Gary Schwartz

Gary E. Schwartz is a parapsychologist, author and professor at the University of Arizona and the Director of its Laboratory for Advances in Consciousness and Health. Schwartz researches the veracity of mediums and energy healing.

Schwartz received his PhD from Harvard University and was a professor of psychiatry and psychology at Yale University as well as Director of the Yale Psychophysiology Center and co-director of the Yale Behavioral Medicine Clinic from 1976-1988. He is the Director of the Laboratory for Advances in Consciousness and Health (LACH, formerly the Human Energy Systems Laboratory) in the Department of Psychology at the University of Arizona.

Schwartz claims that his initial interest in psychic ability stemmed from a car accident he had with his then wife while driving on the FDR highway in Manhattan. The car was reportedly stopped on the roadway when he "heard a voice" tell him to "put his seat belt on." He told his wife to do so, and moments later, said they were rear ended by a car going 50 MPH. It was having his life saved by a mysterious voice that prompted him to begin his research into where that voice might have come from.

In his early career, Schwartz wrote on biofeedback research and health psychology. Schwartz's more recent research has been in parapsychology and consciousness-based healthcare. His VERITAS research project, which concluded in 2008, was created primarily to test the hypothesis that the consciousness (or identity) of a person survives physical death. Schwartz performed experiments at the University of Arizona testing mediums such as John Edward, of the TV show Crossing Over, and Allison DuBois, who inspired the TV series Medium. Schwartz believes that DuBois could contact dead people. Schwartz says his experiments with DuBois included a reading for celebrity physician and author Deepak Chopra following the death of his father that Chopra characterized as 77% accurate.

Schwartz's research projects at LACH involve investigate the following:

1. The Evolution of Consciousness and Understanding (Universal Hypotheses and Post-Materialism)
2. The Role of Consciousness in Health and Healing
3. The Survival of Consciousness After Death
4. Quantum Holographic Consciousness
5. Group and Global Consciousness
6. Animal Consciousness
7. Other Worldly / Higher Spiritual Consciousness
8. The Universal Intelligence Hypothesis

On Fox News on the Geraldo at Large show, October 6, 2007, Geraldo Rivera alleged Schwartz had overstepped his position as a university researcher by requesting money from a bereaved father to fund research into mediumship. Schwartz responded that the alleged victim had contacted him after he'd had successful private sessions with a medium Judith Campbell, that he was not a medium and had never claimed to be one, and that Geraldo at Large had not contacted him for a reply.

Response

Schwartz's methods have prompted criticism from skeptics such as University of Oregon professor Ray Hyman, who says Professor Schwartz's research deviates from the accepted norms of scientific methodology, and criticizes Schwartz for research errors such as inappropriate statistical tests and using subjects predisposed to believe in psychic abilities. Skeptic Robert Todd Carroll maintains that Schwartz's evaluation of mediums is subjective and a product of "wishful thinking." When retired stage magician and famous skeptic James Randi asked the University of Arizona to submit Schwartz's research data to an independent panel for evaluation as part of his One Million Dollar Paranormal Challenge, Schwartz declined because he thought that the panel, which he believed would be picked by Randi, would be biased. The University of Arizona's then-president Peter Likins, decided that Schwartz's statements were matters of "freedom of expression."

Schwartz has also been accused by psychic Laurie Campbell and Allison DuBois of exploiting their psychic abilities for his own publicity.

Books

Schwartz is the co-author of The Living Energy Universe, and is the author of The Afterlife Experiments: Breakthrough Scientific Evidence of Life After Death, The Truth About Medium and co-author with John Edward of The Sacred Promise: How Science Is Discovering Spirit's Collaboration with Us in Our Daily Lives and over 450 scientific papers. He has also edited academic books.

• Gary E. Schwartz and John Edward (Foreword), "The Sacred Promise: How Science Is Discovering Spirit's Collaboration with Us in Our Daily Lives," (Atria Books/Beyond Words) (January 11, 2011) ISBN 978-1582702582
• Gary E. Schwartz, William L. Simon and Richard Carmona, "The Energy Healing Experiments: Science Reveals Our Natural Power to Heal," Atria Books (August 7, 2007) ISBN 978-0743292375
• Gary E. Schwartz and William L. Simon, "The G.O.D. Experiments: How Science Is Discovering God In Everything, Including Us," Atria (April 4, 2006) ISBN 978-0743477406
• Gary E. Schwartz and William L. Simon, "The Truth About Medium: Extraordinary Experiments with the real Allison DuBois of NBC's Medium and other Remarkable Psychics," Hampton Roads Publishing Company (October 2005) ISBN 1-57174-459-2
• Gary E. Schwartz, William L. Simon, and Deepak Chopra (Foreword). The Afterlife Experiments (Mar 1, 2002) ISBN 0-7434-3658-X
• Gary E. Schwartz, Ph.D and Linda G. S. Russek, "Living Energy Universe: A Fundamental Discovery that Transforms Science and Medicine," Hampton Roads Publishing Company (1999)
• Paul M. Lehrer (Editor), Robert L. Woolfolk (Editor), Gary E. Schwartz "Principles and Practice of Stress Management," (The Guilford Press; 2 Sub edition, January 29, 1993) ISBN 0-89862-766-4
• Richard J. Davidson (Editor), Gary E. Schwartz (Editor), David Shapiro, "Consciousness and Self-Regulation, Advances in Research and Theory Volume 4," Plenum Press (April 30, 1986) ISBN 0-306-42048-1