Psychopathology, Normal Psychological Processes, or Supernatural Encounters? Three Ways to Frame Reports of After-Death Communication

摘要

Many people believe that they have received after-death communications (ADCs) from deceased loved ones, and some bereaved individuals may disclose such experiences to their therapists. This can be a challenging area to navigate, especially given stigma around ADCs, uncertainty around their interpretation, and possible worldview differences between therapists and clients. This article illustrates how clinicians might frame ADCs through three different lenses: mental illness, psychological, and supernatural. I outline potential pros and cons of each lens and offer tentative suggestions about how each might be effectively applied in therapy. The mental illness lens frames ADCs as possible hallucinations, delusions, or other psychological or medical symptoms. Although this lens can help to identify and treat serious conditions, its overuse may lead to dismissal and pathologizing of ADCs and can contribute to stigma, along with inaccurate psychiatric diagnoses and treatments. The psychological lens, which frames ADCs as normal psychological phenomena, allows the deep exploration of potential meanings, predictors, and consequences of ADC, but some people may find that excessive analysis or sharing of these extraordinary, perhaps ineffable experiences strips them of personal impact or transcendent meaning. The supernatural lens, which frames ADCs as actual messages from the deceased, may provide reassurance, hope, and inspiration by suggesting or confirming positive afterlife beliefs and opening the possibility of continued communication with deceased loved ones; however, supernatural framing might also introduce problems such as disorienting worldview shifts, burdensome or frightening messages, or overreliance on external sources such as spirit mediums in the pursuit of ADCs.