ABOUT DR. CHILDS

Biography

Annette Childs holds a Ph.D. in psychology and has devoted her career to the blending of modern thought and the ancient wisdom traditions of the world.

As a clinician, her true passion has been end of life care, where she has assisted the dying and their families to find peace and meaning at the end of life.

An award winning author, her first book, Will You Dance? was the recipient of three National Literary Awards after its publication in 2002. A self-taught wordsmith who writes from the heart, her style is rich with metaphor and symbolism.

 As a researcher, she has extensively studied the positive after-effects of the near death experience and other mystical phenomena, and has contributed original research to her field.

She is a devoted wife and mother and carefully balances her professional calling with the family life she cherishes. She lives in the Western United States with her husband Brian and three children.

Her Philosophy

Often people will ask me, why I do the work that I do. It is always such a strange question to me… How could I not do the work I do?

I think so many people see death and dying as some type of ‘ultimate darkness.’ And in some respects I agree that the mystery of death is perhaps the greatest ‘darkness’ that we as human beings all uniformly face. Where our viewpoints differ is that I truly believe each one of us holds a light within us that can and will illuminate any darkness… and sometimes in the hustle and bustle of our everyday lives that light grows dim.

Ironically, the nearer we come to the dark, the more apparent becomes our light. My work simply puts me next to the darkness (and by darkness I simply mean the mystery) of death and dying . In doing so it allows me to clearly see the light that exists in all of us.

I consider my work to be sacred . . . I am one candle… and sometimes one candle is all it takes for many to find their way out of the dark.  If my teachings about death and dying abate your fear and help to plant the seeds of hope within you… then your candle begins to burn bright against the darkness that is death.

My hope is that I can help each of you to be one candle… In essence that is what drives my calling… if I will stand near the dark and hold a candle, perhaps others can follow my light, and as we each become one candle, one by one by one, the darkness will give way to the light.