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Seen a ghost? who ya gonna call? try Dr. Cochran

By Shannon Burkey

When it comes to ghosts, Margaret Cochran is a skeptic, but that doesn't mean she is a nonbeliever. Each year the Saratoga psychotherapist helps many of her patients come to terms with the ghosts that haunt their lives.

"There is a big controversy in this field. Some people say ghosts don't exist no matter what you show them," Cochran said. "When someone tells me they have seen a ghost I say, 'Maybe you have and maybe you haven't.' "

She didn't start out treating people who have seen ghosts, and it is only a part of her practice. The first time a patient told her about seeing a ghost, Cochran said, the hairs on the back of her neck stood up. However, she was intrigued by the notion and it did not seem too farfetched for her.

"There is a threshold we cross to be born and a threshold we cross to die. Sometimes people do cross back," she said. "Just as live people are around us, dead people are around us, too."

Believing that someone has seen a real ghost may sound a little crazy to some people, but according to Cochran, it really isn't all that crazy. She estimates approximately 30 percent to 40 percent of the population believe they have seen a ghost.

"This is not prone to people who are psychotic or drunk. It is usually just people who are trying to come to terms with things that have happened to them," Cochran said.

Often times, ghost sightings come at a time when people are most vulnerable--such as after the death of a loved one.

"Sometimes it can be that they smell the person's perfume or hear their name being called, and sometimes they actually see the person," Cochran said. "They may be receptive then because their defenses are down some."

The idea that a loved one who has passed away can actually be nearby can be helpful to the healing process for some.

For those who do believe they have seen a ghost, often the scariest part is telling someone else about their experience.

"It is a very scary thing for someone to come and allow themselves to be seen. They are usually embarrassed or afraid to tell me about it because, sadly, that is the experience they have encountered with other people," Cochran said. "There is a belief that somehow they are unique in a negative way because of their experience."

Although some people view seeing a ghost as a traumatic experience, Cochran estimates 90 percent of the people who have seen a ghost come to view it as a positive thing. As her patients go, she said she has never had one who thought it was a bad thing.

"People are usually profoundly moved by it. Mostly it is someone they know," Cochran said. "In some cases people have ghosts that live with them, and they become very fond of them, and they become members of their families."