Vicky Rhodes, Bureau Manager for Psychic Today, chats with MysticMag about this ‘family’ of highly skilled psychics that has been at the forefront of the psychic world for the last seventeen years.
What is Psychic Today?
Psychic Today is a platform which groups a large number of highly skilled psychics, specialized in various modalities. In addition, we run a psychic TV show that has been running for the last seventeen years. It’s the longest running psychic TV show, I would say globally. We are on SKY TV and also online from a link on the Psychic Today website.
Our studios are based in Milton Keynes and we run daily shows from first thing in the morning until late at night. Since the emergence of COVID, however, only the producer goes into the studio and our psychics have been presenting the show from their homes. They each have two hour slots, either on skype or from our own platform, and they discuss their topic of the day. People are able to call in or text throughout the show for a reading .
We recently launched a new website which offers video profiles of our readers in addition to written profiles. The latter, along with the TV show, definitely helps attract clients to a given reader as we find people respond better to visuals in this day and age. Our readings take place either via a telephone call (mobile or landline), via sms, or through the psychic TV show.
Which psychic/healing modalities are most popular with your clients?
Most people seem to like a natural psychic. People can call us up and if they are not sure on which reader they want to speak to, our reception team is really helpful and knowledgeable about the readers and is able to guide people in the right direction. In most of these cases, people are looking for a reader who works without tools, someone who works completely hands free.
Other popular tools amongst clients are the tarot cards.
How many readers work for Psychic Today and what requirements are needed to be part of the team?
We have over 300 readers on our books, but some of them come and go. We have a core team of about 150 readers who log on each week. Out of the 150, I would say that 20 of them are changeable.
All our readers have a test reading prior to being recruited. We are very clear on the fact that we are NOT a learning platform for psychics to practice their skills. We only take psychics who are already extremely competent and we pride ourselves in thinking that we recruit only the best psychics out there. We adopted this philosophy right from the start. A lot of our readers are published authors and have a big following and some of them have their own websites.
In the seventeen years that you have been recruiting for Psychic Today, can you describe any major shifts that may have taken place?
About ten years ago, the company decided that they wanted to route all the calls through computers. My response and gut feeling was that psychics and technology do not mix well. They tried it for a while, and as I predicted, it did not work. So we returned to the trusty old telephone. This was the biggest ‘potential’ shift that stands out for me in the seventeen years of our existence.
Do you offer a face to face option?
All our readings are done remotely. We have been to events in the past, such as Mind Body Spirit in Earls Court and we have done a tour of the country. However, it’s not really what we do and a huge amount of work is involved to make it happen.
Has the current global pandemic had an impact on Psychic Today?
During the first week of lockdown, I was inundated with calls from readers who have worked with us over the last seventeen years looking once more to be on our books. I had this influx of psychics returning yet the call volume dropped. It was only really noticeable for that first week and thereafter, business pretty much returned to normal.
I actually started doing Zoom psychic coffee sessions during lockdown with our readers. Our psychics are like my extended family. A lot of them live on their own, as do I, so these morning sessions were, and still are, fabulous fun for us all.
Does Psychic Today reach out to a global audience?
Absolutely. We have people from all over the world who use our services. We have telephone numbers in the UK, Australia, Ireland, Canada and America. We have people calling our UK numbers from the Far East, the Middle East and all over Europe.
Would you describe life coaching to be a psychic ability?
Actually I wouldn’t. However, sometimes we do get callers who are very distressed, even suicidal. I usually ask our readers if they have some kind of counselling experience or background so as to be able to help those in need. I feel that life coaching and psychic abilities tend to cross paths.
I do think that some of our callers actually use our service as they would a counselling service. Getting an appointment with a counsellor can sometimes involve a waiting period of weeks and there is often a stigma attached. Our service is completely anonymous and a person can pick up the phone and reach us 365 days of the year, 24/7.
How do you differentiate between NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming) and life coaching?
NLP is for people who want to be the best at what they do. It really is like computer programming.
Virgin to the Psychic Today website, how would you recommend a first-timer proceed?
I would recommend a newcomer check the readers video profiles to see if there is a deeper connection with anyone in particular. Alternatively, they can call up our freephone telephone numbers on our website for our pre-pay service and chat to our reception team. They are so helpful, know all the psychics personally and know what each of them offer. They will be able to guide a client to the right reader depending on whether the interest lies in relationships, career etc…
There are always special offers for first time users too.
What about cost?
We often have special offers for first time users as I just mentioned, and in addition to this, on occasions such as Valentine’s Day or Mother’s Day, for our regulars too.
Our regular prices are listed very clearly on the website.
Generally speaking, are your psychics able to work with various tools or are they specialised in one particular field?
Most of the time, our readers are very much specialized. Some of them specialize in a lot of the different tools but then we have others who specialise in a select few. We tend not to have readers who only work with one tool however.
Are readings addictive?
I wouldn’t say that readings are addictive. We do have a lot of regular callers who like a regular reading, with their regular reader. I certainly don’t think that our clients use our services as a crutch.
Is there anything you feel important to add?
Our psychics form such a happy team. We have readers who have been with us right from the start. Some come and go, but mostly always come back. We are like a big happy family and it’s wonderful to work within this environment.
