IANDS Santa Barbara and the Shared Crossing Research Initiative (SCRI)

IANDS Santa Barbara is just one of the over 60 groups worldwide that represent the International Association of Near-Death Studies, which was founded by John Audette, Dr. Raymond Moody, Dr. Kenneth Ring, Dr. Bruce Greyson, and others in the 1970s to build global awareness and understanding of near-death studies.  IANDS SB was formed in August 2011 by Barbara Bartolome, with assistance from James Kwako MD, William Peters MFT, Peter Wright CPLT CHT LBLT, Ness Carroll PhD, and James Smallwood MA, to provide support and community for near-death experiencers and their families, educate about near-death and other spiritually transformative experiences, and to lead the way in building awareness and understanding of near-death experiences within the medical, mental health, hospice, and caregiver communities, and with the general public.  

The Shared Crossing Research Initiative (SCRI) conducts research on the profound and healing experiences known as the Shared Death Experience (SDE).  SCRI, a nonprofit arm of the Shared Crossing Project (SCP), is a collaboration with the Family Therapy Institute (FTI).  The mission of the SCP is to raise awareness and educate people about the profound and healing experiences that are available to the dying and their loved ones.  The Shared Death Experience is a term coined by Raymond Moody, MD, to identify an experience that occurs between a person dying and his/her loved one(s).  The loved one(s), who is in good health, experiences some of the dying person's first moments after death.  To be clear, the loved one(s) shares in the initial experiences immediately following death (the afterlife).  Dr. Moody's research indicates that the SDE has characteristics similar to those of the near-Death Experience (NDE).  While Dr. Moody's research has identified the qualities of the SDE, the frequency and cause of this experience are relatively unstudied to date.