Marieta Pehlivanova, PhD, is a junior researcher at the Division of Perceptual Studies at the University of Virginia. Dr. Pehlivanova’s work at the Division focuses on near-death experiences, children reporting past-life memories, as well as other unusual experiences. Marieta holds a PhD in Experimental Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania and a Bachelor’s degree in Statistics from American University. Prior to her academic work, she pursued a career as a statistician in medical research. In addition to her academic work in human consciousness phenomena, Marieta is also personally interested in the exploration of consciousness. You may contact Marieta at mp8ce@virginia.edu if you have questions about the study outlined in this article or any future research opportunities. If mental health professionals would like to participate in the current research, please click here.

When I first got involved in academic NDE or near-death experience research back in 2017, I was excited to dive into decades’ worth of published research literature on the phenomenon. I am not an experiencer myself, but I had developed a strong interest in NDEs and related spiritual experiences. I had read many fascinating experiencer accounts, including several popular books, but not much in the way of academic research.

One of the initial things that struck me as I read more, aside from the impressive amount of studies and articles produced over the past 40 years, and sadly ignored by many, was that there wasn’t much research on how to actually help experiencers deal with this potentially life-transforming experience in its immediate aftermath. Many of the issues that researchers had looked into were of scientific importance, such as what happens during an NDE, its typical elements, and different types of NDEs; who has these experiences and under what circumstances; how do NDEs affect experiencers long-term; and what do NDEs tell us about the mind and brain relationship.

But practical issues such as how to deal with the difficulties that one may encounter after an NDE haven’t received much attention from researchers, with the exception of a few papers offering guidelines to mental health professionals who may come across NDErs. The NDE literature and popular culture have focused on positive aftereffects of the experience, such as greatly increased