Pre-conference Film

Science is studying ghosts? Really?

In this Best Documentary film festival winner, a widow suffering prolonged grief agrees to participate in a research study exploring a clinical intervention that aims to reconnect bereaved survivors with their departed loved ones. The process is known as Induced After-Death Communication (IADC), and it is rapidly gaining recognition among psychologists, academics and bereavement professionals.

LIFE WITH GHOSTS records the first-ever publicly funded attempt to facilitate contact with deceased individuals to determine if such contact can be used to reduce severe grief symptoms. In an area where traditional talk therapy has been largely ineffective, at a time when 70,000 Americans die from prescription drug misuse in a single year, this film heralds a welcome alternative for the chronically bereaved.

Of the 270 million bereaved people in the world, up to 30% suffer Prolonged Grief Disorder, a debilitating conditions that can last for years or even a lifetime.

Researchers have known for decades that survivors do better with their grief when an emotional bond is maintained with the deceased. And yet psychologists, grief counselors, and clergy routinely discourage such behavior as “denial” or even “heresy”.

With the staggering increase in sudden deaths in 2020 and 2021, new science for addressing grief is needed now more than ever. By making this film widely available, we hope to spread the news about a ground-breaking intervention that has been tested and proven effective for the treatment of grief.