I’ve struggled with writing this blog for several weeks. Ethics is difficult to explain. I’ve tried to make the explanation below as “black and white” as possible because my reason for writing this blog is to protect the public. However, it’s not a “black and white” issue. There are many shades of gray, not just the areas enumerated below. Please use the following as guidance, but always rely on your own discernment of a situation. Sitting with a psychic or medium is NOT therapy. You are an equal party paying for a personal service. You should not become too reliant on the reader and the reader should not make any attempts to encourage you to be dependent upon him or her. Assume best intent on the part of the reader, because most readers have your best interests at heart. However, be prepared when you are presented with evidence to the contrary.
eth·ics (ĕth´ ĭks) n.
- The rules or standards governing the conduct of the members of a profession. (Second College Edition, The American Heritage Dictionary, p. 467)
Unregulated Professional Ethics
In many professions, the ethics are widely known and agreed to—either through common knowledge or more commonly through statute. However, in the psychic medium profession, in the state in which I live, there aren’t laws that regulate the ethics of the profession. I am a proponent of self-regulation and personal responsibility, so I don’t see this as a detriment. However, self-governance relies on high moral conduct, and sometimes, unfortunately, people don’t always hold themselves to the highest standard. This lack of moral character sometimes translates to some people conducting business in a manner that is not ethical. Although my experience has been that MOST people in this profession are well-meaning, and strive to “do the right thing”, this profession, like every profession, has some people who choose to do the wrong thing.
Unethical Behavior
There are some standards of conduct that, although not codified, are observed by all reputable psychic mediums. For example, most psychic mediums consider the following practices substandard or inappropriate.
Examples of blatant unethical behavior by a psychic medium:
- Evoking fear. Claiming that you, your money, or some cherished object are possessed or cursed, but for a fee, he or she would be happy to remove the spell or lift the curse.
- Predicting death. Telling a healthy person when and how you are going to die.
If you encounter a psychic medium who engages in the above behavior, please find a different psychic medium.
Ethics in Shades of Gray
In addition to blatant unethical behavior in a reading, there are a lot of gray areas. Following are a few examples. These are gray areas, because at times, these types of readings can be conducted in an ethical manner, but in other cases, providing this information is outside the boundaries of information that should be shared.
In general, I feel third-party readings are the biggest gray area there is in this work. A third-party reading is when a sitter asks for information or a psychic medium provides information about a living person who is not present for the reading.
Following are some personal perspectives regarding third-party readings.
- Tangential relationships. In my opinion, this type of third-party reading is rarely ethical. CAN I read your son’s girlfriend’s mother’s friend without her knowledge? Probably. Should I? No. Will I? No. There are psychics and mediums that have no issue running willy-nilly through all the tangential relationships you might have to provide you with “information” about all of the people in your life. In my opinion, this is basically psychic gossip, and I won’t be a party to it. If your adult daughter wants you to know that her boyfriend lost his job, she’ll tell you. Until that time, it’s really none of your business, nor is it mine. If your co-worker is cheating on his wife, that’s for his conscience and his God to judge, not you. If your son’s mother-in-law is ill, that is for her doctor to diagnose and for her to decide to share. No matter how well-meaning you or the psychic medium might be in gaining knowledge about a situation that does not involve you, if it’s really none of your business, then it shouldn’t be shared.
- Committed relationships. This type of third-party reading is highly dependent upon the ethics of the reader. Many psychics and mediums consistently provide this type of information in an ethical manner. However, the sitter should use caution in utilizing information that you receive from a psychic medium that you can’t validate independently. For close relationships such as spouses, I can provide limited information by reading the relationship, not the other party. Generally, this is going to confirm information you already know, vs. providing you with some great insight into the other person’s psyche. To read your spouse without his or her permission in any other manner is, in my opinion, unethical. If the third-party is too closely intertwined with the relationship so I am unable to separate the two, I will decline to provide any information about the relationship or the third-party.
- Minor children. The clear exception to third-party readings for me is minor children for which you have custodial responsibility. If you have no custodial responsibilities for the child, it is inappropriate for you to try to gain knowledge through a psychic medium reading. You may ask questions about your minor children for whom you have custodial responsibility. Spirit will generally only share information with me that is in the best interest of the minor child. So again, generally, the information I receive and translate for you will not be new information, but rather confirmation of information you already know.
My personal ethics related to this work are a result of me taking the time to really consider what I feel is appropriate and also relying on Spirit to guide my work in this manner. I ask Spirit to help me enforce ethical boundaries by setting the intention with Spirit to only share information with me that is for your highest and best purpose. Therefore, I won’t receive psychic gossip from Spirit. However, if a safety issue arises for someone close to you, Spirit may take the opportunity to use our session to convey information to you, which in another circumstance may be outside my reading purview.