Janice Miner Holden, EdD
Near-Death Experience & Transpersonal Pioneer Researcher
Professor Emerita. Author. IANDS President. JNDS Editor.
After earning her Doctor of Education degree in Counselor Education in 1988, Dr. Janice Miner Holden served 31 years on the University of North Texas (UNT) Counseling Program faculty—12 of those years as chair of the Department of Counseling & Higher Education. In 2019 she retired as professor emerita. Dr. Holden’s primary research focus has been near-death experiences, after-death communication, and other transpersonal experiences—those that transcend the usual personal limits of space, time, and identity. In this research area she has over 50 refereed journal publications and over 100 national and international presentations. She served as lead editor of the 2009 Handbook of Near-Death Experiences: Thirty Years of Investigation, and she co-edited the Association for Spiritual, Ethical, and Religious Values in Counseling’s (ASERVIC’s) 2017 Connecting Soul, Spirit, Mind, and Body: A Collection of Spiritual and Religious Perspectives and Practices in Counseling.
Dr. Holden currently serves as President of the International Association for Near-Death Studies (IANDS), and since 2008 she has served as editor-in-chief of that association’s peer-reviewed scholarly Journal of Near-Death Studies. For her outstanding and sustained contributions to scholarly-creative activity, teaching, and service, she received the UNT Foundation’s 2019 Eminent Faculty Award. Today, Dr. Holden continues her role as a researcher, President of IANDS, Journal editor, graduate counseling adjunct instructor, and other scholarly activities. Through her various research endeavors, she often collaborates with Dr. Bruce Greyson, who is the leading scholar in the field of near-death studies.
Featured Study
Disclosing near-death experiences to professional
healthcare providers and nonprofessionals.
Researchers examined 88 near-death experiencers’ (NDErs') perceptions of 188 of their most noteworthy experiences disclosing their near-death experiences (NDEs) to professional healthcare providers—medical, mental, social, and spiritual/religious. Results indicated that in 19% of their disclosure experiences to healthcare providers, NDErs felt harmed--with no significant difference between professional groups. The researchers concluded that, to do no harm, all healthcare providers need to be better educated about NDEs.
Holden, J. M., Kinsey, L., & Moore, T. R. (2014). Disclosing near-death experiences to professional healthcare providers and nonprofessionals. Spirituality in Clinical Practice, 1 (4), 278–287. https://doi.org/10.1037/scp0000039
After
A Doctor Explores What Near-Death Experiences Reveal About Life and Beyond
by Bruce Greyson, MD
In After: A Doctor Explores What Near-Death Experiences Reveal About Life and Beyond, one of the world’s leading experts on near-death experiences shares the lessons he has learned over nearly a half century of studying near-death experiences.
Backed by decades of pioneering scientific research and captivating first-hand accounts, Dr. Greyson reveals the evidence that led him to rethink his understanding of the nature of life, death, and the continuity of consciousness. Although NDEs reveal a lot about dying and what might come after, they reveal as much about life and living, about the value of compassion and our interconnectedness with one another, and about what makes a life meaningful and fulfilling. After invites us to open our minds to these experiences, and in so doing, expand our understanding of what it means to be human.