Have you wondered how come psychic readings have gotten a bad reputation and a bad rap? What is it about neon hands glowing from second story windows that seem to shout out “shlock!” Granted, as in every business, there is some “shlock” in the psychic business, and we could analyze the “how come,” but I would like to present a respectful point of view about psychics and their readings.

I am in the process of co-writing an article about psychic readings as viable tools of psychotherapy. This may be a point of view that will be shunned by some traditionalists, but our premise is that psychic readings can help some people in ways that enhance traditional methods, or at times succeed where traditional techniques have failed.

I remember well my very first week at Boston University’s School of Social Work. The first year social work students were convened to watch a video of a healing that had taken place for a woman who was unable to resolve unrelenting grief after her only child, a daughter, had died. The video depicted the various efforts of traditional social workers to help the woman process her bereavement, cognitively correct the distorted beliefs underlying her grief, and encourage the bereft Puerto Rican mother to move on.  Nothing had worked.

Finally, out of desperation, the agency in which the woman was being seen, came up with an unorthodox, and insightful, plan. The mother’s cultural belief system embodied belief in spiritual mediumship. Might it be worth a try to bring into the therapy a Puerto Rican spiritualist who would provide a psychic reading about the departed child? Hope for the reading to succeed was predicated on the fact that the grieving mother believed that the healer had the ability to contact the spirit of the daughter.

The skill of the spiritual healer was evidenced in her respect for the mother’s deep grief, as well as in the gentle and respectful manner she channeled a “message” from the daughter, a message that gave the mother permission to let go of her child and go forward in her life. The belief in the spiritual connection of mother and daughter via the psychic and her reading was the powerful force that finally allowed the mother to accept and honor her emotional freedom.

Whether we believe that the child was actually contacted or not, is not the key issue. The point is that many  come to a psychic  believing that the psychic has something “magical” to offer. The belief empowers the reading, making the client open to shifting some meaning in his or her personal story or making some behavioral shift in life. Herein lies the respectability of psychic readings as powerful forces for growth and healing.

Whether actual reality or a metaphor for “writing” a new part of one’s life story, a reading in the hands of a skilled psychic can be transformative. Of course the skilled part is crucial. I remember years ago at a psychic fair I sat next to a reader who used an ordinary deck of cards. “Red is good, black is bad!” I heard her declare emphatically to a subject.

While even that type of reading might help some, more often than not, that type of approach may create anxiety.  I am referring to readings that offer substantive ideas, information (real or metaphoric), suggestions for how to think and feel about circumstances, and how to be in one’s life in a healthier and more satisfying way.

Psychic readings in the hands of trained therapists and intuitive counselors whose intention is to uplift, not frighten; to heal not harm, can become valuable tools. The dual intentions to be ever respectful of the emotional integrity of the client, and to be clear about one’s own issues in order to refrain from projecting them into the reading are crucial to the success of a psychic session.

I myself have done hundreds of psychic readings and hope to do more. For me it is a joy when a reading client comes in welcoming and ready for the magic that a reading can offer. Of course the real magic is what happens for the client as the reading unfolds, and  she realizes the many new possibilities of understanding that can uplift her spirit, and the new shades of meaning that can brighten her life.

I would love to hear from those of you who have had readings or have done readings. Would you tell me about your experiences. Hopefully they have felt respectful, have been respectful and on either side of the session have helped you to grow.