My Story

The Psychic

The word "psychic" is such a loaded term and I am aware that by aligning myself with its’ use, I am potentially setting myself up as a target for people to take aim with their arrows laced with negative judgement and fixed opinion.  Like many of you here, over a great many years I have been hugely sceptical when hearing the many claims made of the paranormal - even with having had numerous anomalous experiences myself.  The truth is, it’s taken such a long time for me to accept and honour what some might describe as my ‘gifts’; having chosen instead, for much of my life, to deny those very aspects of myself that are uniquely me, and dismiss any encounter sat on the periphery of scientific explanation. 

I grew up with an innate sense of “knowing”, and as a young child had no idea this was unusual. I didn’t realise that most people just saw an image when looking at a photograph for example, for me it extended far beyond that, opening up an energy that would expose details about people’s lives and personality traits that were hidden to the majority. It simply never occurred to me that this was not a common every day experience, nor did I realise people didn’t just ‘know’ information about others that they hadn’t been told - about their health, about their past, and certainly not about possible events that lay ahead in their future. I also never realised the precognitive dreams relating to places, people and situations, years in advance, wasn’t the norm, and I became used to the repeated dismissal from my parents when insisting, yet again, they refrain from making certain decisions due to the negative consequences I could see should they continued down a certain path. Who could blame them, what parent would take note of a young child when making major life decisions – they’re the adults, they must know best - right?

Not all of my childhood experiences with this intuitive knowledge were quite so inert. I would also occasionally pick up certain more harrowing energies from people and places that I just couldn’t shake off. Somehow I’d know if someone was holding trauma or suffering, and as a child could do nothing to protect myself from their pain. I’d often feel sad or frightened when exposed to such big emotions - emotions I felt unable to process as they were simply not my own. I could be sitting on a train or walking amongst strangers and I’d suddenly become aware of a vortex of warm swirling energy in my hands when near certain people.  Somehow the energy centres in my hands would spontaneously activate and I could often see what I now know to be blockages in people’s auras. Both visually and intuitively, I was inadvertently picking up from their energy that they were in need of healing.  I had no knowledge of this field, no one to confide in, and no help with working through what was happening to me when seeing, hearing or feeling things that just weren’t meant to be there. To some degree, this led to me cutting off from and dismissing this side of myself so as to function efficiently in everyday life. This was however, to become the fuel that would later catapult me on a fascinating journey of self-discovery and acceptance.

Intrigued? Watch a recent demonstration I gave at The College of Psychic Studies in London with Gordon Smith - ‘The UK’s Most Accurate Medium’ (Daily Mail).

With a deep seated desire to ‘know the truth’ and believing that everything has an explanation, I have actively engaged in numerous training courses, workshops, demonstrations, energy work and healing – all with the intention of finding some answers. During this time I have obtained my Reiki I and II qualification, completed Mia Dolan’s Psychic School and most notably trained over a number of years with Gordon Smith to a level of Advanced Mediumship. I wanted to find an acceptable scientific interpretation of what was going on here, but instead of gaining some ’insider knowledge’ to explain away these phenomena with some rational certainty, it opened up far more questions than were answered. 

Over the past 20-years I have participated in healing, trance healing, psychic readings, mediumship, trance mediumship, platform work, one to one readings and psychometry etc. and have repeatedly correctly diagnosed and facilitated the healing of various heath issues, seen vivid movies in my mind of people’s lives and futures playing out, embodied the illnesses and felt-sense of people’s loved-ones that have passed away, heard specific names, places and known countless other in-depth and detailed information about strangers and their deceased relatives – even when blindfolded!  Now, I personally have no explanation for where this information comes from, nor do I know why some people are more able to naturally ‘tune in’ and access it than others, but what I do know for sure, is that all this is genuinely possible.

All over the world there are numerous accounts of people documenting experiences like this, events supposedly beyond the limits of possibility. The world of science labels these as ‘paranormal phenomena’, and they are often dismissed as falsehoods due to a lack of scientific validation - they cannot be easily measured or replicated. As a scientist myself, my work is grounded in evidence-based practice, and when specifically conducting research, I also rely on these methods and calculations to provide a significant level of ‘proof’ that what I am observing is what I am suggesting it to be.  

We all place value judgments and seek to determine whether something can be seen to be true or false, and in doing so, we can be pre-disposed to viewing something a certain way based on our life experiences, upbringing and culture.  Attributing my experiences as being somehow ‘supernatural’ has never sat well with me, not just in terms of wanting to rid myself of the stigmas attached to such a viewpoint, but also because I truly believe we all have a capacity to develop such intuitive skills. These are everyday experiences held by a great many individuals and therefore could be viewed simply as natural human traits we can all learn to access. Equally, just because an experience falls outside of our scientific understanding, doesn’t mean it should be dismissed away as trickery or the misguided ramblings of a ‘crazy’ person.

The word psychic actually stems from the Greek word ‘psychikos’, meaning ‘of the mind’ and is referred to as ‘of or relating to the soul’.  Again, to me, this implies a kind of natural knowing that we all share, rather than some paranormal occurrence.  It has taken a great many years, but I have now learnt to embrace and own my intuitive nature and am truly grateful for the many insights I have been shown along the way.  I welcome you on this journey and invite you to do the same.

 The Psychologist

Professionally, I have been awarded Chartership status by The British Psychological Society (BPS) and as such carry the title of Chartered Counselling Psychologist (CPsychol). I am also fully registered with the Health Care Professions Council as a Registered Practitioner Psychologist (HCPC) and abide by both professional codes of conduct. These accreditations enable me to practice in my field as a Counselling Psychologist, which is both a protected and regulated title here in the UK. 

Since 2001 I have been running a successful private practice, and at times have provided consultancy services for Charities, GPs, Insurance Companies, Councils and some Secondary Schools in both Surrey and Berkshire. I have vast experience with a wide range of presenting issues, client groups and therapeutic approaches and also supervise and assist other professionals in the field. 

With a continued commitment to professional development, I have completed numerous trainings to include a Post-MSc PGDip in the Practice of Counselling Psychology, an MSc in Counselling Psychology, BSc (Hons) Psychology, PGDip in Hypnotherapy and Psychotherapy, have completed the MBCT Teacher Training pathway with the Oxford Mindfulness Centre at The University of Oxford, a 20 day NLP practitioner training programme accredited by ABNLP and NLP(UK), have trained in Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR), Advanced Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT), completed the Master Practitioner Programme for the treatment of Eating Disorders and Obesity with the NCFED, and also completed a number of Supervision certifications fully endorsed by the British Psychological Society. 

In addition to the above, I have also taken additional trainings in areas such as Complex PTSD, Couples Therapy, coaching, trauma, suicide and self-harm amongst others, and have extensive experience in working with anxiety, depression, low mood, panic disorders, relationship difficulties, attachment disorders, substance abuse, recovery from childhood trauma/ abuse, personality disorders, confusion with gender identity and sexual preference, stress disorder, OCD, bereavement and loss, the management of ME/CFS, and the enhancement of self-esteem and self-confidence. 

As a Counselling Psychologist I can choose a framework for my client work from any of the three major psychotherapeutic orientations - the Humanistic paradigm, Cognitive-Behavioural and the Psychodynamic approach.  This, alongside my other trainings, enables me to tailor my approach to client need, presenting issue and current circumstance; facilitating a more integrative methodology, whilst also incorporating best-practice as indicated by the relevant research literature.

With these extensive qualifications, training and experience, I rapidly built an exceptional reputation locally, with most client referrals locating me through word of mouth or from other professionals in the field. In more recent times demand has extended much further afield, with many sessions now regularly conducted online with clients all over the world!

 The Psychic Psychologist

You may wonder how two such contradictory terms can come together in one brand, in one person even.  How can I, as a Psychologist, with my work contingent upon science, allow myself to become associated with such an unsubstantiated field marred with stigma and controversy. 

Well, assuming you have read the above, I am hoping you now have some insight into how and why this marriage of two opposites, for me, represents bringing together two sides of the same coin. Whist they may come from different perspectives, the intention behind both individually is ultimately to relieve pain and suffering.  In my mind, the combination of these approaches brings together greater possibility and enhanced potential to alleviate suffering and provide a more fulfilled, purposeful and aligned life. 

Twenty years ago it was practically unheard of for Psychologists to use tools originating in Buddhist spiritual teachings, in fact, it would have been positively frowned upon for being unscientific. Zoom forward to the present moment and we have just that - mindfulness is everywhere! Numerous programmes based on mindfulness practices have been developed for therapeutic purposes, often with the addition of psychological techniques; most notably Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) - originally developed as a treatment strategy to address recurrent depression.

Following evidence from randomised controlled trials, in 2004, the UK National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) endorsed MBCT as an effective treatment strategy - this recommendation was updated to ‘key priority’ status in 2009.  Evidence from randomised controlled trials indicated a reduction in the rate of relapse by 50% among patients who suffer from recurrent depression. Not only that, recent research suggests mindfulness-based interventions to be beneficial for a wider range of health concerns – anxiety, depression, stress, trauma to name a few and can also help people cope better with pain and chronic illness. 

This is a fantastic illustration of how bringing together modern science with teachings from a more spiritual perspective can offer great benefit; perhaps when looking through this lens we could apply this view to other areas too.    

Having worked successfully with many hundreds of clients and through analysing my own life experiences and resulting difficulties, I can see much of our suffering, whether mental, physical, emotional or relational, manifests from or manifests into disconnection – this then continues in a self-perpetuating cycle.  It doesn’t matter whether this disconnection manifests from our poor sense of self, from a lack of purpose, through self-protection mechanisms, is learnt from our families or is created through addictions, depression or traumas for example, it all leads to the same place - a disconnection from your core self, from loved ones, from the pleasurable feelings of joy, happiness and love, and ultimately leads to living a less fulfilled, less purposeful, more isolated life; with limited wellbeing and poor health.

The modern world as we currently know it does little to provide us with an environment in which this can easily be reversed, instead it is geared up to promote materialism and self-gain over optimum health and personal happiness. We are now so connected to technologies that exacerbate this disconnectedness and magnifies the isolation we feel within ourselves and separates us from the living, breathing, people around us.

As the Psychic Psychologist, I am offering you solutions to help combat this epidemic and gain access to the root of your disconnection to facilitate healing. Combining proven research-based psychological strategies alongside more intuitive teachings we can access a deeper connection with yourself, arming you with the self-awareness needed to improve your health and to help you discover a deeper, more meaningful relationship with yourself, with your loved ones and with your life. 

My programmes, retreats, workshops and coaching sessions will help you discover deeper meaning and purpose that will enable you to consciously align your mind and your body so as to make connection with your soul energy - aiding mental, physical and emotional wellbeing.

Amanda x