This is introducing an intuitive-based methodology as a valid, therapeutic, alternative practice. While I have written about it extensively in four of my books (You Are Psychic, Extraordinary Psychic, Freeing the Genie Within and The Complete Clairvoyant), this is the first time I have explained in more scholarly terms how this method is a therapeutic practice, one that can bypass the typical pitfalls of traditional psycho-therapies. Responses to survey questions are also included. This article was accepted as a chapter in a book on alternative therapies, but then after going through the editing process for 4 years I got a copy of the book and saw it was not included. I never got any feedback as to why that was the case as the last thing I was told was it was cited for inclusion. Therefore I'm putting it here and maybe it will find a new home.
Clairvoyant Reading and Healing as a Therapeutic Practice
Debra Lynne Katz, Ph.D., M.S.W.,
International School of Clairvoyance, Mapleton, Oregon
Background
According to social psychologist and parapsychologist, Daryl Bem,
Psi is a controversial subject, and most academic psychologists do not believe that psi phenomena are likely to exist. A survey of 1,100 college professors in the United States found that psychologists were much more skeptical about the existence of psi than their colleagues in the natural sciences, the other social sciences, or the humanities (Wagner & Monnet, 1979). In fact, 34% of the psychologists in the sample declared psi to be impossible, a view expressed by only 2% of all other respondents (Bem, 2011).
Conversely, without looking too hard, one can find prominent psychologists who not only attest to the existence and power of intuitive processes in therapy, but see it as a vital component, although some don’t feel that they can or should control it at will through use of a particular technique.
Carl Rogers (1980), co-founder of Humanistic Psychology and one of the driving forces behind client-centered therapy wrote,
I am at my best, as a group facilitator or as a therapist, when I discover another characteristic. I find that when I am closest to my inner, intuitive self, when I am somehow in touch with the unknown in me, when perhaps I am in a slightly altered state of consciousness, then whatever I do seems to be full of healing. Then, simply my presence is releasing and helpful to the other. There is nothing I can do to force this experience, but when I can relax and be close to the transcendent core of me, then I may behave in strange and impulsive ways in the relationship, ways which I cannot justify rationally, which have nothing to do with my thought processes. But these strange behaviors turn out to be right, in some odd way: it seems that my inner spirit has reached out and touched the inner spirit of the other. Our relationship transcends itself and becomes a part of something larger. Profound growth and healing and energy are present” (p. 129).
Dr. Tobin Hart, a long time psychotherapist and faculty member at University of West Georgia in his chapter entitled “Deep Empathy” writes:
Most of us notice that when we pay attention and simply open ourselves to the person in front of us, we come closer to understanding their experience…..when such as opening does occur, there are sometime moments when understanding of the other deepens beyond what I can easily explain. I seem to experience the others feelings directly in my own body or recognize patterns, histories, or meanings that do not appear to come from interpreting the words and gestures that we exchanges. He goes on to explain “beyond the exceptional depth that this knowing seems to provide to therapy, I came to rely on these connections as a kind of sustenance. At that time in my life, these were the time I felt most human, most intimate with the world and I probably stayed working as a therapist for many years because this practice brought my heart and wisdom to the surface” (Hart, 2000, p. 253).
Hart suggests that “deep empathy is not a technique, but a way of being”
While “deep empathy” is one aspect of the methodology that will be focused on in this chapter, specific techniques that can be learned, practiced, controlled and applied, are in fact very much part of the practice of Clairvoyant Reading and Healing, which was first introduced to the world in a comprehensive written form in my first book entitled, You Are Psychic: The Art of Clairvoyant Reading and Healing (Katz, 2004). This system can teach a wide audience, even those quite new to the subject of intuitive development, how to tap into information purely on a visual, telepathic and empathic level for the purpose of helping and healing others and oneself. I say purely because it does not require client self-reporting or even dialoging with the client, although these could be integrated into the practice. As I shall describe and then illustrate with a sampling of survey responses, this system can produce extremely powerful therapeutic benefits in a single session, although it has not been formerly called a “therapy” until now.
Dr. James Carpenter (2012, a psychotherapist for over 30 years and former President of the Parapsychology Association developed a theory that mirrors by own. He explains:
Psi is not an ability...it is a universal characteristic of living organisms. A basic feature of their being in the world, it is the fact that we are all unconsciously and perpetually engaged in a universe of meaning that extends far beyond our physical boundaries in space and time…it is an unconscious and ubiquitous but still largely unmapped aspect of our consciousness.(p. 84).
While Carpenter isn’t sure this is something to be developed, since its not a skill, I see this differently. While psi isn’t a skill in and of itself, the application of it involves a skill set that mirrors many of those required for a person to become proficient at any therapeutic modality.
In psychotherapy, “bringing unconscious material to conscious awareness is a major therapeutic task” (Sharif, 1984, p.35). So why should psi, existing unconsciously in the therapist and in the client and within the space in between, if occasionally arising to conscious awareness as a fleeting feeling, vision, or thought, not be coaxed along through intentionality and specific techniques? Having taught intuitive development now for over two decades, I see daily examples of those who are new to these ideas and concepts making use of their own imagination (and body) as a canvas by which other persons symbols, pictures, thought forms, and emotions can flow through, for processing and output of compassionate and highly insightful communication.
Background
The “father” of this system (that was never branded with a flashier name other than “clairvoyant reading and healing”) was Louis Bostwick, whose obituary brought me into his school, the Berkeley Psychic Institute, which he established in the late 1960’s. I was a 27-year old Federal Probation Officer, armed with a Master’s Degree in Social Work, looking both to find ways to de-stress and also to learn more about my own psychic potential, which prior to this only showed up on rare occasions when I least expected it.
Legend has it that upon moving to Berkeley, Bostwick had recognized that many of the problems and ailments that the college students and street people were suffering from seemed to be caused by their own empathic or telepathic sensitivities of which they, or others, were oblivious or resistant to. He called his institute a “spiritual sanctuary” and his beginning psychic training programs “a psychic kindergarten.” He openly resisted frequent calls from researchers, government officials, and the media to play what he called “the prove-it game.” While he was open to working with psychologists or those studying psychology, he felt many of these had a hard time “getting out of their head.” Students were mandated to take a series of mediation and energy healing classes prior to, or while simultaneously, going through the clairvoyant training program. The school was connected with a spiritual organization he had established referred to as The Church of Divine Man. This organization was set up to provide both a legal tax shelter for his own business, and protection to those continuing to practice on more of a professional level, who were referred to as spiritual counselors, and held the title and licensure as ministers. Participation in this aspect of his program was optional. While services were run in a format mirroring a more traditional Christian Church, the god that one was invited to worship was the “God of one’s Heart” as well as whatever the concept of Creator meant to each particular person. The idea of “spiritual freedom” was always promoted. That being said, like any organization, there were controlling and nearsighted forces within it which eventually led to both myself parting ways, and all of my direct teachers, some of whom, like myself, went on to start their own clairvoyant programs.
Bostwick with his second wife, Susan, started a small publishing house called Deja Vu Publishing. Rather than publishing books, they put out bi-monthly newsletters called, The Psychic Reader, in which Bostwick would discuss various aspects of his teachings in very short essays that were heavy on the lingo he created, and not particularly insightful or well written. His emphasis was on sending what he referred to as “spiritual hellos” – which is what happens when one person, the clairvoyant practitioner, being in touch with their own spirit or soul, acknowledges that of another. At the core of his teachings were that people were largely governed by “pictures” which were thoughts patterns energized by emotions that colored their reality. Clairvoyants could easily “read” these, thereby helping to change or de-energize them. A core picture was one that had developed at an early age, often around a traumatic situation, that was then situation in a particular part of the body. As a person went through life, their new experiences either confirmed the core picture, adding more and more of an emotional charge to it, or helping to de-energize it and even “blow” it. When a picture was de-energized, the emotion essentially would release, leading to greater awareness, and an openness for a new set of beliefs, and essentially a new more helpful picture or set of pictures to take its place. Sometimes, this would require a period of time to pass before new beliefs could be adopted, or before all the older pictures were fully released, understood, or transformed, and that would lead the client to go into what was sometimes referred to as a “growth period” in Katz (2004), akin to the dark night of the soul (Rogers, 2003).
The Practitioner Talks, the Client Listens
Unlike most other talking therapists, in clairvoyant reading, the practitioner is doing most, if not all, of the talking with the client doing most of the listening. Clairvoyant Reading is a therapeutic practice in which the “reader” having very little information up front about a client uses the vehicle of their own imagination to receive information which they then communicate, often verbally in real time. This traditionally was done in face-to-face encounters, but with practitioner having eyes closed. Today many clairvoyants work primarily over the phone, which lends itself to this work as this eliminates distracting visual cues from body language and facial expressions, or from forming impressions based on appearances at initial meetings. It also makes it easier and safer to not have to have an office space separate from one’s own home. (There are of course variations of this format. Some clairvoyants like to tune in to a client and then type up the information and send in a document, email, or speak into a recorder).
Procedures for a Professional Therapeutic Session
What follows are the procedures I personally follow and recommend to my students which will differ from that of other practitioners.
The clairvoyant and client meet in person or on the phone. The practitioner will discuss with the client how they are going to proceed in terms of technique, length of session, and other expectations (i.e., the client can feel free to just sit and listen but if they’d like to they can also feel free to speak up). At the start it will be decided if the practitioner is going to work “blind” or “from questions”. Often clients will prefer to “Just see what comes up” and ask some questions later, or they may decide to discuss the client’s questions or areas of interest and concern first. Typically, I recommend that clairvoyants work with as little “front loading” as possible. This means that if the client is going to ask questions, that they just give a key word for the area of concern, or they give minimal background on the situation and simply ask the question. Questions and areas can be about anything in their life from relationships to financial, to those pertaining to life purposes, to how to overcome problems and obstacles.
The clairvoyant may then choose to have a few moments of silence before beginning. During this time, they will do various visualization exercises that also form the basis for mediations they can be practicing outside of the session. These involve grounding, centering, and boundary setting techniques that will help them to manage their own emotional and energetic stages at the start, during and following a session (Katz, 2004).
When ready, he/she may state out loud the intention of the session which could include a prayer or just a statement to bring both of them to peace and wholeness.
The practitioner asks the client to state his/her name a few times. The first step is typically to look at the client’s crown chakra, or the area at the top of the head, and imagine a color. The practitioner will attempt to bring their own crown into resonance with the client’s by visualizing this same color on top of their own crown, and also by postulating to themselves this resonance for the purpose of spirit-to-spirit communication is the goal. I like to think of this like two satellite dishes syncing up or two different types of musical instruments tuning to one another before playing a duet.
Next, the clairvoyant will often use one of two approaches. The first could be to use a symbol, and invite the client to say their name again and then have the client’s voice float into the symbol and activate/animate it, This symbol becomes the energetic representation of that person as a whole (or if the client asked a question, the flower can become the representation of all that is contained or connected to the subject matter involved in the question). A common symbol used in this methodology is that of a flower. The flower may turn a color, grow, shrivel, bend, lean, open, close, any number of options depending on the clients situation (or personality!).
Something may also happen around the flower denoting social forces acting on the flower. As Gestalt therapists Fritz Perls (Perls, 1973), Kurt Lewin (Parlett & Lee, 2005) have rightly noted in field theory, the person’s total environment and all relationships play a vital role in all aspects of each individuals life. This becomes clear to clairvoyants, whether they initially have this awareness or not. The clairvoyant practitioner will often notice outside elements interacting with the flower in what sometimes appears to be a helpful or benign manner and at others times highly disruptive of destructive. For example, they may see wind blowing on it, other friendly or baby flowers may pop up around it, or dark angry red or black streaks lashing out at it. Often when probing these, a face or detailed image and personality will emerge that matches someone close to the client either from their past or present. Once these initial images are perceived, the clairvoyant can then move their attention to any characteristic that just happened as part of the flower or to the flower, and then “probe” this by simply re-visualizing that particular aspect and saying “show me more.” Usually something else will happen within their imagination – either in that the flower transforms in some way or a new image will appear that may be quite simple or highly complex. Images may be realistic looking, but more often than not they are cartoonish, simple, fleeting, as if one is not sure one even saw it but can still somehow describe it. Some of the images are almost self-explanatory while others can be much more elusive in their meaning and take quite a bit of time to probe.
What separates out a novice reader from an experienced practitioner is that the later becomes more skilled at remaining calm, patient and keeping his/her own emotions and expectations in check while more artfully navigating his/her way through the inner perceptions already perceived which may require simply waiting to see what shows up next or revisiting a single aspect not previously explored enough of the earlier symbols by moving ones attention back to it.
Library of symbols. Over time the practitioner builds a library of symbols which will repeat often but always contain unique aspects reflecting that particular clients life situation. This makes the whole process move along more smoothly and quickly. For example, after months of practicing on several people each week, I noticed images such as a window, a tree, a fence, a wall, a mountain, a doorway, a staircase, a swimming pool, etc. would reappear more frequently, but never in quite the same manner. One client might be at the bottom of the tree striving to even reach a lower branch with another at the top looking out at what is next with binoculars. Another client would be closing the blinds or curtains to the window turning away from it, another would be wasting their time examining the construction of the window while another would be carefully stepping through it, while yet another would be violently flung through it (whether by another person or life itself). Each has a specific meaning very much dependent on the particular client’s situation, which usually is not discussed in advance. Newer readers will get rich symbols right away, but it could take a lot more probing to even start to understand that the tree represents reaching goals and the window represents moving towards something new in life. That being said some symbols are quite self-explanatory (i.e., a person slumped over their desk with piles of papers or files towering above them) others are quite elusive. Over the years I’ve found it fascinating to discover that many of my own students (or a clairvoyant I’ve never worked with before who does a session for me) will acquire these same symbols, even though I haven’t shared these with them (Katz, 2004). To me this very much confirms the theories of Carl Jung concerning archotypical images (Jung, 1968).
Remembering to continue to probe whatever was already perceived and holding one’s attention is something one can gain only through practice, as there are always distractions of an inward nature (doubts, judgments, worries) and outer (client chattering, dogs barking, clock ticking).
Voicing one’s imagery and experiences is not always easy!
The clairvoyant is encouraged to discuss all details out loud, to the client, of what they “see” or are sensing and the way it is coming to them. This is needed even prior to having an understanding of the images as this stimulates the flow of more information. Newer practitioners are prone to withhold information or details they judge as too sensitive or too personal or too emotion provoking until they discover this is often the most important material that needs expression. Frequently, this suppressed material often tends to be highly accurate (and not nearly as hard for the client to hear who already understands their own context if the information is in fact mirroring their current or past experience as it is for the practitioner to share it). Withholding information that eventually is shared and receives positive feedback creates a process by which the practitioner can gain insights into his/her own endless barrage of self-judging, perfectionism, inhibitions, fear of rejection, and gain insights and overcome into his/her excessive need to be liked, right, and in control. Speaking about ones inner imagery or instant “knowings” requires the therapist to trust parts of themselves they discarded when as children they were told “to speak only if you know what you are talking about,” and that relegated an extremely useful part of themselves – their imagination - to being “just your imagination.”
While this methodology focuses on the visual, all intuitive processes are welcome – and there is a trick here - in that when one is so profoundly focused on the visual, it frees up all of one’s other intuitive perceptual senses that might not otherwise emerge if one was trying to get these to emerge. So the practitioner will often begin to get information, spontaneously, through other intuitive processes, such as instant knowing (where a thought just lands in their head as in, “She’s relocating to New York”) or telepathy (hearing the client’s own voice make a statement like, “I want out of this marriage or job”). The practitioner may be getting a variety of feelings and sensations from their empathic abilities (also known as “clairsentience), ranging from sadness, to anger, pain, tiredness, sexual arousal, etc., within their own body. Usually after communicating these “matching” body or emotional sensations, they will subside in the practitioner.
Sometimes the practitioner won’t get an image, or word, or feeling but will just find herself blurting something out or making a motion in the air that ends up pertaining to the client. This is related to what I’d call an unconscious somatic body reflex. This is more commonly displayed when the clairvoyant has tools such as paper and pens to write with, where he/she may start to sketch something in a particular way or writes down a word that doesn’t make sense to them or that may not even be remembered later, but that has significance to the client.
In addition to using symbols as a visualization method, the practitioner may choose to create a “reading screen” that they visualize in front of their forehead” and then project an image of the client’s body onto this “screen.” The practitioner waits until their own attention is drawn to a particular part of the body. Usually a color or another image will appear. While it’s very possible that something about the physical body (such as height, hair color and length, various aliments) will emerge (or another material element such as pictures of where the client is living or working) often times what shows up is an emotionally charged picture related to something in the clients past or present that is creating an issue for that person right now. This might show show up first as a color, or as a series of pictures in which a particular narrative of the person’s life, colored by how they approach decisions, challenges, accomplishments, obstacles, problems, development tasks, unexpected life changes, and relationship will emerge (Katz, 2004).
The practice of clairvoyant reading/healing lends itself to deep relationship work, whether the relationship is various parts of oneself split off or in conflict with each other or relationships with others. Even complex family relationships can be fairly easily addressed. The basic approach for this is to imagine a flower for each person, and to invite these to interact. It never ceases to amaze me to see how simple images one visualizes within one’s own imagination can take on a life of its own, by moving and interacting in a way that is meaningful and accurately portrays the current, or sometimes past, nature of the relationship. By focusing on one flower at a time however, we can often get an accurate and detailed psychological profile of each individual, as they are alone and as they are in relationship to each other. That being said, often times its in the simplest movement or gesture that the most obvious answer appears. Two flowers that move towards each other and intertwine tell as as much as two flowers that zoom away from each other. One flower growing tall while another shrivels, one flower consuming the other, one flower growing thorns that poke the other, one flower growing bringer and larger when the other approach’s: this is why sometimes I feel like we are playing an internal game of charades with ourselves, whereas the unconscious is the one who has a word or a sentence its acting out and the analytic mind of both practitioner and client are the partners deciphering the non-verbal language.
Other aspects of relationships that can be looked at (by noticing how much of one’s flowers color is in the other flower) has to do how invested is either or both partners in the relationship, how much freedom or oppression they allow each other, how much in or out of one’s space is a person. This is where energetic dynamics come in to play because for example we may find that one partner, who has suffered from clinical depression, may have their “color” in their partners flower, causing depression. While it may not be easy to clear the true owner of the depression if it comes from a medical condition, it may be as easy as watching the color release from the partner, and then the partner begins to report feeling better (whether or not they even know that the practitioner performed this act, although obviously there could be benefits in explaining this as well). In exploring the space in between, representing the relationship or communication between individuals, we sometimes find colors or items that seem to be related to interfering energies coming from society (i.e., disapproving parents, jealous ex-spouses, overall norms from ones culture) that is having a controlling and limiting influence on the client.
Many clients don’t seek out clairvoyant sessions because they have a problem or issue, but merely because it seems like something interesting to do, or because they just want to find out if they are on the right track. Sometimes they are seeking to know about their own intuitive potential or life path.
A clairvoyant can look not just at the person themselves, but at the health of their goals to see if there is anything weighing down the goal, or what might help mature it and move it along. (Katz, 2009). Our goals and dreams often are in various stages of development just like we are, and sometimes these seem stuck, uncertain, unformed, taking too long, or going fine, yet we still feel anxious. As I discuss in my latest book, Freeing the Genie Within: Manifesting Abundance, Creativity & Success in Your Life (Katz, 2009), the clairvoyant can look to see: is this goal one that the client is ready for, can allow themselves to receive and keep, or one that is more about what society wants for them than what they want for themselves? After reading the “health” of the goal as it exists on an energetic and physical level (keeping in mind that at the moment it may be just in the infancy stages of having just come into conception, or it may be one the client has been working on for years), the practitioner can then help the client to perform an energy healing on it which can release interference from outside parties, and help the client to make internal, cognitive, emotional shifts, thereby enabling them to be more open and receptive to creative ways for how this might show up, or the form it might show up in.
Ending a clairvoyant session. At the end of the session, the client is invited to give feedback but never required to do so. Some enjoy talking at this point and will have a lot to say. Others will be pretty emotional and will want to process on their own. Many clients have a lot to process and need time to sit with/unpack all the information in their own time. (Sessions can be recorded and many like to listen to the recording at a future day. Some take notes and will continue to go over their notes). It is always important for a practitioner to “make separations” with their client through a combination of visualization techniques and physical actions one can take to ensure once the session is over, they truly end the session (Katz, 2008).
Modifications and Combining Clairvoyant Reading with Other Therapeutic Approaches
While I recommend that students and new practitioners adopt a disciplined approach to this work where they don’t rely on clients for feedback until the end of the session (meaning they could potentially talk to the client for an hour without verification of anything they’ve shared), checking in periodically with an open ended, “Is what I’ve been saying making sense?” seems to help stay connected with the client, and is generally a good practice. That being said, some practitioners, particularly those who are used to other forms of talking therapies prefer to mix their clairvoyant methods with other approaches, which usually leads to a much greater dialogic exchange. Some of these will still let their clients know that they are using their intuitive abilities to supplement their discussion. Others, who feel their clients would not be open at all to anything even hinting of intuition, may instead term what they are doing as “speaking in metaphors”. They may train themselves to “grab” imagery, symbols, or information on a knowing level occasionally when they really need to understand something that the client themselves is unable to articulate, because it is outside the client’s awareness.
Structuring a Session
Clairvoyant Sessions tend to last around an hour. While it’s possible to do this sooner, myself and others find that it can take time to both tune in, and for the imagery to unfold its mysteries and meanings. Some of this does seem to be related also to the client opening up, relaxing and getting more comfortable as the session proceeds. Some clients seem immediately open who understand this process. Those who have never had this kind of session before and are new to the subject of intuitive communication tend to be more confused, more closed, and the information may come in slower, and feel more stressful for the practitioner. Conversely returning clients often are much more relaxed and a second session will tend to flow more naturally and easily, even if several months or years have passed.
Frequency of Sessions
I recommend to most clients that they don’t have sessions too often. (An exception to this would be if they had so many issues, questions, areas of concern that just could not be covered in that one session). Returning too frequently may result in dependency on the practitioner. It can take days or weeks or sometimes months to fully process and understand all the information and imagery that was shared during an in-depth clairvoyant session. Much will make sense right then, but sometimes meanings don’t come until later. Some of what emerges is information that the client isn’t fully conscious of. Sometimes information about future events also emerges, so that obviously can’t be understood until later. If something occurs in the future that was discussed, it’s almost as if the session continues to work for the client, as they compare what was said with what they are encountering now, and use the earlier information to “compare notes”, make sense or shed light on the emerging events.
How to Measure the Effectiveness of this Holistic Intervention
Repeat Customers and Word of Mouth! First and foremost as a practitioner of these techniques myself for the past 23 years, the most telling measure of their effectiveness is in the returning of my clients from year to year,with usually months, a year, or several years passing before meeting again and then getting to witness the profound changes that many attribute being aided by the session work.
Formal Survey Results
I recently invited those who have received clairvoyant readings from any practitioner who utilizes this approach to participate in an online anonymous survey:
Figure 1. Participants were asked how many clairvoyant readings-healings they have received.
For some strange reason I can’t delete the old color chart, it won’t go away! Can you delete it for me?
Figure 2. Participants were ask whom they have received clairvoyant readings from.
Figure 3. Participants were asked, in your experience is receiving a clairvoyant reading a form of therapy, or can you see it being a therapeutic experience?
Figure 4. Participants who had undergone training in clairvoyant reading through the International School of Clairvoyance were asked whether or not the process of reading others
was therapeutic to themselves.
Responses
The following are the responses to the survey question: “Please describe from your own personal experiences, how you see clairvoyant readings-healings could be looked at as therapeutic, or a form of counseling or therapy from the experience you had when receiving one or more:”
“The fact that someone sees you at your most authentic state, which is the spirit. Sees through the issues, the problems, and all the other stuff that it takes years to talk through in therapy.”.
“They provide guidance and clarity. Some of the issues I knew were there, and others provided a type of insight into things I had never thought about before.”
“It is an opportunity to take an honest look at yourself in a totally different perspective...We are bi-passing critical thinking and talking directly to our sub-conscious, the place where all our feelings are stored...it is a quicker method than regular psychological therapy sessions. I have to confront my feelings..."
“I think they actually save time by dealing with the unconscious rather than going round and round issues in a person's life. They actually answer questions in a very intimate way for the readee (even when the reader doesn't know, and he doesn't need to know). Clairvoyant readings instead of making me feel separated from everything and everyone else, give a sense of connection, of being part of something bigger than myself.”
“They have been nothing but helpful. You want to know what has been detrimental? Traditional therapies. I will never again go to a counselor. It takes months of expensive sessions to just explain a complex situation in life... only to have them not really be able to help in a significant way. Clairvoyant readings/healings, and working with the energy (especially learning and practicing these techniques themselves) put the client or "patient" in the driver's seat. Plus, a major therapeutic advantage is not having to get into all of the details and re-live one's trauma. You can just clairvoyantly view the trauma you've experienced as energy, and then you can work with that energy and move it and release it--and it actually works! What could be better?”
“Very helpful. All my life my intuitive and psychic abilities have been called into question. My own family has doubted or discounted my insights, though many proved to be accurate. In getting a reading, for the first time EVER I was validated by someone.”
“It taps into our unconscious mind, which I find more helpful than trying to appeal to our ‘common sense’ or rationality alone. Because our unconscious is our blind spot, and it is where our programming, our irrational fears, traumatic memories our buried anger reside, so it is definitely more helpful to deal with that part of ourselves through clairvoyance readings than any other form of therapy that I've known so far. In that sense, [clairvoyant readings] are very intimate for a readee instead of a "general cure" for categories of individuals related to certain "neurotic problems".”
“Readings have been very helpful in helping me stay on my life path as well as healing my spirit for life's obstacles. We are in an age where everyone wants a pill for everything and living at a fast pace. We get disconnected from who we really are and what we are here to do or accomplish. The readings have helped me realize I am a person who can give, help and heal in a natural way. And can help me stay on the right path, a healthy, loving path.”
“They always get to the heart of the matter quickly and there are always tools and advice that I needed to hear. Something always shifts for me and I feel growth even if it is months later. I often go back and read over my notes or listen to the recordings to regain the wisdom and knowledge shared in these sessions.”
“I see it as extremely beneficial. You are having a neutral party (essentially a stranger) give you insight on something you are struggling with, and help offer you guidance on how to heal/gain clarity in what is holding them back. It's fun, engaging, thought provoking, insightful, and more!”
“For myself clairvoyant readings-healings is the most therapeutic form of counseling and healing there is. It is a very intimate process where you're involved in the discovery, as well the healing process from beginning to end. During the discovery process you're included on what is coming up for the reader and as they share this with you, as well as ask you questions, it has a way of validating you as an individual soul being, on my own individual life path. The clairvoyant reader helps you with your goals of being the best you can be and dropping the stuff that weighs you down or holds you back.”
“I see clairvoyant readings as being therapeutic in that they empower me to recognize and follow my own intuitive guidance. The readings are confirmation for me that what I am sensing, experiencing, or becoming aware of are what I need to be paying attention to. They bring me into a higher state of awareness and help me to understand what information is important for me, and what is there to distract me. As a form of business counseling, the readings have confirmed that certain choices are right on target and also have shown me where I am allowing distractions to keep me from moving forward. This has had the effect of showing up as positive growth for my business over the last two years as my clients have realized the improved benefits that they receive.”
“The reading I had by Debra's students was therapeutic in the sense that people were trying to help me with my questions and would read my own energy and give me really positive feedback about myself. They also gave me feedback about less positive things about myself but they were true and made me feel like they were really seeing me and not just sugar-coating things. The reading mostly confirmed things I already sensed and so it was validating and gave me a sense of accomplishment in my own intuition. Also, it feels like a loving service to get a reading, and I felt profoundly grateful. I felt like my energy was raised up to a higher vibration and that feeling lasted quite a while.”
“I think clairvoyant readings-healings can be looked at as both therapeutic and a form of counseling. For me, the clairvoyant was able to get to the root of certain situations without having to spend hours in therapy. She was also be able see the motivations of people surrounding me as well. I felt better understood as a person through having these readings. It's nice to have a neutral person to talk to about my life, and in some ways it is easier to trust the reader's guidance since they are not invested in the outcome. I also think readings help to release painful, stuck emotions.”
“I believe it is a form of counseling because the concern and caring were authentic and directly centered to my needs. I got answers that were in-depth, not just yes or no, single word responses. My advisor also gave me meditations and affirmations that I could do on my own. I truly feel that she cares about my emotional, psychological, and physical wellbeing.”
“Clairvoyant readings-healings are more therapeutic than counseling, as they go deeply into an issue the readee wants to focus on, and work on that issue until it is resolved to a certain extent (if not completely). There is much focus on the root cause of an issue, and the purpose of a clairvoyant reading is to 1) find a resolution to a problem and 2) to heal the root cause of that problem. Where traditional therapy involves talking and understanding that can take months or years to heal, clairvoyant readings-healings involve the same thing but with the added benefit or transforming and releasing the issue or issues at hand, often within one or two sessions.
“They can be therapeutic when the reader can see current things, people or situations from different perspectives that the readee might not have considered, or have been aware of, and that turn out to be correct.”
“They can get you out of a rut, get you moving and feeling better, remove anger or anxiety that otherwise would affect you too much.”
“I would say it could be looked at as therapeutic, when you get answers, direction, guidance, or see that there is hope for the future, or get the tools on what you need to do to get the future you want. It can be therapeutic when you feel empowered, by having your strengths pointed out, so you know what to work with to create the future you desire. You can also learn what is holding you back, so you can work on letting it go to move forward, know what you need to work on. Sometimes getting a confirmation on something you had been thinking but hesitating can be helpful.”
“As a recipient, the weight being lifted off of my 'shoulders', relieved a lot of stress that was burdensome. I'd lived with it for so long that I was accustomed to the feeling, but once it was gone I felt like I could breathe again. I see this when helping people, too! Stress causes illness, dis-ease, and premature death... taking some of that off a person is literally a life saver”
“I consider clairvoyant readings to be a form of therapy/counselling. It allowed me to be heard; it was a way I could connect with my spiritual team (at a time when I had a very difficult time connecting myself) to see what lessons were occurring and whether or not I had healed. The reading assisted me in jumping back into life fully. It was exactly what I needed at a very difficult time. It was healing for me.”
“They help people find purpose and shed light into what is happening around them and feels as though someone has an understanding of what you're going through without actually having to talk about it first. Helps you realize what is unhealthy around you and improvements you can make to your life and people around you.”
“They have removed fears and I have learned that I have inside of me what I need to have a happy and successful life.”
Length of Training
I’ve found through trial and error in developing my own programs through The International School of Clairvoyance, that a training program spanning 12 to 24 weeks (whether in person or taught via small group teleseminar or webinar format), that includes a series of lectures, guided meditations, a program of continued meditation practice with very specific, active visualizations, and a mixture of both group/and one on one supervised practices sessions, is sufficient for those interested in practicing to begin to do so on their own. Anywhere between 12 and 24 weeks, many will feel ready to start practicing on willing volunteers, some will feel ready to start charging for their services in a more professional capacity, while some may decide they’d rather save what they’ve learned for their own personal healing and development. Those already trained in other therapeutic modalities, who are open to exploring their intuitive abilities, are well suited and often more effective in this work than those brand new to working with people.
Credentials
There is no licensing board, or formal degree or certificate one needs to practice clairvoyant reading and healing. Some practitioners opt to obtain a minister’s license (which can be easily secured online for less than $20) so they can call themselves a spiritual counselor. Others choose to call themselves a personal intuitive life coach. These titles ease the concerns for psychology or counseling or social work students who are concerned that licensing boards may take issue with them having their own clientele before receiving proper credentials. Ironically, this is a non-issue for those who don’t seek out a college degree in a helping profession.
References
Bem, D. (2011) Feeling the future: Experimental evidence for anomalous retroactive influences on cognition and affect. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 100, 407-425.
Bostwick, L.; Bostwick, S. The Psychic Reader. Berkeley. De Ja Vu Publishing.
Carpenter, J. (2012). First sight: ESP and parapsychology in everyday life. Rowman &Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Hart, T. (2010). Deep empathy, from transpersonal knowing: Exploring the horizon of consciousness. New York: State University of New York Press.
Jung, C. (1968). Man and his Symbols. Dell Publishers.
Parlett, M. & Lee, R. G. (2005). Contemporary gestalt therapy: Field theory. In A. Woldt, & S. Thomas (Eds.), Therapy: History, theory, and practice (pp. 41-63). London: Sage.
Perls, F. (1973). The Gestalt Approach & Eye Witness to Therapy. Oxford: Science and Behavior Books.
Katz, D. L. (2004). You Are Psychic: The art of clairvoyant reading and healing. St. Paul, MN: Llewellyn Publications.
Katz, D. L. (2008). Extraordinary psychic: Proven techniques to master your natural psychic Abilities. Woodbury, MN: Llewellyn Publications.
Katz, D. L. (2009). Freeing the genie within: Manifesting abundance, creativity & success in your life. Woodbury, MN: Llewellyn Publications.
Rogers, C. (1980). A Way of Being. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Co.
Rogers, T. N. R. (Ed.) (2003). Dark night of the soul – St. John of the Cross. Mineola, NY: Dover Publications.
Sherif, R. (2015). Theories of Psychotherapy & Counseling: Concepts and Cases. Cambridge Learning.
(Thank you to Lori Mitchell for assisting with editing this chapter and to my survey respondents, clients and students who continue to contribute to this body of knowledge).
BIO
Debra Lynne Katz, Ph.D., M.S.W., is director of The International School of Clairvoyance (www.debrakatz.com). She is the author of You Are Psychic; Extraordinary Psychic; and Freeing the Genie Within, The Complete Clairvoyant; Associative Remote Viewing: Predicting Outcomes for financial, sports, elections and the lottery; and Unpacking the Popular Psychology Controversy.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE SURVEY RESPONSES FROM RECENT GRADUATES OF THE INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL OF CLAIRVOYANCE
https://www.surveymonkey.com/stories/SM-BXQSPCRQ/