Welcome to
The Afterlife Advocate
 A Conversation  about Conscious Dying, Conscious Grieving
and the Journey of the Soul
 
Issue # 65 - MAY 2020


Published by

Events We Recommend

May 28 - Worldwide
  ONLINE
Mini workshop
with Dr. Terri Daniel  
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June 5-7  Worldwide
ONLINE
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Sept. 4-6  
Los Angeles, CA
with Olivia Bareham 

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The Afterlife Conference
Will Now Be Online!

As you probably know by now, we have cancelled the 2020 Afterlife Conference, and it will now be offered ONLINE. We're calling it  The 10th Annual Afterlife Conference: Pandemic Edition, and you will find all the information  HERE. 

The live, in-person conference will resume in 2021 (June 24- 27) at the same location in Downers Grove, IL. so save the date!   

As you might imagine, cancelling the conference (and refunding all the attendees) erased our income for the entire year, and like so many people in America right now, we are in bad financial shape. If you'd like to help us out with a donation, you can do so via  THIS LINK. All contributions will be greatly appreciated, and your name will be mentioned as a donor in futures issues of this newsletter. 

Many thanks for your continued support!

Rev. Dr. Terri Daniel, CT, CCTP
Founder, The Original Afterlife Conference
End-of-Life Advisor, Interfaith Chaplaincy,
Bereavement and Trauma Support
 
Because of the Covid pandemic, many of our articles this month
are focused on loss and grief.  
For a helpful overview of the various types of losses
many of us are experiencing, click HERE. 
 
Shamanic Journeying in Clinical Settings


This month I had the great honor of meeting two people who are transforming medical care by offering shamanic journeying for addressing the despair, grief and isolation patients are experiencing due to Covid-19. 

David M. Steinhorn, M.D., a specialist in pediatric critical care, palliative care and hospice medicine at Children's National Hospital, Washington, D.C., and  Jana Din, a shamanic healing practitioner and co-founder/director of the  Tao Center for Healing, are a modern day amalgam between Western medicine and indigenous shamanic healing.

You will meet Jana and David next month in an upcoming episode of Ask Doctor Death, but for now, if you'd like to connect -- in spirit -- with loved ones from whom you are physically separated, you can experience the guided journey they share with patients and families HERE. 
 
Near-Death Experience and Suicide

 
Chris Batts  had an extraordinary near-death experience after taking his own life. His story begins with physical and emotional abuse growing up in the foster care system, and leads to encounters with spiritual beings that introduced him to new dimensions of healing and love. Read/listen to an interview with Chris  HERE.  

Chris will be one of the presenters at 
the online Afterlife Conference!



New Episode Now Available! 
The latest episode of Ask Doctor Death features  clinical psychologist and bereavement specialist Sonya Lott PhD, who shares her wisdom about how to manage overwhelming feelings of fear and grief in a crisis.  Our conversation explores loss, trauma, complicated grief, resilience and healing, and it's packed with helpful information for individuals and counseling professionals.

Talk to Doctor Death
If you have a question you'd like to ask us,
send it to [email protected],
and we'll discuss it on the show!

Support us on Patreon
If you would like to support us with a small monthly donation
(and receive some cool perks), 
please visit our  Patreon page  HERE .


The Force of Despair 

While we're on the subject of grief, this wonderful article recently came to our attention. It's important for all of us to remember during these bizarre times that we don't have to live in the "sadness room."  

" Picture your life as a house, and your emotions as different rooms in that house. When things are "normal," you spend most of your time in a few different rooms: Happiness, Sadness, Contentedness, Frustration, Joy, et cetera. Hopefully you are able to spend as much time being happy and joyful as possible. Those are great rooms to be in.

When Parker died, the weight of his loss put us in the Sadness Room, and it was almost impossible to escape it. We spent some time in the Shock Room as well, but as that wore off, it was pretty much all Sadness, all the time. You could escape the Sadness Room for minutes or hours at a time by being surrounded by love and by being cared for by friends and family, but it was only a matter of time before you got pushed back into the Sadness Room by the Force of Despair. It was unrelenting."  READ MORE...



Attention Death Doulas, Chaplains,
Nurses and Other Practitioners
Working with Death and Dying...
  

If you are interested in developing your professional career by adding a certification in death studies, I'm in the process of developing a program for the  University of Theology and Spirituality  in "Pastoral/SpiritualThanatology". 

We're still working out the dates and details, but it will be eight weeks of online learning, followed by a 75-hour clinical practicum that will provide 9 academic credits and certification as CPST (Certified Pastoral/Spiritual Thanatologist).   

We don't have a web link for it yet, but if this is something that interests you, please email me, and I'll notify of you as details for the course get confirmed. 
The 2020 Afterlife Conference
ONLINE - June 5, 6 and 7