Psychic healing

Domain XII · Complementary, energy & biofield · United Kingdom

What it is

"Psychic healing" is an umbrella term, not one method with a single founder or manual. In the UK the organised form is usually called spiritual healing or Spiritualist healing; the SNU calls its practitioners healing mediums. As its organisations describe it, healing is a non-invasive practice…

Format

• Session structure (as the standards set it out). One session runs through: (1) preparing environment and self; (2) explaining what may happen during and after, including the right to stop; (3) obtaining and recording consent; (4) positioning the client seated or lying; (5) healer attunement,…
• Formats. In-person (contact or near-to-the-body), distant (healing sent to someone present but not receiving contact) and absent (person not present). Settings include Spiritualist churches, healing centres, private practice and, historically, NHS hospitals and staff wellbeing sessions.

Who practises it, and how they are trained or regulated

• Training and certification route.
• CNHC-compliant healer training: at least 200 hours total qualification time over a minimum of two years, including 100 guided learning hours with at least 16 hours of supervised practice with tutor and learner physically present; 50% theory, 50% practice (practice includes reflection, communication and professional issues); at least three case studies of at least three sessions each; written work plus a final…
• SNU Healing Accreditation Scheme: the academic element is course SH1 "Spiritualist Healing" (history of Spiritualism, its teachings, responsibilities of a healing medium, healing potential, attunement, the scheme itself, the healing code of conduct, the SNU, trance healing and anatomy and physiology), followed by registration as a trainee healer; churches describe at least two years of practical and theoretical…

Evidence status, as the guide reports it

• Evidence status (one line). The CNHC curriculum itself notes minimal research, mostly pointing to a relaxation response; no health outcome is claimed here, and healing is not a treatment for cancer or any other physical or mental illness.

Questions to explore with your client

• What drew you to it, and what are you hoping it will change?
• Is there physical contact? Was it explained beforehand, and do you feel free to say no or stop at any point?
• Does it involve intense or unusual breathing? Have you been told about the medical conditions for which that is not advised?
• Is it a group, retreat or community? How do they respond if someone wants to leave or raises a concern?
• How do you and the practitioner understand what is happening, in spiritual or cultural terms? Is that a source of comfort, worry, or both?
• Who runs it, and what training or registration do they hold?
• What actually happens in a session or meeting, and how often?
• What does it cost, and is there pressure to commit to more?
• How do you feel afterwards, in the hours and days that follow?
• Does it fit with, or clash with, the work we do here?

What practitioners of it watch for

• the person feeling singled out in a group; offer privacy.
• shame or secrecy, which may hide high spending or fear-based dependence.
• clients who find unseen hand movements unsettling; keep eyes-open option and narrate.
• compliance without true consent, freezing, startle at touch, sudden emotional numbness.
• fatigue, over-involvement, a sense of special power, or clients who seek you out increasingly often.

When to involve someone else

• New or worsening physical symptoms, or advice to stop or change prescribed medication: involve the client's doctor or prescriber.
• Signs of coercion, isolation from family and friends, escalating costs or secrecy: discuss openly and consider safeguarding.
• A crisis or thoughts of suicide: follow your crisis protocol. In the US, call or text 988; in the UK and Ireland, Samaritans on 116 123.

Drawn automatically from the guide's own sections. Stay curious: neither endorse nor dismiss what the client values, and check anything that matters against the full guide and its sources. Not medical advice.