CHI Professional Development

Introduction

Freud has stated that death is the “great unknown” and “the gravest of all misfortunes.” Dr. Raymond Moody, Jr. (1975) authored the classic bestseller entitled Life After Life, which explained that a Near-Death Experience (NDE) is a profound event experienced by persons who come close to death or who are believed dead and unexpectedly recover and escape uninjured. There are 15 million adult experiencers in the United States alone, 12% are cardiac arrest patients.

This webinar will help to explain the NETFLIX series entitled Surviving Death. It will also name the characteristics and other factors of an NDE, what part of the population would experience an NDE, and different types of Spiritually Transforming Experiences (STEs) that sometimes are activated due to the NDE. The DSM-IV created the V-Code 62.89, Religious & Spiritual Problem, due to NDEs and Mystical Experiences statistics, 30-40% in 1994 & 40-50% in ensuing years and 2020, that indicate that the populations in the United States and Great Britain have them.

A social worker’s positive response to a client reporting an NDE is critical in validating their experience and helping them to understand it. How does a clinician do this if the clinician doesn’t believe in the NDE and STE concept/s when the clinician has a clear ethical obligation to support clients?


OUTLINE

I. NDE Definition
 a. Characteristics of NDEs
 b. Explanation of the “light” that most all NDErs report
 c. Who is most prone to an NDE?
 d. IANDS organization – for continued education of social workers/clinicians
 e. Distressing types of NDEs
 f. Spiritually Transforming Experiences (STEs) are sometimes a result
 g. ACISTE – an organization for social workers/clinicians’ future education regarding
 STEs
 h. After effects of an NDE – positive and negative
 i. Description of different authors on specific NDEs and STEs
 j. After-Death Communications (ADCs) sometimes received after NDEs
 k. Explanation of the statistics needed that resulted in the placement and creation
 of the DSM V-Code 62.89 entitled Spiritual & Religious Problem.
 l. Explanation of the 16-components NDE Scale (Greyson, 1985), which differentiates
 NDEs from organic brain syndromes and non-specific stress responses. Each
 component can score 0, 1, or 2 points depending on the depth of their presence. A
 score of 7 or higher signifies the presence of an NDE.

2. The process of the spiritual body that’s housed inside the physical body
will be explained to make NDEs and STEs more understandable.
 a. Different names for STEs will be noted that some of the social workers will have
 heard from their culture or religion.
 b. Explanation of intuition and how it is strengthened for people experiencing NDEs and
 STEs.
 c. Reasons will be given for clients who may not want to admit they
 have had these experiences for fear of appearing mentally unstable.
 d. Discussion, particularly at the end of the webinar, after being educated, may ensue on
 how difficult it might be for some social workers to believe in the NDE and STE
 process. This may be an ethical dilemma that some will face.

Course Objectives: