Questions to Ask a Medium Before Booking

If you're thinking about booking a reading with a medium, especially for the first time, you probably want to know what to ask. The standard advice is to email the medium with a list of questions. I'd suggest doing it slightly differently.

A medium who's worth booking with will already have answered most of the important questions, somewhere accessible, before you reach out. On their website, in their FAQ, on their booking page, in their introductory materials, in their podcast or social posts. The point isn't that you should be drafting interrogation lists; the point is that you should be able to find clear, honest answers about the things that matter before you decide whether to book.

If a medium's published materials don't answer the questions below, that's information in itself. It might mean they haven't thought carefully about how to communicate with clients, or it might mean they'd rather you didn't have the answers up front. Either way, it tells you something.

Here are the questions to look for answers to, what good answers look like, and what should make you pause.

What kind of mediumship do they do?

Mediumship comes in different flavours. Evidential mediumship (connecting with people who have passed and bringing specific evidence). Psychic mediumship (a blend of psychic and mediumistic work). Healing mediumship. Trance work. Platform demonstration. Spirit guide work. They're not all the same, and a medium good at one isn't necessarily good at another.

What a good answer looks like: a clear description of what they do and don't do. Something like "I work as an evidential medium specialising in one-to-one readings, connecting you with loved ones who have passed and bringing specific evidence to confirm their continued presence." Direct, specific, no buzzwords.

What should make you pause: vague language that promises everything ("I work with spirit, guides, angels, past lives, your future, your aura, and your destiny"). A medium who claims to do every kind of spiritual work is usually not very good at any of them.

Do they have visible work you can see?

This is one of the most important things, and a lot of clients miss it.

You want to be able to see your prospective medium actually doing the work. Not testimonials. Not screenshots. Actual readings, demonstrations, or interviews where you can watch them in action. Podcasts where they discuss their work in honest terms. Videos of stage demonstrations. Recorded readings (with the sitter's permission).

What a good answer looks like: a clear public body of work. Demonstrations on YouTube, a podcast you can listen to, clips from events, interviews with reputable sources, an active podcast or social presence where their actual work is on show.

What should make you pause: a medium whose entire online presence is testimonials, marketing copy, and photos of crystals, with nothing showing them actually working. If you can't see what they do, the testimonials alone don't tell you what you need to know. Anyone can curate enthusiastic quotes.

How long have they been working?

Mediumship is a long-developed skill. Working competently as a medium typically requires years of practice, ideally with good teaching and feedback alongside it. Someone who started six months ago is unlikely to be as developed as someone who's been at it for ten years, even if they're talented.

What a good answer looks like: clear information about when they started, how they trained, and what their development path has looked like. Most working mediums are happy to share this. The information should be findable on their about page or in their introductory materials.

What should make you pause: vague claims of "lifelong gift" or "born with this ability" without any specific information about training, development, or sustained practice. The phrase "I've always known I was a medium" is more of a backstory than a credential.

What's their approach to ethics and safety?

Mediumship done badly can cause real harm, particularly to people in grief. A good medium has thought carefully about ethics, has clear policies on who they will and won't read for, and is honest about what mediumship can and can't do.

What a good answer looks like: clear information about who their work is suitable for, any age restrictions, their position on reading for people in fresh grief (most good mediums recommend waiting a few months after a loss), how they handle disturbing information, and their boundaries around what they will and won't say.

What should make you pause: any indication that they'll read for anyone at any time for any purpose. Mediumship has limits, and a medium who acknowledges those is more trustworthy than one who promises to do anything you want.

What do they not do?

This is one of the most useful questions, and a lot of clients don't think to look for the answer.

Good mediums are clear about what's not their job. They don't predict the future with certainty. They don't tell you what to do with your life. They don't claim to remove curses, attachments, or spiritual dangers (especially for additional fees). They don't replace doctors, lawyers, financial advisors, or therapists.

What a good answer looks like: a clear statement somewhere in their materials about what mediumship isn't, what they won't be doing, and what to look elsewhere for. Sometimes this is in an FAQ; sometimes it's woven through their about page or podcast.

What should make you pause: no acknowledgment of limits at all. Claims to be able to fix anything, predict anything, clear anything, or solve anything. Anyone who positions themselves as the answer to every spiritual problem is overclaiming, and overclaiming is the most reliable warning sign in this field.

How do they handle the possibility of misses?

Real mediumship includes things that don't quite land. Names not quite right. Details slightly off. Information that doesn't make sense to the sitter. A medium who pretends otherwise is selling a fantasy.

What a good answer looks like: honest acknowledgment that readings include misses, that the medium will check rather than insist, and that the sitter is welcome to say "no, that doesn't mean anything to me" without it being a problem. Some mediums explain this on their booking page; others address it in their podcast or social content.

What should make you pause: any implication that the medium gets everything right, every time. The phrase "100% accurate" is a particularly clear warning sign. So is any version of "I'm so accurate it'll blow your mind." Real accuracy in mediumship is partial, specific, and verifiable. Total certainty is theatre.

What does a session actually involve?

Practical stuff. How long is the reading? Is it online, in person, on the phone? What platform do they use? What should you bring or prepare? Can you record it? Are you allowed to share what you'd like to hear from?

What a good answer looks like: clear logistical information available before you book. Length of session, format, platform, what you can and can't do, what to expect on the day. Most professional mediums have this on their booking page.

What should make you pause: vague or absent information about the practical bits. If you can't find out what you're actually paying for before you book, that's a sign of a disorganised operation at best, or one that doesn't want you to know what you're getting.

What do they cost, and what does that include?

Pricing should be transparent. You shouldn't have to email to find out what a reading costs. The cost should match the length, format, and credentials of the medium.

What a good answer looks like: clear pricing on the website, no hidden upsells, no pressure to add additional services. A reasonable range for a sixty-minute reading with an experienced medium is usually somewhere between £80 and £250 in the UK (similarly proportioned in other currencies), though there's variation. Very expensive mediums exist; so do very cheap ones. Neither price extreme is inherently a problem, but extreme prices in either direction warrant a look at what's being offered.

What should make you pause: hidden pricing, pressure to upgrade mid-session, upsells to clear curses or attachments, or any indication that the medium will keep nudging you toward more sessions to "finish the work." A reading is a complete experience in itself, not the gateway to an open-ended treatment plan.

What do they say about other mediums?

This is a subtle one, but it tells you a lot.

Good mediums are usually generous about other mediums. They recommend colleagues, refer clients on when someone isn't right for them, speak well of teachers, and don't position themselves as superior to others in the field.

What a good answer looks like: signs of community, generosity toward other practitioners, recommendations of teachers or peers, willingness to acknowledge that other mediums can serve different people well.

What should make you pause: a medium whose materials are heavy on criticising other mediums, the industry, traditional approaches, or competitors. Some critique can be healthy, but a constant tone of "I'm not like the others" usually masks insecurity rather than confidence.

What's their cancellation and refund policy?

Boring but important. A professional operation has clear policies. A chaotic one doesn't.

What a good answer looks like: clear terms of service, a stated policy on rescheduling, cancellation, and refunds, and reasonable flexibility for genuine emergencies on either side.

What should make you pause: no policy at all, or one that locks you in completely with no recourse. Mediums have lives too, and good ones extend that understanding to their clients.

What if the reading isn't useful?

Worth knowing the answer to before you book, not after.

What a good answer looks like: clear statement somewhere in their materials about how they handle readings that don't connect well. Some mediums offer a partial refund or rescheduling if they genuinely can't make a connection. Some don't, but they're upfront about it. Either is acceptable as long as you know in advance.

What should make you pause: any indication that if you don't feel the reading was useful, that's entirely your problem. The medium has a duty to do their best work; how they handle the rare occasions when that doesn't happen is part of their professionalism.

What's the energy of their public communication?

Less concrete than the others, but worth paying attention to.

What a good answer looks like: clear, calm, honest communication. Acknowledgment of difficulty alongside celebration of success. Specific information rather than vague promises. Warmth without being mawkish.

What should make you pause: communication that feels grandiose, hyped, frightening, or breathless. Mediumship doesn't need exclamation marks. The mediums whose materials are full of capitalised promises ("CONNECT WITH YOUR LOVED ONES NOW!") and dramatic urgency are usually compensating for thin work.

A note on the "questions to ask" framing generally

I want to add a small thought on why I've framed this as "questions that should be answered" rather than "questions to email and ask."

A good medium puts the answers to all of these in their published materials. They want clients to be able to make informed decisions before reaching out. They've thought about what a thoughtful client would want to know and made sure that information is findable.

If you find yourself having to email a medium with a long list of questions because none of this is published, that's a signal in itself. It might mean they're disorganised. It might mean they prefer clients to commit emotionally before they discover the practical details. It might just mean they're new and haven't built their materials properly yet, which is fair enough.

But the medium whose website answers most of these questions before you've even asked is usually a more thoughtful operator than the one who doesn't. The transparency itself is information about who you're working with.

A last honest word

You're entitled to know what you're paying for before you commit. You're entitled to know who you're working with. You're entitled to clear, honest, accessible information about what mediumship can and can't do. A medium who doesn't make that information easily available may not be the right fit, no matter how impressive their marketing.

If you find a medium whose published materials answer most of the questions above, in language that feels calm and honest, you've probably found someone worth booking with. If the materials are vague, breathless, or evasive, please take that seriously and look elsewhere. There are good, transparent mediums working in this field. They tend to make themselves easy to evaluate.

Trust the people who tell you the truth about what they do, even when the truth is more modest than the marketing version.

Frequently Asked Questions

What's the most important thing to know about a medium before booking? Whether you can see them actually working somewhere publicly. Demonstrations, podcast episodes, interviews, videos. Testimonials alone aren't enough; they show the curated wins, not the texture of how the medium actually works. If you can watch them in action, you can decide for yourself whether their approach suits you.

Should I email a medium to ask questions before booking? You shouldn't need to, for most things. A good medium publishes the important information clearly on their website, FAQ, or booking page. If you find yourself having to email a list of basic questions because nothing's been answered publicly, that's a small flag about how the operation is run. Reaching out is fine for genuine clarifications, but most basics should be findable.

What should a medium's website tell me? At minimum: what kind of mediumship they do, how long they've been working, what a session involves, what it costs, what they won't do, how they handle misses, their cancellation policy, and somewhere where you can see them actually working. If most of those things aren't findable, the medium hasn't done the basic work of communicating with potential clients clearly.

Are pricey mediums better than cheap ones? Not reliably. Price doesn't track quality straightforwardly in this field. Some excellent mediums charge modestly; some mediocre ones charge a lot. What matters more is whether the price matches what's being offered, whether the medium has a visible track record, and whether the communication around their work is honest and clear.

What are the biggest red flags in a medium's materials? Claims of "100% accuracy" or guaranteed contact, dire warnings about curses or attachments that they conveniently can clear for an additional fee, vague language that promises every kind of spiritual service, no visible examples of their actual work, no acknowledgment that mediumship has limits, and a marketing tone that's grandiose or frightening rather than calm and clear.

How do I know if a medium is right for grief specifically? Look for mediums who explicitly address the question of when grief is too fresh for a reading, and who recommend waiting if appropriate. Look for ethical limits on what they'll and won't do with grieving clients. Look for warmth in their public materials. Avoid anyone who pressures grieving clients to book quickly or promises miraculous outcomes.

What if a medium hasn't answered a specific question I need to know? A short, specific clarifying email is fine. "What length is your standard reading and what platform do you use?" is a reasonable question if it's not on the website. What's less helpful is a long list of philosophical questions a thoughtful medium would already have addressed in their public materials. Save those for in-session, not for pre-booking interrogation.

Should I trust testimonials on a medium's website? Use them as one signal, not the main one. Curated testimonials are easy to gather. What's harder to fake is a public body of work you can evaluate for yourself. If a medium has lots of testimonials but no demonstrations, podcasts, or videos where you can see them working, the testimonials carry less weight than they appear to.

If you want to hear how to think about mediumship more broadly, both as a client and as a curious observer, my podcast covers the realities of the work, the industry, and how to navigate it well. Worth a listen if you're approaching mediumship thoughtfully and want a more grounded take than most of what's available online.