This past week a local newspaper featured an article on two unrelated cases in which mediums had been accused of defrauding their clients. One of the cases involved a medium charging an innocent and vulnerable woman €10,000 to rid her of the voices in her head. She apparently emptied out her savings and borrowed from family and friends. But when, in the end, her so-called evil spirit remained with her, she took her own life by leaping to her death.

Unfortunately, news of such psychic scams are becoming all too common. I suppose it’s inevitable. More of us are seeking guidance and counselling from psychics and as a result opportunistic charlatans and frauds have crawled out to make a quick swindle.

I am passionate about being psychic. And I firmly believe that psychics have a role to play in society and that people should be able to consult psychics without fear that they are dealing with someone who doesn’t have their best interests at heart. So, this week I would like to offer you some guidelines to protect yourself from phoney psychics.

Alan’s Top 5 Tips to Ensure Your Psychic isn’t a Phoney

Tip #1. You should always know who your psychic is. When you consult a psychic, chances are you will be asking questions that are deeply personal. And how those questions are answered will influence your life. If not, you probably need to consider why you are seeing a psychic in the first place.

Your psychic should happily and openly tell you about themselves. While you might not want to take out time from a reading interviewing them, you should be able to easily learn about their background from their website, for example. Read about where they’ve been in life and what they’ve done.

You should be asking yourself what sort of vibe you get from this person. Does this or that psychic strike you as someone who is sincere? Remember, this is important as you’ll be opening yourself up to this stranger. Make sure you’re comfortable doing just that.

Another way to get to know your psychic is to read their testimonials – and there should always be testimonials. Find out what people have said about their readings. Now you might say that of course they will be glowing because the psychic will have selected them. But have a look nonetheless. I have visited some sites where testimonials were less than glowing.

If you can, read something that the psychic has written. You need a psychic who can communicate. It doesn’t matter how good their abilities are, if they can’t get their points across. As well, what they write will reveal a lot of their personality and their philosophy, both of which play a large part in how well you’ll get on with your psychic and how much you’ll take from their reading.

And finally, make sure that you know who your reading is with. This might sound obvious, but it’s not. Lots of psychic phone services have a celebrity psychic headliner. But if you think that celebrity is going to read for you, think again. I have friends and colleagues – some of whom are the celebrity headlines – and they rarely if ever read for the callers.

People sometimes ask me if I’ll be the psychic reading for them. Of course I will be. I work on my own – both here and at my other site IntuitiveBridges where I offer Medical Intuitive Assessments and spiritual guidance.

Tip #2. When a psychic starts asking you lots of questions, alarm bells should start going off. The psychic may be legitimate and simply asking you to frame or give them reference points for what they are receiving. But I consider this bad form. The reason is that it can be seen as what’s called cold reading where the so-called psychic asks clever questions and appears to give a reading but is merely just responding to the information that the client supplied.

Now I personally know some authentic psychics who ask a lot of questions. It’s just their style. But I don’t want my clients to wonder after the reading whether I wasn’t just doing a cold reading. I want them to know that I was offering them what I was getting. To that end, if you’ve ever had a reading with me, in particular a Telephone Reading, then you’ll know I like to tell you what I’m seeing before you ask or tell me.

Tip #3. You should always know how much your reading costs before it starts. Prices should be clearly stated. And you should always pay for your reading in advance. That’s industry practice – and if the psychic varies with that, you should be wondering in what other ways they might vary.

Personally, I like to have everything spelled out so that the format, including cost, of the reading is never a surprise. My Email Readings have approximate word counts, which I have to say that I tend to exceed for better or for worse. And my Telephone Readings have defined durations – 30 minutes or 60 minutes. I suppose it’s the lawyer in me that likes such specifics.

I have never been a fan of so-called premium rate telephone services. Again, I don’t want there to be even the possibility that someone could think that I was drawing out the reading to make more money. That’s not to say that some such services are not legitimate. Some are. It’s just not how I operate. I have normal-rate telephone numbers in the US and in the UK for my clients to call me.

Tip #4. Beware of psychics who seem to be telling you only what you want to hear. Now this doesn’t necessarily mean that they aren’t psychic. Your future could be just as rosy as the picture they are painting. In other words, you might be about to get engaged, honeymoon on the French Rivera and return to win the lottery. But come on, it’s unlikely.

You know what you’re like and you know how your life is. If your psychic is predicting that everything is going to turn around – just like that – without having to lift a finger or do anything differently, you might want to think about finding another psychic.

I can’t tell you how many people come to me after having such a Pollyannaish reading. A psychic should be sensitive and compassionate, but they should also be honest. I strive to tell it like it is in such a way that my clients can direct their choices in life accordingly. For me, it’s all about empowering those for whom I read.

Tip #5. Don’t believe any psychic who says that they are 100% accurate. And if someone purports such a rate, then you know something’s wrong. Perhaps they’ve only just started out and haven't read for too many people. But it’s more likely that they are being dishonest because no psychic ever gets it right every time, all the time. It just doesn’t work like that.

What we psychics do is something akin to weather forecasting. We tune in to our client’s energy. We perceive our client’s past and present. And based on the influences we detect we are able to deduce where they are going and what’s coming next. Remember, the future is not carved in stone. Every time you exercise your free will you rewrite your future. It’s up to you – not what a psychic tells you!

Keep these tips in mind whenever you go for a psychic reading be it with me or any other psychic. And if you are considering allowing me the privilege of reading for you, run through my tips. Find out about my background here. Then read what people say about my readings here. Also know that I will only ever ask you for your name and birth date to do a reading. Additionally, the prices of my readings are clearly stated here. Finally, my Ask Alan column gives an example of what a reading with me is like. And if you have any other questions about my readings, click here to find out more or email me here.

This week over at IntuitiveBridges, I look at forgiveness. It comes up again and again when I read for people. And all too often it’s misunderstood. It’s time you asked yourself just how forgiving you are. Read my insightful article here!

Finally, don't forget to enter for your FREE Mini Reading. This is for a limited time only. So, click here to find out who's eligible and how to get one while they last!

As always, feel free to email me with any comments, suggestions or feedback on PsychicBridges.

Thanks again for all your support and until next week,

Kindest regards,

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