Explore the Extraordinary >>
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.
Suzanne Giesemann, MPA
PMH Atwater, LHD
Father Nathan Castle, OP
Jeff O’Driscoll, MD
Jeffery Olsen, BSc
Peter Alessandria
Anita Moorjani
Brooke Grove
Bob Coppes, PhD
Chase DeMayo
Betty Guadagno, CRPA
Christian Sundberg, BA, PMP
Anita Moorjani
Vinney Tolman
Nancy Rynes, BSc
Jonathan Ellerby, PhD
William Peters, MA, MEd, MFT & Monica Williams, MD
Curtis Childs
Rebecca Austill-Clausen >> Rebecca is an occupational therapist, Fellow of the American OT Association, and Reiki Master. She teaches Reiki at national conferences and universities, along with teaching after-death communication both in-person and online. Becky had a profound spiritual transformative experience (STE) and shared death experience (SDE) when she discovered the ability to communicate with her deceased brother even though she initially had no psychic or spiritual awareness. She has initiated five private practices including one that grew to a staff of 350 therapists. Becky is the Healing Coordinator at IANDS conferences and is honored to serve on the Ethics Committee. Her award-winning book Change Maker, How My Brother’s Death Woke Up My Life will be available at the IANDS bookstore.
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.
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.
Tonda Nampaio-Cardenas >> Tonda is a childhood trauma survivor, resulting in her near-death experience at age nine. Nature became her barometer to measure and make sense of the world, oftentimes bringing her solace and joy as a child running wild through the forests. As an adult, Tonda would find her mother and realize both her indigenous heritage and her natural abilities. As a medicine person, and honoring her visions and out-of-body experiences (OBEs), she continued to learn with elders in the local indigenous communities, while raising her family and stationed within the military. By being present and holding space for NDErs, military veterans, first responders, non-profits, and under-served women, all within the undercurrent of trauma survivor, Tonda would have a vision that would change her course and life ethos. She created the Red Earth Warrior Walks program, nature adventures with purpose for healing trauma and for finding a reconnection between Spirit and Self.
Rebecca Kastl >> Rebecca Kastl is a pediatric speech-language pathologist, energy healer, and angel interpreter who underwent a life-changing Spiritually Transformative Experience in her twenties while working on healing from childhood trauma. In her experience, she saw a beautiful light that spoke to her, after which she began having psychic dreams, feeling angels around her, seeing alternate timelines of her life, and understanding how connected we all are. Her stepdad, an Indigenous Houma and Choctaw man from a medicine tradition, helped and guided her a lot during and after her experience, including teaching her how to honor the four directions, trust her dreams, and believe in her visions.
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.
Ellen Wier (Formerly Whealton) >> Ellen is a near-death experiencer, light worker, transpersonal and music therapist, healer, workshop presenter, and educator who uses numerous modalities such as music, crystal singing bowls, chanting, visualization, and meditation in her practice. She experienced an NDE at age 12 after being kicked in the head by a horse. During that time she vowed to come back to heal people with music, after which she experienced tremendously impactful spiritual downloads before being drawn back to her body by music. Ellen has hosted a spiritual series on the AwakeTV network, and her work was highlighted by Jack Canfield, New York Times bestselling author of the Chicken Soup for the Soul books.
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.
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IANDS is the original organization dedicated to supporting experiencers, educating interested people, and researching the near-death and related spiritual experiences.
IANDS is the original organization dedicated to supporting experiencers, educating interested people, and researching the near-death and related spiritual experiences.
