Main Areas of Research
In studying dying, death, and what comes next, we are looking at the following areas:
Empirical evaluations of the effectiveness of methods aimed at reducing anxiety related to the fear of death.
Understanding the nature and prevalence of end-of-life experiences.
Empirical evaluations of treatments for grief.
Understanding the practices and abilities of practitioners.
Currently, our research is mainly focusing on people who report experiencing regular communication with the deceased (mediums) and those who receive mediumship readings (sitters).
The Challenge
Regardless of what one may think about mediums, people are receiving readings from psychic mediums every day. That fact alone makes it a phenomenon worthy of rigorous scientific study. Despite mediumship’s popularity with the public and coverage in the media, there is very little credible research available.
Scientific research on topics like life after death and communication with the deceased faces an on-going struggle against a scientific paradigm bent on denying people’s extraordinary experiences and challenges current ideas about the mind’s relationship to the brain.
Researching Mediums
At the Windbridge Research Center, our mediumship research primarily studies mediums whose abilities have been demonstrated under controlled laboratory conditions. It is necessary to work with participants who are able to effectively and repeatedly provide readings in various research settings. Upon successful completion of eight screening, testing, and training steps (detailed here), the mediums become Windbridge Certified Research Mediums (WCRMs). Each WCRM agrees to donate a minimum of four hours per month to assist in various aspects of the research and to embrace a strong commitment to the values of scientific mediumship research. For a list of WCRMs, click here.
Recently, we have also begun collecting data from self-identifying mediums all over the US about their potentially unique demographic, historical, cognitive, psychological, physiological, biological/genetic, cultural, and phenomenological characteristics.
Mediumship Research Programs
Mediumship research at the Windbridge Research Center has three main arms:
The Information Research Program examines the type and accuracy of information reported by mediums.
The Operation Research Program includes research on mediums’ phenomenology (experiences), psychology, and physiology.
The Application Research Program explores socially relevant uses for mediumship readings and information. At this time, our main focus is on the potential therapeutic effects on grief of assisted after-death communication during readings with mediums.
For more information about these programs, please see Dr. Beischel’s article, here.
Science-based Education
Results from our research are not sequestered solely in scientific publications that may be difficult to obtain or understand. As part of our mission, the Windbridge Research Center is dedicated to getting our discoveries and other relevant content into the hands of the people who need them the most. Through our education efforts, we create specific content tailored to meet the needs of practitioners, clinicians, scientists, and the general public.