Let me start by saying that I have consulted with numerous psychics, intuitives, and animal…read morecommunicators over nearly 20 years. I am not a skeptic by nature, and yet I left my session with Susan feeling skeptical, disappointed, and just plain confused about what her agenda was. I booked an hour-long zoom Animal Communication session with Susan to connect with my senior dog whose health is in decline, and to explore whether he feels ready to pass on. But I came away with the gnawing sense that she was unable to actually open up a connection with my dog, and that she pivoted towards info seeking, reflective listening, validation, and advice giving to make up for it. This left the impression of having simply done a therapy session -- which would have been fine if I scheduled that service, but Susan is not a licensed therapist and I expected far more given how she advertises her psychic abilities.
The first *18 minutes* of our session were filled by Susan asking about personal things like my occupation, etc. that felt irrelevant. It wasn't small talk - she took notes.. I've never experienced this before-- every other person I've worked with has jumped right into the reading. I kept my responses brief, and was feeling antsy to begin, so I did my best to move her along and made reference to specific aims and questions I had in mind. By this point I was watching the clock closely and was eager to get to the part of the reading when she would make contact with my dog, which is what I've come to expect working with several other animal communicators over several years.
The "reading" proceeded and turned into what felt more like a therapy session with a well-meaning but subpar clinician who leaned heavily into advice giving and sharing circuitous things from her own personal life. She claimed that these bits from her personal life came to her because they related to how my dog was feeling -- well, in that case, skip the personal story and just share the takeaway: "Some things are coming through that give me the impression that he's still able to be fairly active, but he's ready to pass". When I am paying $225 for an hour-long session, it is quite frustrating when the minutes are ticking by and I'm hearing about her elderly neighbor and what he said to her husband -- please just tell me what is relevant to me.
I left the session with most of my questions unanswered, despite asking them clearly and directly. Each time I asked a direct question, she paused and would be silent with her eyes closed for 1-2 minutes. She would then pose a question to me, and then simply validate my brief response without providing any additional insight and without saying anything in reference to my dog's experience. It was as if there was never a connection established between her and my pet, and it felt like she was just riffing it. (Example) "I'd like to know about his relationships with his pet siblings" (Susan silent for 2 minutes, then asks: "Do they get along?") "Yes, they do" (Susan smiles and says "Ah, yes, they get along"). That's it. She literally dropped it and said nothing more. For real?! Or she referenced one of the photos of my dog that was sent to her in advance, that showed him lying in his dog bed. She just said, "That looks like his safe space. Is it? That's great. You'll want to focus on keeping him where he feels safe". Much of the session had the tenor of generic feedback from someone who is knowledgeable about euthanasia and end-of-life care considerations -- not someone who is psychically communicating with an animal in the here-and-now.
At one point in the reading, out of the blue she started probing into my career trajectory, at which point I stated that I was not in a headspace to think about my career and wanted to focus on my dog's experience, feelings and needs. Again, I booked an animal communication session. It did not feel like she was connecting with my pet, and so it left me wondering whether she was grasping at straws.
To her credit, Susan held space beautifully for the most part, she has a calm demeanor and facilitated a rather difficult conversation around euthanasia and end-of-life considerations. She struck me as empathic, in that she reads the *humans'* emotions pretty well and picked up on some growing edges, in terms of personal growth: "You need to value your own needs and stop putting others above yourself" kind of self-help stuff. I did not feel that the session was a total waste of time, simply because it provided a space for difficult conversation and reflection. But I came away with the gnawing sense that she was unable to actually open up a connection with my dog.
I want to remain open and give the benefit of the doubt, like maybe sometimes a pet's human caregivers need to receive particular messages and the highest good is not in fact hearing from a pet directly... but if that's the case, then it is important to communicate that transparently so that expectations are adjusted.
