How do I find a psychic?” she asked.  “Someone good, like TV quality good, but affordable too.  And preferably in Miami.”

This question arrived via our Facebook page earlier today, from a very nice woman who (presumably) lives in Miami, loves the Hollywood Medium on TV (Tyler Henry) and decided, once and for all, it’s time she turned her curiosity into conviction, through personal experience with a real life psychic medium.

It’s funny, because we get a lot of questions from people who want to know “How to find a psychic” or “How to tell if a medium is real” or even MORE commonly, “WHO is the BEST psychic, medium, or spiritual teacher” in X, Y or Z city, town or state.

The truth is, many of these questions are far easier to ask, than they are to answer.

For example?  I’ve had readings with some world class psychics and mediums who are entirely unknown, don’t advertise, and often don’t even bill themselves as such in the real world.  (my first, and probably BEST medium reading was with my hairstylist 15 years ago, who by dint of touching my hand during the styling appointment, started to gush out all sort of information about my life, and recent losses, that were impossible for her to have known on her own.  It was my first appointment – and a walk in.

I’ve also, while running several popular spiritual communities, had readings or interactions with some of the best known psychics and mediums in the world…and have found several of these experiences highly dubious, disappointing, and for a time…..had me reconsidering my own belief in spirituality as a “real” thing as well.

The key to finding a good psychic or medium – AND having a really positive experience when you do, in my view, is super simple.

1 – Be open minded, but don’t let your brains fall out.  There are lots of people out there who will tell you all sorts of things that don’t jive with your life experience or expectations, and just because they have a “psychic” sign on the door (or on their beautifully designed website) doesnt’ mean they know anything more about your future, or your path or purpose in life……than your nosy neighbor does.  So be open – but be AWAKE and keep your wits about you.  There is nothing worse than seeing someone who is CONVINCED that what a psychic or medium told them is 100% foolproof and true -and their lives go in a tailspin as a result.

2 – Keep a light hearted attitude about a psychic reading, and if possible, with a medium reading as well.  True, it’s difficult to maintain a calm composure when you’ve lost someone, and a medium is going to help you reconnect.  But, putting too much pressure on yourself, and the reader, to either PROVE that they are real, or to PROVE that there is an afterlife, or to rest all of your beliefs on ONE experience, or one encounter with a single medium…..can be a very destructive thing as well.  So stay OPEN, curious, and light hearted – be interested……but not overly intense, and you’ll find your experience is better in a number of ways as well.

3 – Don’t limit yourself to just ONE reading.  If you can afford a few, get a few.  I was just reading the great book by journalist Leslie Kean, who writes about her own experinece studying the best evidence for an afterlife.  She made several appointments with various mediums and compared and contrasted the experiences in her book (one medium was Laura Lynn Jackson, the other, an Irish medium who is lesser known, but who really impressed her)  She talked about having multiple experiences being a really important factor for her in terms of providing evidence that the first one wasn’t a fluke….and I find the same is true as well.

4 – Read reviews, ask friends, look at YELP, visit directories like ours, go to spiritual meetups (or spiritist churches if you have them where you live) and do your best to avoid psychics and mediums who make HYPERBOLIC claims about their own abilities.  (people who say things like – “i’m 95% accurate” or other silliness – are people we’d avoid like the plague.  There are NO psychics who are 95% accurate – it’s simply not how the magic and the mystery of these gifts work.  (there may be INDIVIDUAL readings that have 95% HITS, but they are the exception and not the rule)

What about YOU?  What is your best advice for people seeking out psychic mediums?  What is the #1 best experience you’ve had with a psychic or medium and how did you find them?  Share with us on Facebook…..or in the community comments below!