The Heart of the Healer
Recently, there have been several self-proclaimed healers and psychic mediums that have been outed in the spiritual community for taking advantage of their clients and students, causing malicious harm. It has raised many questions about ethics, safety and integrity of spiritual/energetic practitioners and opened up conversation around how we as practitioners hold ourselves accountable in our work. With spiritual businesses popping up everywhere, it’s hard to know someone based off their posts and self-promotion.
One person in this ousted group I had followed on the Threads app last year, but unfollowed soon after, having a bad feeling knot up in my stomach. Not too long before everything came to light, I had an experience with a client who was a student of this person- while keeping many of the details confidential, essentially during our session their guides and I had to remove a nasty cord that was siphoning the client. I very clearly saw this practitioner’s presence in their energy field. It made my blood run cold and I felt immediately that I needed to protect my client from them, it was not a warm, protective, loving energy in the least. So it was not a surprise when posts began to pop up months later, confirming what I already intuitively sensed/witnessed firsthand.
This situation is not the first and won’t be the last. It’s important to use your own intuition, discernment, bullshit meter - whatever you want to call it - when it comes to working with energy workers. Don’t just go by their use of buzzwords, amazing marketing, tons of followers or how they fit the aesthetic. The truth lies in the heart of the healer.
Here are some ways you can protect yourself from unethical energy workers and sketchy spiritual business owners:
Do they make you uncomfortable IN THE SLIGHTEST? And I don’t mean excited or nervous, I mean uncomfortable. We often dismiss discomfort especially as empaths, sensitives because we are used to being uncomfortable. We fear judging others especially if we have been religiously conditioned or believe the best about everyone. If something is off, trust your gut.
Do they act like they have all the answers? Do they consistently toot their own horn? Hey, there’s nothing wrong with having confidence. However, Spiritual narcissists will convince you that they know it all and you’re just lucky you found them in time. If they are overly grandiose, it’s very likely they are operating from an egoic space. They also can be suffering from spiritual psychosis.
Do their messages conflict? You can’t tell folks to empower themselves while speaking down to them. If they are treating you like you’re a broken mess, run. You are looking for compassion, constructive criticism and clarity.
If they are constantly tacking on fees and have no transparency about them. “Oh well if you want this super delux ultra mega boss healing session it’s going to be an extra $5,000. It’s not on my pricing sheet but I only offer this to special clients.” I’m sorry, what? I have also heard of this happening in the community.
Ask them who their mentors and teachers are. If they can’t provide a list or claim they don’t need them, that’s a big red flag.
If they claim to help people with trauma, are they in fact trauma trained? I firmly believe that while there are some gifted souls who have powerful abilities, there’s also a responsibility to have a basis of knowledge of how not to cause more disruption to a client’s nervous system. Many practitioners have logged many months or years of training, or may have a degree in mental health, somatic health, etc. While a degree or certification doesn’t necessarily make a healer whatsoever, it shows that the person is committed to providing a certain level of care.
Their reputation proceeds them, they have consistent clients. If they have good word of mouth, and their clients are benefiting from their services with no backlash, that’s a great sign. However, not everyone is going to have the same experience, or doesn’t realize what’s being done to them until much later (refer to my first item on the list.)
I also asked my fellow Reiki Master and Teacher Diana Sullivan aka The Sensitive Sage what her advice is to those seeking a healer would be:
“The words that came up were - ‘you will know a tree by it’s fruit,” be sure to tune into the peace and satisfaction and groundedness of any practitioner prior to allowing them any access to your energy.”
Such wise advice! Thanks to Diana for that suggestion. I hope everyone who reads this post is able to find someone who helps them in their journey back to wholeness. Remember - at the end of the day, YOU ARE YOUR OWN HEALER. We all need help sometimes, and there’s no shame in that. But we need those who are in support of our journey through life. xoxo
