nearing-death experiences – End of Life University

Learn why and how to support patients who have transpersonal experiences at the end of life.

My guest Scott Janssen has been a hospice clinical social worker for almost 30 years. During that time he has been gathering the stories and reports of hundreds of hospice patients who have had transpersonal experiences as death approached. He shares some of these stories, describes the various phenomena that can occur near death, and explores the benefits they offer to experiencers and their loved ones. We discuss how healthcare providers can do a better job supporting and listening to patients with these end-of-life transpersonal experiences. Learn more about Scott’s writing at his website:

www.jscottjanssen.com

Listen here:

This episode includes:

How Scott first became aware of transpersonal experiences at the end of life
Types of phenomena that occur as death approaches
Why we need to open our minds to these experiences
How these experiences differ from hallucinations caused by illness or medications
Positive benefits of transpersonal experiences at the end of life
- Decreased fear of death
- Healing of grief
- Decreased depression and anxiety
- Sense of peace
- Increased focused on the present moment
- Greater appreciation for relationships in their life
- Greater spiritual awareness
How to be supportive of patients’ stories even if you don’t belief in transpersonal events
- Learn about these phenomena and research that has been done
- Be aware of your biases and don’t force your beliefs on patients
- Avoid negative labels and judgements
How teaching stories can normalize patients’ experiences and encourage conversation
How patients can transform at the end of life and why transpersonal events are helpful

Links mentioned in this episode:

Episode 261 on NDE’s with Lilia Samoilo and Heidi Walsh
Scott’s article in GeriPal on NDE’s and After Death Communication
International Association for Near Death Studies website
IANDS Spring Symposium: Providing Care for Those Touched by Near-Death and Related Experiences: Ethical Best Practices – April 30th
Book: Standing at Lemhi Pass: Archetypal Stories for the End of Life and Other Challenging Times by Scott Janssen
Sign up for the 2021 online reading group A Year of Reading Dangerously at this link
Support your local bookstore by buying my books on Bookshop and Indiebound: 7 Lessons for Living from the Dying and The Journey from Ego to Soul
Subscribe to this podcast on Apple, Google, Spotify, iHeart Radio, Stitcher Radio
Check out the Series I’ve recorded in the past here
Join the team at Patreon.com/eolu and get access to the EOLU mug: “Mind if we talk about death?” (only Patrons can purchase it). PLUS get our new bonuses: the monthly EOL News Update, movie reviews from 2 Doctors and a Movie, and automatic access to A Year of Reading Dangerously!

If you enjoy this content please share it with others and consider leaving a review on iTunes! Thanks again to all supporters on my page at Patreon.com/eolu, especially my newest supporters Dianne Feltham and Karine Ferro! Your contributions make all the difference!

Learn how a “gap of care” exists for patients who have near-death experiences in the hospital that are not validated or believed.

My two guests, Heidi Walsh and Lilia Samoilo worked together on a project to gather stories of near-death experiencers and how they were perceived and treated by the healthcare system after their extraordinary NDE’s. Lilia is an NDE educator who herself has experienced multiple NDE’s and Heidi is the managing editor for Narrative Inquiry in Bioethics: A Journal of Qualitative Research. They discuss the findings of the symposium they created and why more education about NDE’s is needed for healthcare practitioners.

Learn more about the symposium here.

Listen here:

This episode includes:

The definition of a near-death experience
Why patient stories are helpful in medicine and bioethics
What is the “gap of care” for NDE patients in healthcare settings and how does it harm them
Why this “gap of care” is a bioethical issue that should be addressed
Statistics show that 20% of resuscitated patients have had an NDE but only 2% self-report the experience
How to validate a patient’s experience even if you don’t believe it is possible
How the Narrative Inquiry in Bioethics Journal came to create a symposium on NDE’s
Why combat veterans who have had NDE’s are harmed by lack of validation for their experience
Why it is essential that medical providers be trained to recognize and have conversations about NDE’s in order to bridge the gap of care for patients
How the NDE Symposium could be used for teaching purposes but first must be released to open access and how Heidi and Lilia are working to raise money for that
Where to get additional resources (see the links below)

Links mentioned in this episode:

September Workshop with Suzanne O’Brien (and Dr. Wyatt): Top Lessons Learned from Those at the End of Life: How to be Resilient in Difficult Times
Access free articles from the NIB Journal here
Donate to support the open access of the symposium here
NDE resources from the International Association for Near Death Studies (IANDS)
Resources for veterans with NDE’s
IANDS NDE Radio with Lee Witting (I was a guest!)
Contact Heidi Walsh: narrativebioethics@gmail.com
Contact Lilia Samoilo: NDE-goc@outlook.com

Subscribe to this podcast on Apple, Google, Spotify, iHeart Radio, Stitcher Radio
Check out the Series I’ve recorded in the past here
Join the team at Patreon.com/eolu and get access to the EOLU mug: “Mind if we talk about death?” (only Patrons can purchase it). PLUS get our new bonuses: the monthly EOL News Update, movie reviews from 2 Doctors and a Movie, and automatic access to A Year of Reading Dangerously!

If you enjoy this content please share it with others and consider leaving a review on iTunes! Thanks again to all supporters on my page at Patreon.com/eolu! Your contributions make all the difference!