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The Ethical Psychic
A 101 guide for psychics and energy workers to build an authentic, equitable, and culturally sensitive healing practice, written by Afro-Indigenous intuitive, scholar, and healer Dr. Jennifer Lisa Vest.
Being an ethical psychic means being of service–and learning how to navigate the thorny issues and unique risks inherent to intuitive work.
From knowing your boundaries and limitations–and respecting those of your clients–to resisting the temptation of the guru lifestyle, The Ethical Psychic offers 7 critical guiding principles for grounded, ethical practice. Intuitive, philosopher, and ethicist Dr. Jennifer Lisa Vest, PhD, explores why (and how) energy workers must be of service, authentic, and self-aware; learn from their mistakes; embody sensitivity to client needs; be humble; and listen to a higher source.
With training in African American Hoodoo, Native American Sweatlodge, Jamaican Revivalism, Trinidadian Shango, Spiritualism, Reiki, Pranic Healing, and other traditions, Dr. Vest is uniquely positioned to address readers’ most common and pressing questions, like: How do I avoid crossing boundaries? What if I’m making things worse? What privacy considerations do I need to think about? How can I be financially ethical? How do I avoid appropriation? What do I need to know about working with spirits?
A go-to-guide for any medium, spirit worker, psychic, or aspiring Reiki master, The Ethical Psychic helps readers become the grounded and effective healers they were born to be.
Being an ethical psychic means being of service–and learning how to navigate the thorny issues and unique risks inherent to intuitive work.
From knowing your boundaries and limitations–and respecting those of your clients–to resisting the temptation of the guru lifestyle, The Ethical Psychic offers 7 critical guiding principles for grounded, ethical practice. Intuitive, philosopher, and ethicist Dr. Jennifer Lisa Vest, PhD, explores why (and how) energy workers must be of service, authentic, and self-aware; learn from their mistakes; embody sensitivity to client needs; be humble; and listen to a higher source.
With training in African American Hoodoo, Native American Sweatlodge, Jamaican Revivalism, Trinidadian Shango, Spiritualism, Reiki, Pranic Healing, and other traditions, Dr. Vest is uniquely positioned to address readers’ most common and pressing questions, like: How do I avoid crossing boundaries? What if I’m making things worse? What privacy considerations do I need to think about? How can I be financially ethical? How do I avoid appropriation? What do I need to know about working with spirits?
A go-to-guide for any medium, spirit worker, psychic, or aspiring Reiki master, The Ethical Psychic helps readers become the grounded and effective healers they were born to be.
208 pages, Paperback
Published October 11, 2022
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
June 18, 2022
First off, full disclosure: I don't really believe in psychics. I had a traumatic experience with one a few months ago when I went with a friend who really wanted me to try it. I didn't believe to begin with and the experience was pretty brutal. I know and love people who believe they are psychic and work in the field though, and I have a lot of knowledge about the subject matter.
All that said, this is a fascinating book that I'd recommend to anyone whether you believe in psychics or not if you are interested in the field. I'd also say it's a must-read for anyone working in this field. It covers so many issues I never would have thought of and makes so many great points. The author is well trained in multiple cultures and fields, and gives great advice. I always never would have dreamed up many of these ethical dilemmas and I agree wholeheartedly with everything Vest says about how to practice ethically.
Recommended, whether you're a believer, a skeptic or in between.
I read a digital ARC of this book for review.
All that said, this is a fascinating book that I'd recommend to anyone whether you believe in psychics or not if you are interested in the field. I'd also say it's a must-read for anyone working in this field. It covers so many issues I never would have thought of and makes so many great points. The author is well trained in multiple cultures and fields, and gives great advice. I always never would have dreamed up many of these ethical dilemmas and I agree wholeheartedly with everything Vest says about how to practice ethically.
Recommended, whether you're a believer, a skeptic or in between.
I read a digital ARC of this book for review.
April 8, 2024
Great primer and although for psychics, relevant for any with gifts or powers in yoga or wellness. RTC.
August 24, 2022
"An ethical psychic is intentional and conscious in her use of her gifts, she strives to use her gifts to help and never harm. She takes steps to ensure that no negative consequences result from the expression of her gifts."
I am blown away by this author. Jennifer Lisa Vest has a PhD in Indigenous Philosophies & Ethnic Studies, was personally trained by Dolores Cannon, was trained in African America Hoodoo, and I could just go on about how phenomenal she is. I am so grateful that she is sharing her wisdom in this well-written book!
She reminds us that no one is 100% accurate, we need to be so careful in the practices we take part in and protect our energy, as well as truly encouraging people to seek mental help and professionals instead of relying on psychics. She gives useful tips to new psychics who make be caught in people-pleasing dynamics and struggle with setting boundaries.
Cultural appropriation is a huge topic. I realized I was definitely participating in unethical cultural appropriation in the white yoga studios I used to be part of. I am more mindful of those who try to set themselves up as experts in someone else's culture or traditions. There are many white dominant spiritual communities that excludes the cultures they are profiting from. We must be respectful of other people's traditions and have humility.
Any individual who wants to "make a living" in a spiritual way should absolutely grab a copy of this book and truly soak in what she has to say. She goes through the character traits necessary to embody an ethical psychic. There are so many examples shared throughout the book which help to breakdown each of the traits and each tidbit of wisdom.
Thank you so much to NetGalley for the ARC! I can't wait to grab a copy when it hits shelves.
I am blown away by this author. Jennifer Lisa Vest has a PhD in Indigenous Philosophies & Ethnic Studies, was personally trained by Dolores Cannon, was trained in African America Hoodoo, and I could just go on about how phenomenal she is. I am so grateful that she is sharing her wisdom in this well-written book!
She reminds us that no one is 100% accurate, we need to be so careful in the practices we take part in and protect our energy, as well as truly encouraging people to seek mental help and professionals instead of relying on psychics. She gives useful tips to new psychics who make be caught in people-pleasing dynamics and struggle with setting boundaries.
Cultural appropriation is a huge topic. I realized I was definitely participating in unethical cultural appropriation in the white yoga studios I used to be part of. I am more mindful of those who try to set themselves up as experts in someone else's culture or traditions. There are many white dominant spiritual communities that excludes the cultures they are profiting from. We must be respectful of other people's traditions and have humility.
Any individual who wants to "make a living" in a spiritual way should absolutely grab a copy of this book and truly soak in what she has to say. She goes through the character traits necessary to embody an ethical psychic. There are so many examples shared throughout the book which help to breakdown each of the traits and each tidbit of wisdom.
Thank you so much to NetGalley for the ARC! I can't wait to grab a copy when it hits shelves.
July 3, 2023
An insightful and enjoyable read. I have been leaning into my own intuitive/psychic gifts - and while I'm not thinking about hanging out a shingle to give professional mediumship readings any time soon (or ever?) I found this book to be a really good resource. Although this book is intended for professional psychics/mediums I think that energy healers, tarot readers, and other spiritual professionals would benefit from reading this as well.
The book raised a lot of good questions for me: Why do I want to develop my gifts? Who am I serving by doing so? What role is my ego playing? Am I being culturally appropriative? Do I want to pursue mediumship and/or healing to help others? Or do I just want to develop my intuition and clairs for my own personal spiritual development? Where can I find a good teacher? I liked that this book got me thinking. It reinforced the need for discernment and proper training before even considering a career in the intuitive arts.
Overall this book would be a good resource for anyone considering psychic development or offering professional spiritual services. The author discusses areas where a clear code of ethics is important. Overall one should be contributing to a client's personal growth, not performing for novelty or creating dependence - not taking advantage of clients financially, emotionally, or sexually. Knowing when to refer someone to medical or psychiatric care. Etc. Very informative.
I am sure I will revisit this book again in the future. A valuable and necessary resource.
The book raised a lot of good questions for me: Why do I want to develop my gifts? Who am I serving by doing so? What role is my ego playing? Am I being culturally appropriative? Do I want to pursue mediumship and/or healing to help others? Or do I just want to develop my intuition and clairs for my own personal spiritual development? Where can I find a good teacher? I liked that this book got me thinking. It reinforced the need for discernment and proper training before even considering a career in the intuitive arts.
Overall this book would be a good resource for anyone considering psychic development or offering professional spiritual services. The author discusses areas where a clear code of ethics is important. Overall one should be contributing to a client's personal growth, not performing for novelty or creating dependence - not taking advantage of clients financially, emotionally, or sexually. Knowing when to refer someone to medical or psychiatric care. Etc. Very informative.
I am sure I will revisit this book again in the future. A valuable and necessary resource.
September 19, 2022
A Great Read
Jennifer Vest defines an ethical psychic as one who endeavors to be a good person and to do the right thing in his or her practice, one who is intentional and conscious in her use of her gifts and strives to use her gifts to help and never harm, plus she takes steps to ensure that no negative consequences result from the expression of her gifts. She further states that an ethical psychic does not just seek to do no harm; that she consciously and carefully examines all of the possible effects of his or her work and makes decisions about how to work according to these reflections, doing everything in his or her power to ensure a positive outcome.
The author discusses the following six key character traits that defines an ethical psychic:
1. Being motivated by service
2. Being authentic
3. Being selfaware
4. Being able to acknowledge and learn from mistakes
5. Being sensitive to a client’s needs
6. Being guided by something larger than yourself
The author discusses some of the risks associated with psychic work, especially, if it deals with interfering with the free will of others.
One of the topic that she discusses is that of how to become a psychic. She states that all psychics must be able to use their gift on demand and that this requires practice, discipline, and good teachers. The author states that psychics should live a balanced life.
Jennifer Vest defines an ethical psychic as one who endeavors to be a good person and to do the right thing in his or her practice, one who is intentional and conscious in her use of her gifts and strives to use her gifts to help and never harm, plus she takes steps to ensure that no negative consequences result from the expression of her gifts. She further states that an ethical psychic does not just seek to do no harm; that she consciously and carefully examines all of the possible effects of his or her work and makes decisions about how to work according to these reflections, doing everything in his or her power to ensure a positive outcome.
The author discusses the following six key character traits that defines an ethical psychic:
1. Being motivated by service
2. Being authentic
3. Being selfaware
4. Being able to acknowledge and learn from mistakes
5. Being sensitive to a client’s needs
6. Being guided by something larger than yourself
The author discusses some of the risks associated with psychic work, especially, if it deals with interfering with the free will of others.
One of the topic that she discusses is that of how to become a psychic. She states that all psychics must be able to use their gift on demand and that this requires practice, discipline, and good teachers. The author states that psychics should live a balanced life.
June 28, 2022
This is a great book about the ethics of spiritual work. So much scamming and abuse of power can happen when it comes to spirituality and this author does a great job of laying out some ideas of what it means to “do no harm” as someone who wants to be of service to their community in a spiritual way. Dr. Vest is of a mixed spiritual background, making her ideas relatable to folks of differing religions and experiences. It’s straightforward and to the point which makes it accessible to both beginners and people well versed in spirituality. This text is also versatile enough to be useful to both practitioners and potential clients who want to know some green or red flags when looking for someone to work with or learn from.
August 12, 2022
The Ethical Psychic by Jennifer Lisa Vest Is a book looking at the ethics surrounding spiritual work and psychic workers . The book is both well written and and well researched while being flexible enough to Appel to practitioners and clients alike.
The book is designed to be an introduction to the topic but may also serve as a good refresher for psychics that have been serving their community for some time .
The book is designed to be an introduction to the topic but may also serve as a good refresher for psychics that have been serving their community for some time .
September 9, 2022
I enjoyed reading this book, it was well written and addressed the ethics of being a psychic. What to do and what really not to do and why. It was refreshing to read about the topic from someone who understood and experienced different cultures and ethnicities and was respectful of them. I would highly recommend.
July 6, 2022
I enjoyed this book, it was well written and carefully addressed the ethics of being a psychic. It was refreshing to read about the topic from someone who understood and experienced different cultures and ethnicities. I would highly recommend.
September 12, 2022
The topic of this book sounded right up my street.
However, I found this book to be very dense and hard to read.
The writing was very wishy-washy, and i didn't really get much from this book at all.
Too serious, too dense, and lacking a real 'voice'
However, I found this book to be very dense and hard to read.
The writing was very wishy-washy, and i didn't really get much from this book at all.
Too serious, too dense, and lacking a real 'voice'
May 9, 2023
January 26, 2023. Spiritual workers like Matthew Fox, Jean Shinoda Bolen, Vicki Noble and Joanna Macy have been working for decades on unifying mind, body, spirit and community; as well as cultural, religious and arts workers breaking down the pyramidic hierarchies of power-over dominance that have been stunting our growth towards a viable, healthy omnisphere.
Indigenous healers have been doing it for millennia. Dr. Vest lays it out, plain, simple, with clear explanations of colonialist, culturally appropriative, disrespectful, “arrogance and inauthentic claims of authority” named for the “exploitation” that they are. The Ethical Psychic: A Beginner’s Guide to Healing with Integrity, Avoiding Unethical Encounters, and Using Your Gifts for Good.
Maybe due to the ongoing disembodiment of pandemic isolation, you are now entering the Twilight Zone of Berkeley literary arts. “Woo-woo” means “(derogatory slang) based on or involving irrational superstition,” which is how various people define everything from centuries-old organized religious and dietary traditions to the latest totally whacked-out online conspiracy theory. Depending, of course, on where we fall on the infinitely long, linear, shifting and nuanced rational-irrational/fact-superstition spectrums.
Dr. Jennifer Lisa Vest spoke on zoom to the Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists last fall and this weekend (November 2022), and North Atlantic Books of Berkeley sent me Ethical Psychic soon after. NAB is a “nonprofit publisher committed to a bold exploration of the relationships between mind, body spirit, culture, and nature…aims to nurture a holistic view of the arts, sciences, humanities, and healing.” This is where humanity and the planet need to go, and the sooner the better.
I was skeptical at first, but had already heard Afro-Indigenous mixed-race Dr. Vest, Bachelor of Science in Physics from Hampshire College, Ph. D. in Philosophy with a dissertation on “Critical Indigenous Philosophy: Disciplinary Challenges Posed by African and Native American Epistemologies,” and felt convinced that this scholar with life experience and multiple apprenticeships was the real deal. I was not disappointed.
This is not only for intuitives and brujas, but ALL kinds of healers, and frankly, government employees, physicians, nurses, (MIDWIVES!) social workers, therapists and others who work with the public in both regulated and unregulated service professions. It wouldn’t hurt the Mayor, City Councilors, police officers etc. to start thinking of thOur community as somewhere that absolute authenticity, financial and resource transparency, integrity, “sensitivity to client needs,” privacy, humility, clear interpersonal boundaries, “focus and attention” are respected; where “intuition and rationality must be combined” “that will assist the client on their own chosen path.”
An entirely ancient and incredibly do-able metamorphosis and evolutionary step homo sapiens could take right now with our amazing brains, technologies and creativity to truly relearn how to resuscitate a thriving world community and geosphere once more. If it can be dreamed, it can be done.
Neo-paganism, women’s support groups and Jeremy Taylor, Cecilia Engelhart and Stanley Krippner’s dream groups have been marvelously enlightening from 2010 to the present for me here; to say nothing of Donald Rothenberg, James and Jane Baraz’ meditation and other Spirit Rock sessions and retreats, gamelan concerts and partaking in the sumptuous international cultural, culinary, intellectual, arts and spiritual feasts available in Berkeley and the Bay Area in general. There IS “gold rush” speed, greed and flash here, but a lot of cutting-edge human potential support, innovation, experimentation and longing to return to profound traditional values and culture happening, too.
I felt humbled and honored to dance in the post-pandemic return of the Martin Luther King Jr. Civic Center Park Indigenous Peoples Day Pow Wow, but in the Solstice Berkeley Times Critter Divination, for example, one human being does NOT “make sacred” space. “Sacred space” exists everywhere. The vocal and ritual calling out and naming of spatial interrelationships, animate powers and beings by a spokesperson aware of their own flaws, omissions and background submitting to a respected group of humans gathered for that purpose merely focuses attention on the sacredness that's already there.
A wise healer (artist, storyteller, mayor, teacher, medical professional) knows VERY WELL, FIRST AND FOREMOST, “It isn’t about me.“ Matter and energy are neither created nor destroyed.” We protect our “own health, traditions and values,” are “able to acknowledge and learn from mistakes” and be “guided by something larger than yourself.”
As in astrology, “the stars impel” or “incline” occurrence, “they do not compel.” At the same time, there are neuro-biological tides that have been working in ways we “understand” only in “irrational” ways coming to us over thousands and thousands of years. We have done our best to track, chart and delineate them in language, literature and custom; as well as in storytelling, ritual and song.
What’s going to work to save Mother Earth? One relationship at a time? Right now? Do we have the answers already in the neuro-biological recesses of ThOur souls? Beyond habit? Beyond the “old normal?”
https://drvestmedicalintuitive.com/
A short version of this review was first published as "Ethical Evolutions" in Knox Book Beat, The Berkeley Times, Wyndy Knox Carr.
Indigenous healers have been doing it for millennia. Dr. Vest lays it out, plain, simple, with clear explanations of colonialist, culturally appropriative, disrespectful, “arrogance and inauthentic claims of authority” named for the “exploitation” that they are. The Ethical Psychic: A Beginner’s Guide to Healing with Integrity, Avoiding Unethical Encounters, and Using Your Gifts for Good.
Maybe due to the ongoing disembodiment of pandemic isolation, you are now entering the Twilight Zone of Berkeley literary arts. “Woo-woo” means “(derogatory slang) based on or involving irrational superstition,” which is how various people define everything from centuries-old organized religious and dietary traditions to the latest totally whacked-out online conspiracy theory. Depending, of course, on where we fall on the infinitely long, linear, shifting and nuanced rational-irrational/fact-superstition spectrums.
Dr. Jennifer Lisa Vest spoke on zoom to the Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists last fall and this weekend (November 2022), and North Atlantic Books of Berkeley sent me Ethical Psychic soon after. NAB is a “nonprofit publisher committed to a bold exploration of the relationships between mind, body spirit, culture, and nature…aims to nurture a holistic view of the arts, sciences, humanities, and healing.” This is where humanity and the planet need to go, and the sooner the better.
I was skeptical at first, but had already heard Afro-Indigenous mixed-race Dr. Vest, Bachelor of Science in Physics from Hampshire College, Ph. D. in Philosophy with a dissertation on “Critical Indigenous Philosophy: Disciplinary Challenges Posed by African and Native American Epistemologies,” and felt convinced that this scholar with life experience and multiple apprenticeships was the real deal. I was not disappointed.
This is not only for intuitives and brujas, but ALL kinds of healers, and frankly, government employees, physicians, nurses, (MIDWIVES!) social workers, therapists and others who work with the public in both regulated and unregulated service professions. It wouldn’t hurt the Mayor, City Councilors, police officers etc. to start thinking of thOur community as somewhere that absolute authenticity, financial and resource transparency, integrity, “sensitivity to client needs,” privacy, humility, clear interpersonal boundaries, “focus and attention” are respected; where “intuition and rationality must be combined” “that will assist the client on their own chosen path.”
An entirely ancient and incredibly do-able metamorphosis and evolutionary step homo sapiens could take right now with our amazing brains, technologies and creativity to truly relearn how to resuscitate a thriving world community and geosphere once more. If it can be dreamed, it can be done.
Neo-paganism, women’s support groups and Jeremy Taylor, Cecilia Engelhart and Stanley Krippner’s dream groups have been marvelously enlightening from 2010 to the present for me here; to say nothing of Donald Rothenberg, James and Jane Baraz’ meditation and other Spirit Rock sessions and retreats, gamelan concerts and partaking in the sumptuous international cultural, culinary, intellectual, arts and spiritual feasts available in Berkeley and the Bay Area in general. There IS “gold rush” speed, greed and flash here, but a lot of cutting-edge human potential support, innovation, experimentation and longing to return to profound traditional values and culture happening, too.
I felt humbled and honored to dance in the post-pandemic return of the Martin Luther King Jr. Civic Center Park Indigenous Peoples Day Pow Wow, but in the Solstice Berkeley Times Critter Divination, for example, one human being does NOT “make sacred” space. “Sacred space” exists everywhere. The vocal and ritual calling out and naming of spatial interrelationships, animate powers and beings by a spokesperson aware of their own flaws, omissions and background submitting to a respected group of humans gathered for that purpose merely focuses attention on the sacredness that's already there.
A wise healer (artist, storyteller, mayor, teacher, medical professional) knows VERY WELL, FIRST AND FOREMOST, “It isn’t about me.“ Matter and energy are neither created nor destroyed.” We protect our “own health, traditions and values,” are “able to acknowledge and learn from mistakes” and be “guided by something larger than yourself.”
As in astrology, “the stars impel” or “incline” occurrence, “they do not compel.” At the same time, there are neuro-biological tides that have been working in ways we “understand” only in “irrational” ways coming to us over thousands and thousands of years. We have done our best to track, chart and delineate them in language, literature and custom; as well as in storytelling, ritual and song.
What’s going to work to save Mother Earth? One relationship at a time? Right now? Do we have the answers already in the neuro-biological recesses of ThOur souls? Beyond habit? Beyond the “old normal?”
https://drvestmedicalintuitive.com/
A short version of this review was first published as "Ethical Evolutions" in Knox Book Beat, The Berkeley Times, Wyndy Knox Carr.
Read
January 22, 2023An interesting, seemingly brief overview of the ethics surrounding sharing one’s psychic gifts with others. Most specifically written for those who get paid as mediums or psychics, the book focuses on asking rhetorical questions to get the audience thinking about best practices while also giving advice on considerations therein. For those of us who are not practiced psychics but may seek those services and/or aim to work on developing those strengths, the book gives an insider account into expectations of interacting with professionals and things to keep in mind as powers are developed.
October 14, 2022
I can't have enough praise for this book. The title speaks of its essence and the need to practice good ethics and integrity in psychic work. This book touched on things I never even thought of. It provides excellent tools regarding how to conduct yourself when doing this kind of work. I feel much inspired after reading this book. I highly recommend it!
Read
June 7, 2023Based on my personal beliefs, I don't feel comfortable grading this book a star rating.
The author appears to be genuine in her beliefs, and provides helpful information to those who are psychic. She mentions that this book was partially written to be a book assigned for a class, and I imagine it would succeed in providing a great starting off point for class discussions.
The author appears to be genuine in her beliefs, and provides helpful information to those who are psychic. She mentions that this book was partially written to be a book assigned for a class, and I imagine it would succeed in providing a great starting off point for class discussions.
December 11, 2023
NetGalley ARC Review
This was one of the most interesting and throughly written books on this topic I’ve read to date. Authentic, raw and honest. The author is authentic not only in the material but in herself without being condescending or above her readers. Highly recommend this!
This was one of the most interesting and throughly written books on this topic I’ve read to date. Authentic, raw and honest. The author is authentic not only in the material but in herself without being condescending or above her readers. Highly recommend this!
February 20, 2023
Very neat guide! I am not a psychic myself, but this book covers red flags, what not to do, and how to handle clients.
May 2, 2023
I was privileged to be an early reader of this incredible, much needed guide. Beautifully written and such a revelation! This book will expand understanding of the ethical considerations in the healing fields and this knowledge will help us maintain a responsible, compassionate practice. This is what we need. More and more of us understand the need for healing and there is such great demand. Here is an exquisitely trusted, skilled, and thoughtful voice to guide us in this time.
April 2, 2023
I strive to have an ethical practice, but there are important points I hadn't considered before. This is a valuable book with information for psychics and their clients. A must read!
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews