Results of a study to test knowledge and attitudes among licensed U.S. counselors regarding near-death experiences (NDEs) through surveys administered before and after the counselors completed an online course.

Abstract: In "Near Death Experiences: Understanding Visions of the Afterlife," authors John Martin Fischer and Benjamin Mitchell-Yellin (2016) argued for purely physicalist explanations of near-death experiences (NDEs) and against "supernatural" explanations involving objects and events--out-of-body experiences, heavenly realms, meeting deceased relatives--that have no physical reality. In our critique, we identify two major weaknesses to their argument: heavy reliance on ad hoc hypotheses and frequent appeal to "promissory materialism." Fischer and Mitchell-Yellin applied the term "hallucination" to NDEs because, by definition, they "do not correspond to reality." We found use of this term problematic for several reasons: that NDE perceptions are phenomenologically different from hallucinations, that NDE perceptions of the physical realm are nearly always veridical, and that labelling NDEs "hallucinations" pathologizes a normal, subjective experience, with potentially harmful psychological outcomes. Although Fischer and Mitchell-Yellin argued a theory of NDEs that invokes only one explanatory factor, we argue for a likely common proximate cause for all NDEs and that the nonphysical "mind-entity theory" in which the nonmaterial mind separates from the physical body in an NDE, is a likely candidate theory with good explanatory power. We believe that ultimately the theory explaining NDEs will be corrected through the normal process of …

Article discussing Benjamin Mitchell-Yellin's response to Robert J. and Suzanne B. Mays critique of "Near Death Experiences: Understanding Visions of the Afterlife" by John Martin Fischer and Benjamin Mitchell-Yellin.

Article discussing the topic of past-life memories and a potential transcendental view of life.

Review of a book titled "The Science of Near-Death Experiences" written by Rudolph H. Smit examining the extends of science in the study of Near Death Experiences.

Editorial statement introducing the contents of the journal issue and providing other relevant notes.

Article discussing the results of research to measure the impact of intervention in undergraduate psychology classes that provided education about near-death experiences (NDEs) and determine whether curricula should be changed.

Editorial statement introducing the contents of the journal issue and providing other relevant notes.

Abstract: A wide-ranging survey of ethnographic, explorer, and missionary literature demonstrates that although historical accounts of near-death experiences (NDEs) are attested in indigenous African societies, they are comparatively rare. Correspondingly, there is also a scarcity of mythological narratives of journeys to afterlife realms and a comparative lack of concern with afterlife speculation per se. Instead the literature reveals that many African peoples had marked concerns about potentially malevolent influences of ancestral spirits, shamanistic focus on spirit possession and sorcery, and precipitous burial practices limiting the occurrence of NDEs. NDEs were sometimes seen as aberrational, suggesting that individuals would have been reluctant to relate them. In such cultural environments, NDEs could scarcely have played a significant role in contributing to afterlife conceptions.

Editorial statement introducing the contents of the journal issue and providing other relevant notes.

Review of a book titled "A Call From Heaven: Personal Accounts of Deathbed Visits, Angelic Visions, and Crossings to the Other Side" written by Josie Varga, which describes the author's experiences with survival of consciousness after death.

Article discussing historical accounts of six near-death experiences (NDEs) and three reincarnation-intermission experiences (IEs) among Tlingit Indians in Alaska and comparing those experiences to accounts from similar populations elsewhere to draw general conclusions regarding similarities.

Review of a DVD titled "Near-Death Experience: What Medical Professionals Need to Know," intended to provide educational information for medical professionals to help them respond more appropriately to patients who have had near-death experiences.

Editorial statement introducing the contents of the journal issue and providing other relevant notes. This issue contains a review of "Near-Death Experiences: Understanding Visions of the Afterlife" by John Martin Fischer and Benjamin Mitchell-Yellin, Fischer's and Mitchell-Yellin's response to the critique, and a review of Francoise Tibika's book, "Molecular Consciousness: Why the Universe Is Aware of Our Presence."

Article discussing Robert and Suzanne Mays' critique of "Near Death Experiences: Understanding Visions of the Afterlife" by Benjamin Mitchell-Yellin and John Martin Fischer. The article addresses each of Mays' points and states that they misattributed claims to Mitchell-Yellin and Fischer.

Review of a book titled "Molecular Consciousness: Why the Universe is Aware of Our Presence" written by Françioise Tibikia, a professional chemist. The review discusses the book's three large sections; an overview of atomic chemistry and physics, the idea of matter having a consciousness, and material and non-material realities.