Research Lab
About the Lab
Lenore Matthew, PhD, MSW is an expert in program evaluation research and evidence-based practice as well as trauma and grief.
Dr. Matthew's intuitive abilities suddenly awoke when her late husband suddenly passed. The opening of her ability of mediumship and her late husband's passing opened her up to a path of holistic healing through a multitude of spiritual, intuitive, and mind/body practices. Through these practices, she has found deep healing at the mind, body, and soul, as well as joy and purpose.
Previously, Dr. Matthew worked as a research and evaluation specialist with international humanitarian organizations, including the United Nations. Today, she blends her background as a researcher and social worker with her mediumship ability, to demonstrate that not only are psychic experiences real, but that they can also be profoundly healing.
Aims of the Lab
1) Conduct mixed-method evaluation studies on the clinical effects of mediumship and other intuitive practices on people's mental health and well-being, particularly in contexts of trauma, grief, and loss.
2) Conduct observation studies on intuitive experiences, such as unexpected psychic awakenings, and document their relationship to experiencers' mental health and well-being.
Current Studies
The Effects of Multiple Mediumship Readings on Widows'
Mental Health and Grief Processing: A Longitudinal Study
This study assesses the impact of multiple mediumship readings on widows' mental, emotional, and spiritual health as well as their grieving process.
Specifically, it examines ways in which mediumship readings (with Dr. Matthew and mediums in general) have affected widows' healing process and connection to their loved ones in Spirit. The study focuses on the effects on mental health, emotional health, spirituality, and the overall healing process.
The purpose of the study is to set forth evidence that will help evolve and expand mental health care for survivors of partner loss, focusing on implications for the mental health and grief support community, and the field of intuitive and spiritual healing.
All study participants are women and range in age from their mid-twenties to eighties. All study participants lost either their spouse or fiance.
The study uses a phenomenological approach, a form of qualitative inquiry which examines a person's lived experience. It aims to understand a given phenomenon as an individual personally experienced and perceived it.
The study participants received two mediumship readings from Dr. Lenore Matthew over one year. Some study participants received readings from other mediums as well.
Data is collected at two points in time via two methods. First, each widow completed an in-depth, qualitative survey examining the effects of mediumship readings on her mental health, emotional health, spirituality, and grief processing. The survey was administered several months after the first mediumship reading, and qualitatively captured effects over time.
Second, an in-depth interview on the effects of mediumship on grief was conducted. The interviews took place on the day or within a few days of the second reading with Dr. Matthew. This captured impressions and shifts attributed to the second mediumship reading, and the immediate experiential and physiological effects of having a mediumship reading.
Data collection took place from February to April 2023. Data analysis is currently underway.
Preliminary findings will be published on this website as well as presented at conferences and to professional associations in the grief, mental health, and mediumship/spiritual arenas. Further, Dr. Matthew intends to apply for grants to support holistic healing programs for widows, blending mental health with spiritual and intuitive practices, including mediums.
Sudden Mediumship Awakenings in Grief and the Effects of Afterlife Communications on Grievers' Mental Health
Dr. Matthew is collecting stories from people whose ability of psychic mediumship (i.e., the ability to sense and communicate with people in the spirit world) opened up after their own loved one passed away.
This study is inspired by Dr. Matthew's experience, as well as that of many of her clients and peers.
Dr. Matthew's psychic mediumship ability awoke in 2020 when her late husband unexpectedly took his own life.
Since her awakening, she has met dozens of people with similar experiences. Like her, their ability to communicate with people in Spirit opened up when their loved one crossed over.
The problem is: When our abilities awaken, especially in grief, we may not understand what is happening with our experience, or know where to go for help. What is more, there's not much information for people whose gifts spontaneously awoke — and even less for those whose gifts awoke amidst the loss of a loved one.
This study addresses this massive gap in both the spiritual/intuitive world and grief/mental health support. The study aims to understand this experience and set forth ways to support people living through it — in their grief, their intuitive development, and their soul path forward.
Study findings will be published on Dr. Matthew's website and other outlets, and will be presented at conferences and to professional associations in the grief, mental health, and mediumship/spiritual arenas. Further, Dr. Matthew intends to apply for grants to fund intuitive development and healing programs for people whose mediumship abilities opened up in grief.
The first wave of data collection took place from April to July 2023. Data analysis is currently under way.
