One of the best kept secrets amongst hospice workers is the extraordinary End-of-Life Experiences (ELEs) that they observe or hear about while caring for the dying and their loved ones. The Shared Death Experience (SDE) is the crown jewel of these phenomenon. This presentation introduces the SDE, which is a particular type of ELE in which caregivers and loved ones of dying persons report feeling as if they have participated in a dying person’s transition to a benevolent afterlife. William will present video excerpts of case studies from around the world and findings from an analysis of 200 SDE accounts. He will offer the first research-based typologies to classify the ways SDEs unfold, highlight the remarkable benefits to experiencers, and provide insights to manifest an SDE. Finally, William will show how the Shared Crossing Research Initiative’s study on SDEs suggests the survival of consciousness beyond human death.

William Peters, M.A., M.Ed., MFT, is the founder of the Shared Crossing Project
whose mission is to positively transform relationships to death and dying through education and raising awareness about extraordinary End-of-Life Experiences (shared crossings) and their healing benefits. As the director of the Shared Crossing Research Initiative (SCRI), William and his team collect and study shared crossings. William is a global leader in shared death studies and end-of-life phenomenon. He teaches methods to facilitate the shared death experience and to assist experiencers in meaningfully integrating their experiences. William is a psychotherapist at the Family Therapy Institute of Santa Barbara where he specializes in end-of-life counseling as a means toward psycho-spiritual evolution. He served as a hospice worker with Zen Hospice Project in San Francisco. His work is informed by his two NDEs and a variety of shared crossings. William has presented at the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine’s Annual Conference. William’s work has appeared in the American Journal of Hospice and Palliative Medicine and in Omega – Journal of Death and Dying. William’s book At Heaven’s Door: What Shared Journeys to the Afterlife Teach About Dying Well and Living Better, is published by Simon & Schuster.