Dr. Linda Backman, Psychologist, was drawn into the field of counseling and psychotherapy in 1978 through the premature birth and death of her second son. Initially, she found little support and guidance as she walked through her grief process. Following this experience, Linda, along with a colleague, established Kinder Mourn in Charlotte, North Carolina. Kinder Mourn is a non-profit agency devoted to counseling and education with regard to the death of children. Much personal and professional experience transpired over the following twenty years as Linda continued to gain expertise in the grieving process.

Many years later Linda found herself in another grief situation following the death of a colleague and friend. This time, the loss flung open many doors for Linda as she experienced what she felt was an awareness of the continuity of spirit or soul. Linda began reading whatever she could find in the field of reincarnation and the continuity of spirit. In addition, she sought additional training to understand her experiences surrounding the knowledge that the soul never dies.

In 1993, Dr. Linda Backman found it possible to verify continuity of consciousness through a medium. Messages from a departed loved one can be articulated through a medium. As individuals came into Linda’s psychological practice to focus on grief issues, she ascertained some of these people needed the knowledge and experience of being able to speak to their loved one. Connecting with the spirit of a loved one, for many, assists in the healing process.

Assisting individuals seeking physical, psychological, and spiritual transformation is the heart of psychospiritual griefwork. This approach to grieving involves not only the healing of the loved one still in body, but also, if it is needed, the healing of the one who has crossed into the spirit world. Through channeling, the spiritual and physical/psychological realms are brought into direct contact. A comparison could be made to Gestalt theory, only in psychospiritual griefwork, the person in spirit is actively included in the healing process.

In 1975, when bereavement researcher Rees interviewed 227 widows and widowers he found nearly 50% of these individuals had visitation experiences or, what some call, after-death communication. Visual, auditory, and spoken messages were the most common means of connection. Great comfort seems to be found for the bereaved individual when he/she experiences communication with their departed loved one. One woman who has worked with Linda has said:

"Well I wasn't sure what to expect at first .. but when she said she had an image of a kid goat in a yard, that made me think it must be John. When he was a child he used to run up the mountain behind the farm catching kid goats. I think he must have been his happiest then, before the burdens of life and responsibility started to weigh on him. She also told me he had dark, bushy hair and a strong accent - that was John. It was like having a chat with him, everything she relayed to me made sense. I hadn't realized that by trying to help him in his last few years I was making him feel more of a failure. Apart from that, there were no real surprises. It was as if I knew why he left all along. The whole experience made me feel much calmer and almost happier - if there is such a state so soon after a loss like this (one year)."

	I NEVER HELD YOU: A BOOK ABOUT MISCARRIAGE, HEALING, AND RECOVERY BY Ellen M. DuBois Forward and Commentaries by Dr. Linda Backman.

YOU CAN GAIN YOUR OWN CONNECTION WITH YOUR
DEPARTED LOVED ONE AND FIND HEALING

LINDA OFFERS PSYCHOSPIRITUAL GRIEFWORK
BOTH IN PERSON AND BY PHONE

PLEASE CONTACT US ---

I Never Held You by Ellen DuBois, a book offering advice and support to cope with miscarriage and the loss of a young child, will be published in January, 2006. Dr. Backman has written the Foreward and provided commentary in this useful book for couples having suffered the physical loss of a baby.

Linda is available both in person and by phone for consultation and therapy to parents who are in grief over the loss of a child.