Ethical Boundaries for Choosing a Spiritual Professional

Hello!

The world of spiritual healing and psychic or intuitive readings can be a truly confusing place to get involved with for the first time. Below I include some tips on choosing a new spiritual professional or if you are looking for one for the first time!

Most people don't think of it, but there is a lot to think about when you choose a Spiritual Professional to work with. A great place to start is an online  directory of ethical spiritual professionals like Spiritual Professionals Association. Please take a good look at our Code of Ethics as part of your process to figure out who is the best professional for you.

The first ethical boundary to think about when choosing a new spiritual professional to work with is discerning whether they have the expertise and training to help you with your needs. It is simple; just like you would not allow a master chef to fix your car, a Tarot reader who specializes primarily on Tarot, may not give you the best reading of your astrological chart. This is where a pattern I will talk about a lot in this post comes in: Part of having a good experience with a Spiritual Professional is being hoInest about your needs.

That is our next boundary to look at when choosing a new spiritual professional to work with! As a medium I get a lot of clients who are curious about what the spiritual world has to say. At the beginning of each session I tell my clients that if they want the best experience possible, they need to be honest and tell me who they want to connect to in the afterlife, as a medium I can do that. If my client is not honest and they tell me they just want to see who randomly shows up on reading. It almost always assures them of having a bad experience. Not because I or the spirit did something inappropriate, but because they did have a secret loved one they hoped to hear from, and when a different random Ancestor with a totally different random message from what they needed shows up. The living don't get the healing they need, and end up feeling disappointed or upset. So a good boundary with your spiritual professional is to be open and honest upfront, and tell them what you need from them and see what they can do for you.

Another important boundary to have with a spiritual professional is the lack of spiritual escapism or spiritual bypassing. A good spiritual professional will take you a little bit outside your comfort zone in a safe way, helping you grow and see things as they are; even if they are a completely different situation from what you want them to be! A spiritual professional is not just here to tell you what you want to hear or coddle you and tell you only warm and happy things; your growth and healing are sometimes found in being told uncomfortable truths. Yet there is the related note to that, in which your spiritual professional should always strive to leave you in a better place spiritually and emotionally than you were at the beginning of the session. Even if they deliver bad news, we must give you tools and resources to help support you spiritually through the challenges ahead.

Another important boundary when choosing a new spiritual professional is affordability. There are many different professional psychics and healers out there. Some charge a lot for their services, while some charge much less. Be willing to shop around for someone who is both qualified, experienced, and within your budget! If your spiritual professional tells you that you must have several dozen sessions, costing you thousands of dollars a set, that is a huge red flag! How much you spend on your Spiritual Wellbeing is totally up to you.  Spiritual professionals who have been working for a long time, as well as educating themselves the craft, may cost you more than a few dollars an hour - and they have the right to charge a reasonable fee for their skill, time, and expertise. However you should never feel coerced or pressured to drain your finances for the sake of spiritual healing. Balance is key.

Our next boundary when choosing a new spiritual professional is the connection you make! Not every professional you see will connect with you the way you need them to. It could be the way they talk, dress or even their spiritual presence. When choosing a new spiritual professional, you must feel comfortable with your professional to do the work you are paying them to do, and it is important that you feel safe and comfortable with them.  Not every reader or healer will be right for you, and that is okay!

Which brings me to the next boundary. A lot of people do readings or healing work as a hobby for friends and family. When you finally become a professional at this type of work, it is important keep your personal and private lives separate. Don’t date your healer. If you become friends with your spiritual professional, maintain boundaries so that their work is their work, and social life is kept completely separate!  Please do not demand that your friends give you free labor or discounted readings just because they are your friend.  If a professional chooses to offer a discounted "friends and family" rate this is their choice, but they should not feel pressured or obligated to share their skills or labor with anyone.

Our next boundary of the most importance! When choosing a new spiritual professional, the professional needs to have powerful ethical boundaries with themselves! Let your professional help you only with the things they are trained and experienced in! It is why, for example I don’t do medical readings. I am not a doctor, I have never had medical training. So all my readings and healing work are of spiritual nature. I will add to this that in the 20+ years I have been doing this, I have seen medical doctors lose their license for referring clients to their own spiritual practice and for having spiritual clients being sent to their medical practice! It is very important that your professional stays in their lane!  Your professional reader or healer should be willing to say "no" to a request for any service that they are not qualified to give.  As a client it is important that you are not seeking medical advice from people who are not trained in healthcare, or not seeking legal or financial advice from people who are not trained in those fields.

Another important boundary is that your professional needs to have the self awareness of when to send you to someone else! If what your spiritual professional does is not meeting your needs, they must be willing to ask you to find help elsewhere. That includes traditional western medicine and mental healthcare! If your spiritual professional is continuously taking your money over and over and not getting the job done, while never suggesting that you get other forms of support, a boundary has been crossed and you may need a different person to work with. I personally have turned clients away because I did all I could and could no longer help them with my unique services.

Which brings me to our last boundary. Your spiritual professional must preferably be able to send you to places to find other types of spiritual help. They should be more than willing to refer you to other readers or healers and not hoarding you all to themselves.  Your Spiritual Professional should not shame you for seeking out other healers or for seeking a second opinion and alternate sources of Spiritual wisdom.  Your professional should gladly and enthusiastically refer you to other websites like Spiritual Professionals Association, Metaphysical Shops, or even other professionals!

These are some basic ideas to guide you through the process of finding the right spiritual professional for you!