You may have watched a demonstration that stayed with you for years, or followed a particular medium online and heard glowing recommendations from their students. It is natural to want to learn from someone whose mediumship you admire.
But there is a question worth asking before you enrol: is someone who demonstrates mediumship well necessarily the right person to teach you? Not always. Practising and teaching require different abilities. One is the work itself; the other is helping someone else understand, develop and apply it. A teacher needs to see where a student is struggling, explain an exercise clearly, offer useful feedback, and create a room where mistakes can be discussed without embarrassment. In evidential mediumship this matters doubly, because students are learning not only to work with their impressions but to communicate responsibly with other people.
How this guide differs from our course checklist. Our article How to Choose a Mediumship Course sets out ten questions about curriculum, practice hours, group size, certificates, fees and support. This guide looks at the person in front of the room: how to recognise good teaching, and whether a particular teacher suits you.
1. Begin with the Teacher, Not Just the Course Title
Develop Your Mediumship. The Art of Spirit Communication. Advanced Evidential Mediumship. Blending with Spirit. A course title tells you the subject. It does not tell you how the course will be taught, and two courses with similar titles can be entirely different experiences:
Course A
Several demonstrations by the tutor, lectures, and short group exercises. Inspiring, and a good introduction to how an experienced medium works.
Course B
Supervised partner work, the tutor observing each student, and detailed individual feedback after every exercise.
Both can be valuable, depending on what you want to learn. The point is that the course description and the teaching experience are not the same thing. Before enrolling, try to understand the teacher's approach: Do they mainly demonstrate their own work, or spend substantial time observing students? Are exercises explained before students begin? What happens after an exercise ends? Does the teacher help students understand what they experienced, or is the conversation mainly about whether they “felt a connection”?
2. An Experienced Medium Is Not Automatically an Experienced Teacher
Years of private sittings or platform work give a practitioner real familiarity with the discipline. But teaching asks for additional skills, and expertise can even get in the way. Education researchers describe an expert blind spot: people with deep knowledge of a subject often misjudge what beginners find difficult1, and experts tend to underestimate how long novices need to learn a task2. An experienced medium may work so intuitively that they find it hard to explain what they actually do.
A good teacher has to see the student's process, not just describe their own. Consider three students in the same class:
Student one
Receives an impression, then immediately adds details that were never part of it. Needs help separating what was perceived from what was assumed.
Student two
Describes information clearly but loses heart when the sitter does not recognise it. Needs help understanding feedback and uncertainty.
Student three
Already has practical experience and needs more challenging work, not another introduction to the basics.
Presenting information to a group is only one part of education. Helping each student apply it is another.
What to look for in a teacher's background
Consider their experience in the particular discipline they are teaching. A teacher whose work is mainly psychic readings may not have the same experience teaching evidential mediumship; a trance specialist may follow a different developmental path from someone focused on private evidential sittings. Neither discipline is superior, but the experience should match the course. It is also reasonable to ask where they studied, whether they continue their own development, and how long they have been teaching.
Teaching and practising are recognised as separate skills in established systems. The Spiritualists' National Union, for example, offers teaching awards that are separate from its practitioner awards and can only be taken after the relevant practitioner award. At diploma level, the teaching assessment includes delivering a lecture to advanced students, a tutorial and group-work sessions, and that diploma is required of anyone wishing to become a full tutor at Arthur Findlay College3. Other traditions and countries have different systems, and no single teaching qualification is required everywhere. But the principle is useful: ask about a teacher's preparation to teach, not only their experience as a medium.
Biographies should be accurate and proportionate. Attending a course at an established college does not mean that college accredits or endorses the teacher's own programme, and a certificate of participation is not a teaching qualification.
3. What Does Effective Mediumship Teaching Actually Look Like?
One of the clearest ways to judge a teacher is to understand what happens during, and especially after, a practical exercise. Imagine a student describing an older man. They receive an impression of a small metal key, and immediately decide the man must have been a locksmith. The sitter does not recognise this. A teacher could respond in three very different ways:
Response one
“Keep going. Try another occupation until something fits.”
Turns the exercise into guessing.Response two
“It must be right. The sitter will understand it later.”
Protects the student's confidence at the sitter's expense.Response three
“Let's look at what actually happened.”
Gives the student something specific to learn.The third teacher helps the student examine the exercise: What was the original impression? Was it simply a key? At what point did “locksmith” appear? Was it a separate impression, or an assumption based on the object? Could the key have been described without deciding what it meant? This also protects the sitter from being asked to confirm an interpretation that may never have been part of the impression at all.
The lesson is not that students must never interpret; interpretation is a natural part of perception. It is to recognise the difference between what was experienced and what was added, a distinction our article What Counts as Evidence? explores in depth.
The value of feedback lies not in telling a student whether an exercise went well, but in helping them understand why it developed as it did.
4. What Good Feedback Sounds Like
Feedback is one of the most powerful influences on learning, but research shows its effect can be positive or negative depending on what it focuses on. A widely cited review distinguishes four levels of feedback, and concludes that praise directed at the person, rather than at the task or the process, is the least effective, because it tells the learner almost nothing about what to do next4. Translated into a mediumship classroom:
| Feedback about… | What it might sound like |
|---|---|
| The task | “The sitter recognised the key, but not the occupation.” |
| The process | “The key was your impression; ‘locksmith’ was your interpretation. Describe first, interpret second.” |
| Self-regulation | “Next time, notice the moment you start to explain an image, and pause there.” |
| The self | “You're a natural medium!” Pleasant to hear, but it gives you nothing to work on. |
Encouragement has its place, but a teacher whose feedback is mostly about how gifted students are, rather than about what they did, may make people feel good without helping them improve. Listen for feedback that is specific, about the work, and tells you what to try next.
5. Struggle, Questions and Boundaries
How does the teacher respond when a student struggles?
A teaching environment shows its character when things do not go to plan. It is easy to encourage confident students who are getting positive feedback; the real test is how a teacher works with those who are uncertain, anxious, or whose information is not recognised at all. An effective teacher offers guidance without humiliation: returning to the intention of the exercise, reflecting on what was perceived, perhaps suggesting a different exercise or a slower pace. Sometimes the most responsible response is simply to acknowledge that an exercise did not produce recognisable information. No student should feel pressured to invent an experience because others seem to be having one, and uncertainty should never be treated as a lack of faith, worth or commitment. A supportive classroom is not one where every exercise is declared a success. It is one where students can learn from clear and unclear experiences alike.
Does the teacher welcome questions?
Students arrive with very different views: long-held Spiritualist beliefs, curious uncertainty, or backgrounds in meditation and other spiritual disciplines. A good teacher can explain the tradition they teach without asking students to give up their critical judgement. Within Spiritualism, mediumship is understood as communication with those who have died; scientific research has not established a consensus that it is. An educational setting can state both accurately. Students should be able to ask why an exercise is used, and a teacher who treats every question as resistance, or insists their interpretations must always be accepted, restricts learning. The purpose of education is not dependence on a teacher's authority, but the student's own understanding and judgement.
Correction, not humiliation, and healthy boundaries
Good teaching sometimes requires direct feedback: pointing out that a student is relying on leading questions, drifting from evidential information, or interpreting too quickly. What matters is how it is given.
A good signCorrection that names a specific behaviour and explains what to do differently. Respect for privacy. Encouragement to practise independently and, in time, learn from other teachers too.
Be cautiousPersonal criticism or public humiliation. Pressure to share private experiences unrelated to learning, or to buy personal services. A teacher who expects to guide every part of your life, or implies you can only develop through continued access to them.
A teacher may be deeply respected without becoming a student's unquestionable spiritual authority. The ability to keep developing beyond one teacher is a strength, not a failure of loyalty.
6. Does the Teaching Match Your Actual Stage?
The right teacher for one student may not be right for another. That is not a judgement about either teacher; it reflects different needs.
Established colleges make levels concrete. Arthur Findlay College, for example, describes its course levels like this5:
| Level | What is expected (evidential mediumship) |
|---|---|
| Beginner | An interest in exploring the discipline; students may have some awareness of spirit |
| Intermediate | Students have already shown reasonable evidential communication |
| Advanced | Students have shown consistent and accurate evidential communication |
| Mixed level | Students are assessed in the first session and placed in groups of a similar level |
Course levels should mean something in practice; a student should not have to guess where they belong. If a course mixes levels, ask how exercises are adapted: Are students grouped by experience? Can an exercise be made more demanding for someone progressing well? Will the teacher observe students individually? A small class makes observation easier, but size alone does not guarantee good teaching. The useful question is how each student receives attention.
7. What Can You Learn from Watching a Teacher Demonstrate?
Watching an experienced medium work can show students how a sitting flows, how information develops, and how a practitioner speaks with a sitter. But demonstration and instruction are different activities. When you watch, notice not only the information but the conduct:
- Does the sitter have room to respond without pressure?
- How is uncertainty handled, and what happens when something is not recognised?
- Does the medium move between specific information and broad statements, and do they notice when they do?
- Afterwards, does the teacher explain the choices they made?
A demonstration provides an example. Teaching begins when that example is examined and connected to what students need to understand. A course made up mostly of the tutor demonstrating can be educational and inspiring, but it is not the same as one in which students practise repeatedly and receive individual feedback, and neither should be presented as the other.
Evidence and ethics should be visible in the teaching
An evidential teacher should be able to explain what makes information specific, connected and recognisable, how an impression can become distorted by assumption, how to tell psychic information about a living person from information attributed to a communicator, and why uncertainty matters. A teacher who treats every impression as correct may make students feel successful in the moment without helping them develop discernment.
Words like compassion and integrity are easy to put in a course description. Ask how they appear in the room: Is consent discussed before practical exercises? Are students asked to keep partners' information confidential? Are they taught why sitters should not be led towards answers, and how to work with someone who is grieving? What happens if an exercise brings up something distressing? Recent research shows why this matters: a 2026 study of mediumship certification programmes found that none required formal ethics or grief training as part of certification6, while a 2025 code of ethics for mediums sets out consent, confidentiality, competence and care for grieving clients as core responsibilities7. A teacher's responsibility includes preparing students to treat future sitters with that care. Our guide How to Recognise a Responsible Medium describes the standards sitters can expect.
8. How Can You Compare Two Teachers Fairly?
Imagine you are choosing between two programmes:
Programme one
Taught by a medium whose public demonstrations you admire. Lectures, demonstrations and some student exercises.
Programme two
Taught by someone less familiar to you. A structured progression, repeated partner practice, tutor observation and individual feedback.
Neither is automatically better. If your aim is to encounter different approaches, enjoy demonstrations and get an introduction to mediumship, the first may suit you. If your aim is to practise evidential mediumship and understand your difficulties through feedback, the second may offer more of what you need. The comparison becomes useful when you stop asking which teacher is more impressive and start asking which learning experience is more suitable.
| Area to consider | What to establish |
|---|---|
| Relevant experience | Has the teacher studied and practised the discipline they are teaching, and prepared to teach it? |
| Teaching approach | How do they explain exercises and help students apply what they learn? |
| Individual observation | Will the teacher observe your work and give specific feedback? |
| Quality of feedback | Is feedback about the work and the process, or mostly praise? |
| Uncertainty | Can students acknowledge mistakes and unrecognised information? |
| Your level | Is the work appropriate for your present experience? |
| Environment | Are questions, boundaries and independent thinking respected? |
| Evidential standards | Is impression clearly distinguished from interpretation and sitter recognition? |
| Afterwards | Do you know what to practise next, and where further guidance can come from? |
This is a framework for comparison, not an accreditation system or a score. A teacher may be particularly strong in some areas and have a different emphasis in others; the aim is to understand the differences before you commit.
9. What Can You Learn Before Enrolling?
You may not be able to watch a whole course before joining, but there are still good ways to understand a teacher's approach:
You should never feel you must make a major financial commitment before you are allowed to ask reasonable questions.
10. Warning Signs in a Teacher or Training Environment
A poor fit does not necessarily mean a teacher is unethical; styles vary, and students have different needs. But certain behaviours deserve real caution:
- Guaranteeing that every student will become a medium, or within a fixed number of days.
- Treating questions as spiritual weakness or resistance.
- Humiliating students, or pressuring them to invent experiences.
- Refusing to acknowledge information that was not recognised.
- Claiming exclusive spiritual authority, or discouraging contact with other teachers.
- Making students feel dependent on continued payments or personal access.
- Financial pressure, or unclear costs and cancellation terms.
A responsible learning relationship lets you ask questions, understand the costs, decline additional services, and leave without threats or manipulation. Mediumship education should never depend on fear.
Does the format change the teacher's role?
Online courses can give access to tutors abroad and regular group practice; residential courses offer sustained time with teachers and fellow students; individual mentoring offers focused attention. None is automatically better, and each depends on the same questions: What will you practise? Who will observe you? What feedback will you receive? Our article Residential or Online Mediumship Training? compares formats in detail.
11. How We Approach Teaching at The School of Mediumship
At The School of Mediumship, established by Soul Consciousness Lab®, the relationship between teaching, practice and feedback is central to how we teach.
- Who teaches: Dr. Rashhi Sharma and Prabhat Sharma teach Evidential Mediumship Level 1 together throughout, a structured residential foundation near Bengaluru with no more than twelve students.
- What students do: guided exercises, partner work, supervised practice and reflection, covering spiritual awareness, sitting in the power, psychic and mediumistic perception, recognisable evidence and the responsibilities of private sittings.
- How we give feedback: about what was perceived, where interpretation entered, and how to respond to feedback, not about who is “gifted”.
- Ethics in the room: consent, confidentiality, sensitivity to grief, and the difference between completing training and being ready to practise.
- Teaching and sittings kept separate: our faculty's personal sittings are arranged separately, so the classroom stays focused on education.
- What the certificate means: the School's Certificate of Completion records that a student met its defined learning requirements. It is not an external accreditation or a guarantee of professional competence.
No student is promised a particular communicator, evidential result or ability. Every applicant has a clarity conversation before enrolment, and we encourage you to apply the questions in this guide to us as carefully as to anyone else.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I find a good mediumship teacher?
Look for relevant experience in the discipline you want to study and a clear approach to teaching. Ask how students practise, how the teacher observes their work, and what happens when information is not recognised. Respect for boundaries, specific and constructive feedback, and realistic expectations are important signs of responsible teaching.
Should I choose a famous medium as my teacher?
A well-known medium may have valuable experience and give inspiring demonstrations, but reputation alone does not establish teaching ability. Consider how much direct guidance and individual feedback the course provides, and whether the approach suits your needs.
Is it better to study with one teacher or several?
One teacher gives continuity and gets to know your development; several teachers can broaden your understanding. Neither is universally best. What matters is giving each approach enough time for practice and reflection, rather than changing methods constantly.
Do I need to be psychic before joining a mediumship course?
Not necessarily. Many beginner programmes accept people with no previous training or unusual experiences. Others are designed for students who already show a degree of evidential communication. Check each course's requirements.
How do I know whether I am ready for an advanced course?
Look at the actual requirements, not just how many workshops you have attended. Advanced evidential courses typically expect consistent, accurate evidential communication. Ask the organiser what practical experience is expected, and how it is assessed.
What should a teacher do when a student cannot obtain evidence?
Help the student examine the exercise, separate perception from interpretation, and consider whether a different approach would help. A responsible teacher does not pressure the student to invent information or insist that unrecognised statements must be correct.
Is a mediumship teaching qualification essential?
No single teaching qualification is required across all traditions and countries. Some organisations, such as the Spiritualists' National Union, offer separate teaching awards with their own assessments. A relevant award can be useful evidence of preparation; understand what it represents and whether it can be verified.
Should my teacher also give me private sittings?
It is worth being thoughtful about this. Teaching and personal sittings are different relationships, and combining them can blur boundaries or create dependence. Many students find it healthier to keep the classroom focused on learning.
Should I choose the longest or most expensive course?
Not automatically. Duration and cost do not establish quality on their own. A short workshop may suit a specific goal; a longer programme may offer more sustained practice. Look at how the time is used and what teaching support is actually provided.
What is the biggest warning sign in a mediumship teacher?
Any teacher who discourages questions, humiliates students, guarantees results, or makes students dependent on them. A good teacher helps you become more capable of evaluating your own work, not more reliant on their authority.
Choosing Someone Who Can Help You Learn
A mediumship teacher shapes how you understand your experiences, the habits you build in practice, and the responsibilities you eventually bring to working with other people. That makes the choice worth making carefully. It is entirely reasonable to admire someone's demonstrations or feel inspired by their understanding. But when choosing a teacher, look beyond the experience they create for an audience, to how they explain their work, guide students through difficulty, and respond when something does not go as expected.
The right course is not necessarily the one promising the fastest development or the most extraordinary experiences. It is the one in which you can learn with clarity, practise responsibly, and gradually become more capable of evaluating your own work.
A teacher's value is not measured only by what they can demonstrate, but by how well they help their students understand and develop their own practice.
About the authors
Dr. Rashhi Sharma, PhDFounder and Lead Trainer of The School of Mediumship. She studied mediumship with Suzanne Giesemann in the United States and in person at Arthur Findlay College and The College of Psychic Studies in the United Kingdom. Full profile
Prabhat SharmaTrainer at The School of Mediumship. He studied mediumship in person at Arthur Findlay College and The College of Psychic Studies in the United Kingdom, and co-teaches every day of Level 1. Full profile
Continue Exploring
- How to Choose a Mediumship CourseTen questions on curriculum, practice hours, group size, certificates, fees and support.Read the article →
- What Counts as Evidence?Impression, interpretation, sitter recognition, and the difference between evidence and proof.Read the article →
- Evidential Mediumship Level 1Our faculty, learning structure, practice requirements and admission information.Explore Level 1 →
References
- Nathan, M. J. and Petrosino, A. (2003). Expert blind spot among preservice teachers. American Educational Research Journal, 40(4), 905–928.
- Hinds, P. J. (1999). The curse of expertise: the effects of expertise and debiasing methods on predictions of novice performance. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, 5(2), 205–221.
- Spiritualists' National Union. Spiritualism and Mediumship Courses: practitioner and teaching awards (CSNU and DSNU Teaching).
- Hattie, J. and Timperley, H. (2007). The power of feedback. Review of Educational Research, 77(1), 81–112. doi:10.3102/003465430298487
- Arthur Findlay College. Our Courses: beginner, intermediate, advanced and mixed-level courses.
- Gallo, J., Wahbeh, H., Zemel, S. and Ruickbie, L. (2026). Evaluation of English-speaking medium and trance channeler certifications. Journal of the Society for Psychical Research, 90(3), 164–187. doi:10.63499/dswkb305
- Zemel, S. K. and Wahbeh, H. (2025). Code of ethics for mediums and trance channelers. EXPLORE, 21(3), 103159. doi:10.1016/j.explore.2025.103159
Organisations are cited to illustrate how training and teaching are structured elsewhere. Citation does not imply endorsement of the School, and this article does not rank or recommend individual teachers.
