The author of a best-selling book on deathbed visions, "One Last Hug Before I Go," Dr. Carla Wills-Brandon has broadened her research and writing to encompass nearly every type of spiritual experience. In addition to her own, she summarizes several dozen other inspiring, interesting, informative and intriguing spiritually transformative experiences (STEs) encountered in her research over the years, including the out-of-body experience of Dr. Mark Seelig, a German psychotherapist. Seelig recalled going through a tunnel, seeing deceased relatives speaking to him in "wordless language," then encountering a light being who communicated with him in the most loving way. "[The experience] completely shattered my outlook on life, consciousness, religion..." Seelig is quoted.
While many mental health professionals look askance at such experiences and avoid discussing them, Wills-Brandon, a family therapist, has discovered that by helping the patient explore his or her STE and then embrace it, the patient often adopts a more positive, more accepting, and more loving outlook on life.
"Regardless of this," Wills-Brandon states, referring to the criticism by both mainstream science and orthodox religion, "when an STE brings comfort and healing, it is difficult to keep tightlipped, no matter who is doing the ridiculing"
Wills-Brandon makes a strong case for fully examining, exploring, and embracing spiritual experiences.