Ever wondered whether you're a natural born psychic or a medium waiting to happen? Perhaps a film or TV character who could sense people's inner lives, or communicate with those who'd passed on, felt strangely familiar – Cate Blanchett's psychic Annie in The Gift or Whoopi Goldberg's reluctant medium in Ghost. Most of us dismiss these inklings, putting them down to simply being a bit more intuitive than most. But there's something within you that continues to wonder: could I be psychic? Am I a medium?
Welcome to The College of Psychic Studies, where these questions are among the first we address with our students. One of the most common queries our tutors hear is: "What's the difference between a psychic and a medium?" And this is really the most important question to clarify. The answer lies in understanding that psychic ability and mediumship are two related but very distinct skills.
What does a psychic do?
A psychic picks up information about somebody's life – their relationships, their work, their home. They look into a person's past, present and future, and can even tune into soul lines, delving deeply into who someone is and what they're moving through. In essence, psychic ability is about reading the living – the everyday experiences, choices and challenges of a person's life on this planet.
What does a medium do?
Mediumship is something different. A medium senses people who have passed over and wish to communicate. Rather than reading a person's life here on earth as a psychic does, a medium reaches into a higher energy, bringing a spirit communicator through – sensing their personality and character, and delivering the message they carry. As one of our tutors puts it, spirit communicators rarely turn up without a reason: they usually come bearing something useful for the person receiving it.
If I'm psychic, does it mean I'm a medium?
Importantly, all mediums are psychic, but not all psychics are mediums. Mediumship is really a specialism – connecting the world of the living with the world of those who have passed, offering evidence, comfort and connection across that bridge.
So how can I tell which one I am?
If you are questioning if you are a psychic or a medium, you very likely have latent skills that simply need to be accessed, awakened and strengthened. The clues tend to show up quite naturally, often in childhood or in unexpected moments as an adult.
Signs of psychic ability include:
- Sensing information about people's lives – their relationships, decisions or situations – without being told
- Catching premonitions or 'just knowing' something before it happens, like sensing who's calling before you answer
- A strong, natural intuition you had as a child that has been hushed over time and is now resurfacing
Signs of mediumship ability include:
- Feeling the presence of the spirit world, or sensing you've been guided or directed by a visitation
- Receiving a name, image or impression that nags at you until you act on it
- Childhood memories of describing relatives you never actually met in life – knowing details about them that later prove accurate
We can all be more psychic
If there is one truth every tutor at The College of Psychic Studies knows, it is that every one of us has some level of natural psychic ability. It's less "rare gift" and more "natural aptitude", like drawing, singing or dancing. Some people find it comes easily; others need to work at it. If you decide to work at it, with time, patience and a good teacher, your psychic abilities will become more defined. Mediumship, by contrast, tends to take longer to develop and unfold at its own pace, and not everyone drawn to it is meant to work on platforms delivering demonstrations or in private sittings.
How to find out for yourself
If any of this sounds familiar, the next step isn't to diagnose yourself, but to explore it with proper guidance. The psychic and mediumship development training offered at the College helps you understand what you're sensing, how to trust it, and how to use it well, whether that means bringing more intuition into your everyday choices or, eventually, connecting others with their loved ones on the other side.
If any of this feels familiar, there's no better way to find out than in the room with someone who's done this work for 25 years. TJ Higgs leads a rare weekend of in-person workshops in London at The College of Psychic Studies: Are You Psychic? on Saturday 12th September, and Are You a Medium? on Sunday 13th September. Join one, or make a weekend of both. Spaces are limited – book now.
Join our newsletter to keep in touch with The College of Psychic Studies.
