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Two Cases of Spontaneous Mediumship
Experiences of Near-Death Experiencers
Ryan D. Foster, PhD
Deborah Lee, BS
Ann Grau Duvall, BS
Marymount University
This article is dedicated to the life and memory of Deborah Lee.
ABSTRACT Spontaneous mediumship experiences (SMEs), in which living peo-
ple are visited uninvited by discarnates-deceased humans-who ask the living
person to convey a message to another living person, are considered a subtype of
after-death communication and a potential aftereffect of near-death experiences.
In this article, we describe two case studies based on semi-structured interviews
in which two near-death experiencers described features and descriptions of
their SMEs, positive and negative aspects associated with their SMEs, and re-
lated experiences including help-seeking behaviors. Implications for character-
izing SMEs include differences in degree of spontaneity and types of discarnates
and similarities in experiences of distress and number of SMEs.
KEY WORDS: spontaneous mediumship experience, after-death communica-
tion, near-death experience aftereffects
Near-death experiencers (NDErs) report a number of aftereffects that
reflect post-NDE changes in their lives in a variety of domains, includ-
Ryan D. Foster, PhD, LPC, NCC, CHST, is assistant professor in the Department of
Counseling at Marymount University. Reverend Deborah Lee, BS, passed away on
December 23, 2015, less than a week after completing revisions on this article. She was
active in a spiritual community in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States and
devoted her life to providing pastoral and counseling service to others. At the time of
the study described in this article, she was a master's student in the Pastoral Clinical
Mental Health Counseling Program, and at the time of her passing she was a doctoral
student in the Counselor Education and Supervision Program at Marymount Univer-
sity. Ann Grau Duvall, BS, was a master's student in the Pastoral Clinical Mental
Health Counseling Program at Marymount University at the time of this study, and
is now a Qigong facilitator at Peaceable Dragon in Northern Virginia. Correspondence
regarding this article should be sent to Dr. Foster at 2807 N. Glebe Road, Arlington,
VA 22207; e-mail: rfoster@marymount.edu.
44 Journal of Near-Death Studies, 34(1), Fall 2015 C 2015 LANDS
DOI: 10.17514/JNDS-2015-34-1-p44-56.
