Can trying to contact a deceased loved one ease the pain of grief and bereavement? The answer is yes, according to research conducted by psychology professor Arthur Hastings, at the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology in Palo Alto, California. Dr. Hastings and his research team took 27 persons through a three hour process with the intention of contacting a friend or loved one who had died. After the experience almost all the individuals had significantly less grief, guilt, sadness, loss, and need to communicate compared to their previous feelings. Half of the participants said they had felt the presence of the person they sought. The research has just been published in the winter issue of Omega, a professional journal on death and dying, and is the first to scientifically measure this process.

The participants first reminisced about the deceased, and then sat in a darkened room gazing at a mirror. During the mirror meditation, 13 persons felt they had a contact from the persons who had died, including messages, visions, touches, and a feeling of presence. The study used standard psychological measures and ratings before and after the sessions to measure the reduction in bereavement.

The study was based on medical reports showing that at least half of all persons whose spouse dies report a spontaneous contact from that person after death. Similar reports often come from parents who have lost a child. Mourning and grief can be long lasting emotions, Dr. Hastings said, and this process appears to help whether the death is recent or long ago.

The researchers also found that participants had many feelings about the loss, from sadness and grief to guilt, anger, resentment, and fear. There are many reactions to the death of a friend or loved one, Dr. Hastings said, and we can acknowledge them as we deal with our feeling of loss.

The study was not intended to prove life after death. Dr. Hastings said, "We do not claim that the messages come from the spirit of the deceased individuals, or from the minds of the participants, or from some other source. We do not know, and we left the conclusion up to the participant."

Research on this topic is controversial in the field of counseling and psychology. Critics claim that the encounters could be hallucinations and wish fulfillment of grieving relatives. Dr. Hastings pointed out that whatever the origin of the contacts, this study and medical evidence show they are supportive and reassuring. There is growing interest in research on survival of consciousness after death, he noted, but it is important to separate serious research from uncritical belief or disbelief.

The mirror meditation room, called a psychomanteum, was developed by Dr. Raymond Moody, the psychiatrist who coined the term near-death experience. The meditation is used in some hospices to assist patients and families in approaching death.