“Nothing in my formal training prepared me for the events described in this book.  What I discovered defied everything I knew about treating patients suffering from grief and trauma, and it took me into an unfamiliar realm of human experience.  I and about 200 other trained psychotherapists have induced thousands of after death communications.  It appears to work with nearly everyone, nearly all of the time.” – Dr. Allan L. Botkin, author of Induced After Death Communication

What if communication with the dead was no longer a spontaneous occurrence but rather something anyone could access any time they liked?  In 1995, Dr. Allan Botkin chanced upon a treatment for grief and loss that appeared to deliver exactly that.  Botkin’s method is called “Induced After Death Communication” – and it is currently being practiced all over the world.  But is it true communication with the spirits of the dead -- or something else entirely?

Richard grapples with this question as he reads Dr. Botkin’s book in the aftermath of his mother’s death.  How does one process grief when the relationship being grieved is “complicated” at best?  And how can you trust a supernatural event that can be accessed as easily as a visit to a therapist’s office?

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Buy Dr. Allan Botkin’s Induced After Death Communication here https://bookshop.org/p/books/induced-after-death-communication-a-miraculous-therapy-for-grief-and-loss-allan-l-botkin-psyd/7d367a8ec38ec68c?ean=9781571747129&next=t

“It was Christmas time.  It was supposed to be a time of happiness, but we had funerals in town.  We couldn’t put off the funerals until after Christmas.  They said later, they found a hairline crack in an eyebolt, and once one part went down, the whole bridge went down.” – from the book Bridging The Tragedy by Bill & Jaci Kousoulas

When the Silver Bridge collapsed on December 15, 1967, the tragedy touched the lives of everyone in Point Pleasant, West Virginia.  In the months leading up to the disaster, hundreds of people in the Ohio River Valley reported UFO sightings, psychic events, poltergeist activity, Men in Black and encounters with a flying humanoid that became known as Mothman.  What happens to a community that undergoes this kind of trauma?  Bill & Jaci Kousoulas decided to find out.

Richard was fortunate enough to meet Bill & Jaci at the 2025 Mothman Festival in Point Pleasant.  In this interview, Richard talks with them about their initial interest in the case (sparked by the movie The Mothman Prophecies), their paranormal investigations, the concept of “Post Traumatic Growth”, and the people they met in Point Pleasant – many of them first-hand witnesses to the bridge collapse and the Mothman himself – all of which led to the publication of their book Bridging the Tragedy -- Silver Linings In The Mysterious Ohio River Valley.     

LINKS:  

Buy Bill & Jaci’s book “Bridging the Tragedy” here https://www.amazon.com/Bridging-Tragedy-Silver-Linings-Mysterious/dp/B0CGKK5KTC/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2UISTYHW9O71R&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.JGFkN_m1TGe7bsB-M4g1NV0X-SsmyxkAfqfydVAkI4z6qQIdI1EhVVj1HxqXLrXm.elAVktCytqkj6YX87VPcYvE9F4C_LnqmyBHd4r6AhBI&dib_tag=se&keywords=bridging+the+tragedy&qid=1769029017&s=books&sprefix=bridging+the+tragedy%2Cstripbooks%2C168&sr=1-1

“He was seen with this guy… Two days later a neighbor said his lawn sprinkler had been running continuously. They called the police.  A lieutenant was sent out – they found the back door ajar.  So he went through and discovered Scott -- slain in a pool of blood.”  -- parapsychologist Dr. Callum Cooper on the death of D. Scott Rogo.

Today I’m thrilled to be talking with Dr. Callum Cooper about his personal research into the life and tragic death of fellow parapsychologist D. Scott Rogo.  Rogo was the driving force behind one of the strangest and most fascinating books ever written – Phone Calls From The Dead.  Cooper followed up on this research and published his own book 30 years later: Telephone Calls From The Dead.

In our conversation, Cooper discusses his investigation into the murder of D. Scott Rogo, his role in getting Phone Calls From The Dead republished in a new affordable volume – and his ongoing fascination with electronic communication with the dead.

LINKS:
Learn more about Dr. Callum Cooper and purchase his books at his personal website https://www.callumecooper.com/

Buy a brand new – and affordable! – copy of D. Scott Rogo and Raymond Bayless’s classic book Phone Calls From The Dead here https://bookshop.org/p/books/phone-calls-from-the-dead-the-results-of-a-two-year-investigation-into-an-incredible-phenomenon-d-scott-rogo/27684604309b6445?ean=9781786772725&next=t

Watch this amazing vintage theatrical promo trailer for the movie Poltergeist -- featuring D. Scott Rogo himself!  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIQDw3mJlAg