Fake Psychics, Gurus, and Spiritual Healers

(Recognizing What’s Real and What’s Not)

I’ve been exposed to psychics, healers, and self-proclaimed spiritual teachers all my life. Some were truly gifted—masterful, heart-centered, aligned. And some were just really smart, manipulative people who knew how to find someone’s Achilles heel and plug into it at their weakest points. Honestly, I’ve seen more of the latter.

When I was about eight years old, I was in Sunday school and our teacher told us  that at the end of the world, God would save us the chosen ones—but not the others who didn’t believe the same way. That made no sense to me. I asked, “Why would God create all of us but only save some of us,  and what's going to happen to my best friend Melissa?” My teacher asked, “Is she Jewish?” I said no. “Then she won’t be saved,” she replied.

That felt fundamentally wrong even at such a young age. I told her, “Well my God isn’t like that.” I went home and declared to my parents that I wouldn’t be returning to Sunday school—and I didn’t. I was already more aligned with the Native American teachings I’d been exposed to anyway. Nature was where I felt most connected to Spirit.

As a teenager, I was introduced to a Sikh man who was considered a spiritual guru. He was a brilliant singer and taught a rare vocal technique. I was grateful to be connected with him—my music career was just beginning, and I was struggling with my voice. He was said to be the only one teaching this particular style, and I felt honored that he was willing to work with me even though I wasn’t a Sikh. I thought he was amazing. I even invited him to my home to meet my family and sit in on my band’s rehearsal.

The next day, he showed up to the group session I’d been invited to join. He was visibly agitated and began venting his bad mood on everyone, by being judgmental and critical of how people performed the exercises he gave.  He demanded tea from his host, and when she didn’t immediately respond—because she hadn’t heard him—he berated her. When she finally brought the tea, the cup rattled on the saucer; she was so anxious she could barely hold it.

Then he turned his attention to me. He told me my band sounded awful—and so did I—but that he could help me. I’d just have to agree to do whatever he said and trust him with all areas of my life.

My life? I just wanted help with my voice.

He said this was the difference between American teachers and East Indian teachers: asking someone to be your teacher meant a full surrender. I shut down. He noticed and said, “Alana, if you bring your car to a mechanic, you have to trust the mechanic to fix the car.”

I replied, “Not if the payment for fixing the car is my soul.”

Would you believe this asshole actually yelled at me? He said, “That’s a bullshit answer from a child.”

I said, “Really? I think if there’s a child in this conversation, it’s you. You’re a great singer, but you’re also selfish, entitled, and a spoiled man.”

That was the first—and last—time I ever explored working with a guru.

Since then, I’ve done Soul Sessions and energetic healing work with many people who had been part of cults and spiritual groups where they were manipulated, gaslit, and deeply wounded. I’ve helped them reclaim their power and autonomy—helped them remember how to hold it without handing it over again.

Many of these clients had a core childhood wound: the need to please an angry parent. And just like those angry parents, these spiritual authority figures were never satisfied. The deeper healing is in addressing the need for that approval in the first place. When you develop real self-worth, real confidence, and a direct relationship with Spirit—when you experience how unconditionally loved you already are by Spirit—then you’re free. That’s what breaks the spell.

I’ve seen gurus who empower their students—but never so much that the student no longer needs the teacher.  I’ve seen spiritual organizations that plug right into their member’s bank account and make withdrawals weekly.. One of my clients came to me after being told by her psychic teacher that she had a demonic entity attached to her, and would need a “special healing” every month—for an additional $1,000. That was on top of the few hundred she already paid each week.

Another client showed me a photo of her so-called spiritual teacher. I took one look and said, “This woman is severely mentally ill. She’s bipolar and suicidal. She’s a failed actress whose rich parents paid for her to study with shamans and spiritual teachers around the world. She’s stolen their teachings and repackaged them as her own.”

A few months later, that same woman admitted to her group that she was struggling with mental illness and suicidal urges.  Soon many of her other students began coming forward with stories of abuse. A well-known magazine ran an exposé. Shamans she had studied with sued her for stealing sacred material, and she was forced to shut everything down, relocate, and start her scam fresh in a new town.

So, how do you recognize the real psychics, gurus, and spiritual teachers?

The right teacher won’t insult your intelligence or try to override your free will. They won’t use fear to manipulate you or exploit your insecurities to gain control. They’ll help you heal those insecurities. They’ll encourage you to love yourself, invest in yourself, and strengthen your direct connection with Spirit.

They’ll give you tools that are useful, grounded, and supportive. They’ll inspire and uplift you. That’s who you want in your corner—not just in spiritual work, but in any area of life.

A teacher rooted in love gives freely—without needing to stay attached to you or to what they gave to you. The fakes? They offer gifts with strings attached. They create dependency.  They plug into you and keep taking as much as they can get.

No matter who you’re listening to—me, a boss, a friend, a family member, a therapist, a personal hero—you have to sift through all the information you are getting. You must discard what doesn’t resonate and keep what’s useful. When you truly learn to do this, you don’t have to fear what anyone has to say because YOU will decide what’s true for you. You’ll trust yourself. And you’ll never hand over your power again.

I never set out to become a spiritual guide. I’ve always been an empath, deeply sensitive, but the clairvoyance came out of nowhere—and once it turned on, it never turned off. I never wanted to focus my attention on anything other than being a songwriter and a musician. Early on  I thought I had to choose between the two and that really scared me.

Now I know I don’t have to choose. I can be both. And more.

When my gift opened up, I’d see things, and when I spoke to them, people usually wanted to come back to see me, to talk and learn more about what I was picking up. They told their friends and family. But I kept it a secret publicly. I told myself I’d just do it quietly, on the side. I was still clinging to my musician identity and terrified that people would think I was even weirder than they already probably did.

But I’ve seen the damage real manipulators can do. And I’ve also seen the brilliance of true healers. So I asked myself: If I’m going to do this, how do I do it in a way that I can really feel good about?

The answer became this:

My Personal Code of Ethics

1. I do not read people without their permission.
As an intuitive, I’m always receiving information, but I deeply respect people’s privacy. I won’t tune in unless I have explicit consent—unless it’s an emergency. For example, once while performing onstage, I clearly saw that the man in the front row was planning to end his life. In cases like this, I will always say something to the person.  Safety and someone’s well being will always come first.

2. I do not predict the future.
Spirit made it very clear to me early on that predicting someone’s future is a violation of spiritual law. Why? Because each person has free will—and that free will can change everything. I may see potential paths, sense the strongest energetic pull, or notice themes surfacing in their field. I will share these insights, but never as fixed outcomes. My role is to support people in making aligned choices—not from fear, but from the deep wisdom of their own highest good.

3. I will never create dependency.
My job isn’t to be the answer—it’s to help people hear their own. I’m here to empower others to trust their inner knowing, and I serve as a guide to help them strengthen their own intuition.

4. I commit to my own growth.
As a healer, I must do my own inner work. Many guides unintentionally project their fears, wounds, or limitations onto their clients. This can be not only unhelpful—but harmful. A teacher can only take someone as far as they themselves have gone. That’s why I stay in the work. I keep learning, healing, evolving. So I can be a clear channel, not a clouded one.

5. I choose to align with love—always.
Love is my foundation. I hold space with compassion and speak only from loving guidance. I don’t participate in manipulation, fear tactics, or energetic control. Fear manipulates. Love liberates. True empowerment comes from a direct connection with Spirit, which feels like clarity, inspiration, gratitude, and peace. No matter the wounds or scars we carry, we are all made of this divine light.

6. I honor my limits.
If someone needs support that goes beyond my scope, I will be honest about it. Not everyone is the right fit for me—and I may not be the right fit for them. I trust that truth creates the clearest path forward.

7. I will not continue working with someone who misuses my guidance.
In rare cases, people have taken the teachings I offer and used them to manipulate others. I cannot control what someone does with the information I share, but if I sense someone is using this work in harmful ways or operating from ulterior motives, I reserve the right to step away. Integrity is non-negotiable.

This list is always evolving, just like I am. But it’s how I stay in integrity with myself and with this work.

About a year ago, I came out of the closet as a clairvoyant. I let the world know I’m not just a songwriter—I’m also a seer, and a guide. I stopped being afraid of being seen as a charlatan and gave myself a new mission:

I’m here to change the image of what being intuitive looks like.
It’s not all gypsies, crystal balls, angels, and demons.

Spirituality, to me, is practical. It’s grounded. I receive and share the information I get with a New York-style straightforwardness. I’m not here to convince anyone of anything. I don’t like to waste my or anyone else’s That’s the version of me I’ve chosen. And that’s what I support for you. For all of you.  I’m here to be authentic—with both the pretty aspects of myself and the messy.  

Life is messy. And also, so profoundly beautiful. Both can be true. And the more we connect to our intuition—our divine compass—the better life becomes, for us and for everyone who’s live’s we touch.

We are so much more than just one thing.
We’re multifaceted. And that’s what makes us shine.

I’m excited for this next part of the journey. And I’m grateful you’re here with me.

A wise friend once said:
“If you ever wonder who your people are, just look around on the road you’re walking.
Your people are the ones walking with you.”

Energy Vampires (I’ll Pass)

When I was a child my family took me to the aquarium in Chicago.  I was obsessed with sea life and was delighted to see so many different kinds of species of fish and other creatures.  I was having a great time until our guide led us to an exhibit and I saw something so horrific that I never forgot it.  

There was a large fish with what seemed to be a smaller fish swimming very close to it, moving in perfect unison. I remember saying to the guide, “oh that’s so sweet, he has a best friend with him”.  The guide, a young tall pimply kid said, “well, yeah, sort of”.  “ That smaller fish is a parasitic fish.”  “What’s that I asked”.  “It means it’s attached to him, it’s feeding on him”.  That absolutely horrified me.  I Yelled at the guide with tears welling up in my eyes, “well someone needs to take it off of him right now”!  “We can’t”, the guide said.  “He’s been attached to him for so long, if we separate them, the larger fish will die”.  

That lesson lingered with me throughout my life, as I would  observe this kind of dynamic in many, many relationships. Throughout my dating life, I found myself tangled up with several narcissists and many addicts.  I was always surprised when I realized that I’d managed to find myself in that same situation yet again.  I consider myself a reasonably intelligent person, even if my spelling is total shit (which you the reader will never know, and anyone that has seen anything handwritten by me surely does know), and yet it still baffles me how long it took me to realize that there was most certainly a pattern here, and the only constant in it was me.  It’s easy for empath’s to become people pleasers and codependents.  When you feel so much in people and the environments around you, it feels impossible to ignore it. 

I thought it was my loving heart that led me to believe that I could love the pain out of someone but what that energetically broadcasted was “ I need someone to need me”, and the “loving the broken person back to health” idea later turns into a slightly different message which is basically, “ You’re fucked up, but youn have potential.  I can fix you. Do what I say”. LOL! It takes a special kind of person to jump at that opportunity, wouldn’t you say? 

Years ago I started to go to Al-anon, and I learned more there than I ever learned in therapy, and that shit is free!  (They invite donations and everyone there is more than glad to give what they can).  So here is what I learned there. My then ex was addicted, in a very extreme way to alcohol, but I was addicted to him.  My obsession with him, with anyone around me who was hurting or broken was all consuming because I NEEDED to be needed.  I needed it like my life depended on it, and without being needed by someone, I felt like my life had no real meaning.  

There was someone that really actually needed my attention, and that was myself, but at the time I was ignoring her and looking for other people to save and fix to avoid that big job. Now, it’s fairly obvious to point out that need is not the same thing as love, and yet it can be very easy to confuse the two.  Years ago I took pride in thinking I knew how to make someone want me, need me, become dependent on me, as if it were romantic. Now I see it very differently.  I see it as one empty person looking for another to glom onto. I see it as an outdated idea that really never worked in the first place- kiss a frog and they turn into a prince?  No, you kiss a frog, the frog is still a frog,  and now you’ve got a shit load of warts.  

A lot of time, energy and emotion can be saved if we could just allow ourselves to see the truth and accept it.  People’s actions tell us everything we need to know, but we can be so blinded by our own desires for how things could be, that we refuse to see things as they are.  This is why cultivating our intuition, building and holding our power, investing in and loving ourselves is so so important.  It’s important for anyone, but it’s especially important for any sensitive human being, because when our hearts are already full, we do not need to manipulate others to get our needs met, nor are we willing to allow ourselves to be manipulated.

Now, let’s talk about energy vampires.  What does that really mean?  We live in two worlds (probably more) simultaneously.  The dense world that we see when we look around, and the energetic world that infuses all of it.  When I say vampire, I don’t mean like the cheesy ones from the movies.  That is just symbolic of something much more subtle, much more dangerous, and much more a part of our natural world than most people realize.  Now it should be noted that  just because something is dangerous doesn’t automatically mean it’s evil.  A rattlesnake can bite and potentially kill me, but it’s just being a rattlesnake, there’s no malice in that.  The Sun is self regenerating, always burning and always creating it’s own light.  The moon doesn’t glow because it generates it’s own light, it is reflecting the light of the sun.  It is seen everywhere in nature that there are creatures that learn to live in harmony WITH one another, and those that take what they want FROM another.  Obviously nature isn’t always kind and it isn’t always fair, but for us human beings, we are equipped with something profoundly powerful,  so much more powerful that any of us even realize.  Something that can make our time on this earth heaven, or absolute hell.  That something is, choice.

We can choose.  We can choose who we want to be around, and whom to have close. We can choose what we want to do with our time, and what to think about.  Every single day we are making hundreds of choices without even realizing it.  You choose to go into the bathroom to take a pee.  Yes that’s a choice, you’re not choosing to go outside to pee- or maybe you are).  You choose to go to work, and not stay home today.  You make choices all day every day.  Things may happen in our lives that we didn’t choose, but then we choose what those occurrences mean to us.  Choice is one of the most powerful gifts we have in this life and once we really grasp that fact, we will become VERY deliberate about what we choose.

Now I will finally circle back to my point.  In this world, there are light makers, and there are light takers.  If someone shows you that they are a taker, believe them.  I mean… Believe them the first time, and then simply step out of the way and let them pass.  If someone is a light maker, you will know it, because being around them feels light.  It’s not hard work, it’s not draining, or heavy.  Takers leave you feeling disoriented.  When you are around light makers you will feel seen, heard, and appreciated as you are, and you don’t feel depleted after being with them because when you are with them you feel like they give back to you as much as they take, or more, without keeping tabs.  Not all takers are bad, they are just doing what they do, like the little parasite fish is doing what it does, but here’s the thing- parasites creep me out, just like people who are looking for some good loving energy to steal because they haven’t made their own creep me out.  Now that I am a bit older, and a much wiser empath I will say this, “The light takers no longer interest me, it’s the light makers I look for,  recognize, and align myself with, and whenever a thirsty, crusty little succubus come sniffing around me looking for a fix, I just exercise this tremendous gift of choice I’ve been given and simply say to them…“ahhh no thanks, I’ll pass”.