Meet Our Experts
Researchers, clinicians, and near-death experiencers, who have spent their lives exploring death, dying, and the great mysteries of what happens after you die, share their wisdom.
Anthony Bossis
Clinical Psychologist
PhD
Dr. Anthony P. Bossis is a clinical psychologist and clinical assistant professor of psychiatry at NYU School of Medicine conducting FDA-approved clinical research with the psychedelic compound psilocybin since 2009. Dr. Bossis was director of palliative care research and co-principal investigator on the landmark 2016 clinical trial and publication demonstrating a significant reduction in emotional distress from a single psilocybin session in persons with cancer, specifically, a rapid decrease in depression, anxiety, hopelessness, and demoralization along with improvements in spiritual well-being and quality of life.
Sue Brayne
Therapist
MA
For Sue Brayne, life took a dramatic (and traumatic!) turn after she survived an aircraft crash. The accident forced her to face up to her mortality and sent her on a profound healing journey. For over 20 years she has been helping people to transform their relationship with their own mortality through her end-of-life research. For many years Sue has worked as a therapist, specializing in trauma, end-of-life issues, bereavement, and grief. She is the author of several books, including Living Fully, Dying Consciously, and The D Word: Talking About Dying.
Ann Marie Chiasson
Integrative & Energy Medicine
MD, MPH
Dr. Ann Marie Chiasson is the Interim Director of the Fellowship at the Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine and is board-certified in Integrative Medicine and Family Medicine. Dr. Chiasson has a long-standing interest in traditional energy healing traditions and has extensive experience exploring energy medicine and alternative healing practices including time spent with Mayan shamanic healers and psychic surgeons in the Yucatan peninsula. She is the author of Energy Healing – the Essentials of Self Care, co-author of Self-Healing with Energy Medicine with Dr. Andrew Weil, as well as multiple other academic and instructional publications on Energy Healing and Integrative Medicine. She teaches Integrative Medicine and Energy Medicine around the country and has also worked extensively as a Medical Director in hospice in Tucson, Arizona, and as an Integrative Family Medicine physician in Tucson and Canada.
Peter Fenwick
Neuropsychiatrist
MD, FRCPsych
Dr. Peter Fenwick is an eminent neuropsychiatrist, academic, and expert on disorders of the brain. His most compelling and provocative research has been into the end-of-life phenomena, including near-death experiences and deathbed visions of the dying person, as well as the experiences of hospice and palliative care workers and relatives of dying people. Dr. Fenwick believes that consciousness may be independent of the brain and so able to survive the death of the brain, a theory that has divided the scientific community. Fenwick and his wife Elizabeth are co-authors of The Art of Dying, a study of the spiritual needs of near-death patients.
Elly Claire Hart
Integrative Neurofeedback Specialist
PA, MIM, MT, PhD
After recovering from a near fatal car accident in the early 1980’s, in which Elly lost a limb, she went on to study psychology and received her PhD. She worked as a therapist for over 20 years and also as a volunteer counsellor working primarily with women who had lost, or were about to lose, a limb. She wrote one of the first books on emotional adjustment to the loss of a limb.
Elly is currently working with neurofeedback to help a broad spectrum of people who have experienced trauma.
Andrew Holecek
Author
Andrew Holecek is an author and spiritual teacher who offers talks, online courses, and workshops in the United States and abroad. As a long-time student of Buddhism, he frequently presents this tradition from a contemporary perspective – blending the ancient wisdom of the East with modern knowledge from the West. Drawing on years of intensive study and practice, he teaches on the opportunities that exist in obstacles, helping people with hardship and pain, death and dying, and problems in meditation. Known as an expert on lucid dreaming and the Tibetan yogas of sleep and dream, he is an experienced guide for students drawn to these powerful nocturnal practices.
Rev. David Maginley
Spiritual Consellor
M.Div CSCP
Rev. David Maginley is a spiritual counsellor at the QEII Health Sciences Centre in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and award-winning author of Beyond Surviving: Cancer and Your Spiritual Journey. David has also survived cancer four times, which resulted in a profound near-death experience and explorations in the nature of consciousness and the connection of body, mind, and spirit. He knows what it’s like to have cancer from both sides of the hospital bed and has a sense of this life from both sides of the veil.
Dean Radin
Chief Scientist
PhD
Dr. Dean Radin is Chief Scientist at the Institute of Noetic Sciences and is the Associated Distinguished Professor at the California Institute of Integral Studies. He earned a BS in electrical engineering (magna cum laude, with honors in physics), and then an M.S. in electrical engineering and a PhD in psychology from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. Before joining the IONS research staff in 2001, Radin worked at AT&T Bell Labs, Princeton University, University of Edinburgh, and SRI International. He has given over 600 talks and interviews worldwide, and he is author or co-author of hundreds of scientific and popular articles, four dozen book chapters, two technical books, and four popular books translated into 15 foreign languages: The Conscious Universe, Entangled Minds, Supernormal, and Real Magic.
Penny Sartori
Nurse & Author
PhD, RGN
Dr. Penny Sartori worked as a nurse in a British hospital for 21 years, 17 of those being in Intensive Care. She is highly experienced and skilled in her role as an intensive care staff nurse and has conducted unique and extensive research into the near-death experiences (NDEs) of her patients. In 2005 she was awarded a PhD for her research into NDEs.
Dr. Sartori has published many papers, case studies, and has written books on the subject of NDE’s including The Transformative Power of Near-Death Experiences: How the Messages of NDEs Can Positively Impact the World (co-authored with Kelly Walsh)
Jill Schock
Death Doula Expert
MTh
Jill Schock is the owner of DDLA (Death Doula Los Angeles). She is a Los Angeles native with over a decade of experience in end-of-life care. Her core values are to honor and advocate for options and choice for ALL humans at end-of-life. She believes in empowering her clients to step away from the imposed traditions and negative stigma around death and embrace personal choice and style as the chapter of life comes to an end. Jill received a Master’s Degree in Ethics and Theology from Vanderbilt University Divinity School and was trained and certified as a Clinical Chaplain, or Spiritual Counselor. She has been featured in “Wired,” “Goop,” “PureWOW,” “Mind Body and Soul,” and more.
With a benevolent work ethic and years of bedside experience, Jill is an exceptional guide to those facing end of life.
