and how she turned that experience into a tangible modality to heal people, animals and plants.

Pamela Nance, MA >> Pamela Nance has a master’s degree in cultural anthropology and minor degrees in archaeology, religion and sociology. In 2019, she retired after a 30 year career in clinical trial research and medical publications in the fields of public health & biostatistical sciences. Pamela’s first NDE was at the age of 5, followed by an OBE as a teen and a life-altering NDE at 33. For 4 decades, Pamela has researched consciousness and the survival of consciousness after death. She is trained and certified as a healing touch practitioner, past-life regressionist and hypnotherapist, and is trained as a spiritual dowser and shaman.

presenting with ...

The Power & Joy of Bringing Angels Into Your Life to Inspire Loving Action

Mary Jo Bulbrook, RN, EdD

Thu.
4:00 pm
-
5:00 pm
ET
Rm 3 - Deer
60
Min.
Mary Jo has invited the Angel of Grace to this lecture to inspire LOVING action to IANDS participants at this meeting. The Angel of Grace visual presence is located at the front door of Mary Jo’s office since January 1, 2023 after she heard a voice from the Angel who stated her name is Grace.

Mary Jo Bulbrook, RN, EdD >> Dr. MJ Bulbrook is an internationally renowned master teacher, spiritual / medical intuitive, mystic, shaman, co-creative healing medium, expert energy specialist, wellness & health care professional and psychotherapist with over 50+ years practicing, teaching energy based care worldwide. She has worked extensively with traditional healers from South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, & Peru blending their wisdom in her spiritually guided life’s work. Currently she is Energy Medicine Partnerships Founder / Director, Dean of the College of Integrative Health, and President of Akamai University. Dr. Bulbrook combines science, spirituality, health care, family therapy and energy therapies with Soul2Soul Communication, Heart2Heart Experience.

presenting with ...

Insights from NDE/STE Experiences – Discussion Group

Moderator: Victoria Reynolds / Lisa Arrington / Hillary Hardin / Brianna Lafferty, BS / Shaun Martin, MA / Jayme Tener, MEd / Vicki Werner, BS

Thu.
4:00 pm
-
6:00 pm
ET
Bookstore
120
Min.
This panel discussion is guaranteed to be an eye-opening and heart expanding experience. Each member of the panel will share an overview of their personal Near Death or Spiritual experience. They will also explain how their experience expanded their consciousness into seeing what is possible for themselves and how it provided insights for living with greater purpose and meaning. Following the presentations there will be audience participation through Q&A.

Victoria Reynolds >> Victoria Reynolds is a spiritual luminary, award winning international speaker, six time author, and broadcaster. Along with moderating this year’s Near-Death / Transformative Spiritual Experiences panel, Victoria will be sharing insights resulting from a profound spiritual experience which then lead to becoming a walk-in, and igniting her role as a luminary.

Lisa Arrington >> Lisa Arrington is an intuitive polymath, author, and SEO professional. She studies life’s universal connections and embedded meanings. Lisa will share the lessons she’s learned from her postpartum near-death experience and spiritual journey after the death and rebirth of her twin flame.

Hillary Hardin >> CEO and Founder of Whose Heart Mourns Me Foundation and Founder of HARE by Hillary. Hillary designs shoes for various health and wellness causes, alongside promoting awareness for various causes. Hardin writes Christian fiction based on true, along with writing gospel and jazz gospel music. She also ministers and conducts a Christian faith based television show that streams live on Favor Network and Preach The Word Network. She also is a mother of three amazing children. Hannah, Meghan, and Reaghan.

Brianna Lafferty, BS >> As an award-winning author that suffered through most of her life with a rare, chronic illness as well as paranormal experiences that led to her near-death experience in 2017, Brianna Lafferty will share how she has been called to hack this life, help others, and start her own Death Doula business.

Shaun Martin, MA >> Shaun Martin, is a healthcare worker, graduate student, recording artist, and STEr. He will share his unique story of visionary experience and insight into the significance of STEs in modern day mental health and how they can be used to discover deeper meaning and fulfillment in our lives.

Jayme Tener, MEd >> In the Summer of 2018 during a series of celestial events, she had a spiritually transformative experience that radically changed her perception. She will be sharing about how her initiation into a complete change in perception that resulted in her understanding that the miraculous was actual reality and everything else was an illusion.

Vicki Werner, BS >> Vicki Werner experienced her NDE in 2012 and endured years of healing. She delved deep into the cause of dis-ease. Having a profound level of compassion with self-discovery in the healing process, she views trauma as a catalyst to expand consciousness and engage in self-love. Vicki is the author of The Secret to Healing and Recovery.

presenting with ...
Brianna

Service to Mankind

Rev. Lisamarie Boncek, BSc

Thu.
5:15 pm
-
6:15 pm
ET
Rm 1 - Akimel Ballroom
60
Min.
Rev. Lisamarie Boncek speaks of her many spiritual experiences, visions, and near-death experiences, her journey of service to mankind and to God, and her miraculous healing from Jesus.

Rev. Lisamarie Boncek, BSc >> Lisamarie Boncek has had a lifetime of spiritual experiences, visions and two NDEs. She is an international spiritual / motivational speaker and has presented at an IANDS conference. Lisamarie is a licensed ordained minister, an energy healer, medical intuitive, Ayurveda specialist (AHC), meditation teacher (TM), Ayurvedic postpartum doula, licensed massage therapist, certified yoga instructor, licensed cosmetologist, and an opera singer.

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Pia Domu: The Loving Home (with live acoustic guitar music)

Joseph Banks

Thu.
5:15 pm
-
6:15 pm
ET
Rm 2 - Kave Ballroom
60
Min.
After an accident at work in 2011 that resulted in his becoming unconscious inside of an airplane fuel tank, Joseph began having sleep paralysis, which eventually progressed into out-of-body experiences (OBEs). With the dedication to face what was happening to him on a nightly basis, he left fear behind. This perspective afforded him a view on what it really means to be alive, and once that new insight became part of his frame of mind, the act Living became simply the experience of “Being Alive.”

Joseph Banks >> Joseph is an aviation professional with nearly 30 years of experience in aircraft maintenance. He started a small non-profit organization in Portland, Oregon called “Pia Domu,” Latin for “Loving Home,” and is a volunteer at a local hospice care facility. He’s also a father and more recently a grandfather to a beautiful baby boy. He is currently working on a book on his experiences with other realms following his NDE in 2011.

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Thank You for Being: 5 Lessons From an NDE

Tammi Spring, BA

Thu.
5:15 pm
-
6:15 pm
ET
Rm 3 - Deer
60
Min.
Experience the opening to everyday miracles as you’re guided through Tammi’s NDE story. She made a choice to return to a fraught and dangerous life situation—an arc of danger, heartbreak, trust, and adventure. It was, and continues to be, one filled with beautiful synchronicities brought to fruition through a focus on self-love, presence in the moment, integrating the divine feminine, and honoring intuition. Tammi shares five key lessons from her time home, each theme vibrantly illustrated with artwork she creates to show spirituality and synchronicities among humans, nature, our soul’s home, and infinite love and consciousness.

Tammi Spring, BA > Tammi is a longtime journalist, writer, and public speaker with a background of working at USA Today, AOL, and WashingtonPost.com. In 2013 she had a near-death experience (NDE) while going through cancer treatments. She was fully at peace in her otherworld existence, but was offered a choice to come back. Knowing the infinite continuation of soul consciousness has shifted her life significantly after returning to her body. She was directed upon my return to tell the stories. For the last ten years she has been writing poetry, essays, and creating artwork to illustrate the magic of pure love energy that is her experience of infinite consciousness.

presenting with ...

Grief 2 Growth: How The Greatest Tragedy Of My Life Inspired Me To Action

Brian D. Smith, BSc

Thu.
8:15 pm
-
9:15 pm
ET
Rm 1 - Akimel Ballroom
60
Min.
In this compelling talk, Brian will recount the profoundly transformative journey he embarked upon following the unexpected passing of his 15-year-old daughter, Shayna. Struggling with overwhelming grief, Brian sought solace and understanding in an intensive study of the afterlife, focusing on near-death experiences. His investigation of these deep phenomena offered comfort and drove him towards an attitude of loving action. Brian’s story is an inspiring testament to the power of resilience and the capacity to find love, purpose, and understanding in the face of devastating loss. His story shines as a beacon of hope for others grappling with their grief, offering a potential path toward healing, growth, and a deeper understanding of life and death.

Brian Smith, BSc is a certified life coach, grief guide, and small business consultant. Brian’s mission is to help others by sharing lessons he has learned from decades of experience and study. Brian began this work shortly after the untimely passing of his 15-year-old daughter Shayna in the summer of 2015. Brian overcame a fear of death prior to Shayna’s passing, and believes that he and Shayna are on a mission together to help others heal and overcome fear. Brian is on the boards of the SoulPhone Foundation and Helping Parents Heal. Brian is the author of Grief 2 Growth: Planted. Not Buried. He is the host of the Grief 2 Growth podcast.

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Full Body Somatic Meditation (with live music)

Tammi Spring, BA / Evan Premo, BM

Thu.
9:30 pm
-
10:00 pm
ET
Rm 1 - Akimel Ballroom
30
Min.
Meditation leader: Tammi Spring
30-40 minutes Experience a full body somatic meditation for grounding energy into the body while connecting to soul at source. We’ll integrate emotional and physical energy from the day, tap into our intuition and knowing, and use somatic and breathing methods to bring you to a peaceful and restful space for relaxing into the night.
Musical accompaniment: Evan Premo

Tammi Spring, BA >> Tammi Spring is a longtime journalist, writer, and public speaker with a background of working at USA Today, AOL, and WashingtonPost.com. In 2013 she had a near-death experience (NDE) while going through cancer treatments. She was fully at peace in her otherworld existence, but was offered a choice to come back. Knowing the infinite continuation of soul consciousness has shifted her life significantly after returning to her body. She was directed upon my return to tell the stories. For the last ten years she has been writing poetry, essays, and creating artwork to illustrate the magic of pure love energy that is her experience of infinite consciousness.

Evan Premo, BM >> Musician Evan Premo creates heart-centered music that inspires audiences and musicians alike. His music has been commissioned by the Pittsburgh Symphony Chamber Orchestra, River Town Duo, the International Society of Bassists, The Pine Mountain Music Festival, Capitol City Concerts, and the Montpelier Chamber Orchestra. Evan is a member of Decoda with which he has performed in residencies around the world. As a member of Ensemble Connect, Evan has performed in concerts at Carnegie Hall. Evan resides in Vermont where he is Founder co-Artistic Director of Scrag Mountain Music with his wife, soprano Mary Bonhag. He is also Founder and Artistic Director of Beethoven and Banjos, a residency that brings together folk and classical musicians for cross-genre concerts in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

presenting with ...

Opening Blessing Ceremony with Gila River Community Elder

Aaron Sabori

Thu.
8:00 am
-
8:30 am
PT
Rm 1 - Akimel Ballroom
30
Min.
Aaron Sabori is a member of the Gila River Indian Community. He will open this 2024 IANDS Conference in sacred ceremony.

Aaron Sabori >> Aaron Sabori is a member of the Gila River Indian Community. His parents were the late Manuel and Marjorie Sabori. He was raised in the Village of Komatke in District Six. Aaron is an artist, who utilizes his Akimel O’Odham culture to design jewelry, paintings, sculptures, and murals. He is best known for creating art pieces from the Saguaro Cactus rib. Aaron has worked for the Gila River Indian Community as a paralegal both at the Office of Water Rights and the Defense Service Office. Aaron credits his Grandfather, Francis Peters, and various elders in Komatke and Santa Cruz village for teaching him about the Akimel O’odham culture. He has shared his knowledge to encourage cultural immersion throughout the community by demonstrating his artwork and providing technical consultation to Gila River Indian Community (GRIC) entities.

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Welcome & Announcements

Scott Taylor, EdD / Debbie James, MSN, RN, CCRN

Thu.
8:30 am
-
8:45 am
PT
Rm 1 - Akimel Ballroom
15
Min.
Our emcees Scott and Debbie will start your day off with good cheer! You will hear all the important announcements and information to make your conference experience a great one!

Scott Taylor >> Scott is president of the Expanded Awareness Institute (EAI). EAI helps people curious about near-death experiences (NDEs) and shared death experiences (SDEs) explore what those experiences mean to them and to our human culture. His YouTube podcast The Afterlife Files, is rated in the top 20% worldwide. On the faculty of The Shift Network, Scott teaches NDE meditation for his course The Bi-Location Phenomenon.

Debbie James >> After completing her master’s thesis on disclosure of near-death experiences (NDEs), Debbie James was appointed to the board of directors of the International Association for Near-Death Studies (IANDS). In 2009, Debbie co-authored and edited the first compilation of research on NDEs, The Handbook of Near-Death Experiences: Thirty Years of Investigation. Inspired by her belief in the art and science of nursing practice and education, Debbie has focused her career on the advancement of safe, evidence-based patient-centered care.

presenting with ...

Chasing the Light: A Journey of Transformation Through Near-Death Experiences

Chase Skylar DeMayo, BS, BMin

Thu.
9:00 am
-
10:00 am
PT
Rm 1 - Akimel Ballroom
60
Min.
Through Chase Skylar DeMayo’s captivating presentation, participants will delve into the profound realms of near-death experiences (NDEs) and their transformative impact on individuals. Drawing upon a rich tapestry of real-life accounts and the latest research findings, DeMayo explores the common themes and elements that often leave experiencers forever changed. He also examines the psychological, spiritual, and philosophical implications of NDEs, offering insights into the nature of consciousness, the meaning of life, and the possibility of an afterlife. By integrating personal stories with scientific analysis, DeMayo presents a balanced and thought-provoking perspective on the transformative power of NDEs. It challenges conventional notions of reality, inviting listeners to explore the profound questions that lie at the heart of human existence. Ultimately, he aims to inspire a deeper understanding of life, death, and the profound interconnectedness of all things.

Chase Skylar DeMayo >> Chase, a U.S. Air Force veteran and Orlando, Florida native, underwent a profound spiritual transformation after a near-death experience in 2008. His NDE led him to embrace a life philosophy of ‘Chasing the Light,’ focusing on personal and community betterment. For 12 years following his NDE, DeMayo kept his experience private, but eventually he used it to guide his work in community service and holistic healing, particularly in helping veterans and addressing mental health. As a speaker, he shares his insights to inspire others, embodying a spirit of service and commitment that defines his spiritual journey. Chase has recently completed a bachelor’s degree in alternative medicine and another bachelor’s in ministry, and he will soon be completing a doctorate in holistic counseling.

presenting with ...

Putting FORM into TransFORMation

Jeffery C. Olsen, BSc

Thu.
10:30 am
-
11:30 am
PT
Rm 1 - Akimel Ballroom
60
Min.
Near-death experiences (NDEs) and related experiences carry great potential for transformation. The extent of tranformation depends on how one takes an NDE and what one learns from others’ NDEs to apply to one’s own life experience. In this presentation, Jeff will explore how both experiencers and non-experiencers can transform the way we live, the way we treat others, and the way we treat ourselves by embracing the transformative potential inherent in near-death, out-of-body, and after-death communication experiences.

Jeff Olsen is a #1 international best-selling author who inspires audiences globally with his intriguing story of perseverance and inner strength. After a horrific automobile accident that took the lives of his wife and youngest son, Jeff sustained multiple life-threatening injuries. He found the courage to survive over 18 surgeries and eventually healed both physically and emotionally. At the time of his accident, Jeff had incredible near-death and out-of-body experiences, bringing him insights uncommon in today’s world. He has integrated these experiences into everyday life, inspiring others to embrace the beauty around them and choose joy in all they do. Jeff’s latest book Where Are You? is a collaboration with his oldest son, Spencer, who also survived the accident at age seven. This heartfelt book for all ages is perfect for anybody who misses someone. Jeff is powerfully connected to nature and is most fulfilled by simply being a trusted friend.

presenting with ...

Dreams and NDEs as Life Changing Events

Bhaskar Banerji, PhD / Kimberly Mascaro, PhD

Thu.
10:30 am
-
11:30 am
PT
Rm 2 - Kave Ballroom
60
Min.
In this co-presentation, Bhaskar and Kimberly will examine some of the commonalities between NDEs and big dreams. Big dreams are nocturnal dreaming events that leave a profound impact on the dreamer upon awakening. Examples of big dreams are visitation dreams in which a deceased loved one visits a dreamer and conveys an important message from the beyond; lucid dreams in which the dreamer is conscious in the dream state and therefore able to explore dimensions of reality beyond the physical realm; and health-related dreams in which a dreamer is warned of impending death and how to circumvent such a prognosis. Thus, both NDEs and big dreams often serve as “wake up calls” for the experiencer. The presenters will explore the relationships between these life transformative transcendent experiences.

Bhaskar Banerji >> Bhaskar likes to think of himself as an ambassador from the dream world. As a child growing up in countries on three different continents — the US, India, and England — life was a journey full of perils. His dreams assisted him in numerous ways to navigate this obstacle course. Thus, early on in life he gained an appreciation for the power of dreaming and learned to listen to this valuable source of guidance. These events inspired him later in life to pursue dream studies in a more formal academic capacity, at both the master’s and PhD levels. He had the privilege of studying with many modern day luminaries in the dream science community, deepening his understanding of topics such as dreams and the body, dream interpretation, lucid dreaming, cross-cultural dreaming, as well as dream content analysis.

Kimberly R. Mascaro >> Kimberly is a California licensed holistic psychotherapist, centering the spiritual, ecological, and somatic. She is also a two-time nonfiction author, visual artist, meditation facilitator, and university faculty member with over 20 years of professional experience in the field of mental-behavioral health. Kim is passionate about wellness and self-care, holding certifications in Hypnotherapy, Yoga Nidra, and Integrative Mental Health. She is the author of Dream Medicine: The Intersection of Wellness and Consciousness (2021) and Extraordinary Dreams: Visions, Announcements and Premonitions Across Time and Place (2018) published by McFarland. Having been a student of both Western and Eastern Mystery Traditions for almost half of her life, Kim’s presentations and workshops are rooted in consciousness, dreamwork, meditation, and self-care. Her research on dreams has been presented and published in the USA, Europe, and South America.

presenting with ...

Capacity to Heal: NDE, Sadie the Miracle Dog, and the Native American Flute

Donna M. Rebadow, MS, LAc, CSMA

Thu.
10:30 am
-
11:30 am
PT
Rm 3 - Deer
60
Min.
Donna shares her transformative journey of her NDE and subsequent partnership with Sadie, a German Shepherd pet therapy dog who was an intuitive healer. Donna uniquely parallels the learnings between her NDE and Sadie’s work focusing on love, healing, and forgiveness. Through her NDE, Donna describes the life-changing insights gained when speaking with the Creator of the Universe and guardian angels. Hear key takeaways about spiritual guides–furry and otherwise–and how to fully receive and share love in all forms. Experience a Native American flute immersion with Donna as she shares her interpretation of “Afterlife.”

Donna Rebadow >> Donna is a near-death experiencer, sports medicine acupuncturist, host of the Exploring Consciousness Podcast, and author of Wednesdays with Sadie, the Miracle Dog. In 1998, Donna had an NDE that changed how she viewed herself, the world, and other dimensions. After this experience, Donna began exploring consciousness by attending workshops with the Monroe Institute, Dr. Dispenza, and Tom Campbell. She has taken classes in CRV, Tarot with Richard Knight, and evidential mediumship with Suzanne Giesemann and has been interviewed several times for the media, including on the “Coming Home” YouTube channel (819K views). Donna taught at the community college level in Arizona in the areas of health, psychology, and alternative medicine. She is a jeweler and musician, and in Spring 2019 she entered the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame with her Wayland Baptist College teammates.

presenting with ...

Aliens and the Near-Death Experience

PMH Atwater, LHD

Thu.
1:15 pm
-
2:15 pm
PT
Rm 1 - Akimel Ballroom
60
Min.
Many near-death experiencers now claim to see or interact with alien aircraft and alien beings either during or after their near-death experience. The mental and emotional awakening they received from near-death states seems to have opened them to seeing UFOs in flight and/or facing alien beings in daily life. PMH will talk about her own research working with 38 near-death experiencers who remember encountering aliens either during their NDE or within one year afterward, and what they went through. She will also discuss Dr. Kenneth Ring’s work and Whitley Streiber’s work (author of “COMMUNION”) regarding investigating what ET encounters and NDE encounters have in common, and how they differ. PMH is currently organizing her research on this topic into her upcoming book, “Aliens and the Near-Death Experience.”

PMH Atwater >> PMH began her research of the near-death phenomenon in 1978, after having had three such experiences in three months in 1977. To date, her work covers nearly 5,000 adult and child experiencers. Some of her findings have been verified in clinical studies, among them the prospective study done in Holland and published in the peer-reviewed general medical journal, The Lancet. She created and incorporated Inner Forum, Idaho’s first metaphysical non-profit organization, and over 3,000 people have participated in its programs. She is the author of 20 books, including Edge Walker, and is currently working on a book about her research study on aliens and the near-death experience.

presenting with ...

Native American Near-Death Experiences: What We Learn From Them

Martin Tanner, BA, JD

Thu.
1:15 pm
-
2:15 pm
PT
Rm 2 - Kave Ballroom
60
Min.
Native American near-death experiences (NDEs) provide a wealth of relatively untapped information for those interested in the study of these phenomena. Hearing Native American NDEs is fascinating for two primary reasons: (a) They reaffirm the universality of NDEs, and (b) they demonstrate that, although NDEs are found in all world cultures, they are inevitably interpreted through each experiencer’s own heritage, culture, and personal experiences. This presentation will provide insights into Native American NDEs by descriptions of them in the words of the Native American experiencers themselves. It will focus primarily on Western Native American NDE. There are over 2,600 Native American dialects and 22 Native American tribes in Arizona alone. By necessity, this presentation will be a mere glimpse into Native American NDEs, but it will be refreshing, exciting, and educational to hear Native American perceptions of the purposes of NDEs in their own cultures.

Martin Tanner is on the Board of Directors of IANDS and also serves as its Vice President. In 1990 he was a co-founder of IANDS of Utah, Inc., and has been its Chair ever since. He earned a BA in Finance from the University of Utah and a Juris Doctor from J. Reuben Clark Law School at Brigham Young University. Martin has personally interviewed over 600 individuals who have had a near-death experience, and he routinely speaks to groups, on radio, and on TV about NDEs. Since 1990, Martin has been a radio talk show host on KSL Radio. He has published articles and scholarly papers on a variety of subjects.

presenting with ...

Waking Up to Wisdom: Healing Gifts That Awoke Within Us and Pathways to Unlock Yours

Melinda Peterson, RN, MS, HNB-BC / Bernadette O'Brien Thompson, BA / Rebecca Kastl, MS CCC-SLP, RMT

Thu.
1:15 pm
-
2:15 pm
PT
Rm 3 - Deer
60
Min.
Following their NDE/STEs, these three panelists experienced divine attunement to previously unaccessed healing gifts and abilities: developing relationships with ancestors through genealogical work, connecting to body wisdom through health intuitive/nursing work, and channeling personal messages from angels. Through listening to their stories, anecdotes, and integration accounts of their spiritual gifts and engaging in interactive activities, attendees may learn to connect with pathways to unlock their own divine gifts.

Melinda Peterson >> Melinda is an Intuitive health practitioner, registered nurse, motivational speaker, energy healer, yoga teacher, loss mama, adoptive mama, near-death experiencer (NDEr), and entrepreneur. One of the most profound changes that arose from her NDE was being called from her previous career as an environmental scientist to a career in nursing. Melinda has expanded her nursing practice by using a vision from her NDE to create the Scarlit Center, a global movement helping people connect to their bodies’ inner wisdom through workshops, movement, and nourishment to enable them to lead luminous lives. Melinda lives in Fort Collins, Colorado, with her daughter, son in spirit, husband, and poodle. She prefers tea over coffee, always takes an opportunity to pet a dog, and enjoys a nearby unfrozen lake via paddle board and frozen lake via ice skates.

Bernadette O’Brien Thompson >> Bernadette is the owner of Tell Me Our Story Genealogy & Ancestral Healing. She is a genealogist who trained in psychology, trauma, and grief and who focuses on ancestral healing. Through the University of Vermont Professional End of Life Doula program, Bernadette is certified to help those going through the grieving process to understand the mind, body, and spirit connection of grief. She began her career as a genealogist over 15 years ago, yet it was through the trauma and grief of losing her husband to alcoholism that Bernadette felt the very deep personal connection she has with her ancestors. Her ancestral healing began as she opened up to spiritually transformative experiences with her ancestors and other spiritual beings. It is her deep desire to continue to help others open to their spiritually transformational experiences of ancestral healing.

Rebecca Kastl >> Rebecca is an energy healer, angel interpreter, and pediatric speech-language pathologist who underwent a life-altering spiritually transformative experience between the ages of 26 to 28. During this experience, she saw a beautiful light that spoke to her, saw light within everyone, started feeling surrounded by angels, saw alternate timelines of her life, and began having psychic dreams. She uses her experiences and training to give healings and angel readings and to help others learn to connect with their own guides and angels. Outside of this work, she helps children communicate as a speech-language pathologist. She lives in Denver, CO.

 

presenting with ...

Military/Veteran Experiencers Discussion Group

Chase DeMayo, BS, BMin / Genny Krackau / Chuck Swedrock, B-CSci, MBA, MSW / David Campbell

Thu.
1:15 pm
-
3:30 pm
PT
Rm 4 - Kave 3
135
Min.
In early IANDS conferences, the military was underrepresented due to individuals’ fear of speaking out. Over the past few years, military near-death experiencers (NDErs) have increasingly found courage to share their experiences. This year’s conference attendees have an opportunity to hear and learn from panelists, as well as fellow attendees, about the powerful NDEs that occurred during combat and in other military contexts.

Chase Skylar DeMayo >> Chase, a US Air Force Veteran and Orlando, Florida native, underwent a profound spiritual transformation after a near-death experience in 2008. His NDE led him to embrace a life philosophy of ‘Chasing the Light,’ focusing on personal and community betterment. DeMayo kept his experience private for 12 years but eventually used it to guide his work in community service and holistic healing, particularly in helping veterans and addressing mental health. As a speaker, he shares his insights to inspire others, embodying a spirit of service and commitment that defines his spiritual journey. Chase has recently competed a bachelors degree in Alternative Medicine, a separate bachelors in ministry as well as a soon to complete doctorate in Holistic Counseling.

Genny Krackau >> Genny is author of Beyond the Explosion, Stories of The Light, a compilation of combat near-death and spiritual experience stories. Genny is a life resident of San Antonio, Texas–military city, USA. After she retired from the U.S. Army Medical Department, she worked numerous military and civilian contract jobs.  Of special interest are clinical research studies involving wounded warriors, hearing conservation for military service members, and supporting a clinical trial for military and civilian head injury patients. Genny personally relates to near-death experiencers because she also has had spiritual experiences and understands the difficulty in discussing such personal phenomena.

Chuck Swedrock >> Chuck was a USMC draftee in 1970-1971. His computer skills merited a stateside assignment at Camp Lejeune, NC, where he had 21 contiguous months on site with married housing assigned after infantry training there. The health after-effects of the water contamination at Camp Lejeune culminated in a near-death experience in 2003. He flatlined in the back of an ambulance called after he experienced a 1.5 cm tear inside his weakened esophagus. His fully conscious experience occurred in the ambulance at eye-level with the paramedic resuscitating him after announcing there was no pulse, and the medic was initially unable to start an intravenous injection. The resulting internal bleeding necessitated a transfusion of 4.5 units of plasma and 4-days recouperation in the intensive care unit.

David Campbell >> David is a disabled army veteran from the Gulf War. He was born in Fort Hood, TX in the early 1970s, and grew up in Southern California, moving and starting over at a new school nearly every year. David came from a military family going back to the Revolutionary War! He signed up at age 17 as a Combat Engineer. In the Gulf War, he had an near-death experience (NDE) when he died for five minutes as a result of a combat explosion. David suffered 25 years with PTSD. David shares, “God then pulled me out of Hell and showed me the light by giving me a mission to guide veterans to healing!” David is the co-founder of the Mesa Veteran’s Resource Center, Veterans 5-9, and the current V P for Pleasant Valley Veteran’s Retreat Center. David has received many awards for his lengthy volunteer career.

presenting with ...

Six Ways the Life Review Transforms Both NDErs and Non-NDErs

Jeff Janssen, MS

Thu.
2:30 pm
-
3:30 pm
PT
Rm 1 - Akimel Ballroom
60
Min.
NDEs are certainly life-changing in their own right – and the life review is one of the most transformative aspects of NDEs. This dynamic presentation takes a deep dive into the unforgettable life review and how it indelibly impacts both NDErs and non-NDErs. Based on in-depth research of over 200 life reviews, this powerful and paradigm-shifting program reveals exactly what happens in a life review and how it transforms NDErs as well as those who study them. Discover the six ways life reviews change people and how and why the life review is one of the most fascinating, impactful, and motivating aspects of near-death experiences.

Jeff Janssen >> After becoming a rare survivor of a widowmaker heart attack at age 42, Jeff sought answers to life’s biggest questions, such as: Who am I, why are we here, and what happens to us when we die? He studied over 5,000 NDEs and synthesized their highlights into the book 10 Life-Changing Lessons from Heaven. Because he was particularly impacted by NDE life reviews, he wrote Your Life’s Ripple Effect. Jeff has also written a book for those grieving the loss of loved ones, Comforting Truths from Heaven, and one for children who have lost a loved one, What You’ll Learn in Heaven. Jeff has shared his work with bereaved parents through Helping Parents Heal, formerly incarcerated women through A New Way of Life, at Duke’s Rhine Research Center, and with IANDS groups across the country. Jeff also served 30 years in the sports world helping college teams win championships.

presenting with ...

Spiritual Transformation After the Loss of Our Dads

Liz Entin / Amber Kasic, MA

Thu.
2:30 pm
-
3:30 pm
PT
Rm 2 - Kave Ballroom
60
Min.
Liz Entin, a sciencey-skeptic, and Amber Kasic, a believer in possibilities, will share their transformations and connections to the afterlife after the loss of their fathers. Amber was shocked when she began to get messages from her dad as her previously undiscovered mediumship abilities unfolded. Liz at first delved into the science and research being conducted by people such as Drs. Jim Tucker and Bruce Greyson at the University of Virginia, but as she delved deeper she even began to get her own signs. Amber is now a practicing medium, and Liz is an informal researcher into the evidence about an afterlife, with a blog and podcast. Both are thrilled and surprised as they continue their–now inter-dimensional–relationships with their dads.

Liz Entin >> Liz, a skeptic and atheist, following the passing of her father in 2015, began to examine evidence of an afterlife and anything psi related. The evidence blew her away and transformed her life. She is author of WTF Just Happened?!: A sciencey-skeptic explores grief, healing, and evidence of an afterlife and host of a podcast, WTF Just Happened?!: All about the afterlife. No woo. She continues to study evidence and research on the survival of consciousness after physical death and remains amazed and overjoyed that there is more than this material world.

Amber Kasic >> Amber is an evidential medium, author, speaker, former classroom teacher, and US Department of Education Fulbright participant. After a shared death experience with her father in 2020, she began a journey of discovery and connection with our greater reality, guided by her dad in spirit. She shares her journey and transformational stories of love and guidance from spirit with audiences worldwide and is co-author of the book Life Reimagined: Women’s Stories of Hope, Resilience, & Transformation. She now inspires others to explore just what is possible in our lives, as love is limitless and we are so much more than just human. It’s Nature’s Way.

presenting with ...

There Is More

LaVonne Wells, BS

Thu.
2:30 pm
-
3:30 pm
PT
Rm 3 - Deer
60
Min.
Together, we will explore how the connection between life and love continues beyond death. Many have experienced signs and guidance from their departed loved ones, leading to profound personal transformation. I’ll share my story of how my daughter, Kiva, has continued to support and assist me after her passing, illustrating that life is a journey of endless exploration and growth. Through love, we discover that there is always more to experience and learn.

LaVonne Wells >> LaVonne is an award-winning global speaker and love activist. She assists people in processing the passing of a loved one. Her work has emerged because of the despair she experienced through the passing of her daughter Kiva. She provides a listening ear, open heart, and support in remembering…where there is LOVE, there is life! LaVonne shares that there is no death but, rather, a continual journey that takes on a new form. She brings awareness that there is more to human existence than the physical life we are experiencing. LaVonne offers life and grief support through her group sessions, one-on-one sessions, and annual retreats.

presenting with ...

The Way of Light: A Journey of Divine Service

Melissa Mullen

Thu.
4:00 pm
-
5:00 pm
PT
Rm 1 - Akimel Ballroom
60
Min.
Childhood trauma as a sacred wound that enables a profound gift of healing is a known phenomenon. Melissa Mullen’s journey began with a traumatic event at the age of 7 when her soul departed her body and passed into a dimension of pure love, wherein she merged with the highest expression of her soul and was asked to return to Earth to help. Knowing that she would not remember what to do and when to begin until the time for her activation came, she chose to walk-in to the material world, out of love, and because of her soul’s true purpose and mission: Earth and all who dwell here. Melissa’s presentation will demonstrate the presence of other-worldly beings protecting, teaching, and working through her to continuously merge her consciousness into a multidimensional lightworker in divine service, illuminating the way for others to awaken to their own divinity.

Melissa Mullen >> Melissa is a Reiki Master Healer and Teacher and Soul Poeticist at Integral Reiki Center for Healing (INRCH) in Frederick, Maryland, USA. Since a life-altering event in 1962 at the age of 7, she has experienced a profound calling to sacred service. During the past 23 years, she continuously encountered Reiki, and in 2016 at the age of 55, her teacher appeared, just as her children were emptying the nest and she began to envision the completion of her federal government career. Over the past 8 years, Melissa’s immersion in the healing practice of Reiki and sacred pilgrimages to Europe and the Middle East have unveiled her sacred lineage, purpose, and path. Currently, Melissa serves as a healer and teacher, bringing forward the remembrance of past lives to inform the current age and support the healing process of humanity as divine emanations of the Creator.

presenting with ...

Navigating the Aftereffects of a Near-Death Experience

Lotte Valentin, NMD / Philip Hasheider, BSc / Mary Hasheider, BSc

Thu.
4:00 pm
-
5:00 pm
PT
Rm 2 - Kave Ballroom
60
Min.
These panelists will provide an in-depth exploration of the transformative power of near-death experiences (NDEs), delving into how NDEs have deeply impacted their spiritual beliefs, personal relationships, and life journeys. Although these near-death encounters helped spark the development of new skills and perspectives, it still required them to adjust to unexpected changes in their life journeys. Dr. Lotte’s journey led her to become both a physician and an evidential medium after she experienced numerous electrical interference events, visitations from the spirit world, as well as a long healing journey. Philip and his wife, Mary, will share first-hand experience of how an NDE can cause a seismic shift in even the most stable of couple relationships and will provide insights on how to navigate the dynamics of a different family landscape without leaving loved ones behind.

Lotte Valentin >> Lotte has had two near-death experiences. She is an NMD, author, evidential psychic medium, medical medium, ancestral healer, and international keynote speaker. Lotte wrote Med School after Menopause, The Journey of my Soul, an inspirational story about transformation, healing, and spirituality which, in a literary competition, won 1st place in the category of Spiritual Leadership. Lotte is creator of the audio Ancestral Healing Series which she produced in collaboration with Hemi-Sync. She regularly leads workshops on ancestral healing for The Theosophical Society as well as other organizations and is a regular guest on The Shift Network. She is also the host of her own podcast Dr. Lotte: Science with Soul, which, out of 3 million podcasts globally, is currently ranked in the top 5%.

Philip Hasheider >> Philip is author of over 30 books on farming, local history, and family stories. His sudden cardiac death and associated NDE may have been sensed by the family’s herd of beef cows an hour before these events occurred. His time in eternity is still present with him, just “in the background,” as he moves through each day. He now speaks about his NDE aftermath, both personal and regarding his relationship with his wife, Mary.

Mary Hasheider >> Mary, after nearly seven years as an executive in a national advertising agency and 12 years in corporate management positions, returned to farm with husband Philip and to raise their young son and daughter on the Little Prairie settled by Philip’s ancestors before Wisconsin was a state. Her STEs led to hands-on healing with animals and work with nature spirits to enhance the health of the farmland and food grown upon it. Mary shares how, in the face of all the emotional, physical, psychological, and financial challenges following Philip’s cardiac arrest and NDE, they were able to “renegotiate” their contract to stay together as a couple.

presenting with ...

Death's Newfound Reality: Transforming Humankind for a Better World

Bryon Ehlmann, PhD

Thu.
4:00 pm
-
5:00 pm
PT
Rm 3 - Deer
60
Min.
Human experiences, like being unaware a dream is over until waking up, and cognitive science principles, like experiencing consciousness one discrete moment at a time, support the theory of a natural eternal consciousness (NEC). Simply stated: If no supernatural consciousness exists after death, we are imperceptibly paused in our final conscious moment at death. Being such, from our perspective, we will never know our last experience is over. If it is an NDE and we believe we’re in heaven, then we’ll forever believe we’re in heaven, with more glorious moments to come. This scenario exemplifies a natural afterlife—which being timeless, can, philosophically, produce ultimate eternal happiness. Research supports that the reality revealed by the NEC theory will positively transform individuals and society. Tragic suicides and mass shootings will be reduced and human behavior will improve as more people realize that, psychologically, death can’t bring nonexistence but may bring accountability.

Bryon Ehlmann, PhD >> Bryon, retired early as a computer science professor in 2012 and has since applied systems analysis, logic, and an open mind to the Big Questions about life and reality. As a professor, he wrote thirty-two peer-reviewed articles and a book on computer database design. In retirement, his research into cognitive psychology, dreams, NDEs, philosophy, and religion has produced three peer-reviewed psychology journal articles and a book on a natural afterlife and the theory of a natural eternal consciousness (NEC), which supports it. The NEC theory upends the current orthodoxy about death and an afterlife. It reveals that, psychologically, existence is timeless and a spiritual afterlife—ranging from heavenly to hellish—exists. Dr. Ehlmann’s current efforts are devoted to promoting the theory because as awareness of it spreads, the better our world will be.

 

presenting with ...

Meet and Greet (Light Hors d'oeuvres and Cash Bar)

Karen Michelle, PsyD and Christina Tourin, MT, CTHP (Harp Music) / Lee Ann Heltzel (Live Community Art)

Thu.
5:30 pm
-
7:30 pm
PT
Bookstore
120
Min.
Mingle, visit with old friends, and meet new ones! Enjoy light appetizers and visit the cash bar for your beverage of choice. Watch the creation of an exclusive frequency painting and listen to beautiful music. Throughout the conference, Lee Ann Heltzel, the visionary artist behind MetaArt, invites you to witness the dance of frequencies, the convergence of creativity and consciousness, and the creation of a portal to ‘the other side of the veil’—all through the strokes of her brush. This is a community creation, meaning you can paint and contribute to the magical creation. Prepare to gaze into a physical portal painting that defies space and time.

Karen Michelle >> Karen is a near-death experiencer and psychic medium who has a unique understanding and compassion for her clients.  She has spoken at events and conferences in regards to near-death experiences. Karen began working over eighteen years ago in the mental health care field focusing on PTSD, trauma recovery, and dynamics of abusive relationships. Wanting to honor the messages she received during her NDEs, Karen Michelle shifted her career to reflect a holistic and spiritual path. Her specialties include Resonant Kinesiology with harp and guided imagery to facilitate therapeutic music and sound interventions for stress management and relaxation. Dr. Karen Michelle’s educational background includes a doctorate in clinical psychology, Resonant Kinesiology Instructor certification, grief and loss training, and certificate training in working with survivors of sexual assault.

Christina Tourin >> Founder and Director of the International Harp Therapy Program, Christina leads  training centers in multiple countries with  Therapeutic Harp Practitioners serving on five continents. As an internationally award-winning artist, she trained at the Mozarteum in Austria and McGill in Montreal. She was harpist for the Vermont Symphony and for 17 years for the Sound of Music Maria von Trapp family. Returning to IANDS, she is remembered  for her workshops on Music of the Spheres. Christina truly lives a life ‘As above, So below’ sharing her performances of sacred and transcendent moments. Bringing her harp to magical life, she shares with the world the deepest, most profound truths of the Universe, which rightfully and intuitively credits as the source of all she creates. 

Lee Ann Heltzel>> Lee Ann is an explorer of human potential, a death doula, and a multi-dimensional artist and marketing innovator. Trained as an artist and gifted in esoteric practices, Lee Ann pioneered a new visual art genre, MetaArt. Each MetaArt piece energetically transforms its space to a specific frequency, serving as an active portal to higher states of consciousness via engagement with the pineal gland. Lee Ann’s work integrates creativity, imagination, and spirituality, making her a bridge to multi-dimensional realms and pure potential. She founded Creative One, a multi-dimensional marketing firm that taps into the highest potential for conscious creatives and leading-edge thinkers through her Signature MetaInsight(TM ) process.

presenting with ...

What Every Soul Knows: The Joy of Remembering Who We Really Are - Movie & Panel Q & A

Peter Alessandria

Thu.
7:00 pm
-
9:00 pm
PT
Rm 1 - Akimel Ballroom
120
Min.
Join us for a sneak preview (one hour) of the upcoming documentary, “What Every Soul Knows: The Joy of Remembering Who We Really Are.” The film features interviews more than 40 thought-leaders in the areas of near-death experiences, mediumship, channeling, and other psychic phenomena to uncover the path to remembering our true nature as eternal spiritual beings. The preview will be followed by Q&A with the director and with several interviewees from the documentary.

Peter Alessandria >> Peter is an award-winning photographer, filmmaker, author, TEDx Speaker, and former entertainment attorney based in the New York City area. As Managing Director of Mindful Entertainment LLC, Peter is producing several spiritually-based film projects devoted to the topic of life after death. His most recent film, slated for release in late 2024, is a documentary entitled What Every Soul Knows: The Joy of Remembering Who We Really Are. In it, he interviewed more than 40 thought-leaders in the areas of near-death experiences, mediumship, channeling, and other psychic phenomena to uncover the path to remembering our true nature as eternal spiritual beings. Find out more about Peter and his work on his websites: www.itstimetoremember.org, www.whateverysoulknows.com, and www.mindfulentertainment.us.

Other Panelists:

Ray Catania
Caroline Chang
Suzanne Giesemann
Betty Guadagno
Angela Harris
Kevin Jeffers
Amber Kasic
Alysa Rushton
Christian Sundberg
Vinney Tolman
Bill Tortorella (maybe)
Jonathan Van Valin
presenting with ...

Connecting to Soul, Somatic Meditation

Tammi Spring, BA

Thu.
9:15 pm
-
9:45 pm
PT
Rm 1 - Akimel Ballroom
30
Min.
Participants will be invited to experience a full body somatic meditation for grounding energy into the body while connecting to soul at source. Tammi will guide participants to integrate emotional and physical energy from the day, tap into their intuition and knowing, and use somatic and breathing methods to instill a peaceful and restful space for relaxing into the night.

Tammi Spring >> Tammi has had multiple STEs, including an NDE during cancer treatments in which she made a choice to return to this life. For more than 12 years, she has been practicing meditation. Having trained with Dharma Ocean in Colorado, and with two years of intuitive, shamanic, and psychic training in Washington, DC, with “Bridge Between Two Worlds,” her practice is primarily somatic meditation in which she blends mindfulness, loving-kindness, and visualizations that channel an energetic connection to source, spirit, and human self. With more than four years of experience leading private meditation groups in Boulder, CO, Tammi has a private practice of intuitive meditations and channeling for clients.

presenting with ...

2023 Day 2 - Friday - SPEAKERS

2023 Day 2 - Friday - SPEAKERS

Love and Laughter: The Pursuit of Happiness After a Near-Death Experience

Kimberly Clark Sharp, MSW, LiCSW

Fri.
9:15 am
-
10:15 am
ET
Rm 1 - Akimel Ballroom
60
Min.
Coming back from an NDE with a love for all can be so annoying. And how exactly does one get through the world after a love-infused spiritual experience when the world seems less than eager for a hug? Finding the funny helps. Or at least finding a wry chuckle, both of which will be available during this presentation.

Kimberly Clark Sharp, MSW, LiCSW >> Kimberly is a long-time social worker and leader in exploring near-death experiences for more than thirty years. Following her own NDE, she founded the Seattle chapter of IANDS Local Groups in 1982, the oldest and largest support group for near-death experiencers. She is the author of After the Light: The Spiritual Path to Purpose, and is a consultant to news and entertainment industry. Kimberly has taught at the University of Washington School of Medicine and at Seattle University.

presenting with ...

Awakening to Sacred Geometry: Pathway to Teaching Illumination for All

Scott Olsen, PhD

Fri.
9:15 am
-
10:15 am
ET
Rm 2 - Kave Ballroom
60
Min.
Scott will share his perinatal experience when he was brought home from the hospital and was hovering above his father’s church overlooking the parsonage watching the scene unfold from above, which he later described in detail to his shocked parents. But most importantly, he was in full consciousness, seeing clearly, not only the past, but his intended role in this life to rediscover the secret doctrine of Plato. This, in turn, led to his love of beauty, recognition of the sacred connectedness of all existence, and realization of the higher role of selflessness in assisting the transformation and illumination of all living beings–the so-called Bodhisattva vow.

Scott Olsen, PhD >> Scott Olsen is Emeritus Professor of Philosophy and Religion at College of Central Florida and author of award winning The Golden Section: Nature’s Greatest Secret, and recently A Grand Unification of the Sciences, Arts & Consciousness: Rediscovering the Pythagorean Plato’s Golden Mean Number System. Scott is a national lecturer for the Theosophical Society in America, the Foundation for Theosophical Studies in the UK, regular international speaker for the New York Open Center’s Esoteric Quests, and member & past speaker for IANDS. He offers Sacred Geometry workshops, focusing on perennial philosophy, Plato, the golden mean and transformative states of consciousness.

presenting with ...

The Hard Problem of SpiritualityTM

Archedon

Fri.
9:15 am
-
10:15 am
ET
Rm 3 - Deer
60
Min.
In this presentation, Archedon addresses the question, “If the spiritual realm is a genuine reality, does it possess consistent first principles that clarify the diverse range of spiritual experience?” He addresses the complex nature of spiritual experiences, identifies the challenges associated with categorizing such experiences, and proposes a robust synthesis—a comprehensive framework that identifies fundamental principles among the variety of spiritual experiences.

Archedon >> Archedon is a father of five and a pioneer in the hydraulic construction industry. His projects in the Atacama Desert (northern Chile) hold two lithium industry world records. His innovations in plasma combustion technology achieved emissions breakthroughs for internal combustion engines. He has presented for executive leaders in venture capital including Greylock Partners and Kleiner Perkins, higher education including Stanford University, government including National Laboratories and the Department of Energy and Colorado’s own Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI).

His forthcoming book offers a path to achieve high confidence in a Higher Dimensional Realm Reality. This framework, The Continuum of Existence, using AI technology, has potential to revolutionize philosophy and theology. He was gifted with a profound and highly rare “type” of NDE-like Experience, and he will share the unique message from that excursion. The “aftereffect” of that temporary relocation to the Higher Dimensional Realm initiated this research. Recently, additional “Experiences” have contributed to the offered insights.

presenting with ...

Life Between Life Reviews Enhance Love of Self and Love for Others

Co-presenters: Jim Fisher, MBA and Jen Catlin, MS

Fri.
9:15 am
-
10:15 am
ET
Rm 4 - Kave 3
60
Min.
Learn what a life between life review (LBL) is and how hypnosis can be used to access guidance on one’s life purpose. Jim and Jen will discuss LBL reviews and how the information obtained can lead to greater love for oneself and for others. Through their own and others’ experiences, they will provide real-life examples showing how people benefited from their LBLs and inspired them toward loving action. You may be inspired to seek your own LBL to better appreciate the importance of the spiritual planning that went into your current incarnation, and gain insight into the behaviors of challenging people in your life.

Jim Fisher, MBA >> Jim is a retired CPA with a BS in Psychology and an MBA in Accounting. He served as the Treasurer of IANDS in 2019. Jim began exploring the breadth of reality 20 years ago when he met a near-death experiencer. Her story prompted a search for knowledge and experience that would expand his understanding of our collective spiritual nature. Several years ago Jim borrowed a concept from a friend and began a meetup group called Consciousness Café in North Carolina. The purpose of the group was to share experiences and broaden member awareness of their spiritual underpinnings. Jim’s efforts include multiple trips to the Monroe Institute, participation in Rhine Center programs, a two week healing retreat in the Peruvian jungle and trips to Togo, Africa exposing him to Togolese traditional spiritual practices.

Jen Catlin, MS >> Jen has an MS in Psychology and is a certified transpersonal, spiritual hypnotherapist, and hypnotherapy training instructor. She has had an NDE. She serves on the Education Committee for the Newton Institute. Jen has completed the Duke Integrated Mindfulness Training for Professionals.

presenting with ...

Inspired to Loving Action by Embodiment Coaching with Emotional and Spiritual Intelligence

Keyaunoosh Kassauei, MD

Fri.
9:15 am
-
10:15 am
ET
Bookstore
60
Min.
“Keyaunoosh will discuss the 5 tiers of PIERS model of Conscious Coaching :
PQ/Physical intelligence, IQ, Emotional intelligence, RQ or Relational and spiritual intelligence.
She will share how her experience could have been different if she and her health care professional networks had the tools and education she has today to fill up the gap of spiritual and emotional care of experiencers as a patient.”

Dr. Keyaunoosh Kassauei, MD, is an international medical graduate with a post-doctoral research fellowship at The Johns Hopkins Hospital, School of Medicine. She has several publications in prominent journals of medicine, including Nature. Dr. Kassauei is the Founder/CEO and Creative Director of “My Conscious Coaching Group” which serves our healthcare and education community with a mission to heal and care for the Whole-Self and a vision to raise self and global awareness for a conscious mind through education and application of EQ/SQ (Emotional Intelligence and Spiritual/Deep intelligence). She is the co-author of the International Best Seller, “Beautiful Scars” and a podcast speaker. She is currently a Fellow at IOC (Institute of Coaching) at Harvard Medical School/McLean Hospital and also serves on the IOC board of the Race, Equity, and Inclusion Council (REI). She is a member of ICF, and ICF Foundation (International Coach Federation) and a certified emotional intelligence and spiritual intelligence coach.

presenting with ...

The Return of the PK (psychokinetic) Man

Jeffrey Mishlove, PhD

Fri.
10:30 am
-
11:30 am
ET
Rm 1 - Akimel Ballroom
60
Min.
Jeffrey Mishlove’s book, The PK Man published in 2000, describes a 10-year field investigation of Ted Owens (1920-1987) a man who demonstrated unusual macro-psychokinetic abilities. Owens claimed that UFO contacts were responsible for his ability to mentally influence large-scale weather systems as well as UFO sightings and other events. In December 2022, Jeffrey received a message from a New Thinking Allowed viewer in Germany who claimed that Ted Owens had reached out to him from the afterlife while he was meditating. In this session, Jeffrey will report on the results of that communication.

Jeffrey Mishlove, PhD, is host and producer of the New Thinking Allowed channel on YouTube. He is author of The Roots of Consciousness, Psi Development Systems, and The PK Man. He is the recipient of the only doctoral diploma in “Parapsychology” ever awarded by an accredited university (University of California, Berkeley, 1980). Between 1986 and 2002 he hosted and co-produced the original Thinking Allowed public television series. He is the Grand Prize winner of the 2021 Bigelow Institute essay competition regarding the best evidence for survival of human consciousness after permanent bodily death. His website is http://thinkingallowed.com.

presenting with ...

How Three Shared-Death Experiences Fast-Tracked My Life Into Loving Action

Rev. Sue Frederick

Fri.
12:15 pm
-
1:15 pm
ET
Rm 1 - Akimel Ballroom
60
Min.
Sue was 29-years-old on the day in 1979 when her husband died in her arms. She watched his spirit rise from his body and soar into the Colorado mountains. She will share this story and two more of shared death experiences (her husband, father & best girlfriend) and how those journeys to the divine realms taught her the purpose of life in the physical world.

Reverend Sue Frederick, ordained Unity Minister, lifelong intuitive, Past Life and Between Lives Soul Regression Therapist and Master Numerologist, is the author of Through a Divine Lens: Practices to Quiet your Ego and Align with your Soul, Bridges to Heaven: True Stories of Loved Ones on the Other Side, I See Your Soul Mate, and I See Your Dream Job. As an intuitive coach and spiritual guide, she’s helped thousands of people realign with their soul’s purpose and connect to departed loved ones for healing conversations. Her work has been featured in the New York Times, CNN.com, and Real Simple, Yoga Journal, Natural Health, and Complete Woman magazines.

presenting with ...

A 12-Step NDE Integration Process: In Service to Experiencers and Their Loved Ones

Moderator: Bethany Silver, PhD / Diana (DiFranco) Marquez Lyons, LCSW, LISW, ACISTE ACMHP / Jim Bruton

Fri.
12:15 pm
-
1:15 pm
ET
Rm 2 - Kave Ballroom
60
Min.
Near-Death Experiences are uniquely personal and life changing. Until they find community among their own, Experiencers may feel rejected, isolated, confused and afraid to reach out for support. Learn how to facilitate a 12-Step NDE Integration support group that offers experiencers a path to community, validation, support and acceptance.

Bethany Silver, PhD >> has been an educator for 25+ years. She began her teaching career as a psychology instructor at Manchester Community College. At UConn’s Neag School of Education she served as the Director of the Professional Development Academy and Assistant Professor of Educational Technology. Dr. Silver has taught courses in research methods, evaluation, assessment, and learning. She has engaged her research skills with neurology patients at Hartford Hospital and public school districts in Connecticut. Bethany has been interested in NDEs since her graduate work at UConn exposed her to the work of Dr. Kenneth Ring, returning to study NDEs after recent losses of family members and friends. She co-facilitates the CT IANDS NDE Support Group with Tina Angeli and Jack Lardis, beginning in May 2020.

Diana (DiFranco) Marquez Lyons, LCSW, LISW, ACISTE ACMHP >> is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker who specializes in supporting Near-Death Experiencers and their families. Ms. Marquez Lyons has had her own psychotherapy practice since 2010. A spiritual seeker most of her life, in 2010 Diana had a shared death experience when her mom passed. She was the founder and leader of the CT Shoreline IANDS for seven years and has also had a kundalini awakening. Diana has spent the majority of her adult life studying Spiritually Transformative Experiences, as well as Near-Death Experiences and the aftereffects. Diana earned her ACISTE Certified Mental Health provider certification from The American Center for the Integration of Spiritual Experiences (ACISTE). She was invited to present at the ACISTE conference in 2013. Diana also presented at the 2015 IANDS conference, and in 2021 with Jim Bruton, and in 2022 with Bethany Silver and Jim Bruton.

Jim Bruton >> Jim Bruton has been a world traveler and adventurer for much of his life- his adventures ranging from living in Africa as wildlife filmmaker for National Geographic to serving as a war journalist for NBC News. Using only a backpack, providing news coverage as a war journalist for NBC News in Iraq, and Lecturing in Telemedicine at Yale University School of Medicine. But when his experimental aircraft crashed in Oct. 2016, he had an adventure that topped them all. Transported to the In Between, his NDE there was not a typical passive one but required him to do something- to change his future and see how all things are interconnected. Jim has documented all of this in his books, “The In Between, A Trip of a Lifetime” (2020), and “The Practice in Between: The Art of Letting Go”(2021).

presenting with ...

The Blissful Freedom of Living as Pure Awareness: The Greatest Gift of the NDE

Ishtar Howell, BA

Fri.
12:15 pm
-
1:15 pm
ET
Rm 3 - Deer
60
Min.
The NDE is a window into a profoundly blissful level of consciousness. Ishtar will share how this place of deep wholeness, limitless love, and clarity is not some out-of-reach experience, but is truly our natural state. In fact, the natural tendency of human life is to move in its direction. The telos of human evolution depends on our reconnection to this field.

Ishtar Howell, BA >> Ishtar is a meditation teacher, monk, gardener, intuitive, and writer. As a 13 year old he experienced an NDE in which his mother died and he was moved into a state of bliss and oneness that faded after 2 months. The desire to return to that propelled him on a spiritual path as a high school student. After learning many different practices, at age 18 he learned a meditation practiced called the Ishayas’ Ascension, and entered an ashram centered on the practice. The barriers of the separated self melted, opening to the experience of the world as the Self. This process continues to unfold and expand.

presenting with ...

Underneath Life’s Complications Lies the Discovery That LOVE is All There Is

Amber Kasic, MA

Fri.
12:15 pm
-
1:15 pm
ET
Bookstore
60
Min.
Amber will inspire attendees with the shared death experience between her and her father as he passed under hospice care. It led her a journey of forgiveness, healing, expanded awareness of our greater reality, and inspired loving action to help us all live more peaceful, connected lives with those around and beyond us.

Amber Kasic, MA >> Amber Kasic is a teacher, evidential medium, consultant in the field of education, author, and aspiring public speaker. After a shared death experience with her father in 2020, she began a journey of discovery and connection with our greater reality, guided by her dad in spirit. She now inspires others to explore just what is possible in our lives, as love is limitless.

presenting with ...

Positions on Controversial Death-Related Social Issues: The Role of Transpersonal Experiences

Jan Holden, EdD, LPC-S, ACMHP / Abbi O'Leary, MS / Lindsey Warwick, MS

Fri.
1:30 pm
-
2:30 pm
ET
Rm 1 - Akimel Ballroom
60
Min.
Are people who have had transpersonal experiences—such as near-death experiences, after-death communication, and psi experiences—called to transform their political positions and opinions? In late 2022, we surveyed members and friends of IANDS regarding their positions on five controversial death-related social issues: abortion, the death penalty, physician-assisted suicide, gun control, and a materialist vs. idealist philosophy, as well as their political affiliations—conservative, moderate, or liberal—before and after their transpersonal experiences. We compare our results to the US population at large, discuss implications of our findings, and conclude with Q&A with our audience.

Jan Holden, EdD, LPC-S, ACMHP >> After 31 years on the University of North Texas (UNT) Counseling Program faculty, Jan Holden retired in 2019 as Professor Emerita of Counseling. Beginning in 1988 with her doctoral dissertation, her primary research focus has been counseling implications of near-death and related experiences. In this research area she has over 50 refereed journal publications; several chapter and book publications, including lead editorship of the 2009 Handbook of Near-Death Experiences: Thirty Years of Investigation; and over 100 national and international presentations. Among Jan’s numerous recognitions is the 2019 UNT Eminent Faculty Award, one of the university’s highest honors. Since 2008 she has served as editor-in-chief of the International Association for Near-Death Studies’s scholarly Journal of Near-Death Studies, and she serves currently as that association’s President. Her website is http://www.janholden.com.

Abbi O’Leary, MS >> After years of experience as a photojournalist and documentary family photographer, Abbi decided to pursue a career in Clinical Mental Health Counseling to connect with people in a deeper way. She is currently in her last year as a Counseling Program master’s student at the University of North Texas to become a Licensed Professional Counselor. She is interested in how spiritual experiences impact human development and in exploring the transcendent aspects of one’s humanity with individuals through therapy. She is passionate about working with individuals who have experienced religious trauma and helping people rediscover and redefine their spirituality.

Lindsey Warwick, MS >> Lindsey is a doctoral candidate in counselor education at the University of North Texas. She is a licensed professional counselor and licensed marriage and family therapist in the state of Texas. She is also trained in eye-movement desensitization and reprocessing disorder, which she uses mainly in her practice on clients with trauma and complicated bereavement. Her research includes exploring the role of counselor mindfulness on client outcomes and how to better prepare counselors to work with clients with transpersonal experiences and non-ordinary states of consciousness. She is also the editorial assistant for the Journal of Counseling and Development and the assistant editor for the Journal of Near-Death Studies.

presenting with ...

Love Is All That Matters

Chrystal Osier, BA

Fri.
1:30 pm
-
2:30 pm
ET
Rm 2 - Kave Ballroom
60
Min.
Chrystal Rae had a near-death experience during an accident on icy mountain road, when her small red jeep was forced to swerve, then plunged 25 feet off a cliff and rolled 10 times. In her NDE, and other spiritual experiences, a being of light showed her various paths in her future on earth and she was able to choose the right one for her. Chrystal Rae’s soul mission is to share the heartfelt and inspirational message: “Love Is All That Matters.”

Chrystal Osier, BA >> Following a transformative near-death experience, Chrystal Rae’s soul-mission has been to share the love and wisdom garnered over the past twenty years and tell the world that “love is all that matters”. With the directive to write a book and share this message, Chrystal Rae went back to college and received a Bachelor of Arts and Humanities in Literary Studies, graduating Cum Laude. Chrystal Rae concurrently established three flourishing yoga studios and two teacher-training centers in Dallas Texas. In addition, she opened a personal art studio where she paints on large-scale canvases, showing her art in both private exhibits and gallery shows.

presenting with ...

Journey to New Earth

Stacy Natzel

Fri.
1:30 pm
-
2:30 pm
ET
Rm 3 - Deer
60
Min.
After the birth of Stacy’s second child she had an intense out-of-body experience. During her experience she saw many visions of how the universe began, our purpose and experienced astral travel where she was able to visit New Earth.

Stacy Natzel >> Stacy is a wife and mother of two. She owns a small spa business. In her free time she spends her time writing in her blog and creating YouTube videos in order to provide truth and understanding to those seeking answers to life after death. She is the author of the book Journey Through Jesus: Bringing Heaven to Earth.

presenting with ...

Back to the Beyond, Exploring Near-Death Experiences Through Hypnosis

Moderators: Adam Dince, MBA and Betty Guadagno

Fri.
1:30 pm
-
2:30 pm
ET
Bookstore
60
Min.
Hypnotherapist, Adam Dince, will speak about how hypnosis can allow you to revisit the dimensions and realms you journeyed to during the out-of-body experience portion of your NDE. And be prepared to have your mind blown by Betty Guagdano’s hypnotic journey back to the Beyond. Adam and Betty will also be facilitating a Q&A session after the presentation. Don’t miss this opportunity to learn about how hypnotherapy can help near-death experiencers reconnect with the place most call home.

Adam Dince, MBA >> Adam is the author of “Back to the Beyond: Exploring Near-Death Experiences Through Hypnosis.” He specializes in past life regression, life between lives regression (LBL), and hypnotic regression techniques that heal traumas, limiting beliefs, and other challenging life experiences. In addition to hypnotherapy, he is also a Sacred Medicine Man, Reiki Master Teacher, author, and the founder of & healer at Sacred Stairways Hypnotherapy & Healing located in Stillwater, Minnesota.

Betty Guadagno >> Betty Guadagno had a spiritually transformative experience in March of 2019. Betty underwent a 180-degree transformation from drug addict, sex worker, and radical atheist to a devout believer, in long term recovery, and working as a recovery coach. During her integration process, she felt an incredible pull towards establishing spiritual community in her life. She has been connected to the IANDS community since December of 2020. Betty began her involvement with IANDS as an attendee of our sharing groups. She quickly got involved with service to the community by volunteering as a facilitator and moderator. Betty then moved into the role of Webinar Coordinator for IANDS Groups and Events.

presenting with ...

The Nature of Love in Heaven According to Swedenborg

Curtis Childs. BA

Fri.
2:45 pm
-
3:45 pm
ET
Rm 1 - Akimel Ballroom
60
Min.
Curtis will talk about love – the way it shapes the afterlife, the way it connects us in this world to each other and to our Source, and how we can strengthen those connections every day. He will explore the fascinating spiritual experiences of Emanuel Swedenborg, the brilliant 18th-century scientist and inventor, and the insights his experiences give us into the nature and power of love.

Curtis Childs, BA is the Chief Visionary Officer at the Swedenborg Foundation and the host of the popular YouTube channel Off The Left Eye, which has garnered more than 35 million views and over 150,000 subscribers. He is an international speaker, has appeared in numerous high-profile programs in the spirituality field, and has had his content featured on the network TV show, Dr. Oz.

presenting with ...

Helping Grieving Clients: The Healing Power of After-Death Communication (ADC)

Noelle St. Germain-Sehr, PhD / Amanda St. Germain-Sehr, MA

Fri.
2:45 pm
-
3:45 pm
ET
Rm 2 - Kave Ballroom
60
Min.
The presenters will provide an overview of research on after-death communication (ADC) including characteristics, types, and aftereffects. They will present research and case examples discussing the impact of ADC on mediating grief symptoms and the clinical implications of spontaneous and facilitated ADC in grief counseling.

Noelle St. Germain-Sehr, PhD >> Noelle St. Germain-Sehr is a Clinical Associate Professor and Counseling Clinical Experience Director in the Online Counseling Program at William & Mary. Noelle is a Licensed Professional Counselor Supervisor, a National Certified Counselor, a Board-Certified Telemental Health Provider, and an ACISTE Certified Mental Health Professional. Noelle has over 30 years of clinical experience with advanced training in transpersonal counseling. Noelle is the Executive Director of The Center for Grief and Traumatic Loss and The International Induced After-Death Communication (IADC®) Therapy Board. Noelle is an IADC® Trainer, teaches a course in Transpersonal Counseling, and conducts research on transpersonal topics in counseling.

Amanda St. Germain-Sehr, MA >> Amanda St. Germain-Sehr is a Licensed Professional Counselor and a Board-Certified Music Therapist. Amanda has over twelve years of clinical experience in counseling and music therapy and has advanced clinical training in transpersonal approaches to counseling and music therapy. Amanda works full-time as the Music Therapy Clinical Training Coordinator for TWU and maintains a part-time private practice working with adult clients. Amanda is also currently pursuing a doctorate in Counselor Education and Supervision from Texas A&M University – Commerce. Her research interests include professional development issues in counseling, burnout and self-care, LGBTGEQIAP+ issues, and transpersonal perspectives in counseling and music therapy.

presenting with ...

Interpretative Dance to Touched by an NDE

Becca Waterpeace, BA

Fri.
2:45 pm
-
3:45 pm
ET
Rm 3 - Deer
60
Min.
Becca Waterpeace shall perform an interpretive dance to a song she wrote about being touched by her husband’s NDEs. This song, Touched by an NDE is performed by Soul Release, a band consisting of Becca and Sky Waterpeace. Sky Waterpeace is also a speaker at this conference.

Becca Waterpeace, BA >> is a mystic, artist, and intuitive healer who has a BA in psychology, a 200 hour YTT certification, and a reiki master certification. At age 18, Becca had a mystical experience when her mother passed away, which opened her awareness to her intuitive gifts, gifts she later used to help others in one-on-one sessions. Becca’s professional intuitive reading career became the gateway to her musical career with one of her deepest passions, her and her husband’s band “Soul Release.” A self-taught musician, Becca writes songs and creates music by channeling the Divine, and she finds that one of the most powerful avenues to self-healing and communing with her Higher Power is through intuitive dancing. Becca’s role as an intuitive healer is evolving every day, and she is in the process of becoming an Outreach Trainer for the Monroe Institute.

presenting with ...

How a Childhood NDE Unlocked the Power to Miraculously Heal Generational Breast Cancer & the Power Within

Kara Marlene

Fri.
2:45 pm
-
3:45 pm
ET
Bookstore
60
Min.
Kara Marlene will speak of the secrets unlocked from an NDE that lead to miraculous cancer healing and how following the connection with that unlimited power within leads to a truly amazing life!

Kara Marlene >> Kara Marlene is an author and speaker sharing the powerful truths of her childhood NDE experience and the miracles that followed to inspire others to find the power within and live their truth and a life they love!

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Your Path of Ascension: Messages From Ascended Masters

Cathy Gabrielsen, BS

Fri.
4:00 pm
-
5:00 pm
ET
Rm 1 - Akimel Ballroom
60
Min.
Join Cathy Gabrielsen as she shares essential messages she received from Ascended Masters on how to live our true selves, the keys to transformational knowing, and the path to becoming fully awakened human beings. Participants will not only discern where they are on their journey to ascension, their past, present, and future, and learn how to ascend to the next level and unite with their own divine nature, but they will also increase their own paranormal gifts, connection to spirit, consciousness, and vibration!

Cathy Gabrielsen, BS is an international healer and speaker, spiritual teacher, holistic Ayurvedic coach, graduate teacher of Energy Medicine, and #1 Best Selling author of Dying to Live: Surviving Near-Death. Cathy is the founder of Connect Thru Cancer and The Gabrielsen Healing Center. She offers private healing sessions via zoom. After two near-death experiences, once as a teen and another time recovering from cancer, Cathy experienced spiritual transformations and discovered her own paranormal gifts. Cathy learned how to heal her own anxiety, depression, and PTSD and returned to life to help others heal their mind, body, and spirit.

presenting with ...

End of Life Experiences: Evidence for Terminal Lucidity in Children and Adults

Moderator: Marjorie Woollacott, PhD / Bruce Greyson, MD / Karalee Kothe, MA / Natasha Tassell-Matamua PhD

Fri.
4:00 pm
-
5:00 pm
ET
Rm 2 - Kave Ballroom
60
Min.
Terminal Lucidity is a phenomenon in which there are unexplained increases in mental clarity, verbal communication and/or physical capability in the days and hours prior to the death, in persons who are often mentally impaired or comatose. This panel will explore its history, the research that is ongoing in the area, new data from research in a pediatric population and descriptions of terminal lucidity in animals, and the significance of these results for care by family and the medical community at the end of life.

Marjorie Woollacott, PhD >> Marjorie Woollacott, PhD, is emeritus Professor and prior chair of the Dept. of Human Physiology, and member of the Institute of Neuroscience, at the University of Oregon. She taught courses in neuroscience as well as complementary medicine and meditation. She is President of the Academy for the Advancement of Post-Materialist Sciences, Research Director, IANDS, and Co-director of the Galileo Commission. Her current research interests are in meditation, spiritual awakening, end-of-life experiences and after-death-communication. She has published more than 200 scientific articles and written or co-edited nine books

Bruce Greyson, MD >> Dr. Greyson is the Chester Carlson Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry and Neurobehavioral Sciences at the University of Virginia. He co-founded the International Association for Near-Death Studies (IANDS), and for 27 years edited the Journal of Near-Death Studies, the only scholarly journal dedicated to near-death research. Through his research, he has discovered common and universal themes in near-death experiences that go beyond neurophysiological or cultural interpretations, as well as patterns of consistent aftereffects on individuals’ attitudes, beliefs, values, and personalities. He was a co-editor of The Handbook of Near-Death Experiences: Thirty Years of Investigation. His most recent book, After: A Doctor Explores What Near-Death Experiences Reveal about Life and Beyond, is his first trade book bringing his scientific research to a popular audience.

Karalee Kothe, MA >> Karalee Kothe, MA, received degrees in Psychology and Global and Multicultural Studies from Montana State University working in the Stress, Adversity, Resilience and Health Lab, exploring different responses to acute anxiety between emotion regulation and mindfulness coping strategies. She earned her MA in Psychology at the Spirituality Mind Body Institute at Columbia University, aiding with research in NDEs. She is currently a PhD Clinical Health Psychology student at CU Denver, interested in exploring how clinical health populations can live meaningfully unhindered by fear of death, understanding the lessons that death and dying teach us about living, and connecting to our shared sense of mortality as our greatest common ground.

Natasha Tassell-Matamua, PhD >> Natasha is an Associate Professor and co-Director of the Centre for Indigenous Psychologies in the School of Psychology at Massey University, Aotearoa New Zealand. Her teaching is in the area of Indigenous psychologies, and in particular the utilization of Indigenous knowledges to effect meaningful change across a range of contexts. Her research typically focusses on the interplay between spirituality, well-being and the wider ecosystem. Natasha has also spent the last 14 years researching the phenomenology, after-effects and cultural specificity of near-death experiences and other exceptional experiences of consciousness, and has published extensively in the area as well as providing numerous presentations both nationally and internationally.

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Revealing the Path: Transmuting Challenges Across All Time Through Gentleness and Love

Moderator: Kimberly Braun, MA, CSP / Sharon Milliman / Emilie Spear, BS, CIA, CISA, CRISC

Fri.
4:00 pm
-
5:00 pm
ET
Rm 3 - Deer
60
Min.
During this time of unprecedented challenge and uncertainty there are doors that already exist leading to realms of liberation and love. Join 4 NDE’ers as they draw upon the transformative insights of their experiences to provide for you: keys of understanding and direction that will unlock these doors, foundational evidence that the answers are within you as part of your essential nature, insight into the connectedness of all time and why this matters, and capacity to move forward through all circumstances empowered with clarity and inspiration.

Kimberly Braun, MA, CSP >> Kimberly has been devoted to meditation from the age of 5, with over ten of her years spent as a monastic nun. She is a retreat and workshop facilitator, TEDx speaker, meditation coach, and former meditation faculty at the renowned Omega Institute. She has produced three CDs and a book, Love Calls, Insights of a former Carmelite Nun, about her time as a nun. Communication through words has always been a shining way for Kimberly to be an instrument of inspiration and transformation. She identifies her personal call and mission to inspire others to live from the power and wisdom of Source within them.

Emily Spear, BS, CIA, CISA, CRISC >> Emilie is a successful businesswoman who has had a deep and lifelong spiritual practice. A few days after the birth of her twin daughters, unforeseen medical complications resulted in a life-changing near-death experience. Her vivid account of an eternal, graceful and all-encompassing love is filled with insights on how to cultivate a Heavenly experience within the day-to-day world of humanity. In the midst of this life-changing event, Emilie made a promise to share her experience of Divine Love in order to help others on their own journeys of inner healing and awakening.

Sharon Milliman >> Sharon is a four-time near-death experiencer. She is a published author, speaker, and licensed ordained minister. Sharon has presented as a guest speaker at a number of spiritually oriented groups, including IANDS groups, various churches, hospitals and hospice groups. Sharon was featured in an NDE documentary film by filmmaker and producer James Bonato in 2022. She was featured on the Dr. Oz Show in 2019, and the National Geographic channel in 2016. Sharon’s books include A Song In The Wind, A Near-Death Experience, The Whispers In The Wind, A Poetic Journey Of The Soul, and A Rose From Heaven.

presenting with ...

Answering the Call to an Extraordinary Life: The Keys to Navigate Life’s Toughest Terrain, and Emerge Better Off Than Before

Cassandra Ricks, PhD

Fri.
4:00 pm
-
5:00 pm
ET
Bookstore
60
Min.
Experiencing six NDEs and multiple spiritually transformative experiences led Cassandra to re-invent her life and integrate the learnings into it. She will share her three secrets to transforming any challenge and accessing deep inner strength. You can learn to feel confident in your ability to achieve goals and dreams, and unlock the code for prosperous living.

Cassandra Ricks, PhD >> Cassandra is a transpersonal psychologist, inspirational speaker, Transpersonal Life Coach, and spiritual medium. Weaving a tapestry of her abilities, skills, training and lived experiences, she assists clients in effecting positive change for healing, wisdom, and growth in their lives.

presenting with ...

Love As Our Guide After Death

Krista Gorman, BS / Ainsley Threadgold

Fri.
5:15 pm
-
6:15 pm
ET
Rm 1 - Akimel Ballroom
60
Min.
Krista and Ainsley will share their journeys from their individual deaths to life with one another. At the center of it all, was and is Love. They will discuss key points along their paths where Love was the guide and it led them to greater connection with themselves, one another and the world. Literal miracles occurred along the way!

Krista Gorman, BS >> Krista is a professional health care worker who died in 2000 during labor with her daughter, Maggie. Since then, she has traveled a path from death to life again using the Love she experienced during her NDE as her guide. She endeavors to embody this Love in every moment, serving her patients and in being a wife and mother, sister, daughter and friend. Krista shares what she’s learned through her NDE and in life on TikTok, YouTube and her website. She had presented at IANDS, on podcasts, and has a book on Amazon titled I Died And Learned How To Live. She is enjoying island life on Maui with her twin soul Ainsley.

Ainsley Threadgold >> Ainsley died in 1993 after being hit by a car traveling at 40 mph. He wouldn’t recover the memories of the accident or the NDE until 21 years later through hypnotherapy. This was to be the start of an adventure which would have him meet the love of his life, help him lovingly change the circumstances surrounding a cancer diagnosis, move to the United States, then to Maui and restart his career in law enforcement. He admits that this has all come with much trepidation, but his guide has always been love!

presenting with ...

Superconscious Leadership

Jessika Jake

Fri.
5:15 pm
-
6:15 pm
ET
Rm 2 - Kave Ballroom
60
Min.
Come explore what it can mean to show up as a Superconscious Leader for your teams at work, your community, and for yourself. Superconscious Leadership is unapologetically soul-centric, rooted in post-materialism, unequivocally acknowledging that as human beings, we have a who-ness (the human aspect) and a what-ness (the being aspect).

Jessika Jake is an international speaker and trainer, including speaking at the Host Leadership Convention in Munich summer 2019 and the AATH Convention in spring 2019, and training the US Air Force in Aviano Italy. She has been a strategic leader for decades, attaining several awards and certifications. She is experienced working with Fortune 100 and 500 startups, small-to-mid-sized agencies, and nonprofits. A Oneness experience during nondual meditation revealed a training shortcut—intuition and connection with spirit. She now works at the nexus of Superconscious Leadership, Wellness, and Personal Development.

presenting with ...

How a Series of Mystical Experiences Called Me to the Priesthood, a Life of Joy With God, and Spiritual Service to Others

Stephanie Bradbury, BA, MDiv

Fri.
5:15 pm
-
6:15 pm
ET
Rm 3 - Deer
60
Min.
Rev. Stephanie will share six of her spiritually transformative experiences (STEs) and the lessons that she learned from each. She will then show how they influenced her call to ordination to the priesthood, and a life devoted to God, service to others, and translating STEs to the church.

Stephanie Bradbury, BA, MDiv >> The Rev. Stephanie Chase Bradbury has been an Episcopal priest for 26 years, counseling many people who’ve had NDEs and STEs. She herself has had a number of Mystical Experiences. Stephanie is drawn to how material reality is intertwined with the transcendent. She feels called to help facilitate the processing of those who have been touched by the extraordinary. She has led NDE retreats, spoken at IANDS gatherings, and been interviewed for podcasts. Stephanie is both grounded in the Christian tradition, while welcoming insight from beyond organized religion. She serves an Episcopal Church in Massachusetts.

presenting with ...

Dreams of Antiquity: My Late Wife’s Introduction to the Afterlife

Joe Hehn

Fri.
5:15 pm
-
6:15 pm
ET
Bookstore
60
Min.
Three days after her passing, Joe received a message from his late wife. That message served to encourage and inspire him to seek out new truths about death as he traveled the world. Through her enduring guidance and love, Joe discovered the soul’s purpose as well as sacred and spiritual truths which ultimately released him from both grief and even the fear of death.

Joe Hehn >> Joe Hehn is a mindset and spiritual mentor who helps others transform by teaching them how to wield the power of their mind and spirit. Through a decade of dedication and determination, studying dozens of belief systems, religions, faiths, and spiritual practices, Joe discovered something revolutionary—the process of transforming one’s mind and perspective while making a deep and authentic connection to spirit. Encouraged by his late wife to write a book, Joe did so over his seven year spiritual journey. Dreams of Antiquity is an epic tale of one man’s soulful quest, through many incarnations, learning to love again.

presenting with ...

Yoga Nidra

Felice DiMartino, BFA / Evan Premo, BM

Fri.
6:30 pm
-
7:00 pm
ET
Bookstore
30
Min.
Meditation leader: Felice DiMartino
30 minutes. Refresh your energy with a 30-minute Yoga Nidra session. We will relax and enter into a rest period. Yoga Nidra is also known as non-sleep deep rest, which helps to induce a relaxed state of inner calm and a holistic integration of new information.
Music: Requesting live accompaniment with Evan Premo, depending on schedule.

Felice DiMartino, BFA >> Felice DiMartino, a two-time shared-death experiencer (SDE) had a near-death experience (NDE) in 2015 when she was hit by a large truck while crossing the street. She serves as a Heart Centered Guide, teacher of “The Way Of Light”, a path of Awakened Living, and is the founder of Grounded Illumination, a practice of harnessing Mystical traditions, Hermetic principles, Quantum Technologies and Transmissions from her NDE to activate the Remembering of our true Identity. She provides Concrete tools, Channeled messages and Intuitive Guidance to live as an embodied expression of the Divine with clarity, insight, confidence, fulfillment, peace of heart/mind, and access to the wisdom of the Soul.

Evan Premo, BM >> Musician Evan Premo creates heart-centered music that inspires audiences and musicians alike. His music has been commissioned by the Pittsburgh Symphony Chamber Orchestra, River Town Duo, the International Society of Bassists, The Pine Mountain Music Festival, Capitol City Concerts, and the Montpelier Chamber Orchestra. Evan is a member of Decoda with which he has performed in residencies around the world. As a member of Ensemble Connect, Evan has performed in concerts at Carnegie Hall. Evan resides in Vermont where he is Founder co-Artistic Director of Scrag Mountain Music with his wife, soprano Mary Bonhag. He is also Founder and Artistic Director of Beethoven and Banjos, a residency that brings together folk and classical musicians for cross-genre concerts in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

presenting with ...

Architecture of Death: The Inner World of Dying (FILM & PANEL)

Moderator: Johanna Lunn, BA, Film Director / William Peters, MA, MEd, MFT / Maggie Callanan, RN

Fri.
8:15 pm
-
9:45 pm
ET
Rm 1 - Akimel Ballroom
90
Min.
What happens as we are dying? What could the final months, weeks, and days of life look like for the person who is dying and the people who love them?



The Architecture of Death explores the physical aspect of dying, as well as the unseen felt experiences that can occur, including the changing roles within a family; the potential to heal old wounds; deathbed visions or dreams; messages to loved ones from the dying or recently passed; and a host of other phenomena. Professionals who have spent their careers at the bedside share extraordinary stories as Director Johanna Lunn takes viewers by the hand to explore what death might look like. https://whenyoudie.org/death-film/

Experts featured in the documentary: Sue Brayne, MA; Dr. Paige Moorehouse, MD; Dr. Penny Sartori, PhD; Dr. Ann Marie Chiasson, MD; Dr. Anthony Bossis, PhD; Dr. Peter Fenwick, MD; Rev. David Maginley, MDiv; Dr. Andrew Holecek, DDS; Jill Shock, MA; William Peters, MA, MEd, MFT; Julie McFadden, RN.

Johanna Lunn, BA >> Award-winning producer, director, and writer, Johanna J. Lunn, has contributed to many compelling, entertaining, and profoundly thought-provoking programs during her 35 years in the business. Her work has received eight Gemini (Canadian equivalent of an Emmy) nominations and taken home three awards and received Best Documentary Award from the prestigious Hot Docs International Documentary Film Festival. She has also produced films for the National Film Board of Canada, IFC and Canadian television. Johanna resides on the rugged shores of the North Atlantic near Halifax, Nova Scotia.

William Peters, M.A., M.Ed., MFT >> is a psychotherapist and the founder of the Shared Crossing Project whose mission is to positively transform relationships to death and dying through education and raising awareness about extraordinary end-of-life experiences (shared crossings) and their healing benefits. William is a global leader in shared death studies and end-of-life phenomenon. He teaches methods to facilitate the shared death experience and to assist experiencers in meaningfully integrating their experiences. His work is informed by his two NDEs and a variety of shared crossings. William’s book entitled At Heaven’s Door: What Shared Journeys to the Afterlife Teach About Dying Well and Living Better, is published by Simon & Schuster. Monica Williams is a board-certified emergency physician who is on staff at one of the largest emergency departments in the nation, Huntsville Hospital, where she is also the Medical Director for Advanced Care Planning and End of Life Education Programs.

Maggie Callanan, RN >> Maggie Callanan has specialized in the care of the dying since 1981. She lectures widely to lay and professional audiences on death and dying, bereavement, and hospice care. Maggie is the author of Final Journeys and co-author of Final Gifts. She was the first coordinator and contributing author of the “Dealing with Death” column in the American Journal of Nursing. In 1995, she was named the Hospice Clinician of the Year and received the prestigious National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization’s “Heart of Hospice” award. Maggie has been a long-time friend, frequent speaker and supporter of IANDS, and was the nurse-panelist at the IANDS 2020 Online Conference on the premiere panel,“Healing Perspectives on Dying Alone.” She lives in Northern Virginia.

presenting with ...
Ellen Wier

A Glimpse of Heaven: Sound and Music for Messages and Healing

Ellen Wier, MA, MT-BC

Fri.
8:00 am
-
8:30 am
PT
Rm 1 - Akimel Ballroom
30
Min.
This immersive experience, involving crystal singing bowls, vocal toning, and guided imagery, is designed to connect participants with their higher selves, offering a taste of Ellen’s unique method that blends music therapy with spiritual insights.

Ellen Wier (formerly Whealton) >> Ellen is a light worker, transpersonal and music therapist, healer, workshop presenter, and educator who uses numerous modalities in her work, including music, crystal singing bowls, chanting, visualization, and meditation. Kicked in the head by a horse at age 12, Ellen experienced an NDE in which she vowed to come back to heal people with music and then experienced tremendously impactful spiritual downloads before being drawn back to her body by music. This spiritual event gave Ellen first-hand knowledge of the immense web of love, wisdom, and support that is available to everyone at all times. Ellen has a master’s degree in Transpersonal Counseling with an emphasis in Music Therapy from Naropa University. Trained in the Bonny Method of Guided Imagery and Music, Holotropic Breathwork, Reiki, and Aroma-Release, Ellen is an online course instructor who provides continuing education for music therapists and counseling psychologists around the globe.

presenting with ...

Welcome & Announcements

Scott Taylor, EdD / Debbie James, MSN, RN, CCRN

Fri.
8:30 am
-
8:45 am
PT
Rm 1 - Akimel Ballroom
15
Min.
Our emcees Scott and Debbie will start your day off with good cheer! You will hear all the important announcements and information to make your conference experience a great one.

Scott Taylor >> Scott is president of the Expanded Awareness Institute (EAI). EAI helps people curious about near-death experiences (NDEs) and shared death experiences (SDEs) explore what those experiences mean to them and to our human culture. His YouTube podcast The Afterlife Files, is rated in the top 20% worldwide. On the faculty of The Shift Network, Scott teaches NDE meditation for his course The Bi-Location Phenomenon.

Debbie James >> After completing her master’s thesis on disclosure of near-death experiences (NDEs), Debbie James was appointed to the board of directors of the International Association for Near-Death Studies (IANDS). In 2009, Debbie co-authored and edited the first compilation of research on NDEs, The Handbook of Near-Death Experiences: Thirty Years of Investigation. Inspired by her belief in the art and science of nursing practice and education, Debbie has focused her career on the advancement of safe, evidence-based patient-centered care.

presenting with ...

The Healing Effects of Afterlife Communication

Suzanne Giesemann, MPA

Fri.
9:00 am
-
10:00 am
PT
Rm 1 - Akimel Ballroom
60
Min.
As humans, we too often doubt the existence of things we can’t sense physically. Near-death experiences and evidence-based after-death communications show us that we are multidimensional beings. We learn that it is the soul that connects us to all experiences in all realities. Join Suzanne Giesemann as she highlights this web of love through “no other explanation” stories from across the veil and deep spiritual truths that will ignite your soul. Learn how awareness of our connection with a greater reality has the power to transform grief and provide ongoing comfort and healing in this powerful presentation that will help you set aside your human doubts and reclaim the Power that unites us all.

Suzanne Giesemann >> Suzanne is a metaphysical teacher, author, and Messenger of Hope, recognized on the Watkins’ list of the 100 Most Spiritually Influential Living People. She is a former U.S. Navy Commander who served as a commanding officer and as aide to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Today, she guides people to the awareness of a greater reality. She has published 14 books, 6 Hemi-Sync recordings, and YouTube videos with over nine million views. She produces the Awakened Way app and hosts the popular Messages of Hope podcast. Her gift of multidimensional communication has been verified by noted afterlife researchers, and her messages bring not only hope but also healing and love that go straight to the heart.

presenting with ...
Nancy Rynes

The Natural World, Personal Transformation, and the Healing Energy of NDEs

Nancy Rynes, BSc

Fri.
10:30 am
-
11:30 am
PT
Rm 1 - Akimel Ballroom
60
Min.
In this talk, Nancy will share stories of how the natural world can help us heal and transform our lives after extraordinary experiences such as NDEs. She will discuss our culture’s current disconnect from nature, but also show how those connections are still there, available to anyone at any time. Finally, she will share examples of how everyone can connect with nature to help with their own transformations and healing.

Nancy Rynes is a geoscientist, archaeologist, artist, and explorer of all things weird and wonderful. As a near-death experiencer, remote viewer, QHHT regressionist, and energy worker, Nancy seeks to combine her innate curiosity about the nature of reality with a sense of discernment and groundedness learned as a geoscientist. She strives to make both scientific and “paranormal” topics easier to understand for everyone, Nancy has been featured on NBC TV’s The TODAY Show, PBS Television, and the Netflix series Surviving Death. She is a popular keynote speaker and workshop leader and has appeared on many podcasts and radio shows.

presenting with ...

Terminal Lucidity in Children: Transformational Effects

Marjorie Woollacott, PhD / (Natasha Tassell-Matamua, PhD - not coming)

Fri.
10:30 am
-
11:30 am
PT
Rm 2 - Kave Ballroom
60
Min.
Research indicates that children may have profound mystical experiences at the end of life as part of experiences of terminal lucidity. However, recent studies show that a high percentage of children experience their last days and minutes of life in an intensive care unit, as parents and medical staff have extreme difficulty deciding whether to withdraw treatments, torn between giving a child nurturing and emotionally supportive loving care and achieving the medical goal to prolong life. In this presentation, Marjorie and Tash will present cases of terminal lucidity and other end-of-life experiences in children, proposing that these experiences are more likely to occur when ICU treatments to simply prolong life are ended and the children are allowed to be fully present with their families. They will discuss transformational effects of these experiences on the children’s medical caregivers and family members as well as implications for end-of-life care.

Marjorie Woollacott >> Marjorie is Research Director for IANDS, President of the Academy for the Advancement of Post-Materialist Sciences (AAPS), member of the Science Committee of the Institute of Noetic Sciences (IONS), and Co-Director of the Galileo Commission. She is a member of the Institute of Neuroscience at the University of Oregon and has received funding for her research in rehabilitation medicine, meditation, spiritual awakening, and end-of-life experiences. She has published over 200 scientific articles and written or edited nine books, including Infinite Awareness: The Awakening of a Scientific Mind, her eight-award-winning book about her own spiritual awakening and its transformation of  her research on consciousness, as well as Spiritual Awakenings: Scientists and Academics Describe Their Experiences.

Natasha Tassell-Matamua >> Natasha is Associate Professor and Director of the Centre for Indigenous Psychologies in the School of Psychology at Massey University, Aotearoa New Zealand. Her teaching is in the area of Indigenous psychologies and, in particular, the utilization of Indigenous knowledges to effect meaningful change across a range of contexts. Her research typically focuses on the interplay between spirituality, well-being, and the wider ecosystem. Natasha has also spent the last 15 years researching the phenomenology, aftereffects, and cultural specificity of near-death experiences and other exceptional experiences of consciousness; she has published extensively and presented both nationally and internationally on these topics.

presenting with ...

How To Want To Be Here

Katie Darling, MSU / Gregory Andrews

Fri.
10:30 am
-
11:30 am
PT
Rm 3 - Deer
60
Min.
Many NDErs talk about their agonizing return to the body, or joke that they don’t fear death at all: “In fact… I can hardly wait!” Katie and Gregory call themselves, for fun, “New Wave Mystics”–exploring the mystical marriage of body and spirit, between the wave function of consciousness appearing as material bodies and the Infinite Wave of consciousness, the “I Am” that observes or perhaps creates the diverse “waves” of manifestation. Having felt they are “doing time,” trapped here in 3D, and trying to get up and out of body, they are now exploring Oneness through “wave-literacy,” the understandings and skills that integrate here and there. In this presentation, they will illuminate the edge between a “Holy Longing” for the Divine and a less-healthy “Death Urge” that can subtly degenerate people’s bodies and psyches through resisting the very embodied experience that they enthusiastically signed up for. The speakers’ hope is for everyone to experience Life in its fullness.

Katie Darling >> Katie has been a transformational guide/seminar leader for more than 50 years. Despite having British physicist atheist parents, at age 18 she had a stunning (drug-free) STE that revealed infinite Love—a Who, not a “what”—behind everything. Feeling like a “walk-in,” Katie became a monk for 12 years, thinking Source was “up there,” until realizing we must “descend to ascend!” A popular therapeutic coach and inspirational speaker, in 1995 she founded iWAVE Institute (formerly Motherwave), initiating more than 5,000 students into direct, integrated, embodied awakening.

Gregory Andrews >> Gregory was a Captain in the Air Force (computer department), then a businessman, before losing his sight from an earlier training accident. Faced with a death urge, he instead dove deep into Oneness, becoming a beloved teacher of A Course in Miracles and other mystical practices, which manifested as meeting and marrying Katie during the COVID lockdown.

presenting with ...

Open Heart Drum Meditation and Movement (Lunchtime Activity)

Rev. Elke Macartney, BA

Fri.
12:15 pm
-
1:00 pm
PT
Rm 4 - Kave 3
45
Min.
Elke invites participants to feel the rhythm of the heart beat drum and open to the center of their being— their heart space. She will seek to allow an emanation of pure Love to fill each participant, the room, and the planet. She intends that participants will integrate, embody, and ground through meditation, sound, and movement to cultivate presence for the rest of the conference.

Elke Macartney >> Elke is a shaman, counselor, healer, and wisdom keeper in practice for 40 years. As an aura seer and spirit walker, her daily life is a continual spiritually transformative experience. She also enjoys  dancing every day, walking in the forest, and facilitating online IANDS sharing groups.

presenting with ...

NDEs and the Seven Type Spectrum of Spiritual Experience

Jonathan Ellerby, PhD

Fri.
1:15 pm
-
2:15 pm
PT
Rm 1 - Akimel Ballroom
60
Min.
This compelling presentation with bestselling author Jonathan Ellerby is intended for those who have experienced NDEs, who support people who have experienced NDEs, and who are in fields of research making sense of NDEs and their meaning. After over 30 years studying spiritual experiences, the nature of consciousness, and the transformative process of heart and mind, Jonathan has developed a seven type spectrum of spiritual experience that helps to organize, understand, explain, and discuss the varieties of phenomena common to near-death experiencers. Despite the global and timeless nature of these seven types of experience, NDEs, more than any practice, tradition, tool, or setting, foster the most vivid and consistent portrayal of these seven realms of life beyond life. Participants will come to understand NDEs in the broadest context of time, culture, psychology, and spiritual growth. This presentation is based on Jonathan’s new book “The Seven Gateways of Spiritual Experience.”

Two time bestselling author, consultant, and speaker Jonathan Ellerby brings a rare and essential perspective to the fields of consciousness studies, integrative wellness, and human transformation. With over 30 years of experience in research and applied work, Jonathan’s background includes advanced academic degrees combined with decades of practical leadership and applied experience in settings as diverse as hospitals, rural communities, Fortune 500 boardrooms, international settings, and premier retreat, spa, and resort facilities. Jonathan has traveled the world to explore countless cultural approaches to healing and spiritual growth. He regularly returns to Southern Africa to maintain some of his core work drawing on wildlife and Indigenous Medicine. Author of five books and a regular collaborator with leading physicians and psychologists, Jonathan also draws on his training as a cross-cultural chaplain, a multi-faith minister, and a practitioner of energy medicine and traditional earth-based ceremonial healing.

presenting with ...

The Impact of After-Death Communication on Grief and Afterlife Beliefs

Noelle St. Germaine-Sehr, PhD, LPC-S, NCC, ACMHP / Kim Penberthy, PhD, ABPP / Tess McCormick, BA / Gwen Grams, PhD

Fri.
1:15 pm
-
2:15 pm
PT
Rm 2 - Kave Ballroom
60
Min.
The presenters will describe their research investigating the impact and consequences of after-death communication (ADC) on individuals’ experiences of grief, spirituality, and beliefs regarding the afterlife. ADC refers to purported encounters or messages from deceased loved ones, which often challenge conventional understandings of mortality and transcendence. The presenters will discuss the impact of ADCs on individuals’ spirituality and beliefs about the afterlife via data from a survey of community members and will present findings from an international study focused on the ways in which ADC influences the grieving process, including differences in ADC experiences involving traumatic versus anticipated loss and disparities in ADCs with partners versus non-partners. By offering insights into the multifaceted nature of ADC, the presenters seek to contribute to a deeper understanding of the human experience of loss and transcendence.

Noelle St. Germain-Sehr >> Noelle is a Clinical Associate Professor and Counseling Fieldwork Coordinator at William & Mary. With over 30 years of clinical experience, she is a Licensed Professional Counselor Supervisor in Texas, a National Certified Counselor, and an ACISTE Certified Mental Health Professional trained to assist individuals with integrating spiritually transformative experiences. Noelle has advanced training in transpersonal counseling, including Induced After-Death Communication (IADC); is the Executive Director of The Center for Grief and Traumatic Loss and The International IADC Board; and is an IADC Trainer. She holds membership in 16 professional organizations, has served on three editorial boards, and is the Secretary for the Southern Association for Counselor Education and Supervision. Her research focuses on improving mental health providers’ effectiveness in addressing transpersonal issues and includes multiple publications and over 65 professional presentations.

Jennifer “Kim” Penberthy >> Kim is the Chester F. Carlson Professor of Psychiatry and Neurobehavioral Sciences at the University of Virginia School of Medicine. Kim is a board-certified clinical psychologist and conducts research, teaches, and provides clinical care at UVA in psychiatry and the cancer center. She obtained her undergraduate and masters degree in psychology from Wake Forest University, her PhD in Clinical Psychology from Virginia Commonwealth University, and her Fellowship in Medical Psychology at the University of Virginia. In addition to her expertise in persistent depressive disorders, she studies the mind-body relationship, exploring human consciousness as well as extraordinary human experiences, including the impact of such on human abilities and wellness. Kim has held numerous professional leadership positions and has published and presented extensively on psychotherapy and mindfulness, including her most recent book, co-authored with her daughter, Morgan: Living Mindfully Across the Lifespan: An Intergenerational Guide.

Tess McCormick >> Tess is a 2023 graduate of the University of Virginia’s undergraduate psychology department. She is currently preparing to apply to graduate school to earn her PhD in Clinical Psychology, with her ultimate goal being to become a psychedelic-assisted psychotherapist. She currently conducts research with UVA’s Department of Perceptual Studies, studying after-death communication, and she works in Charlottesville, VA, as a care coordinator at Addiction Allies, a substance abuse treatment facility. Tess enjoys helping others to better themselves; loves to spend time with her friends, family, and cat, Roo; and finds meaning in weekend time on a local farm where she works with mini donkeys and horses.

Gwen Grams >> Gwen has a PhD in quantitative experimental psychology from DePaul University in Chicago. Her dissertation was titled Self Deception in the Perception of Personal Appearance. Following her recent retirement from a career in behavioral health data administration, she joined Dr. Kim Penberthy as a Research Lecturer in the Faculty Support Track at the University of Virginia Medical School Division of Perceptual Studies, where her work focuses on after-death communication.

presenting with ...

Spiritually Transformative Experiences and Healing Religious Trauma

Pooja Chilukuri, MS, FNTP

Fri.
1:15 pm
-
2:15 pm
PT
Rm 3 - Deer
60
Min.
Pooja will share the story of her profound spiritual transformation and mystical experiences with Jesus which steered her beyond the confines of Christian fundamentalism and harmful religious beliefs. She will share her religious quest spanning both Hinduism and Christianity, healing from religious trauma, and reconstructing her spiritual beliefs through the lens of NDE accounts.

Pooja Chilukuri >> Pooja is a certified Nutritional Therapy Practitioner and published author of several faith-based books with over a decade of experience in research and engineering and technology development for global communications. Pooja is also the host of The Afterlife Podcast, a platform for fostering spiritual exploration, growth, and healing. In her memoir, And Then There Was Jesus, Pooja shared her personal religious quest spanning both Hinduism and Christianity, recounted her transformative mystical experiences, voiced her struggles of grappling with the weight of harmful religious teachings, and described her process of breaking free to live authentically in alignment with her true self.

presenting with ...

Distressing NDEs Discussion

Daniel Endy, BSCE / MK (Kathy) McDaniel / Brianna Lafferty, BS / Bryan Jackson, BS

Fri.
1:15 pm
-
3:30 pm
PT
Rm 4 - Kave 3
135
Min.
A panel of distressing NDErs will share their experiences and their insights about what causes distressing and hellish NDEs.

Daniel Endy >> Daniel has been a spiritual student, seeker, and experiencer since, at the age of 14, he found the book Seth Speaks. He has a balance of left and right brain interests ranging from engineering and physics to spirituality, philosophy, and metaphysics. He researched and studied these topics extensively, and in 2010, had an awakening. Since then he has led monthly classes to share what he learned to help others live better lives. He is very active with IANDS serving as a Board member and as a host/facilitator of many IANDS Sharing Groups. Daniel is a hypnotherapist and does past life regressions as well as personal coaching. Daniel also has researched UFOs and ETs for several decades. He looks forward to the day when the existence of ETs is acknowledged.

M.K. (Kathy) McDaniel >> Kathy’s distressing near-death experience (dNDE) in early 2000 caused her to rethink her religious beliefs and her concept of God. With the help of multiple synchronicities, she joined IANDS 10 years later and told her story for the first time at a Seattle IANDS meeting. Since then, Kathy has been an advocate for that approximately 12% of souls who have suffered dNDEs. She and Daniel Endy co-host a growing IANDS monthly dNDE Sharing Group. Kathy has shared her dNDE story as a podcast guest on over 100 programs and has garnered over 1.5 million views to date. Kathy authored the memoir, Misfit in Hell to Heaven Expat, published in 2021, which is now selling worldwide.

Brianna Lafferty >> After a 22-year journey grappling with an “incurable” neurological movement disorder, Brianna Lafferty had a profound near-death experience in 2017 that ignited her major life transformation. This pivotal moment sparked a remarkable metamorphosis, unlocking her innate divine healing power to conquer the once “incurable” affliction. She is now an award-winning author, international speaker, and passionate Death & Spiritual Doula. Guiding others on transformative journeys, she empowers individuals to birth into their authentic selves and helps others liberates themselves from chronic illness. With unwavering passion, Bri also lends compassionate support in navigating end-of-life transitions and challenges, weaving a tapestry of resilience and inspiration.

Bryan Jackson >> Bryan had a life-changing spiritual experience in March 1993. The story of his dark-to-light NDE has been a useful tool in helping others to change their perspective about life. For those who have lost hope, Bryan’s experience teaches that life can be filled with meaning and purpose. Bryan is married and lives with his wife in Florida.

 

 

 

presenting with ...

An Army of Eyewitnesses: A New Model to Explain Near-Death Phenomena

Jeff O’Driscoll, MD

Fri.
2:30 pm
-
3:30 pm
PT
Rm 1 - Akimel Ballroom
60
Min.
Hypotheses begin with observations. Aggregating data then supports or refutes a developing model. Much of what we think we know is, in fact, not provable. Rather, we accept theories that fit the observable evidence. When those models no longer fit, a new model must be developed. Stubbornly clinging to an obsolete model while rejecting available evidence is academically dishonest. The current model asserting that human consciousness ceases with physical death is, by definition, not provable largely because it demands physical evidence of a nonphysical existence. More importantly, it rejects a growing body of credible eyewitnesses who insist they have encountered human consciousness beyond physical death. In this presentation, Jeff will present the available evidence and offer a new model that fits the data. It is, quite simply, that individual consciousness continues beyond physical death and exists independent of the physical body.

Jeff O’Driscoll >>During his 25 years as an academically oriented emergency physician, Jeff O’Driscoll experienced phenomena that science couldn’t explain, such as seeing souls leave their bodies at death and communicating with them. His experiences began in childhood following his brother’s death in a farm accident. After stepping away from clinical medicine, Jeff published his award-winning memoir, Not Yet: Near-Life Experiences and Lessons Learned, and recently his novel Zen’s Garden based on his own experiences. Now, as an international speaker and intuitive mentor, he helps souls refine their gifts and receive their own answers so they can connect to their highest self and their most authentic life path.

presenting with ...

YOU ARE ALWAYS HOME! Reaching Into This Remembrance

Felice DiMartino, BFA, RYT, C-MMT

Fri.
2:30 pm
-
3:30 pm
PT
Rm 2 - Kave Ballroom
60
Min.
Upon transitioning to “the other side,” mystics, poets, philosophers, and near-death experiencers speak of returning Home. What if Home is a state of Being, experienced through remembrance of our multidimensional self? What if Home exists right here, right now in this precise moment of physical incarnation? What if, beyond place, time, circumstance, and form, we could return Home in each moment? Join Felice as she sheds light on Home as a state of BEing and as veils dissipate to experience this most profound and powerful Truth!

Felice DiMartino is an international speaker, educational consultant, spiritual mentor, and soul-full guide committed to collaboratively creating experiences of self-empowerment and personal transformation. Eight years ago, after a series of traumatic events that threw her into Resiliency Bootcamp, Felice was hit by a truck. In addition to sustaining multiple injuries, she had a near-death experience during which she was shown the nature of life, death, and the spaces between. Returning with activated extrasensory awareness and continued connection with higher realms of light, Felice combines her personal journey of resiliency; 30 years as a Montessori educator; in-depth study with spiritual teachers and indigenous elders; certifications in several healing modalities including yoga, meditation, and mindfulness; neuroscience technologies; and insights gleaned in her NDE to assist adults of all ages in cultivating a deeper connection with their spiritual self and an alignment of body, mind, and soul.

presenting with ...

Soul Retrieval: Spiritual Service in Higher Consciousness after an NDE

Kevin Jeffers, MFA

Fri.
2:30 pm
-
3:30 pm
PT
Rm 3 - Deer
60
Min.
Drawing from his Monroe Institute training and decades of spiritual explorations, Kevin Jeffers will offer a unique and comprehensive perspective on how the NDE opens a door to channels to higher levels of consciousness. Kevin’s NDE introduced him to an energy realm of souls “locked” into the energy rings surrounding the Earth plane, generally attributable to violent death, mental disorders, dementia, and other traumatic circumstances experienced in the process of transition from life to death. Inspired by curiosity and compassion for this situation, Kevin’s own NDE transformed his focus more toward spiritual service to others. In the process, Kevin became committed to soul retrieval, which he defines as the recovery of souls bound into the Earth energy system. He will relate personal stories of soul retrievals, including those who passed in recent global conflicts, and how he has been able to verify details of those he has guided to the Light. His experiences will offer a new perspective on the spiritual realms and the transition process, highlighting many possibilities for healing oneself and the collective human family.

Kevin Jeffers >> Kevin is an artist with a Bachelor of Fine Arts and a Bachelor of Art Education from the Chicago School of the Art Institute and a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Kevin’s artwork focusing on sculpture was exhibited in many galleries. His work in design and advertising culminated with many awards and certificates in graphic design. Kevin also opened a business in international trading and for the next 35 years extensively traveled globally with Los Angeles and Shanghai, China as a home base. Currently, Kevin is engaged in construction, finance, and writing about more than 50 years of incredible and wonderful experiences in Spirit. His first book The Pattern: An Exploration of Consciousness was published in 2022 and he is releasing a second book on soul retrieval.

presenting with ...

Being In the World AND of It: Integrating Aftereffects of Multiple STEs

Margaret Clausen, PsyD

Fri.
4:00 pm
-
5:00 pm
PT
Rm 1 - Akimel Ballroom
60
Min.
In this presentation, Margaret Clausen shares how multiple spiritually transformative experiences (STEs) such as OBEs, NDEs, after-death communications, and resulting psychic abilities enable experiencers to be more present to the suffering as well as joy of our three-dimensional world. Rather than spiritually bypassing, fixing, or philosophizing about suffering, trauma, and pain, STEs can bring tremendous capacities to be closer, to give space for those struggling to voice their experiences, and to be present in ways that offer healing. STEs can be a window into embracing the entirety of our existence together, offering restoration, support, and hope.

Margaret Clausen >> Margaret is a clinical psychologist, energy healer, and health intuitive. She is  a survivor of multiple traumatic deaths, a near-death experiencer, and a spiritually  transformative experiencer. Like many people with this background, she possesses various  psychic abilities which she cultivates through practices of meditation, binaural sound, and  remote viewing. Her private practice focuses on the integration of STE, NDE/OBE, traumatic  experiences, and empowerment through the expansion of consciousness. Dr. Clausen is writing  a book focusing on how STEs can bring our world closer together. 

presenting with ...

Arriving on a Song: A Transformative Apology From the “Other Side”

Susie Herrick, MA, LMFT

Fri.
4:00 pm
-
5:00 pm
PT
Rm 2 - Kave Ballroom
60
Min.
In this presentation, Susie describes how, in her memoir, she recounted her transformation from an internal misogyny to a vibrant feminine voice and a new relationship with her father. The catalyst for this transformation was the not-so-unusual experience of a heartbreaking divorce. In 2011, after writing for nine years and still not yet finished, her ex-husband died suddenly, offering a jolt and a twist to the ending. She was familiar with after-death communication (ADC) from personal experience throughout her life and through her professional experience as an educator and psychotherapist. So when she received an ADC from her former husband, she was surprised–but not unprepared — except for was how comprehensive this ADC was, for its profound emotional effect on her, for its the similarities to NDEs, for its relation to the Bardo research she had done based on multiple travels to Tibet, and for the events that followed.

Susie Herrick >> Susie is a psychotherapist, teacher, and author whose focus is on promoting relational intelligence and wisdom with individuals, couples, and groups. She has experienced transformative after-death-communication (ADC), which she described in her memoir Aphrodite Emerges. She has also co-authored with Elle Luna Your Story is Your Power. Both books offer ways to transform difficult relational issues into powerful voices from within. She has taught thousands of graduate students counseling psychology, including transpersonal psychology, the Enneagram, as well as mediation and conflict resolution, and she is a former academic chair at the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology/Sofia University. She has traveled extensively to the Himalayan Region, is married, and with her husband has a semi-wild black cat named Batman.

presenting with ...

After the NDE: Out of Our Heads and Into our Hearts

Rev. Kathy Winings, EdD / Eric Taylor / Cathy A Mortimer, LPN, BA

Fri.
4:00 pm
-
5:00 pm
PT
Rm 3 - Deer
60
Min.
This panel brings three people together who have had very NDE experiences springing from diverse contexts. Cathy Mortimer’s transformational journey began when she fell out of a tree at 6 years of age. Eric Taylor’s transformative NDE sprang from a COVID crisis. Kathy Winings’ NDE was due to the rupture of a cerebral aneurysm. The common thread that pulls them together is their incredible transformative journeys and the life-altering lessons learned. “After the NDE…” will offer an engaging conversation on the array of changes experienced by the panelists while also exploring the questions that have been raised because of their NDE. The panelists invite participants to look beyond the NDE for insights into on getting out of our heads and into our hearts as individuals, healthcare workers, educators, counselors and pastoral care leaders.

Kathy Winings >> Kathy has spent over 30 years as an educator and senior administrator in a graduate seminary. Having trained initially to be a concert pianist and French horn player, she found her real calling as a teacher and educator. Her other deeply held investment has been directing the work of an international development agency focused on disaster response, sustainable development, and restorative justice, which involved partnering with numerous religions and cultures around the world. After her near-death experience, her teaching and ministry skills have enabled her to speak to diverse communities and audiences about her experience and its ongoing transformative aftereffects. She spends her time writing, serving as an educational and social justice consultant, teaching piano, and spending time with family and friends, while pursuing hobbies that include reading, solving puzzles, and swimming.

Eric Taylor >> Eric is an intuitive astrologer whose life and practice transformed in 2021 following a 40-day coma and NDE. Eric engaged in astral travel, encountering life-altering decisions that reshaped his existence. This event heightened his psychic and astrological abilities and deepened his connection to his divine purpose. Eric now offers expanded services, leveraging his enhanced skills to guide clients through self-discovery, healing, and personal growth. His non-judgmental insights encourage clients to break free from past constraints, fostering progress towards their highest selves. Beyond his professional achievements, Eric is a devoted husband and father to four, drawing on his experiences as an educator for disabled children and his own vision loss to cultivate compassion and spiritual insight. Eric’s rebirth has lead him to live with a deeper focus and commitment to serve humanity.

Cathy A. Mortimer >> When Cathy was 6 years old, she fell out of a tree and experienced an NDE. In it, she was stopped from proceeding by two robed beings who telepathically told her to go back. She refused, saying she could not breathe so she couldn’t go back, but the beings said they would help her. Afterwards, telepathic ability stayed with her but took 30 years for her to integrate. Because of her mother with schizophrenia in a single parent household of six people, Cathy’s childhood was full of trauma and strife. In spite of the struggle, she went on to become a nurse where her innate understanding of the other side helped her with dying patients. Her telepathic abilities helped her communicate with those who cannot speak.

presenting with ...

Transformed by Light: Multidimensional Psychic Protection for Experiencers

Brooke Grove, MA

Fri.
5:15 pm
-
6:15 pm
PT
Rm 1 - Akimel Ballroom
60
Min.
Mystical experiencers return radically altered by the Light, wherein they must embark upon a continual journey of self-discovery, integration, and embodiment of their aftereffects. Although many of these gifts ultimately reorient the initiate toward a path of devout service, first the experiencer must learn to regulate, ground, and embody said gifts. Second, it is paramount that the experiencer learn and maintain appropriate daily energetic hygiene and alignment so that they may be of optimal service. Third, they must actively create boundaries to protect from lower frequency energies. However, experiencers often return with little to no readily available training regarding these foundational practices. This lecture, offered humbly by a perfectly imperfect experiencer and healer, explores the multidimensional nature of integrating aftereffects to highlight the energetic practices necessary for psychic protection and grounded embodiment of our Light, so we may best serve our awakening world.

Brooke Grove >> Brooke is a trauma survivor, near-death experiencer, and multidisciplinary healer in co-creation with Spirit. A former psychotherapist, Brooke has advanced degrees in Clinical Psychology, Marital and Family Therapy, and Clinical Art Therapy, enhanced by numerous post-graduate certifications, including but not limited to Shamanic Energy Medicine, Quantum Fieldwork, and Transpersonal Neuroscience. Brooke’s own perilous healing journey informs her Being, and she is a fierce advocate for trauma survivors. Within the global NDE community, Brooke is a highly sought out aftereffects guide who has alchemized her own pain into medicine. Brooke has been featured on many podcasts, YouTube, and documentaries. She is currently writing her memoir. Brooke maintains a private, international healing practice, offering remote services, wherein her goal is to explore, transmute, and empower the evolution in human consciousness through gratitude, service, and Light.

presenting with ...

NDE – A Surprising Springboard for Purpose, Prosperity, and Joy

Kellan Fluckiger

Fri.
5:15 pm
-
6:15 pm
PT
Rm 2 - Kave Ballroom
60
Min.
Near-death experiences are unusual opportunities to peer into the afterlife and to understand the nature of our own existence. They are also marvelous opportunities for changing who we are and how we show up in this world. Come with me and let’s explore together how this experience provided actionable information, transmutation, motivation, and clarity that launched a global initiative to upgrade our consciousness, expand our choices, and help us create for a life of greater Purpose, Prosperity and Joy for everyone who will seek. Create YOUR Ultimate Life!

Kellan Fluckiger >>Kellan is a catalyst for personal transformation. With 19 books, 88 songs, and clients across the globe, his mission in 2024 is to help 250 million people see who they really are so they can create from that infinite possibility. Kellan had a 30-year corporate career in the US and Canada. Externally successful, he dealt privately with personal demons of depression, addiction, and attempted suicide. In 2007 a divine intervention invited him to start again. Eleven years later in 2018, Kellan contracted a fatal illness and flatlined in the ICO of the University of Alberta Hospital. During three conversations with the Divine at the door between life and eternity, Kellan chose to stay. Today, his only work is to help people live their fullest and most impactful lives and create prosperity and joy.

presenting with ...

Instructions For Your Next Incarnation

John Mathis, BA, RN

Fri.
5:15 pm
-
6:15 pm
PT
Rm 3 - Deer
60
Min.
John thinks that he left his instruction manual for this life in Heaven (a.k.a. the Cosmic Costco) and, being encumbered with the Y-chromosome, spent 39 years not asking for directions — hence, the literal ‘Come-To-Jesus’ meeting. He will discuss the “aftereffects” of an NDE that occurred to him before his NDE: spirit communication, remote viewing, ET interactions, Reiki, and past life regression. After his NDE came two shared NDEs during hospice care, drinking beers with an Archangel, and discovering an intra-dimensional being who goes by the name “The Architect.” As an RN and Clinical Data Scientist, he has constructed a theory on why NDEs occur. While he is uncomfortable with the lack of objective data to support his theory, his guides (George Carlin and Archangel Michael) keep encouraging him. It is an amusing exploration of the “before-effects”, how he engaged them with humor and tenacity, and offering on how to incorporate these changes in your life.

John Mathis >> John is a mental health nurse with degrees in music performance (opera), secondary education (English), and nursing. Rather than joining a country music boy band, on a dare during Y2K, John applied for a clinical data position — and spent the next 20 years rummaging through the closet of clinical data science. While at IBM Watson Health, John pioneered electronic medical records and learned AI. A member of the Education Committee of the Society for Clinical Data Management, John pursues hobbies that include studying herbalism, energetic medicine, and soul fragment retrieval, and starting an organic skin cream company. He is a divorced doggy daddy and Transpersonal Nurse Coach (Meat Suit Drivers, LLC) helping clients prepare for a death or learn how to handle the aftereffects of an NDE / STE.

presenting with ...

Fundraising Banquet Dinner ($135)

Jan Holden, EdD, LPC-S, ACMHP / Chase Skylar DeMayo, BS, BMin / Deborah Connor, MA / harp music by Karen Michelle, PsyD and Christina Tourin, MT, CTHP

Fri.
6:45 pm
-
8:45 pm
PT
Coyote
120
Min.
The Fundraising Banquet Dinner is an elegant evening with wonderful food, special guest speakers, and beautiful harp music. Help us create a bright future for the IANDS community!

Jan Holden, EdD, IANDS President and NDE researcher, will present the story of a cosmic irony in the field of near-death studies, beginning with the mysterious disappearance of a prospecting miner from Phoenix, AZ, in 1949.

Jan Holden >>

Janice Miner Holden grew up in the northwest suburbs of Chicago, Illinois, USA. After earning a Bachelor of Science degree in psychology with honors from the University of Illinois, she taught high school psychology for 11 years and was a high school counselor for one year while she earned her master’s and doctoral degrees in counselor education at Northern Illinois University. Since completing her EdD in 1988, she served 31 years on the University of North Texas (UNT) Counseling Program faculty—12 of those years as chair of the Department of Counseling & Higher Education. In 2019 she retired as professor emerita of Counseling. Beginning with her doctoral dissertation, Dr. Holden’s primary research focus has been counseling implications of near-death experiences, after-death communication, and other transpersonal experiences—those that transcend the usual personal limits of space, time, identity, and influence. In this research area she has over 50 refereed journal publications and over 100 national and international presentations; served as lead editor of the 2009 Handbook of Near-Death Experiences: Thirty Years of Investigation, and co-edited the Association for Spiritual, Ethical, and Religious Values in Counseling’s (ASERVIC’s) 2017 Connecting Soul, Spirit, Mind, and Body: A Collection of Spiritual and Religious Perspectives and Practices in Counseling. Since 2008 she has served as editor-in-chief of the International Association for Near-Death Studies’s (IANDS’s) scholarly Journal of Near-Death Studies. She is a Texas Licensed Professional Counselor-Supervisor and an American Center for the Integration of Spiritually Transformative Experiences (ACISTE [pronounced “assist”]) Certified Mental Health Professional. For her career-long research on and advocacy for people who have had transpersonal experiences, Jan was awarded ASERVIC’s 2013 Research Award and the American Counseling Association’s 2015 Gilbert and Kathleen Wrenn Award for a Humanitarian and Caring Person. For her outstanding and sustained contributions to scholarly-creative activity, teaching, and service, Jan received the UNT Foundation’s 2019 Eminent Faculty Award, one of the highest faculty achievements whose recipient serves as an inspiration for the entire UNT community. In early 2020, Jan served for 10 days as an International Visiting Scholar at Massey University in Palmerston North, New Zealand. Since 2020 she has served as IANDS’s president.

Chase Skylar DeMayo >> Chase, a U.S. Air Force veteran and Orlando, Florida native, underwent a profound spiritual transformation after a near-death experience in 2008. His NDE led him to embrace a life philosophy of ‘Chasing the Light,’ focusing on personal and community betterment. For 12 years following his NDE, DeMayo kept his experience private, but eventually he used it to guide his work in community service and holistic healing, particularly in helping veterans and addressing mental health. As a speaker, he shares his insights to inspire others, embodying a spirit of service and commitment that defines his spiritual journey. Chase has recently completed a bachelor’s degree in alternative medicine and another bachelor’s in ministry, and he will soon be completing a doctorate in holistic counseling.

Deborah Connor >> Deborah has been an IANDS member for six years, and a board member for one year. She is an NDEr, and has had many other spiritual experiences. In addition to spiritual exploration, coaching, volunteering, and reading, Deborah spends time with family, enjoying the lake she lives on and the bountiful natural wonders of Nova Scotia, Canada. Deborah has decades of experience building inclusive leadership teams as a board member, as Executive Director, and Director of Development for not-for-profit organizations. As a certified coach, Deborah supports groups and individuals who are seeking to integrate their spiritual awakening, and is also a Reiki and Laser Light Therapy practitioner.

MUSIC BY:

Karen Michelle >> Karen is a near-death experiencer and psychic medium who has a unique understanding and compassion for her clients.  She has spoken at events and conferences in regards to near-death experiences. Karen began working over eighteen years ago in the mental health care field focusing on PTSD, trauma recovery, and dynamics of abusive relationships. Wanting to honor the messages she received during her NDEs, Karen Michelle shifted her career to reflect a holistic and spiritual path. Her specialties include Resonant Kinesiology with harp and guided imagery to facilitate therapeutic music and sound interventions for stress management and relaxation. Dr. Karen Michelle’s educational background includes a doctorate in clinical psychology, Resonant Kinesiology Instructor certification, grief and loss training, and certificate training in working with survivors of sexual assault.

Christina Tourin >> Founder and Director of the International Harp Therapy Program, Christina leads  training centers in multiple countries with  Therapeutic Harp Practitioners serving on five continents. As an internationally award-winning artist, she trained at the Mozarteum in Austria and McGill in Montreal. She was harpist for the Vermont Symphony and for 17 years for the Sound of Music Maria von Trapp family. Returning to IANDS, she is remembered  for her workshops on Music of the Spheres. Christina truly lives a life ‘As above, So below’ sharing her performances of sacred and transcendent moments. Bringing her harp to magical life, she shares with the world the deepest, most profound truths of the Universe, which rightfully and intuitively credits as the source of all she creates.

 

presenting with ...

Serenity Spa Opera

Mary Lydia Ryan, ORDM / Georgia Wild, BA

Fri.
9:00 pm
-
9:30 pm
PT
Rm 1 - Akimel Ballroom
30
Min.
Serenity Spa Opera is a unique musical experience in which textural sound cradles the audience in pure love. This gentle musical journey through soft vocals, chimes, Tibetan bells, and bowls offers a lavishing of luscious tones and frequencies that will be a lovely end to the day. Everyone is invited to find a quiet seat in the main ballroom or feel free to recline along a row of seats or floor space where this musical experience can be received.

Mary Lydia Ryan >> Mary Lydia, critically acclaimed vocalist, pianist, composer, and creator of Spa Opera® utilizes her musical, mystical, and spiritual gifts to call forth, support, uplift, and encourage each individual’s unique magnificence. As seen and heard on Seattle and worldwide stages, including TEDx, Whisperings Solo Piano Radio, and One World Music Radio, as well as through group and individual sound transmission sessions, Mary’s offerings are designed to bring greater light and consciousness evolution to the world.

Georgia Wild >> Georgia has been actively practicing authentic expression for years. She first pursued many forms of dance and theater, working through layers of pain to finally find release through vocal expression. She studied opera and graduated with her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Musical Theater, only to find that world did not support the spiritual nature connection she yearned for. Following her dreamtime guidance, she moved to Hawaii to enable her Soul’s roots to meet again with our Earth Mother Gaia. From this deep dive into the truth of her being, Georgia now shares her song. Holding space, she uses sound to vibrate open locked places within so that each person can greet and alchemize aspects of themselves that are ready to be given back into the ultimate source intelligence frequency of creator God that is/has always and in all ways been transcribed into our DNA from the beginning of time.

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2023 Day 3 - Saturday - SPEAKERS

2023 Day 3 - Saturday - SPEAKERS

Embracing Your Divine Design

Lorie Ladd

Sat.
9:15 am
-
10:15 am
ET
Rm 1 - Akimel Ballroom
60
Min.
Lorie will activate a deep remembrance within you that your human journey on the Planet is divinely designed in order to navigate the courageous evolution in human consciousness. There are no mistakes. You are here for a reason.

Lorie Ladd >> Lorie Ladd is an international best-selling author, spiritual teacher, and thought leader specializing in the evolution of human consciousness. Her teachings and guidance have helped millions of people navigate the current planetary shifts, and remember the divine design held within the human experience. Inquisitive and intuitive, Lorie found her life purpose at age 13 when she simply knew she would assist humanity through the miraculous and divine collective awakening humanity is experiencing now. In 2015 she launched her own platform of master classes and online courses. People on all continents have resonated with her teachings and down-to-earth personality, gathering together in a community that surpasses a million people.

presenting with ...

Coming Out in 3 Layers — Queer, Alcoholic, Woo-woo Wing-nut — and Why It Matters

Louisa Peck, MA

Sat.
9:15 am
-
10:15 am
ET
Rm 2 - Kave Ballroom
60
Min.
Louisa Peck has “come out” three times, in each case rejecting the stereotypes and stigmas she’d internalized about queers, alcoholics, and finally, “woo-woo wing-nuts” in order to embrace her own experiences of same-sex love, recovery from addiction, and connection with the divine. In each case, a supportive community has empowered her with the courage to share her truth in the face of disapproval. Louisa believes every action we take, every communication we share, has a ripple effect that can gradually and cumulatively change the world.

Louisa Peck, MA >> A supporting regular at Seattle IANDS since 2012, Louisa Peck interviews popular NDE speakers and publishes their stories for the bi-monthly newsletter. Louisa has spoken at IANDS conferences and Seattle’s IANDS Local Group to share her NDE and after-effects story including her long-standing denial despite a vivid NDE and a steady stream of paranormal after-effects, and the connections between her NDE and addiction recovery. She has published an addiction memoir, A Spiritual Evolution: How 14 Aftereffects of a Near-Death Experience Helped Cure my Addictions and Changed my Life, and given several YouTube Interviews, in addition to writing a popular blog on addiction recovery in light of an NDE.

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Physicians and the Near-Death Experience

Marieta Pehlivanova, PhD

Sat.
9:15 am
-
10:15 am
ET
Rm 3 - Deer
60
Min.
Near-death experiencers sometimes disclose their NDEs to healthcare providers, including physicians. The early period right after an NDE may be accompanied by emotional distress and shock, so support and validation is especially important at that point. Research shows that about a third of disclosures happen within a day of an NDE and early disclosures to medical professionals are much more common than to other professionals. NDE researchers and clinicians have presented specific recommendations for adequate and supportive interactions with NDE patients, including “normalizing” the experience and its aftereffects. However, these guidelines are yet to be integrated into medical curricula through education and evidence-based practices. Even though abundant research has documented NDEs as a phenomenon with consistent characteristics and aftereffects, and are demonstrably different from hallucinations, dreams, or mental illness, barriers to integration of NDE knowledge into clinical practice remain strong. We have investigated physicians’ attitudes towards NDEs and their specific difficulties toward accepting, acknowledging, and addressing NDEs in their practice, and we will present concrete steps to help overcome this resistance.

Marieta Pehlivanova, PhD >> Marieta Pehlivanova is a Research Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Neurobehavioral Sciences at the University of Virginia School of Medicine. Dr. Pehlivanova’s work at the Division focuses on near-death experiences, children reporting past-life memories, as well as other unusual experiences. Marieta holds a Doctoral degree in Experimental Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania and a Bachelor’s degree in Statistics from American University. Prior to her academic work, she pursued a career as a statistician in medical research. In addition to her academic interest in human consciousness phenomena, Marieta is also interested in personal exploration, including active experience at places like the Monroe Institute.

presenting with ...

NDEs: Practical Information for Healthcare Personnel (Spanish Accounts w/ English Subtitles)

Angie Wilson-Quayle, PhD

Sat.
9:15 am
-
10:15 am
ET
Rm 4 - Kave 3
60
Min.
A Documentary on Near Death Experiences designed for healthcare professionals, with useful and specific information: how to identify an NDE, incidence, characteristics, role of the professional, and suggested protocol. With the collaboration of various patients and various professionals who have treated these experiences.
——————-
ECMs: INFORMACIÓN PRÁCTICA PARA PERSONAL SANITARIO
Un Documental sobre Experiencias Cercanas a la Muerte pensado para profesionales sanitarios, con información útil y concreta: cómo identificar una ECM, incidencia, características, papel del profesional y protocolo sugerido. Con la colaboración de varios pacientes y varios profesionales que han tratado estas experiencias.

Angie Willson-Quayle, PhD >> Angie has been running the IANDS Local Group near Washington, DC since 2019. Her interest in IANDS grew out of three spiritually transformative experiences she had years ago, which forever changed her life and got her on a spiritual path directed daily towards love, giving back, and a deeper awareness of true self. She is originally from the United Kingdom, and has lived in the United States since 1991 and has two daughters. She began studying psychology in London, then completed her research-based doctoral training in Developmental Psychology in Northern Virginia. After she could no longer ignore the long-time, clamorous call of the Universe to change directions, she recently moved from research to the clinical arena and a new path opened up effortlessly and mysteriously, and things have been falling into place ever since.

presenting with ...

Born Clairvoyant & Disbelieved. Lived in Terror & Self-Hate. Died Joyful, Until “God” Asked Me to Return & Shed My Spiritual Camouflage

Susan Dyer

Sat.
9:15 am
-
10:15 am
ET
Bookstore
60
Min.
Susan was born clairvoyant—and raised by baffled Catholics. As my visions were dismissed, Susan doubted her sanity and hated herself by kindergarten. But a 2017 NDE clarified her journey. Susan merged with “Source,” promised to return to Earth, and “live transparently.” Although this was her worst fear realized. Her honesty attracted women who needed what she offered, whether identification or practical techniques to guide their journeys to sovereignty and self-love. What she loathed most about herself is now her uniquely meaningful offering… a gift of Earth school’s duality!

Susan Dyer >> Susan was born clairvoyant—and raised by baffled Catholics. As her visions were patently dismissed, she doubted her sanity and hated herself by kindergarten. But a near-death experience in 2017 clarified her journey. Susan merged with the unnamable, promising to return to Earth, shed her spiritual camouflage, and “live transparently.” She also healed her debilitating chronic Lyme disease alongside ascended master Jesus, and visited a beloved galactic guide. She has mentored awakening women since. Susan believes YOU are your best guru. She is here to help you REMEMBER! While orbiting outside religion, Susan honors all beliefs and non-belief. That said, words fail to capture the unnamable—when Susan says “God” it is simply habitual. ALL are welcome.

presenting with ...

Love as an Antidote to the Illusion of Separation

Eben Alexander, MD, and Karen Newell

Sat.
10:30 am
-
11:30 am
ET
Rm 1 - Akimel Ballroom
60
Min.
A fundamental lesson of what happens when we die is the understanding that we are all in this together, bound through loving connections here on Earth, into the afterlife, and beyond. The science of entanglement verifies that these interconnections are real and not illusory. The human qualities of empathy and compassion, in their purest sense, are directly derived from that sense of oneness. Altruistic acts provide a feeling of connection, enabling us to transcend the sense that we are separate. This ultimate oneness we share emphasizes why caring for the least, the last, and the lost is vital to our modern society, in order to live up to its spiritual promise.

Eben Alexander, MD, was an academic neurosurgeon for over 25 years, including 15 years at the Brigham & Women’s Hospital, Children’s Hospital, and Harvard Medical School in Boston. In 2008, during a week-long coma from an inexplicable brain infection, he experienced a transcendental near-death experience (NDE) that completely transformed his worldview. A pioneering scientist and modern thought leader in the emerging science that acknowledges the primacy of consciousness in the universe, he is the author of the New York Times #1 bestseller Proof of Heaven, The Map of Heaven, and Living in a Mindful Universe. http://ebenalexander.com/

Karen Newell is an author and specialist in personal development with a diverse body of work that rests upon the foundation of heart-centered consciousness. As an innovator in the emerging field of brainwave entrainment audio meditation, Karen empowers others in their journeys of self-discovery by demonstrating how to connect to inner guidance, achieve inspiration, improve wellness, and develop intuition. She is co-founder of Sacred Acoustics and is co-author with Eben Alexander III, MD, of Living in a Mindful Universe. www.sacredacoustics.com

presenting with ...

Transformative Messages from the Other Side, A Mediumship Panel

Moderator: Maria Lupita Gurule / Patricia L’Dara, MA / Ray Catania, MMsc, MCLC

Sat.
12:15 pm
-
1:15 pm
ET
Rm 1 - Akimel Ballroom
60
Min.
A common condition of near-death experiencers is that “the veil to the other side” is lifted, creating rich, mystical, and life-altering experiences even beyond the NDE itself. In this panel, meet three NDErs who straddle between the seen and unseen, bridging the subconscious / unconscious with the conscious. Each will share their experience that forever altered their lives into loving service for Souls—both here and there. Discover the transformative power within to uplift humanity, aid the Earth, and experience life for the better.

Maria Lupita Gurule >> Maria Lupita Gurule’s near-death experience (NDE) in 2000 opened up her reality, unveiled an invisible field, and forced open her ‘Gifts of the Spirit.’ Through her struggle to integrate back into life, Maria learned how to accept and use her abilities to heal from life’s traumas. Mystically attuned and guided, Maria overcame many debilitating life challenges in order to learn how to fully live. Since then, she has dedicated her life to the service and love of Humanity. She is a Certified Medical Support Clinical Hypnotherapist with expertise in past-life, inter-life and natal-life sessions, and a world-class Soul-Reader.

Patricia L’Dara, MA >> Patricia came to the work of death and dying when her mother made her sacred passage in 1993. Prior to that time, Patricia had never been in a room with anyone dying and did not know what to expect. Her experience was so beautiful and profound that it altered her life. Since her first encounter, she has quietly continued to accompany people from all walks of life in their passing. Patricia is the author of the book, Song of Sight: An Introduction to Soul Passage Midwifery.

Ray Catania, MMsc, MCLC >> Award-winning author Ray Catania’s latest book, “You Are Still Alive, Now Act Like It”, is available in 52 countries. In addition to being an author, Ray Catania is an intuitive-medium, who teaches spirituality and metaphysics with clients in his private practice. He is an NDE survivor, an ordained minister, with master certifications in life coaching, Usui Reiki, and meditation, and is working towards his doctorate degree in Metaphysical Parapsychology. Ray has had the privilege of studying under, and training with, some of the greatest forward-thinking minds in the world, including Intuitives, Mediums, Shaman, and Energy Healers.

presenting with ...

Dying to Believe – A Life Reinvented

Betty Guadagno

Sat.
12:15 pm
-
1:15 pm
ET
Rm 2 - Kave Ballroom
60
Min.
Betty Guadagno will take you through her awakening journey where she was shown her pre-birth planning, her divine mission, and the interconnectedness of all things. Betty experienced a Hero’s Journey of transformation and metamorphosis. Her life began in darkness, trauma and tragedy. At her lowest point, she overdosed and experienced an awakening that transported her to the space between life and eternity. In that space, Betty was greeted by her soul family, experienced unity consciousness, and was given the details of her spiritual mission.

Betty Guadagno >> Betty Guadagno had a spiritually transformative experience in March of 2019. Betty underwent a 180-degree transformation from drug addict, sex worker, and radical atheist to a devout believer, in long term recovery, and working as a recovery coach. During her integration process, she felt an incredible pull towards establishing spiritual community in her life. She has been connected to the IANDS community since December of 2020. Betty began her involvement with IANDS as an attendee of our sharing groups. She quickly got involved with service to the community by volunteering as a facilitator and moderator. Betty then moved into the role of Webinar Coordinator for IANDS Groups and Events.

presenting with ...

Ethical Action is an Act of Love

Moderator: Rebecca Valla MD / Debbie James, MSN, RN, CCRN-K / Rebecca Austill-Clausen, MS, OTR/L, FAOTA, Reiki Master

Sat.
12:15 pm
-
1:15 pm
ET
Rm 3 - Deer
60
Min.
This panel includes three of the five members of the IANDS Ethics Committee. They will each share their personal and professional commitment in the work of supporting IANDS’ ethical standards. They will show that to behave ethically is to manifest love. They will also seek the input of all of the IANDS community with regard to training and awareness needs in applying and effectively utilizing the ethics policies.

Rebecca S. Valla, MD >> Rebecca S. Valla, MD is a practicing Psychiatrist for over 30 years. She in currently working in a private practice with her husband, a Dermatologist. She ascribes to a Holistic and Integrative approach to her work, where Self-Love and Inner Child Healing are central. She is a life-long spiritual seeker, and enthusiastic supporter of NDErs and their opportunity for transformation and healing. She is a former IANDS Board member, and current Co-Chair of the IANDS Ethics Committee.

Debbie James, MSN, RN, CCRN-K >> Debbie James has worked in the Adult Critical Care arena for the last 44 years as a clinical nurse, nurse manager, nurse educator, and Clinical Nurse Specialist. She is a certified bereavement facilitator and formed two support groups in San Antonio: one for NDErs and one for organ donor families. She is a current IANDS Board member, and the Co-Chair of the IANDS Ethics Committee. Debbie co-authored and edited the first compilation of research on near-death experiences, Handbook of Near-Death Experiences: Thirty Years of Investigation.

Rebecca Austill-Clausen, MS, OTR/L, FAOTA >> Rebecca “Becky” Austill-Clausen is an Occupational Therapist and Reiki Master, providing Reiki for 27 years. She presents the Usui form of Reiki Level I as a Pre-Conference Workshop at IANDS Annual Conference yearly since 2021 including the upcoming 2023 Conference. Becky is delighted to be the Healing Coordinator for each IANDS in-person Annual Conference since 2019. She founded a private practice that grew to include 350 therapists serving over 100,000 clients.

presenting with ...

Making my documentary: “Peace on Both Sides of the Gate”

James Bonato, AA

Sat.
12:15 pm
-
1:15 pm
ET
Rm 4 - Kave 3
60
Min.
James Bonato will tell of the beautiful life changing mindset he had in meeting the five NDErs that star in his film, Peace on Both Sides of the Gate, how he came to make this film, and how the need to apply the spreading of life is so important in today’s world.

James Bonato, AA >> James Bonato has been a professional videographer in the Washington, DC area for 34 years. His passion is etched onto the frames of every film he produces. James has won several awards in the field of videography and his empathic nature helped him bring his film on NDE to life. Peace on Both Side of the Gate is his third of four documentary films so far. James wakes up each morning asking the question “What can I do today to change the world?” His documentary films are a small part of that. Traveling the country to make his film on NDEs was an illuminating experience for James and magnified the message of love that needs to be delivered to the world.

presenting with ...

Moving in Grace: Navigating Challenging Life Circumstances

Mary Lydia Ryan

Sat.
12:15 pm
-
1:15 pm
ET
Bookstore
60
Min.
Mary presents a healing sound journey and telling of personal stories through her original music, how she came to navigate the several years in her life healing from grief, and fear, recognizing the beauty amidst the hardship. Her award-winning music included in her presentation, “Moving in Grace” was created during this time. And here is her bio: Mary Lydia Ryan, critically acclaimed vocalist, pianist, composer, creator of Spa Opera® utilizes her musical, mystical and spiritual gifts to support, uplift, and encourage the unique magnificence in individuals to be called forth. As seen and heard on Seattle and worldwide stages: TEDx, Whisperings Solo Piano Radio, One World Music Radio, (to name a few), and through group and individual sound transmission sessions, Mary’s aim is to bring greater light and consciousness evolution to our world.

Mary Lydia Ryan >> Mary Lydia Ryan, critically acclaimed vocalist, pianist, composer, creator of Spa Opera®, utilizes her musical, mystical and spiritual gifts to support, uplift, and encourage the unique magnificence in individuals to be called forth. As seen and heard on Seattle and worldwide stages: TEDx, Whisperings Solo Piano Radio, One World Music Radio, and through group and individual sound transmission sessions, Mary’s aim is to bring greater light and consciousness evolution to our world.

presenting with ...

Dispelling the Shame and Fear Accompanying Distressing Spiritual Experiences like NDEs, STEs, and OBEs

Daniel Endy, BS / Brianna Lafferty, BS / Michael Alton Haley, BA / TBD

Sat.
12:15 pm
-
2:30 pm
ET
Akimel Lobby/Foyer
120
Min.
Following a presentation, there will be sharing and group discussion for those who have had a distressing NDE, STE, or OBE. Many distressing experiencers feel even more out of place than pleasant experiencers. This extended 2-hour session will give you a chance to meet other DSTErs, to listen to their experiences, and to learn how they handled these unusual cases. (Non-experiencers are also welcome to attend.) We are glad to continue the ground-breaking work of Nancy Evans Bush in the area of distressing NDEs.

Daniel Endy, BS >> is the co-founder and co-facilitator for the IANDS Distressing Experiences Sharing Group (2nd Thursday of each month 8 pm ET). He has a deep interest in understanding the full range of spirituality and spiritual experiences and has studied them extensively for over 50 years. Daniel is a hypnotherapist and a regression therapist in the Charlotte, NC area. He has a BS degree in Computer Engineering, had a successful career in software, and has been a co-founder of several successful businesses.

Brianna Lafferty, BS >> As an award-winning author that suffered through most of her life with a rare, chronic illness as well as distressing paranormal experiences that led to her near-death experience in 2017, Brianna Lafferty will share how she has been called to hack this life, help others, and start her own Death Doula business. Certified Death Doula, and in Sussex Hypnosis.

Michael Alton Haley, BA >> Michael is the Founder of World Riders Foundation, a non-profit organization that built schools for orphanages in foreign countries. In May of 2018, while finishing their first school in Uganda Mike contracted Malaria and MRSA – a very serious infection – which led to a 16-day coma. During his coma, Mike died for 10 minutes and had a very detailed distressing NDE before it turned into a loving experience. In the years since then, Mike has been processing his experience, seeking understanding, and sharing what he experienced. Mike has had a variety of professions from commercial fishing in Alaska, to owning a childcare center. Mike has a BA in Philosophy from the University of St Thomas.

More Panelists may be added.

presenting with ...
Brianna

It Happened at IANDS: Witnessing a Family’s Transformation From Terrifying Death to Afterlife Peace

Father Nathan Castle, OP / Michael A. Quinn / Linda L. Quinn

Sat.
1:30 pm
-
2:30 pm
ET
Rm 1 - Akimel Ballroom
60
Min.
Between early April and mid-July,1994, approximately three-quarters of a million Rwandans were massacred in a genocidal purge. Most were members of the Tutsi tribe. On August 19, 2019 a family of three presented themselves in a dream to Father Nathan seeking help in moving from one afterlife plane to the next. Father Nathan and Michael Quinn were prayer partners in this crossing as they moved into prayer and recorded a session involving this family that had died in the 1994 Rwandan Genocide. This was assisted by St. Charles Lwanga and Mother Mary under the title of Our Lady of Rwanda. They will reenact that experience in this presentation.

“Father Nathan Castle, OP >>Father Nathan Castle has helped more than 500 “stuck” and not-so-stuck souls who died suddenly and traumatically to adjust to the afterlife. Victims of fires, automobile accidents, shootings, stabbings, drownings, and suicides come to him in his dreams seeking help to resolve their Interrupted Death Experiences. Father Nathan believes that providing such help is something the Holy Spirit has given him and his prayer partners to do. In his Afterlife Interrupted books, Father Nathan is quick to point out that not everyone who dies suddenly gets stuck. He also addresses questions like: Is death survivable? What does he do to help people cross over? Does time exist in the afterlife? Do deceased relatives help us adjust to moving through our deaths.

Michael A. Quinn and Linda L. Quinn >> Michael and Linda Quinn have been hospice volunteers for 20 years. They are co-authors of The Journey Home – Soul Release Intercession: Assisting the Actively Dying at the Time of Transition and The Journey Home – Inspiring Passages From Near-Death Experiences to Comfort the Dying. Writing these books are a part of their sacred journey to awaken us to the reality that we are all beautiful, sacred souls, loved beyond measure by God, and that life is full of opportunities to share this profound love with others. Michael is also the author of Chop Wood, Carry Water: Listening for the Whispers; Suffering From Acatalepsy?: Learning to Love the Questions and Whispers From the New Paradigm.

presenting with ...

Songs in the Key of Love

Greg Pacini, MS

Sat.
1:30 pm
-
2:30 pm
ET
Rm 2 - Kave Ballroom
60
Min.
Greg’s memory of his NDE at birth was revealed to him in a vision many years later. He feels the echoes of this NDE in the songs that came to him as comfort. He hopes now they’ll be comfort for you in this performance about love; an experience of love. Greg will perform nine songs reflecting self-love, love of others, trust, peace, oneness, and actions of love. You can sing along to two of these especially encouraging songs.

Greg Pacini, MS >> Greg’s NDE at birth seems to have found expression in his 42 years as a psychotherapist with troubled teens and the terminally ill, in his private practice, as well as his energy practice, his art, and his book. He is the author of Journey Beyond Hardship which was endorsed by best-sellers Anita Moorjani and Larry Dossey, MD. Greg taught himself instruments and produced three original music CDs, all with air play. Greg has opened for internationally recognized author, Dr. Joan Borysenko, and folk legend, Jack Williams.

presenting with ...

Healing Transformations Through Love and Light (2 hours)

Moderator: Tonda Nampaio-Cardenas / Loreli Drache / Rebecca Kastl Millsap, MS / Elizabeth Clark, MA, CBMT, HCPC

Sat.
1:30 pm
-
3:45 pm
ET
Rm 3 - Deer
135
Min.
Each of our professional women panelists present to you a very unique journey and perspective. We each are here to share our stories of how we have transformed through our personal experiences and how we each have brought our gifts to the world of healing. Please join us to learn our story.

Tonda Nampaio-Cardenas >> As a childhood trauma survivor, Tonda experienced an NDE at the age of 9. She is a public speaker and is certified as a wellness coach, an art therapist, learning facilitator, and is an intuitive nature guide through her indigenous heritage, ceremonies and teachings.

Loreli Drache >> Loreli Drache is a four-time near-death experiencer, spiritual transformative-mystical experiencer, spiritual mentor, medical intuitive, medical assistant, clair-abled, channeler, energy reader, psychic intuitive empath, energetic alchemist, quantum-shaman healer, mystic, Reiki Master Teacher, Akashic record reader, oracle reader, reverend-high priestess, intuitive jewelry artist, writer, and poet.

Rebecca Kastl Millsap, MS >> Rebecca Kastl Millsap, a pediatric speech-language pathologist, energy healer, and angel reader, underwent a life-altering spiritually transformative experience (STE) in 2006. During and after that experience, she became aware of the Divine Love that guides all of us. Since that experience, she has dedicated her life to connecting to that love and sharing it with others as much as possible. She lives in Birmingham, AL with her husband and daughter.

Elizabeth Clark, MA, CBMT, HCPC >> Elizabeth comes from a performing arts background. Witnessing the extraordinary effects that the music had on the young patients and their families as a performer inspired her to train as a music therapist. She currently works as a trauma informed, Board Certified Music Therapist and HeartMath practitioner to help clients access and express emotional trauma. She has extensive clinical experience in healthcare in France, UK and the US.

presenting with ...

Military/Veteran Experiencers Discussion Group (Military and Veteran Experiencers Only)

Venus-Val Tower / Chuck Swedrock, MBA / Paul Sperry, MS, USAF Capt.

Sat.
1:30 pm
-
3:45 pm
ET
Bookstore
135
Min.
A sharing event for active or veteran military service members. (For military and veteran experiencers only.)
presenting with ...

Near-Death Experiences and After-Death Communications: A Discussion and Personal Experience of Loving Impact

Jennifer Kim Penberthy, PhD, ABPP

Sat.
2:45 pm
-
3:45 pm
ET
Rm 1 - Akimel Ballroom
60
Min.
Dr. Penberthy will review the similarities and differences between near-death experiences (NDEs) and after-death communications (ADCs), including research on the characteristics and impact of each. She will specifically examine the impact on loving actions, compassion and connection with others, with a personal example of an after-death communication and its impact upon the presenter.

J. Kim Penberthy, PhD, ABPP >> Dr. J. Kim Penberthy is the Chester F. Carlson Professor of Psychiatry and Neurobehavioral Sciences at the University of Virginia (UVA) School of Medicine, where she conducts research, teaches, and provides clinical care and supervision. She lectures internationally about the effectiveness of psychotherapy and mindfulness-based interventions as well as the impact of effective interpersonal communication skills on the outcomes of psychotherapy. She is the author of multiple books, including Living Mindfully Across the Lifespan: An Intergenerational Guide that she wrote with her daughter, Morgan Penberthy.

presenting with ...

From Pre-Birth to Earth: Expressing our True Nature of Love While Human

Christian Sundberg, BA

Sat.
2:45 pm
-
3:45 pm
ET
Rm 2 - Kave Ballroom
60
Min.
As a pre-birth experiencer, Christian will speak about why love is so important to the human journey. He will do so by attempting to describe what we truly are, and the value of the human experience to the soul as an opportunity for the expansion and actualization of our true loving nature.

When Christian was a young child, he remembered his existence before coming to Earth. While that memory left him completely for his early adult life, it spontaneously returned 13 years ago as Christian took up a meditation practice and went through a personal awakening journey. He also began to have Out of Body Experiences (OBEs). Professionally, Christian has worked for 15 years as a project manager for complex nuclear pump and valve manufacturing projects, and now for an insurance company. Christian is the author of the book A Walk in the Physical, which attempts to succinctly describe the larger spiritual context in which we exist and the importance of love in our human journey. Christian has also presented at over 100 public speaking events, as he now seeks to remind others in at least a small part of who we all really are beneath the human “play.”

presenting with ...

We Are One in Love and Life

Sarina Baptista, AA

Sat.
4:00 pm
-
5:00 pm
ET
Rm 1 - Akimel Ballroom
60
Min.
We truly are one in love and life. In this presentation, Sarina will discuss her own spiritually transformative experience with her seven-year-old son, and how his love and determination led her to her own incredible discovery—that she was a medium, and her life’s purpose was to reunite these two realms. Throughout Sarina’s fifteen years as a medium, she has countless stories of the expansive love between those who have transitioned, and those who are still here. She will share some of these inspiring stories of love and connection, a true testament to the energy of love.

Sarina Baptista, AA, is an award-winning author, international speaker, spiritual teacher, and evidential psychic medium. Her book, My View from Heaven, is a 2019 COVR Visionary Awards Bronze Recipient in the Iconic Book category and a 2021 Speak Up Talk Radio Firebird Book Award Winner in three categories. She was a featured speaker for the “Life, Death, and Beyond” International Conference in Crete, Greece, and is a visiting medium at Lily Dale, NY, during their summer program. Sarina has presented at IANDS conferences and has created many training programs, including spiritual mentoring, workshops, and retreats. She discovered her gifts through her own tragedy: the passing of her seven-year-old son in March 2007. She learned that her son did not really die. Rather, he was still very close, and he led her to her incredible gifts.

presenting with ...

When does human life begin? Evidence from NDEs and related experiences

Robert Mays, BSc, Suzanne Mays, AAS

Sat.
4:00 pm
-
5:00 pm
ET
Rm 2 - Kave Ballroom
60
Min.
Near-death experiences (NDEs) and related experiences provide strong evidence that the mind or soul is a separate aspect of the human being from the physical body. Robert and Suzanne will draw on evidence from pre-birth and “intermission” memories, life-between-life and pre-birth hypnotic regression, and other cases to present the factors involved with the question of when life begins. They will explore the implications of this evidence for balancing the free will choice of the incarnating soul, the fetus, and the mother, and consideration of the interests of society.

Robert Mays, BSc, Suzanne Mays, AAS >> Robert and Suzanne Mays have studied NDE phenomena together for over 45 years, although neither has had an NDE. They are particularly interested in veridical perceptions during NDEs and apparent interactions during NDEs between the NDEr and physical reality, as well as the neurological evidence of the interaction of the nonmaterial mind with the brain during ordinary consciousness. Among other areas, they focus on the social and moral implications of NDEs and related experiences including NDErs’ prophetic visions of world events and the question of when life begins.

presenting with ...

No Story is Too Small: Transforming Ourselves to Transform the World

Moderator: Peter Panagore, M.Div / Kristen Adams, MA / Lynne Seymour, RN / Kendall (Ken) Gilligan, MD / David Ulrich / Shelly Liedtke, BMSc / Ellen Corson, BA / Kacy Kelly / Françoise E. Netter, MA

Sat.
4:00 pm
-
6:15 pm
ET
Rm 3 - Deer
135
Min.
NDEs and STEs are life-altering events for those who experience them. They are irresistible catalysts for change. Initially, the change is internal as experiencers reconsider their beliefs about life and the hereafter. During this time, many NDErs and STErs keep their experiences to themselves as they engage in the challenging inner work of reformation and transformation. In a parallel process, they also reconsider their relationship to neighbors and humanity as a whole. Over time, they gain sufficient clarity and courage to emerge from their seclusion and share their stories with others. This has helped to build the NDE community through organizations like IANDS. It also draws in STErs by offering validation and community, and non-NDErs by offering knowledge, inspiration, and hope. Through the stories of several individuals, this panel presentation gives voice to the transformative process. Hear stories from the early days when those who shared their experiences were scoffed at or seen as delusional, to recent time where open-minded people are beginning to listen. Glimpse an emerging future where NDErs and STErs move from the margins of society to a position of acceptance and inclusion where their experiences and contributions can serve to help others on their transformative journeys.

Peter Panagore, MDiv >> Peter Panagore, author of the best-selling, Heaven Is Beautiful: How Dying Taught Me That Death Is Just the Beginning, experienced two transformative near-death encounters. Following a BA in English Literature, he changed careers from architecture to theology and completed a Master of Divinity at Yale University, specializing in the Classics of Western Mysticism. For more than two decades, Panagore served progressive New England churches. His first book, Two Minutes for God, a best-seller in Maine and now available worldwide, was based on his 15 years as an NBC-TV writer for a daily Maine and New Hampshire broadcast viewed annually by 30 million people. He currently hosts “Not Church: Mysticism No Doctrine No Dogma No Bravo Sierra” on his YouTube channel, offers spiritual counseling through Zoom, and teaches meditation and yoga to a global community.

Kristen Adams, MA >> After all her schooling, Kristen was fulfilled — balancing the obligations of her young family with her calling: working with traumatized kids. But when an epically ugly-messy divorce came to her own household, she took an unsatisfying government desk job that provided ample leave time to invest in her own children — but which only barely paid the bills. During the ensuing two decades, she lost all belief in a Benevolent Cause but had convinced herself it was better that way. Finally, after years as a front-line functionary, she was finally promoted and then quickly promoted yet again. Things were finally going right. She finally had room to breathe! A routine X-ray found a space-occupying lesion in the right upper lobe of her lung, and she feared this was the end of her difficult, sad, and disappointing life. It was time to look for answers.

Ellen Corson, BA >> Ellen Corson was born in Montreal, Canada, in 1964 and moved to Hanover, NH, in 1974. She graduated from Hanover High School and attended Brown University. Ellen’s favorite class at Brown was Religious Studies. However, since that was not an acceptable field of study in her family, she went on to work at numerous non-profit organizations and social assistance organizations, later founding an Improvisational Comedy group while volunteering around Greater Portland, Maine. She is currently a hospice volunteer who is giving herself a course in mystical studies, wherever it leads. Her 21-year-old son remains skeptical.

Kendall (Ken) Gilligan, MD >> Dr. Kendall Gilligan was an emergency department physician for almost 40 years before he retired in 2018. His spiritual insights were shaped by a study of Edgar Cayce, Paramahansa Yogananda, and especially by Al Miner/Lama Sing. The insights that he will share come from his personal experiences that arose from contemplation that he began as a teenager.

Kacy Kelly >> Scholar, gas station clerk, mother, wife, and meditator. Kacy had an STE that happened from self-destructive tendencies, and there came the point when she fell to her knees in pain. I quickly got back to my feet. It took a week to heal, at which point she found myself stopped in my tracks with a knowing that I was saved by the light that goes and comes back again. I don’t really know what that means. I didn’t see heaven or hell, just this knowing and a real empty feeling. It was like it took her two years to get her soul back! She moved, changed my life, got married, and had a daughter.

Shelly Liedtke, BMSc >> Shelly is a lifelong perpetual student of Self-Empowerment and a Spiritual Life Coach who is here to lovingly help her students and clients shift the stresses of day-to-day living from mystery to mastery, steadily center in the Sacred Intentions of their Soul and open the doorway to consciously creating miracles in their life. Throughout all of her mentoring and coaching services, she offers loving, gentle support for welcoming her clients and students back home to being their True Self; to open the space for really loving and appreciating who they are deep down inside – the One they came here on earth to experience and BE – so they can thrive and be healthy, well and happy in their life…all through the lens of Love grounded in Gratitude.

Françoise E. Netter, MA>> Françoise E. Netter, MA, renowned author, educator, presenter, and performer, has innovatively contributed to Yoga, Dance Therapy, and Stress Management for over four decades. She has instructed at prestigious institutions like Stanford University and the University of Colorado and trained professionals in her specialty. Françoise has garnered international attention through TV, radio, podcasts, and print media. Her book, “Movement For The Mind,” empowers individuals to integrate and apply their creativity holistically. Drawing from her mystical experiences and trauma, Françoise aims to inspire transformation. Her current focus revolves around Resiliency and trauma, serving as the theme of her upcoming book and Ted X talk.

Lynne Seymour, RN >> Lynne had a life transforming NDE in 1970 at the age of 24 following the traumatic birth of her first child. She came close to death when her vital signs plummeted. She left her body, went to a heavenly realm, and was convinced by spiritual beings to return to complete her work on earth. She returned with a distorted sense of reality, a feeling of disconnection, no one with whom she could safely share her story, and a longing to return to her true home. In 1980 she had a profound, life-changing STE in which she experienced the all-encompassing love of God. She retired after 40-plus years in nursing but has been haunted by a desire to gain a deeper spiritual understanding of her own NDE and to complete her work in this world.

David Ulrich >> Raised in 1960s Detroit, David’s early experiences of faith were shaped by the Methodist Church he attended with his family. His grandmother’s role as the church secretary deepened his exposure to the church, particularly to its minister, whom he respected greatly. However, his perception was jolted upon discovering the minister indulged in questionable habits. As a teenager, David explored various religious paths, including the Church of God, the Catholic Church, and the Church of the Nazarene, seeking authenticity but finding hypocrisy instead. As he matured, he chose to step away from organized religion to formulate his unique understanding of God. His spiritual journey took a significant turn at age 25, when a Detroit Unity Temple radio broadcast resonated with him, leading him to a community that nurtured his spiritual quest, a journey still in progress today.

presenting with ...

AWAKEN LIGHT! Activate, Embody, Express Divine Remembrance

Felice DiMartino, BFA

Sat.
4:00 pm
-
5:00 pm
ET
Bookstore
60
Min.
We are in the midst of accelerated planetary transformation on all levels of existence. The massive paradigm shifts taking place provide us with extraordinary opportunities to awaken to the deeper truths of who we truly are. As the collective awareness grows, we each have the capability to expand our consciousness, experience our multidimensionality, and contribute to the rising vibration of humanity. Sharing transmissions from her NDE, and channeling of the frequency of Crystalline light, Felice ignites the remembering of our true identity and offers concrete ways to live from a place of alignment with the Source Light we are.

Felice DiMartino, BFA >> Felice DiMartino had a profound near-death experience in 2015 when she was hit by a large truck while crossing the street. A former Montessori school educator, she currently serves as a Futuring Facilitator and multidimensional guide of “The Way Of Light,” a path of awakened living. Felice is the founder of Grounded Illumination, a harnessing of mystical practices, quantum technologies, neuroscience applications and transmissions from her near-death and shared-death experiences to activate the remembering of our true Identity. She provides concrete tools, channeled messages & intuitive guidance to live as embodied expressions of the Divine with clarity, insight, confidence, fulfillment, harmony, and access to the wisdom of the Soul.

presenting with ...

Let Go: From Struggle to Serenity - A Musical Experience

Jelani Clay (JClay)

Sat.
5:15 pm
-
6:15 pm
ET
Rm 1 - Akimel Ballroom
60
Min.
Healing is not hard. JClay will teach you how to heal any trauma as easily as listening to your favorite song. This selection of original music by rap artist and spiritual teacher JClay is designed to boost your mood, raise your awareness, and keep you in a lasting state of peace. Only the weak have enemies and the strong have inner peace. Let go.

Jelani Clay >> JClay is a spiritual teacher and rap artist that makes music to heal even the most reluctant of minds. His mission is to help people around the world find and keep peace always. He is one of the leaders of the spiritual hip-hop movement using music to expose the false beliefs that limit growth. JClay’s album “IAMNOBODY, IAMSOMEONE”, has been endorsed by industry and psychology professionals, music fans, and is being heralded as a key tool in healing the mind. “The way JClay is able to break down the mind-body-soul connection in song-form in reference to healing is truly remarkable.” —Dr. Nicole LePera, Holistic Psychologist. As one fan said, “If Jesus rapped, it would be this.” JClay is thrilled to change how music can be used to heal for good.

presenting with ...

The Non-Localness of Consciousness: A Colorado University Time-Jump Project and Adventures in the Universe

Angelia (Angie) LaRue

Sat.
5:15 pm
-
6:15 pm
ET
Rm 2 - Kave Ballroom
60
Min.
Rev. Angelia LaRue will discuss the non-localness of consciousness giving examples from two different post graduate studies and experiments she was involved with the University of Boulder. With excerpts from the post graduate student Kavan Ganapathy who designed, led the project and gathered and compiled the data from over three months of bi-weekly time jumps. She will discuss surprising and startling issues she ran into traveling out of body and various ways those were solved. Her presentation will end with some exciting Intergalactic travels done outside of scientific protocol based experimentation and done just for pleasure, which will include sketches and drawing from the participants of those travels.

Angelia LaRue >> Angie had a radical spontaneous Awakening of Consciousness, while going about an ordinary Hawaiian day as a professional artist and housewife in 2011. She had a radical Kundalini Awakening while on her way into the kitchen to get a drink of water. Within three months, her life in Hawaii abruptly ended and she was thrust out onto the road to learn with Spirit as her Teacher with only two suitcases. She was reeling from the full explosion of psychic abilities, and the sudden awareness of subtle energy. Now, 10 years from the awakening day, she has integrated all aspects of herself and is deeply dedicated to Service through Love.

presenting with ...

“She Goes First” – A Twinless Twin’s Story of Death, Rebirth and Relationship Through The Veil

Stephanie Saint Claire

Sat.
5:15 pm
-
6:15 pm
ET
Bookstore
60
Min.
Stephanie Saint Claire’s connection with her “wombmate” Amber only deepened after Amber’s death at age 39. After receiving a visit from Amber’s spirit at the time of her death, Stephanie was called to embark on an “excavation of the Soul”; a journey of self-healing and actualization that has been guided primarily through her on-going relationship with her sister who “speaks” to her through spontaneous “downloads”, physical signs, messages and other “coincidences.” Stephanie now teaches women in midlife how to unblock their access to Spirit wisdom, inner peace, self-agency and joy, through Inner Child Healing and Self-Reparenting work.

Stephanie Saint Claire >> Stephanie Saint Claire is a Complex Trauma Recovery Coach and Self-Reparenting Expert, who specializes in teaching women in midlife how to release the negative thoughts and self-sabotaging behaviors that block them from feeling peace on command, confidence at will, and joy for no “reason” at all. Stephanie’s unique approach stems from her own self healing journey out of childhood trauma, codependency, ADD, chronic people-pleasing and substance abuse. Her lived experience, decades of study, and connection to Spirit has allowed Stephanie to be of service to hundreds of clients, and thousands of online followers, get unstuck after DECADES of self-abandoning behaviors. Proud Momma to two boys, multiple business owner, and bibliophile, Stephanie lives with her family in Marin County, California.

presenting with ...

Tapping Into Other Realms Through Spoken Word Energy Healing

Chenée Fournier, BA

Sat.
8:00 am
-
8:30 am
PT
Rm 1 - Akimel Ballroom
30
Min.
During this spoken word energy healing session, participants will be guided into deeper states of awareness, expanded states of consciousness, and contact with their own “inner healer.” This session is a amalgamation of energy healing, energy center alignment, guided meditation, and interdimensional communication.

Chenée Fournier >>  Chenée is an evidential medium, energy healer, and spiritual mentor. Since childhood, she has been able to sense and interact with Spirit. For more than four years, as a Reiki Master, she volunteered her services with hospice, providing Reiki to patients and sitting vigil with people as they began their transition beyond the veil. As she pursued a clinical pastoral education program, she worked as an interfaith chaplain in a hospital. Chenée believes that mediumship, when done with integrity, can lead to profound spiritually transformative experiences and is an ultimate form of energy healing.

presenting with ...

Welcome & Announcements

Scott Taylor, EdD / Debbie James, MSN, RN, CCRN

Sat.
8:30 am
-
8:45 am
PT
Rm 1 - Akimel Ballroom
15
Min.
Our emcees Scott and Debbie will start your day off with good cheer! You will hear all the important announcements and information to make your conference experience a great one.

Scott Taylor >> Scott is president of the Expanded Awareness Institute (EAI). EAI helps people curious about near-death experiences (NDEs) and shared death experiences (SDEs) explore what those experiences mean to them and to our human culture. His YouTube podcast The Afterlife Files, is rated in the top 20% worldwide. On the faculty of The Shift Network, Scott teaches NDE meditation for his course The Bi-Location Phenomenon.

Debbie James >> After completing her master’s thesis on disclosure of near-death experiences (NDEs), Debbie James was appointed to the board of directors of the International Association for Near-Death Studies (IANDS). In 2009, Debbie co-authored and edited the first compilation of research on NDEs, The Handbook of Near-Death Experiences: Thirty Years of Investigation. Inspired by her belief in the art and science of nursing practice and education, Debbie has focused her career on the advancement of safe, evidence-based patient-centered care.

presenting with ...
Anita Moorjani

View From the Other Side

Anita Moorjani

Sat.
9:00 am
-
10:00 am
PT
Rm 1 - Akimel Ballroom
60
Min.
Embark on an extraordinary journey with Anita Moorjani, best-selling author and acclaimed inspirational speaker, as she recounts her riveting near-death experience (NDE). Anita’s extraordinary voyage to the other side revealed a realm of boundless love and acceptance, profoundly altering her perceptions of health, fear, and the very essence of existence. By weaving the profound lessons gleaned from her experience, Anita presents a revolutionary perspective on life within our three-dimensional world. She underscores the importance of unconditional self-love, unravels the illusions of time and separation, and highlights the profound interconnectedness that binds all of existence.

Anita Moorjani >> Anita is a renowned author and spiritual speaker known for her transformative journey beyond the brink of death. While living in Hong Kong, Anita battled end-stage cancer before experiencing a remarkable near-death experience (NDE) that shifted her perspective on life. Her bestselling memoir Dying to Be Me chronicles her profound journey and miraculous healing. Its popularity established her as a premier NDE expert. A beacon of inspiration, Anita travels the world sharing her insights on self-love, consciousness, and the interconnectedness of all things. Her teachings empower others to embody the highest version of themselves and live vibrant, authentic lives. Anita continues to be a guiding light in the realm of spiritual exploration.

presenting with ...

Two NDEs and a Flurry of SDEs: The Making of the World’s Leading Authority on the Shared Death Experience

William Peters, MA, MEd, MFT

Sat.
10:30 am
-
11:30 am
PT
Rm 1 - Akimel Ballroom
60
Min.
In this presentation, William will detail his harrowing journey from suburban prep schoolboy to renowned researcher on the shared death experience. During his first NDE associated with a fractured spine from a skiing accident at age 17, William pleaded with God to return to human life–which he later regretted because, upon return, he was transformed from athlete to person with physical disabilities and chronic pain. William’s existential crisis led him to work in Peru with indigenous civil war refugees, in San Francisco with persons dying of AIDS, and as hospice worker at the Zen Hospice Project. Having experienced SDEs in each of these settings, William met Raymond Moody in 2009 and was inspired to dedicate his professional life to researching SDEs. William will also share how he came to the Buddhist practice of Vipassana mediation as healing balm for his struggles with depression and his desire to escape to the afterlife.

William Peters >> William is a psychotherapist and the founder of the Shared Crossing Project whose mission is to positively transform relationships to death and dying through education and raising awareness about extraordinary end-of-life experiences (shared crossings) and their healing benefits. William is a global leader in shared death studies and end-of-life phenomena. He teaches methods to facilitate the shared death experience and to assist experiencers in meaningfully integrating their experiences. His work is informed by his two NDEs and a variety of shared crossings. William’s book At Heaven’s Door: What Shared Journeys to the Afterlife Teach About Dying Well and Living Better is published by Simon & Schuster. William is currently working with an Oscar-nominated filmmaker to produce the first feature-length documentary on the shared death experience.

presenting with ...

Musical Sound Journey (Lunchtime Activity)

Dashmesh Khalsa

Sat.
12:15 pm
-
1:00 pm
PT
Rm 4 - Kave 3
45
Min.
Dashmesh will be offering a sound journey with various instruments such as frame drums, didgeridoos, and handpans. Music is a universal language common to all cultures and can have the ability to give us a direct experience where words can fail. His music offering spans from meditative and contemplative, to energetic and driving. Feel free to lay out and take it as a journey or use movement or dance if inspired to do so.

Dashmesh Khalsa>> Dashmesh is a musician, producer, and philosopher who has worked with internationally renowned artists such as Bill Laswell, Byron Metcalf, Steve Roach, Toshinori Kondo, and Ken Koshio. He has played all around Arizona at venues such as the Music Instrument Museum, Scottsdale Center for The Performing Arts, Tempe Center for The Arts, and the Berger Performing Arts Center as well as yoga studios and other intimate venues across the Valley. He has studied music traditions from around the world such as Indian Tabla, Australian Didgeridoo, Japanese Taiko drumming, and West African Djembe. He has blended styles of music including tribal, electronica, ambient, hip-hop, and jazz, thus defying traditional notions of genres and styles. Dash‘s music is informed by the need to create a healthy relationship between technology and nature, unite the ancient with the modern and bridge the difference between cultures to create more harmony where it may not have existed otherwise.

presenting with ...
Kimberly Braun

Redeeming Love: How My NDE Dissolved My Trauma and Rooted Me in Freedom

Rev. Kimberly Braun, MA, CSP

Sat.
1:15 pm
-
2:15 pm
PT
Rm 1 - Akimel Ballroom
60
Min.
Join Kimberly Braun for a compelling session that will touch the deepest places of grace and unconditional love within yourself through her own experience. Using her NDE as a framework, she will reveal the foundational aspects of what it means to be human, what we are made for, and how to live a life rooted in that freedom and divinity. Attendees will find themselves inspired through her words, which will provide a place of true rest found unceasingly within and will ignite a personal sense of purpose and meaning in this life.

Kimberly Braun >> Kimberly, impelled from her earliest childhood experiences and her NDE at the age of 19, spent over a decade as a Carmelite monastic nun exploring the path of Presence and then obtained her master’s degree in theology and formal ordination. Having explored the many facets of self-realization and the essence of Being, she lives to inspire others to connect to, and live from, Divine Love at their center with great freedom and joy. Kimberly is a TEDx speaker, Reiki Master, international speaker and retreat leader, and former meditation faculty at the renowned Omega Institute. She has served tens of thousands of people through her writing, speaking, retreats, online courses, and community. Her latest books are Miracles in the Naked Light and Beloved Found, Poems from the Source.

presenting with ...

Love’s Infinite Connection: Transforming With After-Death Wisdom

Catherine Weissenberg, MA / Kim Cantin, MBA

Sat.
1:15 pm
-
2:15 pm
PT
Rm 2 - Kave Ballroom
60
Min.
They were brought together through a tragedy. Catherine Weissenberg, author and evidential medium, and Kim Cantin, author and mother of 17-year-old Jack Cantin who died in the 2018 Montecito, California mudslide, come together to share what Jack says about his transition, the afterlife, and his current mission. Attendees will receive proof that death is not an ending and that love is the bridge between this reality and the next. After losing her husband, son, and dog, and having her daughter buried alive, Kim did not lose her love or faith. Learn how Kim’s unrelenting love and knowing, Catherine’s gift of ongoing communication with Jack, the three-year sacred search for his remains, and miraculous clues and events all culminated in his discovery. Jack’s after-death conversations and wisdom demonstrate and affirm love’s ability to transcend death, transform, heal, and connect us beyond life. Love is our infinite connection!

Catherine A. Weissenberg >> Catherine is an author, speaker, spiritual communication facilitator, and evidential medium. For over 30 years, she has been sharing her ability to communicate with Source, the deceased, and coma patients. Catherine credits her own near-death experience at age 18 in activating her evidential mediumship. This gift has enabled hundreds of people to communicate with their deceased loved ones. She is coauthor of the book Beyond Ever After: A Heart-to-Heart Journey Through Death and the Afterlife, the true story of how Catherine’s mediumship skills facilitated her client to have detailed conversations with her comatose husband and to continue their dialogues after his death. Catherine supports people in realizing they are inherently and eternally connected to each other by love in this reality and beyond.

Kim Cantin >> Kim is a survivor of the 2018 Montecito, California mudslides that killed 23 people, including her husband and son, and that buried her daughter alive. Kim shares her personal transformation during the more-than-three-year search for the remains of her teenage son. The messages from across the veil and synchronicities helped her heal, transform, and aid the search and miraculous find. Kim is the author of the award winning Where Yellow Flowers Bloom, A True Story of Hope through Unimaginable Loss. She has been interviewed on ELLEN TV, featured in Rob Lowe’s documentary Madness in the Hills, and featured in Reebok Founder Joe Foster’s new book How to Survive and Thrive. She is a former executive in the medical device business sector who now lives in Santa Barbara with her daughter and their two dogs.

 

 

presenting with ...

Transformative Mystical Experiences, NDEs, and Religion

Fr. Nathan Castle, OP / Stephanie Bradbury, MDiv / David Maginley, MDiv, CSCP

Sat.
1:15 pm
-
2:15 pm
PT
Rm 3 - Deer
60
Min.
How do Christians integrate STEs, including mystical experiences and NDEs, when organized religion doesn’t know how to make room for these profound phenomena? Christian clergy will discuss how to integrate these experiences with Christian faith.

Nathan Castle >> Fr. Nathan has helped more than 500 “stuck” and not-so-stuck souls who died suddenly and traumatically to adjust to the afterlife. Victims of fires, automobile accidents, shootings, stabbings, drownings, and suicides come to him in his dreams seeking help to resolve their Interrupted Death Experiences. Father Nathan believes that providing such help is something the Holy Spirit has given him and his prayer partners to do. In his Afterlife, Interrupted: books, Father Nathan is quick to point out that not everyone who dies suddenly gets stuck. He is the author of And Toto, Too: The Wizard of Oz as a Spiritual Adventure and Afterlife, Interrupted (Books 1 and 2): Helping Stuck Souls Cross Over. His new book is Afterlife, Interrupted Book 3: Please Let Me Explain.

Stephanie Chase Bradbury >> Stephanie has been an Episcopal priest for 28 years and has professionally counseled many people who have had NDEs and STEs. She herself has had a number of mystical experiences beginning at age 6. Stephanie is drawn to the bright overlap between matter and spirit and to the intertwining of life in this reality with the transcendent. She feels called to act as a translator to a world that is often blind to the astonishing wonder of All That Is and to help facilitate the integration of those who have been touched by the extraordinary. Stephanie has led NDE retreats and lectures at churches, spoken at IANDS conferences, been interviewed for podcasts, and writes a newsletter on the intersection between Christianity and transcendent experiences. Rev. Stephanie serves an Episcopal Church in Massachusetts.

David Maginley >> For 25 years, David Maginley has counseled those facing cancer and other life-threatening conditions at the QEII Health Sciences Centre in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. He has also survived cancer four times, which resulted in a profound near-death experience. David is a specialist with the Canadian Association for Spiritual Care (CASC), a Lutheran minister, a Therapeutic Touch teacher, and the award-winning author of Beyond Surviving: Cancer and Your Spiritual Journey. David speaks internationally on meaning in suffering, the wisdom of grief, mindfulness, death and dying, mystical phenomena, compassion fatigue, and integrative spirituality. His new book, Early Exits: Spirituality, Mortality and Meaning in an Age of Medical Assistance in Dying, will be released in 2024.

presenting with ...

NDEs, UFOs, and ETs Discussion Group

Paul Sperry, MS / PMH Atwater, LHD / Rev. Catherine Chapey / Chris O'Connor

Sat.
1:15 pm
-
3:30 pm
PT
Rm 4 - Kave 3
120
Min.
Increasingly, near-death experiencers have disclosed extraterrestrial contacts during and/or after their NDEs. Members of this panel will describe their experiences and investigations of these phenomena and will discuss their implications for NDErs and for humanity at large.

Paul Sperry >> Paul is a systems scientist and former executive director of a University of Colorado research institute of over 500 colleagues. He has been on boards of directors with the Society for Scientific Exploration, the Conference on World Affairs, and BoulderExo where he has given talks and moderated many panels. His passions include addressing societal problems through interdisciplinary approaches and recognizing our roles and opportunities in the grander reality we are co-creating together. Paul and his wife Maryann have been active in IANDS for the past four years and love living at the base of the Rockies in Longmont, CO.

PMH Atwater >> PMH, began her research of the near-death phenomenon in 1978, after having had three such experiences in three months in 1977. To date, her work covers nearly 5,000 adult and child experiencers. Some of her findings have been verified in clinical studies, among them the prospective study done in Holland and published in the peer-reviewed general medical journal, The Lancet. She created and incorporated Inner Forum, Idaho’s first metaphysical non-profit organization, and over 3,000 people have participated in its programs. She is the author of 20 books, including Edge Walker, and is currently working on a book about her research study on aliens and the near-death experience.

UNABLE TO ATTEND – Paola Harris >> Paola is an Italo-American award winning photojournalist and investigative reporter in the field of extraterrestrial related phenomena research. She is an in-demand international speaker. She is also a widely published freelance writer, especially in Europe. Her books have been translated into Spanish, French, Italian, Japanese, and Chinese. She produces the annual StarworksUSA conference in Laughlin, NV, and several other in-person and online consciousness events each year.

Catherine Chapey >> Catherine has had a lifetime of spiritually transformative experiences, including being a contactee of many various UFO’s, ETs, inter-dimensional beings, and orbs–phenomena she has documented over the past 18 years through journaling, photography, and film. She is an Ordained InterSpiritual Minister, Certified Spiritual Counselor, spiritualist medium, healer, and trance channel for “The Council of Light.” Catherine is also a Certified Hypnotist and a Level 2 Quantum Healing Hypnosis Technique (QHHT) Hypnotist who trained in 2014 with the late Dolores Cannon, developer of QHHT. Catherine is also a Certified Facilitator/Moderator for IANDS Sharing Groups, and a Facilitator for IANDS’s new monthly topic sharing group UFO/ET/NDE. For several years she has hosted and facilitated her own monthly sharing groups in support of spiritual experiencers, now on Zoom: “Safe Space Sharing,” “UFO ET Experiencers,” and “Spiritual Experiencers.”

Chris O’Connor >> Chris is founder and owner of the DEEMS Company, created to help humanity evolve spiritually while learning all aspects of self-healing. Chris has had formative experiences working with off world species where he learned medical technologies and has now brought some of that technology to the world. Chris has also been in close contact with his spirit guides for many years and relies on them daily, while helping others communicate with their guides as well. Chris has memories of many past lives and remembers the actual process of choosing his parents and programming his life experiences. Chris’s heart-lead mission is to assist humanity during this time of great transition and to remember the power they possess while bringing a message of love-based hope for the future of the human species on Earth.

presenting with ...

From Pre-Birth to Human: A “Grand Canyon” Sized Journey of Experience

Christian Sundberg, BA, PMP

Sat.
2:30 pm
-
3:30 pm
PT
Rm 1 - Akimel Ballroom
60
Min.
As a pre-birth experiencer, Christian will present on the love-filled transformation that our higher nature calls us humans to actualize while we are on Earth.

Christian Sundberg >> As a young child, Christian remembered his existence before coming to Earth. Although that memory left him completely for his early adult life, it spontaneously returned 14 years ago as he took up a meditation practice and went through a personal awakening journey that included out-of-body experiences (OBEs). Christian has presented at over 100 public speaking events, seeking to remind others, in at least a small part, of who we really are beneath the human “play.” Professionally, Christian has worked for 16 years as a project manager for complex nuclear pump and valve manufacturing projects and also works currently for an insurance company. Christian authored the book A Walk in the Physical in which he strove to describe succinctly the larger spiritual context in which we exist and the importance of love in our human journey.

presenting with ...

How NDEs, SDEs and OBEs Changed Our Life Purposes

Michelle Clare / Rev. Sue Frederick / David A. Williamson

Sat.
2:30 pm
-
3:30 pm
PT
Rm 2 - Kave Ballroom
60
Min.
On this panel, three engaging speakers–Michelle Clare, three-time NDE’er; Rev. Sue Frederick, three-time SDEr; and David Williamson, who died of a heart attack and saw how his anger had misdirected his life–all found new direction and higher purpose from events that the conventional world might call “tragedies.” Michelle, Sue, and David survived brain injuries, devastating grief, and widowmaker heart attacks to reevaluate their spiritual beliefs and life purpose. These three lively, fun, and touching presenters are poised to deliver an engaging presentation.

Michelle Clare  >> Featured on Coast to Coast AM multiple times and on Gaia TV, Michelle Clare is a Certified Medium, angel intuitive, spiritual coach, medical intuitive, energetic healer, and three-time near-death experience (NDE) survivor. Over a span of 11 years, she had three NDEs: the first in April 2000, the second in May 2006, and a monumental, life-changing event in which Michelle suffered a traumatic brain injury on November 1, 2011. Shortly after this last event, she began receiving information for other people from their loved ones who had transitioned. All three NDEs served as a reminder of an unconditional love and connection that surpasses our Earthly life. Michelle’s journey of discovery continued with two shared death experiences. Her journey is marked by resilience and profound transformation. Today, Michelle uses her gifts to illuminate the paths of healing and self-discovery for others.

Sue Frederick >> Sue is an ordained Unity Minister, clairaudient, Soul Regression Therapist, angelic realm channel, and master numerologist. She channels messages and prayers from the angelic realm and receives wisdom from guides to help people heal grief and find purpose. She uses sacred numerology and mystical information in her books and teachings. Sue is the author of 11 books, including Through a Divine Lens: Practices to Quiet Your Ego and Align with Your Soul and The Sacred Numerology Workbook. As a student of numerology since 1980, she brings a deeply enlightened perspective to using numbers as navigational guidance tools for deciphering the soul’s journey.

David A. Williamson >> David, a native of Yanceyville, NC, had a near-death experience in 2017 that changed how he views this life and what it means to be a human being. For most of his life he had been deeply effected by several phenomena including identity confusion, racial narratives and racial trauma, general trauma, and rigid orientations towards ideology and personality. During his NDE, as his dying/dead body lay in the emergency room, he hovered above it and came to some realizations about his life that presented him with the opportunity to ground and integrate a different approach to living and being. He has shared his experience in podcast interviews and continues to ground and integrate practical approaches to life and ways for people to let go of lamenting and focus on creating their desired reality.

presenting with ...

Integrating NDE Aftereffects to Facilitate After-Death Communication

Neda Wassie, MSc

Sat.
2:30 pm
-
3:30 pm
PT
Rm 3 - Deer
60
Min.
Near-death experiences (NDEs) are known to have a variety of transformative aftereffects for the experiencer and those who learn about these phenomena. In this presentation, Neda speaks about her own NDE and how it lead to new abilities, including precognitive dreams about death and communication with the deceased. This transformation has enabled Neda to approach death with an attitude of acceptance and to help others do the same. In her presentation, Neda addresses the therapeutic benefits of after-death communication and how to facilitate them for experiencers and non-experiencers alike. Neda also discusses how the Western scientific approach can integrate such extraordinary experiences to better serve clinical, non-clinical, and professional populations who face death and dying.

Neda Wassie >> Neda is a near-death experiencer who is pursuing a PhD in Integral and Transpersonal Psychology at the California Institute of Integral Studies. Neda’s mystical experiences have informed her research interests in death, love, and other non-ordinary states of consciousness. Her NDE account is featured in Death as an Altered State of Consciousness: A Scientific Approach by Imants Barušs, and her current writing is published in The International Journal of Transpersonal Psychology. In her private practice, Neda integrates transpersonal psychology with mental wellness and helps individuals navigate their own exceptional human experiences. She also offers a simulated near-death experience (s-NDE) to facilitate after-death communication, near-death integration, and the resolution of grief and death anxiety.

presenting with ...

A Family’s Co-Experience of Transpersonal Experiences and Their Subsequent Support of Their NDEr

Norman Klaunig, MA, MBA, NCC, LPC Associate / Brianna Lafferty, BS / Jill Lafferty, MS / Tara Lafferty, MS

Sat.
4:00 pm
-
5:00 pm
PT
Rm 1 - Akimel Ballroom
60
Min.
In 2001, Brianna—age 10, and her sister, Tara—age 8, began having some individual and some shared transpersonal experiences—mostly distressing. Independently of each other, they reported these experiences to Jill, their intuitive mother. Husband-and-father Ed was initially skeptical—until he had his own transpersonal experience. In this panel discussion, Norman will guide Brianna, the NDEr; her mother, Jill; and her sister, Tara, to describe their family dynamics surrounding these events and the relationship of those dynamics to the important matter of familial psychospiritual support in the aftermath of transpersonal experiences.

Norman Klaunig >> Norman is a Licensed Professional Counselor Associate in Texas. He is currently pursuing a PhD in Counselor Education and Supervision at the University of the Cumberlands. His interest in near-death and other transpersonal experiences started during his youth. Now, Norman identifies as a transpersonal counselor, integrating the spiritual dimension into the counseling process. He has a virtual counseling practice serving all of Texas. Norman has extensively studied and continues to study the NDE/STE literature and has contributed to the Journal of Near-Death Studies and the IANDS magazine Vital Signs.

Brianna Lafferty  >> After a 22-year journey grappling with an “incurable” neurological movement disorder, Brianna Lafferty had a profound near-death experience in 2017 that ignited her major life transformation. This pivotal moment sparked a remarkable metamorphosis, unlocking her innate divine healing power to conquer the once “incurable” affliction. She is now an award-winning author, international speaker, and passionate Death & Spiritual Doula. Guiding others on transformative journeys, she empowers individuals to birth into their authentic selves and helps others liberates themselves from chronic illness. With unwavering passion, Bri also lends compassionate support in navigating end-of-life transitions and challenges, weaving a tapestry of resilience and inspiration.

Jill Lafferty >> Jill, wife of husband Ed and mother of daughters Brianna and Tara, has the experience of partnering a spouse and parenting children with transpersonal experiences, including a child with an NDE.

Tara Lafferty >> Tara holds an MS in Health Psychology. She has worked primarily in paralegal and real estate roles within her state of Colorado. Her interest in near-death and similar topics started within her own home environment while she was growing up. Working currently as a legal secretary, Tara is also working in her free time on her own spiritual revelations via her book Lessons With God, which walks the reader through her spiritually transformative experiences.

 

presenting with ...

From Sex Worker to Light Worker – A Life Transformed

Betty Guadagno, CRPA

Sat.
4:00 pm
-
5:00 pm
PT
Rm 2 - Kave Ballroom
60
Min.
Betty Guadagno’s journey commenced amidst shadows of adversity, grappling with the weight of drug addiction, involvement in sex work, and the heart-rending loss of her parents to suicide. However, a profound turning point emerged in March 2019 following a near-death-like experience associate with a drug overdose. During this awakening, Betty experienced many features that near-death experiencers describe, including her pre-birth planning which revealed to her that she was not merely a passive victim of circumstance but an active co-creator of her own reality. Upon returning to Earth, she felt profoundly reborn, healed spontaneously from heroin withdrawal, and attended a long-term drug treatment center where she pursued a transformative journey of recovery and personal growth. A living example that transformation is attainable regardless of one’s starting point, Betty now resides in Brooklyn, NY, where she serves as a guide and mentor through life coaching, podcast hosting, and IANDS webinar coordinating.

Betty Guadagno >> Betty had a near-death-like experience in March of 2019 that transformed her life 180 degrees. Betty went from a drug-addicted sex worker and self-described radical atheist to a devout believer in long term recovery, manifesting a life of meaning and purpose beyond her wildest dreams. Betty currently lives in Brooklyn, NY, and works as a recovery/life coach. During her integration process, she felt an incredible pull towards establishing spiritual community in her life. Since December, 2020, she has been connected to the IANDS community, and she now serves as webinar coordinator for IANDS Groups and Events and hosts IANDS’s podcast Explore the Extraordinary.

presenting with ...

Becoming Superhuman: 7 Secrets From The Other Side To Unlock Your True Potential

Alysa Rushton

Sat.
4:00 pm
-
5:00 pm
PT
Rm 3 - Deer
60
Min.
In this presentation, participants will embark on a journey into the realm of near-death experiences (NDEs) and their profound implications for healthcare and wellness. Alysa will explore the invaluable insights and transformative technologies emerging from these experiences, promising unparalleled levels of healing and well-being. Participants will gain a deeper understanding of the intricate interplay between the mind and body and will unlock the potential for rapid, transformative healing. Alysa embraces a holistic paradigm of wellness infused with divine light, ushering in a new era of spiritual integration and vibrant health.

Alysa Rushton >> Alysa, also known as the “Divine Superpowers Activator,” is a near-death survivor and energy intuitive who is considered one of the world’s most cutting edge thought leaders on conscious life creation and ascension. She is also the founder of the internationally accredited Divine Light Energy Healers Academy where she teaches the healing tools she learned on the other side to coaches, healers, and entrepreneurs. Alysa has inspired thousands of light leaders, students, clients, and listeners from all over the globe to step into their true identity as Divine beings of light and activate their superpowers. When she’s not teaching or speaking internationally, she can usually be found swimming with the sea turtles near her home on the Big Island of Hawaii or hiking in the mountains of Arizona–her home away from home.

presenting with ...

After Death Movie

Produced and distributed by Angel Studios

Sat.
5:15 pm
-
7:15 pm
PT
Rm 2 - Kave Ballroom
120
Min.
“After Death” is a gripping film that explores the afterlife based on real near-death experiences, conveyed by scientists, authors, and survivors. From the “New York Times” bestselling authors who brought you titles like “90 Minutes in Heaven,” “Imagine Heaven,” and “To Heaven and Back,” emerges a cinematic peek into the unknown that examines the spiritual and scientific dimensions of mortality, inviting viewers to contemplate the possibility of life after death.

After Death is a gripping film that explores the afterlife based on real near-death experiences, conveyed by scientists, authors, and survivors. From the New York Times bestselling authors who brought you titles like 90 Minutes in HeavenImagine Heaven, and To Heaven and Back, emerges a cinematic peek into the unknown that examines the spiritual and scientific dimensions of mortality, inviting viewers to contemplate the possibility of life after death.

presenting with ...

Music and Dancing (Hors d'oeuvres and Cash Bar)

Music and Dancing (Hors d'oeuvres and Cash Bar)

Sat.
7:30 pm
-
10:00 pm
PT
Akimel Lobby/Foyer
150
Min.
Join in the fun at the annual Dance Party with a DJ!
presenting with ...

Inner Refuge Meditation

Christopher Rosing, BS

Sat.
9:00 pm
-
9:30 pm
PT
Rm 4 - Kave 3
30
Min.
For this meditative event, Christopher will strive to create a warm and supportive environment in which he invites participants to bring to mind a challenge they are experiencing regard their health and wellbeing, their close relationships, or the suffering they perceive in the world. As they reflect on how this challenge lives in their bodies, speech, and minds, they can open to and embrace the associated pain, enabling it to loosen and release as they rest, abiding in the stillness, silence, and spaciousness of being — the inner refuge. This is an opportunity to connect with a sense of fullness and completeness in the present moment and to find a deep sense of protection, no matter what challenges one faces. By connecting with the inner refuge, one is empowered not only to transform their own pain but also to become more available to compassionately support others who are suffering.

Christopher Rosing >> Christopher experienced so much early trauma and bullying that, at the age of 12, he set himself on fire. Surviving but being scarred forever–an outcast who felt unlovable, he first sought escape through addiction. But his search for deeper meaning and identity led to his awakening at the University of Connecticut while working as Kenneth Ring’s lead researcher on The Omega Project, which compared the transformational aftereffects of NDEs and UFO experiences. Through this work, Christopher met his wife Adrianne, who gifted him a shared death experience when she passed away in 2015. After her death, Christopher discovered Bon Buddhism, which completely transformed his life as he reconnected to the Light through Dzogchen Meditation. Dzogchen means “the great perfection” and is beyond religion or culture, as it is inherent in all sentient beings.

presenting with ...

2023 - Day 4 - Sunday - SPEAKERS

2023 - Day 4 - Sunday - SPEAKERS

Vibrational Healing and Heart-Math Meditation

Leena Zafary, Evan Premo, BM, Mary Lydia Ryan

Sun.
8:15 am
-
8:45 am
ET
Rm 1 - Akimel Ballroom
30
Min.
Meditation leader: Leena Zafary
20 minutes. Tune into the vibrational healing energy with a humming and heart-math sequence meditation. This short session is 5 minutes of humming, 5 minutes of silence, followed by a technique called “quick coherence.” You’ll experience a heart chakra opening then close out the meditation with a sacred sealing of your energy back into your body.
Music with Evan Premo and Mary Lydia Ryan

Leena Zafary >> Born in Kabul, Afghanistan, Leena Zafary arrived in the US at age 7, a naturally curious seeker. She became deeply interested in physical health, foods, herbs, and natural remedies and in 2003 opened her own health-focused café. In 2014, Leena underwent a near-death experience (NDE). She learned more about the reality of NDEs and discovered that her own NDE had opened a spiritual door for her. Leena’s passion has since expanded to encompass not only physical but spiritual wellness. From the sound and vibrational cadence of her clients’ voices, using Bio-Acoustic Vocal Analysis, Leena is able to extract information about their state of health and wellness, decode whatever is vibrationally off balance, and offer them healing insights.

Evan Premo, BM >> Musician Evan Premo creates heart-centered music that inspires audiences and musicians alike. His music has been commissioned by the Pittsburgh Symphony Chamber Orchestra, River Town Duo, the International Society of Bassists, The Pine Mountain Music Festival, Capitol City Concerts, and the Montpelier Chamber Orchestra. Evan is a member of Decoda with which he has performed in residencies around the world. As a member of Ensemble Connect, Evan has performed in concerts at Carnegie Hall. Evan resides in Vermont where he is Founder co-Artistic Director of Scrag Mountain Music with his wife, soprano Mary Bonhag. He is also Founder and Artistic Director of Beethoven and Banjos, a residency that brings together folk and classical musicians for cross-genre concerts in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

Mary Lydia Ryan >> Mary Lydia Ryan, critically acclaimed vocalist, pianist, composer, creator of Spa Opera®, utilizes her musical, mystical and spiritual gifts to support, uplift, and encourage the unique magnificence in individuals to be called forth. As seen and heard on Seattle and worldwide stages: TEDx, Whisperings Solo Piano Radio, One World Music Radio, and through group and individual sound transmission sessions, Mary’s aim is to bring greater light and consciousness evolution to our world.

presenting with ...

Impressions of Near-Death Experiences

Robert Coppes, PhD

Sun.
9:15 am
-
10:15 am
ET
Rm 1 - Akimel Ballroom
60
Min.
Based on quotes of more than 100 NDErs one can draw two important conclusions. The first is that LOVE is the most important thing there is, and that Unconditional Love awaits us when our body dies and our consciousness is released. The second message is that we are at least very thoroughly INTERCONNECTED with one another, with other animals, with nature, and in fact with all that exists. However, if we take a closer look at what many NDErs say, the conclusion could be more extreme than just this interconnectedness. It should probably be that we are all ONE, seen from another dimension. Love is what seems to bind us. People would see this truth if they would appreciate the circumstantial evidence in veridical observations. They would then be inspired to more loving actions and humanity could really take a beneficial next step forward.

Robert Christophor Coppes holds a PhD in economics. His conviction that NDEs are true spiritual experiences dates back to 1979 after reading Raymond Moody’s book “Life after Life.” His most recent book contains hundreds of quotes of more than 100 NDErs, and he says that in fact NDErs are the writers of this book. In 2006, he wrote a book in which he compared the essences of NDEs with those of five world religions. A few years later he wrote “Messages from The Light”, which was also translated in Dutch and German.

presenting with ...

Transformation From the Darkness to the Light

Cherie Aimée, BA / Jody Long, JD

Sun.
10:30 am
-
11:30 am
ET
Rm 1 - Akimel Ballroom
60
Min.
Jody and Cherie bring together Cherie’s near-death experience and the practical wisdom to understand self-love and use that knowledge to transform your life. What is self-love and how do you transform yourself to embody love on earth? You have to do the work. There are no short cuts, but there are many ways to develop your energy and light to maximize your spiritual journey on earth. We will explore what love is and talk about ways that can help you make the right choices to a happier, healthier and more spiritually balanced you.

Cherie Aimée, BA >> Cherie Aimée is a world-renowned near-death survivor and storyteller who shares about her extraordinary crossing over experience. Diagnosed with cancer, after undergoing chemotherapy, she suffered sudden cardiac arrest and was dead for over 90 minutes. Through a series of miracles, her life was saved but not without years of advanced medical care, rehabilitation and a heart transplant. Cherie is known as a ‘medical miracle.’ Her case is studied by the top cardiothoracic surgeons, doctors, engineers and resuscitation teams around the world. Cherie is an award-winning, global speaker and has been featured on The Dr. Oz Show, ABC, FOX, NBC TODAY Show and many other notable shows.

Jody Long, JD >> Jody Long is a retired attorney. She is webmaster for the Near Death Experience Research Foundation (NDERF) for the past 20 years and provides support and a forum for NDErs and those who want to know about the afterlife. She has several decades of experience researching paranormal and related phenomena. She is also webmaster for After Death Communication Research Foundation (ADCRF) and the other consciousness experience website which is everything that is not an NDE or ADC (OBERF). She is the author of From Soul to Soulmate: Bridges from Near Death Experience Wisdom and God’s Fingerprints: Impressions of Near Death Experiences, which was the first book of its genre published in mainland.

presenting with ...

1 Mathematician + 2 NDEs = 0 Fear of Death + Infinite Freedom

Sky Waterpeace

Sun.
10:30 am
-
11:30 am
ET
Rm 2 - Kave Ballroom
60
Min.
A mathematician and hyper-rational former atheist, Sky describes how two NDEs several years apart led ultimately to a complete transformation of his understanding of reality and of the nature of his true self. Sky will share his personal experiences including a rational framework for dissolving fear of death and judgment and achieving total conscious freedom.

Sky Pelletier Waterpeace >> Sky Waterpeace is a mathematician, author, and explorer of consciousness. Sky is an Outreach Trainer for the Monroe Institute, and he has been a prolific lucid dreamer since the age of five. A man of many interests, Sky has written an annotation to the well-known Army Intelligence analysis of the Gateway Process at the Monroe Institute and a book on efficient training methods for endurance athletes which has sold in over a dozen countries. He is the co-author of two textbooks on Complex Analysis, an advanced subject in mathematics, and is the author of one published novel.

presenting with ...

NDE Awakenings to the Joy of Healthcare Service

Co-Moderators: Debbie James, MSN, RN, CCRN-K and Vincent DeVice, BSN, RN / Deborah King, PhD, RN / Deborah Snider, ThM

Sun.
10:30 am
-
11:30 am
ET
Rm 3 - Deer
60
Min.
These panelists have had inspiring NDEs that have led them to even greater commitment and purpose in their work with patients. The Moderators are also professionals in healthcare, and will bring their sensitivity to the expanded awareness of the threshold for loving connection between patient and practitioner.

Debbie James, MSN, RN, CCRN-K >> Debbie James has worked in the Adult Critical Care arena for the last 44 years as a clinical nurse, nurse manager, nurse educator, and Clinical Nurse Specialist. She is a certified bereavement facilitator and formed two support groups in San Antonio: one for NDErs and one for organ donor families. She is a current IANDS Board member, and the Co-Chair of the IANDS Ethics Committee. Debbie co-authored and edited the first compilation of research on near-death experiences, Handbook of Near-Death Experiences: Thirty Years of Investigation.

Vincent DeVice, BSN, RN >> Vincent Device is a new graduate of a Bachelor of Science in Nursing and is a registered nurse working in a hospital in Pennsylvania on the telemetry unit. Vincent began his interest in the literature of near-death experiences in high school and continued to read related content throughout his undergraduate degree and nursing studies. He has attended three IANDS annual conferences and participated as a presenter in two. In the 2022 event, Vincent served as a panelist and interviewed the distinguished near-death researcher, registered nurse, and Vietnam Veteran Diane Corcoran. He continues to be an active member in the IANDS community with the goal of fostering knowledge of near-death experiences particularly, to young adults and healthcare professionals.

Deborah King, PhD, RN >> Debora King has been a successful healthcare professional for over 40 years, working in critical care, home care and hospice, mental health, and academic settings. For many years, Dr. King was privileged to hear about NDEs, spiritually transformative experiences, and other phenomena around the time of death and after transition—from her patients, family members, and students in her roles at Bellevue, Johns Hopkins, the National Institute on Drug Abuse, in psychotherapy practice, and many other settings. Although her own formal educational preparation in nursing, clinical psychology, and research left her unprepared to compassionately respond to such experiences, her own personal journey led to powerful spiritually transformative experiences of her own, including a life-changing NDE in 2008 during cardiac arrest and coma which changed her life forever. She is passionate about sharing the universal messages of connection, compassion, and love she received during her NDE with other healthcare professionals, experiencers, and non-experiencers alike. In her current work as a professor of graduate studies at Stevenson University, Dr. King’s qualitative research class helps nursing professionals to examine the lived experience of those who have had spiritually transformative experiences in order to strengthen holistic clinical practice and self-care skills.

Deborah Snider, ThM >> Deborah has worked in healthcare and shared in the journey of NICU parents and families for over 30 years. In 1999 she had an NDE that led to a search for deeper spiritual understanding. She has volunteered for hospice, studied energy healing, shamanism, meditation, and mediumship. Deborah has taught mediation classes, presented workshops on mindfulness, and currently serves as a spiritual medium. Her greatest joy is assisting others in experiencing themselves as spirit and finding their own path to joyful service.

presenting with ...

How Three NDEs Led Me To Discover the Super Power of My Soul

Michelle Clare

Sun.
10:30 am
-
11:30 am
ET
Bookstore
60
Min.
Michelle Clare will share with you how three NDEs completely changed her connection and framework for earthly life. As her “narrow scope” of life was enlarged, she’s now able to connect with people’s loved ones in Spirit on the other side and the bigger picture that is there for all of us. None of us are living this life alone, we all have a “Spirit Team” who is cheering us on and helping guide us to opportunities for our Soul’s evolution.

Michelle Clare >> Michelle Clare is a Certified Medium, Angel Intuitive, Spiritual Coach, Energetic Healer, Intuitive Life Coach and three time near-death experience (NDE) survivor. She receives messages from loved ones who have crossed over, as well as Angels and Life Guides. In a span of 11 years she had three near-death experiences including a monumental life changing event in which Michelle suffered a traumatic brain injury. Shortly after this life altering event, she started receiving information for other people from their loved ones who had transitioned. All three NDEs were a reminder of an unconditional love and connection that surpasses our earthly life. During readings, Michelle is divinely guided by the client’s Spirit Team to lovingly empower, direct, provide comfort and hope for each individual.

presenting with ...

Edge Walker: The Many Lives and Deaths of PMH Atwater

PMH Atwater, LHD

Sun.
12:15 pm
-
1:15 pm
ET
Rm 1 - Akimel Ballroom
60
Min.
PMH will share what it has been like to carry out the instructions given to her during her third near-death experience (NDE) from “The Voice Like None Other.” She was told to research the NDE phenomena. She spoke with, interviewed, and sometimes observed, nearly 5,000 adults and children over a 44-year timeframe which resulted in her authoring 18 books about NDEs or related subjects. Her research style is similar to a police officer’s style, as she is a cop’s kid, and was “raised in a police station.” She will share her own story and highlight the stories of others, and speak about what she discovered along the way.

PMH Atwater, LHD, began her research of the near-death phenomenon in 1978, after having had three such experiences in three months in 1977. To date, her work covers nearly 5,000 adult and child experiencers. Some of her findings have been verified in clinical studies, among them the prospective study done in Holland and published in the peer-reviewed general medical journal, The Lancet. She created and incorporated Inner Forum, Idaho’s first metaphysical non-profit organization, and over 3,000 people have participated in its programs. She is the author of 18 books, including her latest book, “Edge Walker”. http://pmhatwater.com

presenting with ...

"Dive into the Heart Frequency With Aureliaslight"

Jennifer Aurelia (Aureliaslight)

Sun.
12:15 pm
-
1:15 pm
ET
Rm 2 - Kave Ballroom
60
Min.
Award winning recording artist, music and sound educator and music medium will share the details of her spiritual awakening in 2007 which led to intuitive abilities and healing through her music and a myriad of prophecies that came after leading up to the Sandy Hook tragedy in her town. Then meeting her soulmate/twin flame in 2017 and losing him to death (his body) in 2021 which was the impetus to her NDE that same year. Aurelia will share how she had to surrender much of what she thought she was in order to be used as an instrument and channel for Divine service in the awakening and ascension of consciousness.

Jennifer Aurelia (Aureliaslight) >> Aureliaslight is an award winning composer, recording artist, teacher and energy/sound healer. As a vocal coach she’s taught over 25,000 students how the incredible power of sound, intention, and frequency can heal and empower the body, mind and spirit through the energy of singing and the sacred art of music. She’s also an intuitive empath, reiki master, mystic and a mother and came into this work after her own spiritual awakening in 2007. She’s on a mission to assist humanity in raising the frequency, to know and feel their own powerful divinity and help them transform their lives through their own energetic and divine gifts. As an award-winning recording artist, singer and composer, Aureliaslight performed on albums with Deepak Chopra, Krishna Das, Paul Avgerinos and more and over the past decade has released seven albums that are currently played on XM radio, yoga and healing centers and have been streamed millions of times.

presenting with ...

The Evolution of Faith: A Christian Pastor’s NDE (David will present virtually.)

David Maginley, MDiv (virtual) and Father Nathan Castle, OP

Sun.
12:15 pm
-
1:15 pm
ET
Rm 3 - Deer
60
Min.
Theological education never prepared David Maginley for the direct experience of God. That came from surviving cancer four times and dying during a church service—an experience that awakened a “new” orthodoxy that both challenged and deepened the teachings of the church. Explore the challenges and opportunities for the Christian faith as we re-integrate NDEs and mystical experience as the universal finale in the human journey.

Father Nathan Castle, OP >> Father Nathan Castle has helped more than 500 “stuck” and not-so-stuck souls who died suddenly and traumatically to adjust to the afterlife. Victims of fires, automobile accidents, shootings, stabbings, drownings, and suicides come to him in his dreams seeking help to resolve their Interrupted Death Experiences. Father Nathan believes that providing such help is something the Holy Spirit has given him and his prayer partners to do. In his Afterlife Interrupted books, Father Nathan is quick to point out that not everyone who dies suddenly gets stuck. He also addresses questions like: Is death survivable? What does he do to help people cross over? Does time exist in the afterlife? Do deceased relatives help us adjust to moving through our deaths.

David Maginley, MDiv >> Rev. David Maginley is an interfaith spiritual counselor at the QEII Health Sciences Centre in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and award-winning author of Beyond Surviving: Cancer and Your Spiritual Journey. He is featured in the documentaries Here Right Now, and When You Die. David has also survived cancer four times, which resulted in a profound near-death experience and explorations in the connection of body, mind and spirit. He knows cancer from both sides of the hospital bed, and this life from both sides of the veil.

presenting with ...

Utilizing and Sharing Your Sacred Experiences: A Writing Workshop That Proves the Power of Your Story to Change the World

Bridget Cook-Burch, BA

Sun.
12:15 pm
-
1:15 pm
ET
Bookstore
60
Min.
Do you desire to be heard and acknowledged for your experiences and your learned wisdom, but not sure how to put it into words? Bridget’s comprehensive coaching places you on the trajectory to writing your story with transformational impact. This workshop will include powerful, professional tips for how to share your story with the world. For some, it might be religion-oriented and for others, you might have learned something broader that could help all of humankind. Let’s dive in and discover together.

Bridget Cook-Burch, BA >> Clients call Bridget “The Book Whisperer.” A New York Times bestselling author, mentor, and speaker known for riveting stories of transformation, her work has been showcased on Oprah, Dateline, Netflix, GMA, NPR, among others. Bridget’s own intense NDE changed her life—and the story she was telling herself. This set her on the path to discover other extraordinary stories. As CEO and founder of Your Inspired Story, Bridget offers safe space and deep experiential learning. Bridget is co-founder and former executive director of SHEROES United, a non-profit that helps women and families rise from trauma.

presenting with ...

Life Challenges Can Inspire Our Soul’s Purpose

Caroline Chang. BA

Sun.
1:30 pm
-
2:30 pm
ET
Bookstore
60
Min.
Caroline Chang has experienced the greatest challenge that any parent can experience, not just once, but twice. Both of her children have transitioned and are in spirit. She still has a very strong and close connection and communication with them even though they are no longer here in the physical realm. After the transition of each child, she was inspired to live her soul’s purpose and inspire others. Caroline’s presentation entitled “Life Challenges Can Inspire Our Soul’s Purpose” will be encouraging, uplifting, and inspiring for others to look at their challenges in life from a new perspective, from the spiritual perspective.

Caroline Chang, BA >> Caroline Chang is an inspirational speaker, author, podcast host, and mentor to many who have loved ones in spirit. Six months after her son Kyle transitioned to spirit, she was inspired to create her successful podcast, Awake 2 Oneness Radio. Caroline is also the founder of The KYLE Foundation (Keep Your Light Expanding), and Co-Founder of Universal Oneness Alliance. Her story is included in the award-winning book “We Touched Heaven”, a collection of experiences that reach beyond the veil and she has been featured in the film Rinaldi, an award-winning documentary about Instrumental Trans Communication to the Other Side.

presenting with ...

My Spiritual Experiences of Higher Consciousness in Loving Action: The Pattern’s Uplift

Kevin Jeffers, MFA

Sun.
1:30 pm
-
2:30 pm
ET
Rm 1 - Akimel Ballroom
60
Min.
Kevin will speak of his discovery and direct experiences with what he calls the Pattern: Creative Intelligence’s neural network. He’ll explain how it powerfully transformed and inspired his life, uplifting his consciousness to loving action in his healing practices, Soul Retrievals, energy work and his spiritual life. This powerful transformation is achievable to each of us NOW!

Kevin Jeffers, MFA >> As a child growing up in a small town in Ohio, Kevin encountered many unexplained experiences and phenomena that have expanded to include consciousness shifting, soul retrieval, past life recovery, energetic healing and Soul travel. Kevin’ has written a book titled: The Pattern, An Exploration in Consciousness based on these experiences and the life-changing event that altered Kevin’s perception of life in Spirit. Kevin is an artist, a businessman in international trading who has traveled globally, and is currently engaged in construction, finance and writing his second book on his vast Soul retrieval experiences.

presenting with ...

Trauma and Darkness can Lead us to Love and Light

Moderator: Cathy Gabrielsen, BS / Oshara Waago / Leora Leon, BA / Ritu LeBouef, MA / Keshia Santero

Sun.
1:30 pm
-
2:30 pm
ET
Rm 2 - Kave Ballroom
60
Min.
The Trauma Panel will lead you on a miraculous and supernatural ride of spiritual awakening and emotional self-healing. This knowledgeable and empathetic panel will share their expertise, wisdom, strategies, and tools that aid them in transforming their trauma and the residual emotional and physical pain. You will learn much from The Panel Members’ varied life experiences that will not only show you how to recover, heal trauma, and eliminate fear, but also to help you find the strength within you to manifest a life filled with peace, purpose, and power.

Cathy Gabrielsen, BS >> Cathy is an international healer and speaker, spiritual teacher, holistic Ayurvedic coach, graduate teacher of Energy Medicine, and #1 best selling author of Dying to Live: Surviving Near-Death. Cathy is the founder of Connect Thru Cancer and The Gabrielsen Healing Center. She offers private healing sessions via zoom. After two near-death experiences, once as a teen and another time recovering from cancer, Cathy experienced spiritual transformations and discovered her own paranormal gifts. Cathy learned how to heal her own anxiety, depression, and PTSD and returned to life to help others heal their mind, body, and spirit.

Oshara Waago >> Oshara is the president and founder of The Seth House which is restoring the building where Jane Roberts channeled Seth and where most of their 45 books were written including “Seth Speaks.” Plans are underway to create an open center for the study of Seth’s information and other life-affirming teachings. She was the founder and publisher of three New Age Magazines. She also channels a group of higher beings.

Leora Leon, BA >> Leora’s metaphysical experience began as a young child when she discovered the four “clairs” of intuition. She experienced two near-death experiences (NDEs), one in a boating accident when she was knocked unconscious and was underwater for 30 minutes and the other while hiking at 7,000 feet in the Angeles Forest Mountains. Both transformed her life and she learned the wonders of the multi-universe. She turned that knowledge into books, healing, and teaching people worldwide. Leora is certified in multiple metaphysical modalities, including becoming a Past Life Regression Therapist, certified by Dr. Brian Weiss, a certified Shaman, a Reiki Master/Teacher, a Channel, and an Intuitive Energy Healer.

Ritu LeBouef, MA >> Ritu is a native of India who has had numerous Spiritual experiences. While under the discipleship of her Guru, Swami Mohan Das Ji Maharaj, she had a life-changing spiritually transformative experience (STE) awakening her to profound spiritual principles, “I AM That” and that God is Love. Her experience led her to understand the essence of Sanatana Dharma (aka Hinduism). After her profound experience, Ritu left her successful IT career to share her inspirational messages to awaken others to their Eternal Truth and to practice holistic therapies to help others heal. She conducts international support circles, spiritual seminars, and workshops.

presenting with ...

Your Spiritual Experience Contains Your Gift to the World

Moderator: Betty Guadagno / Mystic Chics: Wendy Casey / Audrey Casey Herrick / Mary Casey Bowers

Sun.
1:30 pm
-
2:30 pm
ET
Rm 3 - Deer
60
Min.
No matter how lonely you have felt, how isolated, how nervous that everything you once knew has now changed, it has changed FOR you. Your experience has happened because you were ready for it. Join The Mystic Chics as they share their own experiences of doubt, loneliness, and isolation due to spiritual experiences and gifts they have had since birth. Participants experience an awakening of empowerment and confidence to take loving action in their lives.

This trio of two sisters and an aunt offer a safe, supportive, substance-free environment in their sacred healing ceremonies, igniting the God Source within. In this discussion, you can ask questions and learn tools on how to best navigate this new version of Amazing You!

Betty Guadagno >> Betty Guadagno had a spiritually transformative experience in March of 2019. Betty underwent a 180-degree transformation from drug addict, sex worker, and radical atheist to a devout believer, in long term recovery, and working as a recovery coach. During her integration process, she felt an incredible pull towards establishing spiritual community in her life. She has been connected to the IANDS community since December of 2020. Betty began her involvement with IANDS as an attendee of our sharing groups. She quickly got involved with service to the community by volunteering as a facilitator and moderator. Betty then moved into the role of Webinar Coordinator for IANDS Groups and Events.

Mystic Chics >> Wendy, Audrey, and Mary are The Mystic Chics. That’s Chics without a “k.” Healers, authors, musicians, and family: these Modern Medicine Women offer private healing sessions in their two East Coast studios as well as ceremonial healing events around the country. Their unique combination of energy medicine skills, spiritual gifts, and family harmonies provides a transformational experience for anyone receiving their various forms of healing medicine. In the bestselling 2023 anthology, Deserts to Mountaintops, the Chics document their spiritual journey: from the trauma of early family death, to overcoming addiction, reclaiming their intuition and voice, and now, through the spiritual healing business they have created together. As published singer, song-writer musicians, their four recently released singles (Words Create, Be the Change, I Find Myself Mantra, and Awaken the Mystery) speak to the creative power we each have in every moment of our lives.

presenting with ...

Crossing the Veil and Coming Back Again: An Ensemble Theater Performance (2 Hours)

Robert Cornett, MTS & Ensemble

Sun.
1:30 pm
-
3:45 pm
ET
Akimel Lobby/Foyer
135
Min.
“Crossing the Veil and Coming Back” is an ensemble theater piece that tells the compelling and inspiring stories of five people who have had NDEs. The stories are based on real life NDEs. Presented by The Actors Ensemble based in Hudson, New York.

Robert Cornett, MTS >> Robert Cornett is an actor and playwright and holds a master’s degree from Harvard Divinity School where he studied conceptions of the afterlife across world religious traditions. He has done extensive study of the literature of post-mortem experience and communication. He is a certified End of Life Doula working with hospice patients and their families in New York state.

Eddie Allen >> Eddie Allen is a seasoned actor, director and playwright who has performed in numerous plays, films and television shows including The Blacklist, Blue Bloods, Bones and Seinfeld. He has performed in improv groups such as The Spolin Players and leads improvisation workshops.

Dasana Smyth >> Dasana Smyth is an Australian actor currently based in upstate New York. She is a graduate of the National Theatre Drama School. In 2017 she was drawn to the Hudson Valley to further her studies in the Michael Chekhov acting technique. Since then, she has been galivanting around the world while writing and directing theatre.

Laurie Portocarrero >> Laurie Portocarrero has been an actor and storyteller all her life, training extensively in drama and speech as well as dance, music, many healing modalities, and Waldorf teaching. She directs and teaches adults and children of all ages and abilities in the dramatic arts across two continents, is a performing member of several stage groups, and tours widely throughout the U.S, Canada, Europe, and China.

Ted Pugh >> Ted Pugh is the co-founder and co-artistic director of The Actors’ Ensemble. He has over 40 years of professional acing experience including Broadway, Off Broadway and regional theater productions. He has taught acting workshops throughout the US, Europe, Croatia and the former Soviet Union.

Vincent Ropollo >> Vincent Ropollo comes from a background of theater in NY as well as coaching and training in the Corporate world. He is currently a Board and Adjunct Faculty member of The Association for Anthroposophic Psychology (AAP).

Christina Porkert and Sarah Stosiek >> Christina and Sarah have played lyre together for over 10 years. Their duo, Voice of Silence, draws on classical music for its foundation but also expands into the realm of improvised music in quest of a renewed listening experience. Their lyre music strives to cultivate the threshold between the audible and the inaudible and invites us to deepen our listening.

presenting with ...

Extraordinary Transformation After NDEs: A Survey of 834 NDErs Regarding Changes in Values, Beliefs, Relationships, and Spiritual Practices

Jeffrey Long, MD

Sun.
2:45 pm
-
3:45 pm
ET
Rm 1 - Akimel Ballroom
60
Min.
Jeffrey Long, MD, will present the results of a survey of 834 NDErs regarding changes in their lives after their NDEs. This presentation will be informative as one of the largest studies of NDE aftereffects ever reported. The presentation will also be inspirational, with extensive quotes from NDErs regarding their extraordinary insights into their relationships, religious/spiritual practices, and love.

Jeffrey Long, MD, is a radiation oncology physician. Over 20 years ago he founded the Near-Death Experience Research Foundation (nderf.org). Dr. Long has investigated over 4,000 near-death experiences (NDEs), which is the largest number of NDEs ever scientifically studied. The results of his previous research were published in the New York Times bestselling book Evidence of the Afterlife: The Science of Near-Death Experiences. Millions of people have seen Dr. Long discuss his research on shows, including the NBC Today Show, The Dr. Oz Show, National Geographic television, History Channel, and television broadcasts worldwide.

presenting with ...

Becoming Limitless

Ray Catania

Sun.
2:45 pm
-
3:45 pm
ET
Rm 2 - Kave Ballroom
60
Min.
The road to enlightenment is paved with multiple awakenings of consciousness. This presentation will focus on how to induce your own spiritual awakening. It is through learning these techniques that you can start to invoke real change, which in turn can lead you on a path to a new state of awakening.

Ray Catania, MMsc, MCLC >> Ray Catania is an award-winning author and intuitive-medium who teaches spirituality and metaphysics in his private practice. His latest book, You Are Still Alive, Now Act Like It, is available in 52 countries. He is an NDE survivor, an ordained minister, with master certifications in life coaching, Usui Reiki, and meditation, and is working towards his doctorate degree in Metaphysical Parapsychology. In addition to his formal training experiences, Ray has also had the privilege of studying under, and training with, some of the greatest forward-thinking minds in the world, including Intuitives, Mediums, Shaman, and Energy Healers.

presenting with ...

The Relationship Transformation of a Brother and Sister: His NDE and Her Walk With Him Through the Loss of Her Husband

David Morris / Nancy Walsh

Sun.
2:45 pm
-
3:45 pm
ET
Rm 3 - Deer
60
Min.
David will speak of his drug addiction and subsequent overdose which facilitated his NDE and how his addiction was removed and his life transformed forever. His transformation influenced his sister Nancy’s ability to become more aware of life after death, which helped her through the loss of her husband Dick. You will be reminded of the power of love and kindness, not only for yourself, but just as importantly, for others. You may be inspired to confront strained relationships with a loving and kind approach, and look for ways to begin the healing process through honesty, patience and loving action.

David Morris >> David’s 20+ year drug addiction ended with an overdose and NDE in 2007. His doctors had no explanation as to why he survived. From that day forward his addiction was gone. Today he lives a simple life of love and kindness.

Nancy Walsh >> Nancy’s relationship with her brother David was so strained during his years of addiction that she had to walk away. After learning about his NDE, her spiritual journey began and together they healed. Today their relationship is a bond of deep love and connection which has helped her through the loss of her husband Dick.

presenting with ...

Spirit Guide Meditation with Musical Accompaniment

Kat Sanders / Mary Lydia Ryan, ORDM

Sun.
8:00 am
-
8:30 am
PT
Rm 1 - Akimel Ballroom
30
Min.
Participants will embark on a transformative journey to discover a simple way to connect with their spirit guides. They will learn to recognize subtle signs and messages sent by spirit guides and learn how to use these communications to live life with a deeper sense of clarity and enlightenment.

Kat Sanders >> Kat flatlined in 2010 from a massive brain hemorrhage. Her beautiful visit to the afterlife revealed the continuation of life and the connection between all living things. Once she pierced that veil, it would remain open to her. But returning to the physical world was a challenge. She experienced the roadblocks suffered by millions of people with similar experiences. Naysaying family members, churches, and friends made her feel uncomfortable about sharing her story. Nevertheless, over the ensuing months, Kat’s unique abilities became undeniably real. She has since evolved into a medium and medical intuitive. She authored a self-help book Unstoppable Life and was featured on an episode of the A&E TV series I Survived, Beyond And Back.  She passionately shares her amazing NDE with IANDS groups and various organizations.

Mary Lydia Ryan >> Mary Lydia, critically acclaimed vocalist, pianist, composer, and creator of Spa Opera® utilizes her musical, mystical, and spiritual gifts to call forth, support, uplift, and encourage each individual’s unique magnificence. As seen and heard on Seattle and worldwide stages, including TEDx, Whisperings Solo Piano Radio, and One World Music Radio, as well as through group and individual sound transmission sessions, Mary’s offerings are designed to bring greater light and consciousness evolution to the world.

presenting with ...

Welcome & Announcements

Scott Taylor, EdD / Debbie James, MSN, RN, CCRN

Sun.
8:30 am
-
8:45 am
PT
Rm 1 - Akimel Ballroom
15
Min.
Our emcees Scott and Debbie will start your day off with good cheer! You will hear all the important announcements and information to make your conference experience a great one.

Scott Taylor >> Scott is president of the Expanded Awareness Institute (EAI). EAI helps people curious about near-death experiences (NDEs) and shared death experiences (SDEs) explore what those experiences mean to them and to our human culture. His YouTube podcast The Afterlife Files, is rated in the top 20% worldwide. On the faculty of The Shift Network, Scott teaches NDE meditation for his course The Bi-Location Phenomenon.

Debbie James >> After completing her master’s thesis on disclosure of near-death experiences (NDEs), Debbie James was appointed to the board of directors of the International Association for Near-Death Studies (IANDS). In 2009, Debbie co-authored and edited the first compilation of research on NDEs, The Handbook of Near-Death Experiences: Thirty Years of Investigation. Inspired by her belief in the art and science of nursing practice and education, Debbie has focused her career on the advancement of safe, evidence-based patient-centered care.

presenting with ...

What I Learned From Dying

Vincent (Vinney) Tolman

Sun.
9:00 am
-
10:00 am
PT
Rm 1 - Akimel Ballroom
60
Min.
Vincent “Vinney” Tolman will speak about what it’s like to be dead for 45 minutes, offering profound insights into the mysteries of life, death, and the afterlife. Vinney will describe his extraordinary journey of defying the odds and returning from the brink of death. He will share what he learned while on the other side, how much God truly loves each of us humans, and the principles of the afterlife. Participants should prepare to be moved, challenged, and inspired as they delve with Vinney into the depths of the human spirit and the resilience of the human soul. Vinney’s story not only engenders hope but also offers advice about how best to live, based on what he learned during his NDE.

Vincent “Vinney” Tolman >> Vinney was born in Arlington, Texas and raised in California and Utah. Growing up, Vinney would feel the most comfortable in the mountains by his home. He had his first brush with death as a newborn, then again at age 14 with an embolism after being hit by a truck. An active Rugby player in high school and college, Vinney has lived in Cambodia, Thailand, and Vietnam and maintains a conversational fluency in Vietnamese. A home builder for most of his life, and having worked in television and film production, his favorite job is being a teacher and light-worker, someone who helps others discover and find their own light and divine path. He is a spirit coach, licensed reverend, teacher, master energy practitioner, healer, and trauma specialist who helps people access the roots of their own healing. He is the author of The Light After Death: My Journey To Heaven and Back.

presenting with ...

The Effects of OBEs on Ego Dissolution and Empathy

Marina Weiler, PhD

Sun.
10:30 am
-
11:30 am
PT
Rm 1 - Akimel Ballroom
60
Min.
Out-of-body experiences (OBEs) have long fascinated individuals worldwide, offering tantalizing glimpses into realms beyond the confines of the physical body. Beyond mere curiosity, these extraordinary encounters hold the promise of profound personal metamorphosis. In this presentation, Marina explores the transformative power of OBEs, particularly their role in augmenting empathy—a cornerstone of human connection and understanding. We propose a mechanism by which OBEs facilitate heightened empathy through the dissolution of the ego, fostering a deep-seated sense of unity and interconnectedness with others. Drawing parallels with the phenomenon of ego dissolution induced by certain psychedelic substances, Marina explores the notion that OBEs may engender similar transformative effects. She hypothesizes that such changes are facilitated by alterations in the temporoparietal region of the brain and its associated mirror neurons, which play pivotal roles in both OBEs and empathy processes.

Marina Weiler >> Marina is an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Neurobehavioral Sciences, Division of Perceptual Studies, University of Virginia. She is a trained neuroscientist with a background in neuroimaging and cognitive neuroscience. Marina’s contributions to the field have earned her prestigious awards from institutions such as Fundação Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES, Brazil), the Brazilian Academy of Neurology, the National Institutes of Health (NIH, U.S.), the Templeton World Charity Foundation, and the Bigelow Institute for Consciousness Studies. Outside the realm of academia, Dr. Weiler finds profound fulfillment in her role as a devoted mother to her lively 8-year-old child. With an adventurous spirit and a penchant for imaginative play, her child’s aspirations often veer toward the fantastical, including dreams of reincarnation as a feline and a fascination with crashing planes.

presenting with ...

My Two NDEs: Traveling the Cosmos via Spaceship and Christ Encounter

Yvonne Sneeden

Sun.
10:30 am
-
11:30 am
PT
Rm 2 - Kave Ballroom
60
Min.
In 2008, a deep emotional life crisis, in conjunction with an accidental overdose of strong medicines for heart arrhythmia, led to Yvonne’s two profound, powerful, life-changing near-death experiences. During her first NDE, Yvonne was taken by two angelic beings through the cosmos to a place of Light. During her second experience, Yvonne visited a part of the place she calls ‘Heaven’ where she had a magnificent encounter with Christ. As a result of these experiences, she transcended her faith and heightened her understanding of Love, Compassion, Goodness, Kindness, and Acceptance of all.

Yvonne Sneeden >> Prior to her NDEs, Yvonne’s professional career background included working in the foreign diplomatic service in Europe. Since her profound experiences, Yvonne is striving to bring the elements of the NDE into her daily life and her interaction with others. Together with Robert Neal Marshall, Yvonne is executive co-producer of Back From The Light, a documentary film focusing on near-death experience survivors and their aftereffects, now available at amazon.com. Yvonne works currently in a global IT company–a position that has enabled her to meet people from around the world with very different backgrounds. Through the course of her career, she realized that regardless of the level of social and public influence people exercise, we are all on a journey towards learning how to love, if we allow the traumas and challenges of lessons learned to bring us into a higher spiritual inner place.

presenting with ...

How Our Near-Death Experiences Led Us to Lead IANDS Local Groups

Keyaunoosh Kassauei, MD / Shaun Lether, BA / Leena Zafary, BARA

Sun.
10:30 am
-
11:30 am
PT
Rm 3 - Deer
60
Min.
These panelists will explore the conscious awareness of NDEs/STEs and the profound impact of aftereffects on their transformation, healing, and service as local IANDS group leaders.

Keyaunoosh Kassauei, MD >> Keyaunoosh is an international medical graduate who continued her medical education with a post-doctoral research fellowship at The Johns Hopkins Hospital School of Medicine in the US. Enlightened by her NDE in 2006, she founded My Conscious Coaching Group as a 501C3 coaching nonprofit in 2018 with a mission to heal and care for the Whole-Self and a vision to raise self and global awareness for a conscious mind through education and application of EQ/SQ (Emotional Intelligence and Spiritual/Deep intelligence) for humanity and citizens of Earth. Keyaunoosh is a Certified EI Coach and EICC Meta Coach (Emotional Intelligence Certified MetaCoach) from Goleman & Beyond EI, with a focus on coaching physicians and leaders in healthcare and education.

Shaun G. Lether >> Shaun is the Group Leader of Hawaiian IANDS. Shaun is a multiple near-death and spiritually transformative experiencer and a highly sensitive person (HSP), an empath with mediumship gifts. He was previously a successful marketing and real estate businessman and a Licensed California Landscape Contractor. After a profound NDE and during a spiritual emergency in 2019, Shaun started a small sharing group to support NDErs and STErs in Hawaii which has grown to become Hawaiian IANDS with over 6,000 members worldwide. Shaun has learned that as he helps others heal, so he is healed. He facilitates experiencers’ sharing groups with many spiritual organizations as well as groups for PTSD trauma survivors, and he runs Life After Death Facebook groups with a combined membership of over 850,000 followers. Shaun is a passionate student and teacher of A Course in Miracles as well as a devotee of Paramahansa Yogananda.

Leena Zafary >> Leena is a beacon of transformation, drawing from her journey as a survivor of near-death and spiritually transformative experiences. As an intuitive energy healer, author, and speaker, she offers profound insights and healing modalities to guide individuals on their paths to wholeness. Leena’s compassionate approach and extensive expertise in Reiki, BioAcoustic Research, and HeartMath facilitation empower clients to achieve balance and vitality in their lives. Beyond her professional endeavors, Leena finds joy in spending time with her family, exploring nature, and delving into spiritual practices like music, dancing, and cooking that nourish her soul.

presenting with ...

Yoga For Everybody - Move, Integrate, Metabolize (Lunchtime Activity)

Melinda Peterson, RN, MS, HNB-BC

Sun.
12:15 pm
-
1:00 pm
PT
Rm 4 - Kave 3
45
Min.
Need to move and stretch? Enjoy this opportunity to relieve tension from sitting, facilitate postural realignment, and invite relaxation. This is a great way to integrate your experience this weekend. No need to change into your yoga attire–stay dressed in your conference clothes. This yoga is adaptable and can be done with folks sitting on chairs or standing.

Melinda Peterson >> Melinda is an Intuitive health practitioner, registered nurse, motivational speaker, energy healer, yoga teacher, loss mama, adoptive mama, near-death experiencer (NDEr), and entrepreneur. One of the most profound changes that arose from her NDE was being called from her previous career as an environmental scientist to a career in nursing. Melinda has expanded her nursing practice by using a vision from her NDE to create the Scarlit Center, a global movement helping people connect to their bodies’ inner wisdom through workshops, movement, and nourishment to enable them to lead luminous lives. Melinda lives in Fort Collins, Colorado, with her daughter, son in spirit, husband, and poodle. She prefers tea over coffee, always takes an opportunity to pet a dog, and enjoys a nearby unfrozen lake via paddle board and frozen lake via ice skates.

presenting with ...

A Quantum Journey: My Near-Death Experience

Steven Noack

Sun.
1:15 pm
-
2:15 pm
PT
Rm 1 - Akimel Ballroom
60
Min.
Steven Noack shares the near-death experience he had at the age of four and what he witnessed when he awoke to realize he was sitting with a being made out of light. For most of his life Steven kept this experience to himself until the same being made contact with him again 35 years later, and he began sharing his experience. Steven also shares the transformation that occurred when the light beings returned many years later, what they taught him about healing with the quantum field which he used to transform his life of surviving to a life of thriving, and how this potential is available to all people.

Steven Noack >> Steve is a near-death experiencer and a quantum healer. At four years old, he was struck by a motor vehicle, and during his NDE he awoke with a being of light who showed him the quantum field and its potential for humanity. Later in his life the same being made contact again along with others to guide him in healing both himself and others. He learned how to process and discharge physical pain and has also overcome addiction and the associated roots of childhood trauma, and he now enjoys guiding others to do the same. Steve has been both speaker and healer at events such as IANDS in North Carolina and has also appeared on Coast to Coast radio. Steve shares his gifts with clients from around the world with the hope that they are able to experience their own unique potential to heal.

presenting with ...

When Does Human Life Begin? Evidence From Prebirth Memories and Related Experiences

Robert Mays, BSc / Suzanne Mays, AAS

Sun.
1:15 pm
-
2:15 pm
PT
Rm 2 - Kave Ballroom
60
Min.
Evidence from prebirth memories reveals a pattern of planning one’s next incarnation and selecting one’s parents, usually with the assistance of a guide. Further evidence from prebirth memories and different forms of hypnotic regression shows instances of the soul meeting the fetus in the womb prior to birth and becoming familiar with, but not yet being fully committed to, uniting with the fetus. Cases involving in vitro fertilization, spontaneous miscarriages, and failed abortion attempts indicate an energetic or “etheric” connection between the incarnating soul and the developing embryo and fetus, such that trauma can be experienced when the process is interrupted. Communication and negotiation between the mother and the incarnating soul are mitigating alternatives. We will explore the implications of this evidence for balancing the free will choice of the incarnating soul, the fetus, and the mother, and consideration of the interests of society.

Robert and Suzanne Mays have studied NDE phenomena together for over 45 years, although neither has had an NDE. They are particularly interested in veridical perceptions during NDEs and apparent interactions during NDEs between the NDEr and physical reality, as well as the neurological evidence of the interaction of the nonmaterial mind with the brain during ordinary consciousness. Among other areas, they focus on the social and moral implications of NDEs and prebirth memories including NDErs’ prophetic visions of world events and the question of when human life begins.

presenting with ...

The Ascension Path of Multidimensional Beings Through Reincarnation: Soul’s Quantum Evolution to Light, Freedom, and Love

Maria Lupita Gurule, CMS-CHT, Rafael Garcia, BA, Joseph Banks

Sun.
1:15 pm
-
2:15 pm
PT
Rm 3 - Deer
60
Min.
This unprecedented time on the planet marks entry into the next Golden Age cycle. The awareness of a greater self now finds home in the hearts and minds of each individual, for there, the soul thrives. As we humans evolve, our multidimensional consciousness, our souls expand into higher, more mysterious realms, into the parallel frequencies of the multiverse. There, we discover greater soul purpose, quantum jumping, akashic records, memories of lives lived, our soul blueprint, simultaneous lives, and so much more. These panelists will describe their astonishing roads of self-discovery and their insights into other realms that are available to us all. Participants will take a mind-bending adventure that will leave them in awe of the limitless possibilities of our universe.

Maria Lupita Gurule >> Maria survived death after giving birth to her second child on June 5, 2000, when she spent eight eternal minutes in heaven reconnecting with her StarPurpose. This experience awakened her dormant extrasensory abilities and helped prepare her for the reality-bending, transformative experiences that followed. Maria Lupita is a world-renowned thought leader, wisdom keeper, and intuitive soul reader (psychic medium). She has spent nearly 25 years straddling two dimensions, accessing the Sacred Living Library meant to help people around the world ignite their light, learn the language of their souls, and discover their peace and purpose. Maria Lupita is considered a second-generation Star Being, incarnate on Earth as part of the second wave of volunteers who are ushering in the Golden Age of the New Earth. She is writing her first book.

Rafael Garcia >> Rafael is a Native American Shaman from Mexico residing in San Diego, California, with his wife Linda. He has a BA in International Business and has traveled the world for 20 years, living in 11 countries. In 2004, Rafael had a spiritual transformative experience and an awakening of consciousness that led him to understand the fabric of the cosmos. Rafael is a Healer and Life Coach teaching about reincarnation, life lessons, parallel lives, the 12 dimensions and quantum jumping. He is currently working on three books with his wife Linda, titled Highlights of the Afterlife, Project Utopia 2025 and Q&A with the Cosmos. Rafael’s mission is to use his insights gained from his experiences to launch Project Utopia 2025 with his wife and help transform our current political and economical systems to serve all of humanity and achieve world peace.

Joseph Banks >> Joseph has steered a small nonprofit organization in Portland, Oregon, called Pia Domu, which is Latin for “Loving Home.” Pia Domu aims to bring the loving warmth of the eternal Loving Home into one’s life and current experience and to promote the inspiration that by living one’s life to the fullest, one learns the true meaning of “Eternal Life.”

 

 

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Children’s Memories of Past Lives: Features and Impact in Adulthood

Marieta Pehlivanova, PhD

Sun.
2:30 pm
-
3:30 pm
PT
Rm 1 - Akimel Ballroom
60
Min.
The phenomenon of young children recounting memories of past-lives has fascinated researchers and the general public alike. Similar to NDEs, these apparent past-life memories among children raise the possibility that consciousness may persist beyond physical death. Formal investigations into such cases began at the University of Virginia (UVA) in the 1960s and continue to this day, with a special focus on American children. In this presentation, Marieta will review the research evidence that, despite cultural variation, these cases share some common features. Little research has addressed the long-term effect of childhood past-life memories on individuals’ lives. Marieta will outline findings from the first follow-up study of American adults who were interviewed as children by UVA researchers regarding their alleged past-life memories, focusing on long-term psychosocial development and psychospiritual transformation.

Marieta Pehlivanova is a research faculty member at the Division of Perceptual Studies at the University of Virginia School of Medicine. Her research focuses primarily on near-death experiences and children reporting past-life memories, with a deep interest in changing the clinical culture surrounding the reporting of these and similar experiences. Marieta holds a PhD in Experimental Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania and a Bachelor’s degree in Statistics from American University. Before academia, she pursued a career as a statistician in medical research.

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The Five Secrets of Heaven

Curtis Childs, BA

Sun.
2:30 pm
-
3:30 pm
PT
Rm 2 - Kave Ballroom
60
Min.
After over a decade of sharing spiritual experiences with millions of people, Curtis Childs has found that again and again, five fundamental truths have emerged as the tools that have the power to transform people’s lives. He calls them the five secrets of heaven. The five secrets of heaven are simple tools for your life drawn deep from the wisdom of countless spiritual experiences. These tools bring insight and clarity into everything from how the spiritual world affects the physical world, to how own own minds work, to the purpose of life itself. Above all, they are a simple yet powerful way to bring the transformative power of the spiritual into everyday life.

Curtis Childs >> Curtis is the Chief Visionary Officer for the nonprofit Swedenborg Foundation. He is the creator and host of the Off The Left Eye media network which explores the profound and expansive spiritual experiences of the 18th century scientist and seer Emanuel Swedenborg. Curtis’s content works to make spiritual concepts easy to understand and apply and has been viewed over 50 million times worldwide. Curtis is an international speaker and has appeared on a wide variety of media programs.

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Whispers From the Other Side: Interpreting Messages From the Afterlife

Laurie Majka / Connie Fusella / Sarina Baptista

Sun.
2:30 pm
-
3:30 pm
PT
Rm 3 - Deer
60
Min.
For seekers of comfort, closure, or curiosity about the afterlife, this session offers a compelling look at how love transcends the physical world and how we can remain connected with those who have passed. Panelists will share heartfelt stories of loss and examples of afterlife communications–the subsequent signs and synchronicities that demonstrate how communication with the Other Side works, revealing that these connections are not merely coincidences but are rich with meaning and purpose. Attendees will discover the comfort and confirmation that after-death communications can provide and will learn how to tune into the Whispers from the Other Side–affirming the enduring power of eternal bonds that continue beyond death and prove that Love Never Dies!

Laurie Majka >> Laurie has become a beacon of hope and inspiration through her YouTube channel where she interviews individuals with near-death experiences (NDEs) and transformative spiritual journeys. Her channel and artwork, focusing on spiritual awakening and the power of personal connections beyond death, has touched millions worldwide. Laurie’s most profound spiritual journey began with the passing of her Soul Mate Mark, the lead guitarist for Starship, whose signs from the beyond have profoundly transformed her life. Author of Signs Surround You – Love Never Dies, Laurie shares her and Mark’s love story and the hundreds of signs she’s received, showcasing the enduring power of love. Her work, including over 150 videos and 400 inspirational paintings, aims to awaken Souls to the omnipresence of their loved ones and the eternal nature of love.

Connie Fusella >> Connie is a professional evidential psychic medium and spiritual teacher who serves a worldwide clientele. A natural born medium, she began seeing and hearing Spirit as a small child. Her second NDE in her early 20s guided her on a spiritual journey toward her current vocation. Connie’s passion and soul’s purpose are to bring love, healing, and comfort to others through highly evidential and meaningful Spirit communications, validating that our departed loved ones and pets never leave us. In April 2021, Connie became a Certified Medium with The Forever Family Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to furthering the understanding of afterlife science through research and education while providing support and healing for the bereaved. She volunteers her mediumship for grief retreats, fundraisers, Signs of Life Radio, and charities and is featured as “The Psychic Next Door” in the book She Shines, a collection of interviews and stories about unique and inspirational women.

Sarina Baptista >> Sarina is an author, international speaker, spiritual teacher, and evidential psychic medium. She has two award-winning books, Finding Love and Purpose, and My View From Heaven.  She was a featured speaker for the “Life, Death, and Beyond” International Conference in Crete, Greece, and has presented at IANDS conferences. Sarina discovered her gifts through her own tragedy: the passing of her seven-year-old son in March 2007. She learned that her son did not really die. Rather, he was still very close, and he led her to her incredible gifts.

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Closing and Announcements

Jan Holden, EdD, LCP-S, ACMHP

Sun.
3:45 pm
-
4:00 pm
PT
Rm 1 - Akimel Ballroom
15
Min.
Closing and Announcements

Janice Miner Holden >> Jan grew up in the northwest suburbs of Chicago, Illinois, USA. After earning a Bachelor of Science degree in psychology with honors from the University of Illinois, she taught high school psychology for 11 years and was a high school counselor for one year while she earned her master’s and doctoral degrees in counselor education at Northern Illinois University. Since completing her EdD in 1988, she served 31 years on the University of North Texas (UNT) Counseling Program faculty—12 of those years as chair of the Department of Counseling & Higher Education. In 2019 she retired as professor emerita of Counseling. Beginning with her doctoral dissertation, Dr. Holden’s primary research focus has been counseling implications of near-death experiences, after-death communication, and other transpersonal experiences—those that transcend the usual personal limits of space, time, identity, and influence. In this research area she has over 50 refereed journal publications and over 100 national and international presentations; served as lead editor of the 2009 Handbook of Near-Death Experiences: Thirty Years of Investigation, and co-edited the Association for Spiritual, Ethical, and Religious Values in Counseling’s (ASERVIC’s) 2017 Connecting Soul, Spirit, Mind, and Body: A Collection of Spiritual and Religious Perspectives and Practices in Counseling. Since 2008 she has served as editor-in-chief of the International Association for Near-Death Studies’s (IANDS’s) scholarly Journal of Near-Death Studies. She is a Texas Licensed Professional Counselor-Supervisor and an American Center for the Integration of Spiritually Transformative Experiences (ACISTE [pronounced “assist”]) Certified Mental Health Professional. For her career-long research on and advocacy for people who have had transpersonal experiences, Jan was awarded ASERVIC’s 2013 Research Award and the American Counseling Association’s 2015 Gilbert and Kathleen Wrenn Award for a Humanitarian and Caring Person. For her outstanding and sustained contributions to scholarly-creative activity, teaching, and service, Jan received the UNT Foundation’s 2019 Eminent Faculty Award, one of the highest faculty achievements whose recipient serves as an inspiration for the entire UNT community. In early 2020, Jan served for 10 days as an International Visiting Scholar at Massey University in Palmerston North, New Zealand. Since 2020 she has served as IANDS’s president.

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Closing Blessing

Aaron Sabori / Felice DiMartino, BFA, RYT, C-MMT

Sun.
4:00 pm
-
4:30 pm
PT
Rm 1 - Akimel Ballroom
30
Min.
Aaron Sabori is a member of the Gila River Indian Community. Using elements of mother Earth, he will close this 2024 IANDS Conference in sacred ceremony. Felice will help the integration of the events of the last few days, and prepare the participants to return to the outside world in a brief, grounding blessing.

Aaron Sabori >> Aaron Sabori is a member of the Gila River Indian Community. His parents were the late Manuel and Marjorie Sabori. He was raised in the Village of Komatke in District Six. Aaron is an artist, who utilizes his Akimel O’Odham culture to design jewelry, paintings, sculptures, and murals. He is best known for creating art pieces from the Saguaro Cactus rib. Aaron has worked for the Gila River Indian Community as a paralegal both at the Office of Water Rights and the Defense Service Office. Aaron credits his Grandfather, Francis Peters, and various elders in Komatke and Santa Cruz village for teaching him about the Akimel O’odham culture. He has shared his knowledge to encourage cultural immersion throughout the community by demonstrating his artwork and providing technical consultation to Gila River Indian Community (GRIC) entities.

Felice DiMartino >> Felice is an international speaker, educational consultant, spiritual mentor, and soul-full guide committed to collaboratively creating experiences of self-empowerment and personal transformation. Eight years ago, after a series of traumatic events that threw her into Resiliency Bootcamp, Felice was hit by a truck. In addition to sustaining multiple injuries, she had a near-death experience during which she was shown the nature of life, death, and the spaces between. Returning with activated extrasensory awareness and continued connection with higher realms of light, Felice combines her personal journey of resiliency; 30 years as a Montessori educator; in-depth study with spiritual teachers and indigenous elders; certifications in several healing modalities including yoga, meditation, and mindfulness; neuroscience technologies; and insights gleaned in her NDE to assist adults of all ages in cultivating a deeper connection with their spiritual self and an alignment of body, mind, and soul.

presenting with ...