Not long ago, after a sitting, someone asked me how I learned to do this. It’s a question I get a lot, and I love it, because the honest answer surprises people. There’s no one way into this work. Everybody comes to it from a different place. But once you’re here, the road looks pretty much the same for all of us. It takes a lot of practice, a lot of patience, and a willingness to keep learning.
Some people have known since they were little. Some find their way here after losing someone they love. Others come from tarot, Reiki or energy work and realize there’s something more they want to understand. And some, like me, come kicking and screaming.
I grew up in a small town in southern Ohio, and I was the biggest skeptic on earth. I thought every medium on TV was a fake. (You can read more of my story here.) Then in my thirties, the floodgates opened. Things happened that I couldn’t ignore, and one morning on the highway, it got strong enough that I knew I had to learn how to handle it. So I went looking for a teacher.
What I found out pretty quickly is that having an ability and knowing how to use it are two very different things. I had plenty of the first and not much of the second. I took classes. I practiced sitting with other students, week after week, and wrote down what worked and what didn’t. People started asking for sittings sooner than I expected, and I was grateful. But deep down I knew something was missing.
That’s what led me to Mavis Pittilla in 2018. The timing couldn’t have been worse. I’d just gone back to college and had just been laid off. But something inside me said there was no time to wait, so I went. Mavis couldn’t understand a word of my southern Ohio accent at first, and she later admitted she wasn’t sure what she was going to do with me. I studied with her for five years, until she passed, and she took me apart and put me back together more than once.
That’s the part people don’t always see. Even after years of working, I had to be willing to hear that I was doing things wrong. I had to learn to have a real conversation with people in the spirit world instead of grabbing bits and pieces. I had to learn what was coming from them and what was coming from me. And I had to keep showing up and practicing, even on the days I didn’t feel very good at it.
I’ve been teaching since 2019, and I’m an Authorized Mavis Pittilla Teacher, certified to teach her Whole Medium Approach. You’d think by now I’d have it all figured out. I don’t. Mavis used to say no medium is ever fully developed, and the longer I do this, the more I believe her. I still practice. I still learn something new all the time.
So if you’re wondering whether you have what it takes, here’s what I’d tell you. Your way in is your own, and it doesn’t have to look like anyone else’s. Everyone is psychic to some degree, because it comes from the soul. What matters is what you do next: find a good teacher, be patient with yourself, and don’t rush. The ability might be what brings you here, but practice and dedication are what keep you going.
If you’d like to talk more about any of this, join me at my Free Live Q&A on Friday, November 20, 6 to 7 PM Eastern. And if you’re ready to begin, my beginner classes start in January. You’ll find them on my Classes and Courses page.