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At some point in a hunter’s career, he’s going to do house calls. He’s not going to just do them sporadically, as they make up perhaps as much as 95% of his cases. It’s not too often a business calls you in, but homeowners will and do call often.
Every hunter has their own way of dealing with clients. Some are totally disorganized, others have a rigid questionnaire. I believe in a personable and fluid method. The only rules I have are:
1. Do not go alone.
2. Make sure the client’s children are gone from the home.
3. It goes without saying, but never ever charge a penny for services.
Other than that, the rest is all about my technique. If you sit a client down on a sofa and grill him with questions, he gets into the usual posture anyone being questioned does, his mind goes blank, he feels as if he could give the wrong answer, he forgets much of what is important to recall.
I believe in having a warm welcome, a comment about the home as if I’m a guest. I have them take me on the tour right away just like you do when you have a friend over and want to show them your place. Only, I carry on a casual conversation about the rooms and who lives in them, shooting the breeze, asking if they’ve had anything happen there. Standing in that spot, looking around the room, the client is able to relive the events in vivid detail and give it a storytelling feature that helps to make the visuals, auditory and visceral elements a real 3D imagery. They recall much more when they’re in the room.
Having the advantage of being highly sensitive to changes in energy, I walk around the room and find the spots with the highest energy. I then ask the client to walk around the room and see if anything in there makes him uncomfortable. I can find out if this person is attuned to energy changes and this might be causing a part of the unsettling feelings. As well, as a psychic, I never under any conditions during a reading get emotional, make a scene, get dramatic. In fact, most people would have no idea I'm filtering as I'm talking and it would amaze them to know what is being registered in my mind.
I in no way advocate wearing team t-shirts. I realize some clients like feeling as if the professionals are coming, but I’d rather show up at someone’s doorstep as a typical woman with a laptop bag than a van with a sign and a bunch of T-shirted people advertising the neighbors think their house is haunted. A lot of hard work, especially around shielding children, would be ruined when those rumors get around and once a child thinks his parents are hiding that their house is haunted, he will think it’s surely something awful that they couldn’t tell him about it.
So far as using instruments, I’d prefer to do this without the client around for several reasons. One reason is that it becomes fearful for the client to wonder if there is a jump or spike on meters and if anything is being captured on EVP. The concept that we are talking to entities and expecting recorded answers is frightening. Long after we’re gone, the client has to sleep there all alone wondering who is speaking to him that he can’t hear. As well, clients can sometimes be the activator for activity. To have the client out of reach is to see if they might be a factor in what’s happening. Some people, for unknown reasons, seem to attract or even subconsciously create activity. If I think that’s the case, I will bring them along when I restudy a room and see if there are any changes in readings. If in their storytelling they are the only one witnessing activity in a house full of people, I need to hone in on that person and perhaps even do a reading of him.
You need to know the religious background of the people you serve. A Catholic's take on the supernatural is different than a Native American or a Mormon or an athiest. This is hugely important in how to tackle the process of counseling and resolution. It must be within a mindset that suits their belief system. A prayer is not going to help an athiest, but a little room rearranging and feng shui might be a feasible alternative to resolution.
All in all, the counseling process is the most difficult part of a ghost study but the most rewarding. It’s your attitude that helps them. I like to make this less of a serious matter and more of a curious puzzle. I explain all the many reasons you can get phenomenon and how tiny the chances are that this is created by anything of a paranormal nature. I go through a laundry list of the most likely sources to the least likely. I also explain residuals so that they understand these are not active hauntings, but sort of a projection of a past event. This can create a great deal of relief just knowing that it's not a ghost trying to bother them.
I prefer to keep my findings close to the vest. I do not tell them excitedly about what was found, as they do have to remain there and I will not have answers until I put the puzzle pieces together at home in my office. So, I leave them with the reassurance that the house feels and seems to be perfectly safe.
Later, I will do a followup on this post about the counseling process.
