What to Expect During an Evidential Medium Reading

The Healing Power of Mediumship

If you've experienced the death of a loved one, it is natural to want to know that they are ok and that you're still connected to them.  When my daughter died unexpectedly, nothing was more important to me than maintaining a connection with her.

My personal journey led me to understanding how healing mediumship really is, and that it is something sacred rather than something to be scared of.  I offer evidential mediumship readings to help others connect with their loved ones in Spirit so they can find courage, hope, and healing in living after loss.

Feeling nervous or wondering what to expect during a reading is common, especially with how misrepresented a mediumship reading can be in movies and television shows. I write this article from the perspective of being in the shoes of a grieving mother seeking validation of connection with my daughter in Spirit, as well as being an evidential medium myself to help you experience the most powerful, loving, healing reading possible. 

First, let’s clarify what an evidential medium is.

What is an “Evidential Medium”?

An evidential medium is a person who can receive evidential information from loved ones on the Other Side to share with you so you can validate the connection and relieve any doubts (for example: info about their personality, characteristics, memories you share, cause of death, career, hobbies, etc.).

An evidential medium “reading” is a session with a medium to receive evidential information and messages from a loved one on the Other Side. I recommend waiting at least three months after a loved one transitions before having a reading. This is partly due to giving you time to process grief and shock that can block a connection, and partly to give your loved one time to transition and become fully acclimated on the Other Side (each person has their own timing for transitioning and being ready to connect from the Other Side).

Not all mediums are evidential mediums. If having a sense of “proof” that it is really your loved one’s messages and connection from the Other Side is important to you like it is for me, an evidential mediumship reading is what you’re looking for.

There are many great evidential mediums, and you'll find that you resonate with some more than others. If you resonate with a medium, they'll most likely resonate with you too, and the connection with your loved one in Spirit will be stronger. How do you know if you resonate with a medium?…Trust what your gut (or intuition) is telling you. Your loved ones on the Other Side have ways of orchestrating a connection to a medium for you that they resonate with too!

Note: although many mediums are called "psychic" mediums, it doesn't mean that you'll be getting a psychic reading during your session. Psychic simply means that mediums utilize their intuition to establish a connection and communicate with loved ones in Spirit. Mediums receive information from a loved one in Spirit. Psychics perceive information by reading energy.  

How to Prepare for Your Reading

Once you’ve found a medium you resonate with and have scheduled a reading (which can be anywhere from 15-60 minutes long and conducted via phone, Zoom, or in-person depending on what the medium offers), there are some things you can do to prepare for your reading because you are one of the three important components required for a mediumship reading.  The first component is you (the living loved one - also called the “sitter”), the second is the medium, and the third component is your loved one on the Other Side.

A medium cannot guarantee that a connection will be made or even which loved ones in Spirit will present themselves. However, if there is a specific loved one you'd like to connect with, a focused intention by you and the medium may help with connecting with that specific loved one.

You can help the medium establish a stronger connection by:

• Setting the intention to connect with your loved one(s) ahead of time and during the reading
• Telling your loved one in Spirit that the reading is going to take place and when (they most likely already know!). Let them know you’d like to connect with them and invite them to join you during the reading.
• Releasing all expectations, attachments, or outcomes
• Being open to receive
• Avoiding substances like drugs and alcohol prior to your reading
• Reducing the number of people in the reading. The more people who are in the reading with you (other friends/family), the more likely that loved ones in Spirit for the other people who are joining you will come through rather than the loved one you’re hoping to connect with.
• Focusing on the love you share with your loved one
• Taking some deep breaths to help you ground and center
• Understanding if the medium is not feeling well and has to reschedule. The energy of loved ones on the Other Side vibrates at a much higher frequency than we do because they’re not weighted down with a body like you are. A medium has to be able to raise their frequency enough to establish an energetic connection with the Spirit world and if they are ill or low energy, establishing a connection becomes more difficult.

Some mediums will record the session so that you don't have to worry about taking notes, and you can stay focused on the connection and what is being shared. If not, you may want a pen and paper handy to capture notes during the reading. Try to breathe and relax throughout the reading.

What Happens During a Reading

At the start of your reading, the medium will welcome you and give you instructions and an overview of what to expect. Then the medium will focus on establishing an energetic connection. Some mediums find it easier to maintain a connection by keeping their eyes closed during the reading as they share information, and some mediums (like me) conduct a reading with eyes open. Once a connection is established, the medium will utilize their intuitive senses to receive impressions. 

Our loved ones in Spirit communicate with us through our intuitive senses, and messages may be received through symbols, smells, feelings, visions, tastes, sounds, and bodily sensations. Sometimes its a bit like a game of charades in interpreting what they’re trying to express!

Intuitive senses that the medium uses may include: clairvoyance ("clear seeing"), clairsentience ("clear feeling", like goosebumps), claircognizance ("clear knowing"), clairempathy ("clear emotions"), clairaudience ("clear hearing"), clairgustance ("clear tasting") and clairsalience ("clear smelling").

The medium will begin sharing impressions as they receive them (even if it makes no sense to them), and establishing evidence of who the loved one is that they’re connecting with. For example, the vision of a full sail on a sailboat came up in a reading I did and it was significant because "full sail" was part of a lyric in a song that was very meaningful. If the information from the medium doesn't make complete sense, be open to exploring what it could mean because interpretation is a key element. Sometimes information that is shared is validated after a reading too.

If the loved one in Spirit is someone who died before you were born or when you were too young to remember, validation may be more challenging, and you may have to validate it after the reading by asking other family members.

Once the information or evidence is validated by you (the sitter), the medium will share any messages that they receive from your loved ones.  After evidence and messages have been delivered, the medium may ask if you have any questions for your loved one if there is enough time remaining in your reading, and the medium will inquire and share any feedback from your loved one.

At the end of the reading, the medium will end the connection with your loved one and the reading will be complete. I recommend taking some time to yourself to reflect on the reading afterward. While readings can be powerfully healing, they can also bring up emotions too and you may not want to jump back into work or tasks right after.

If you receive a recording from the medium, I recommend listening back to it and recording any meaningful information in a journal so you can reflect back on it again if you desire.

How Often Should I Get an Evidential Medium Reading?

There is no right or wrong answer here. You may feel complete with the reading you had and have no desire for additional readings. You may be drawn to get another reading from the same medium in the future. Or, you may decide to get a reading from a different medium, as they may receive different impressions.

In my own personal and professional experience, I recommend you do what feels healthy for you. I’ve found that there is a balance to having a healthy connection with my loved ones in Spirit so that it doesn’t become a dependency for me. Our loved ones in Spirit REALLY ARE still with us and they continue growing, learning, creating, experiencing and having a purpose on the Other Side. We also need to continue doing those same things here on Earth until it’s our time to transition back to the Spirit world too. In the meantime, we can enjoy a new way to experience love with them…a love between worlds.