Hi Patrick,

The primary reason has to do with how people generally experience grief over time. During the initial phase of grief we generally experience shock, disbelief and emotional numbing. Since IADC requires one to fully access and process the profound sadness at the core of grief (which are prerequisites for an ADC experience), any continued emotional numbing will block the accessing of sadness. Also, emotional numbing is adaptive in the early stages of grief, and therefore, even if it were possible to break through the emotional numbing, it would not be advisable in most cases.

A secondary (and related) reason is that it takes some time for our brain to consolidate memories, experiences and emotions. If IADC is performed prematurely, some of the aspects of sadness may not yet be available for processing.

The severity of the loss should be considered along with the above two points. For more severe losses (e.g. family members) the sadness is much more complex and generally requires more time to both get through the numbing phase and to consolidate the various aspects of the loss.

However, no one should wait to get help. Grief groups and supportive counseling can be very helpful in the early stages of grief. Moreover, this kind of support generally helps people get ready for the more aggressive approach to grief that IADC therapy provides.

Dr. Botkin