Allison DuBois says she talks to the dead. They look translucent. She claims she can smell them too, sometimes.

And much like in Medium, the Emmy award-winning prime time show starring Patricia Arquette that’s based on her life and inspired by her first book Don’t Kiss Them Good-Bye, Allison DuBois has reportedly helped law enforcement crack cases and locate bodies using what she describes as psychic-medium abilities.

That assistance allegedly extends into Canada. DuBois says she assisted authorities with the April 2009 Tori Stafford abduction case in Woodstock, Ontario during her first trip to Canada from the result of a fluke encounter with someone working the case. “On the plane, I just happened to be sitting next the constable,” she says. “It was just out of the blue. I guess I was supposed to go [to Woodstock]. So I did. I stopped by to do a write-up for them, on the person who abducted her.”

Accomplished, beautiful, and outspoken, DuBois’ claims have not gone undisputed. Yet with unconfirmed law enforcement collaborations and/or downplays of her previous murder case contributions in circulation, DuBois still earned a spot on The New York Times best-seller list and news media, particularly in her hometown of Phoenix, Arizona, consult her for guidance on abduction cases, and her fans are as legion as ever, with Medium heading into its 7th season this fall.

En route to Montreal May 19, 2010, halfway through the North American leg of her Family Connections tour, I had a chance to chat with Allison about the trials and tribulations of mediumship, fate, free will, science, and the other side.

Is a psychic 100% accurate? I ask Allison DuBois for the truth.

Evelyn Reid: ESP, talking to the dead, clairvoyance, remote viewing… bringing up anything paranormal seems to polarize people, causing strong reactions across the board, from believers who swear by their experiences to skeptics who practically swear at those experiences. Why do supernatural topics seem to cause such a strong reaction?

Allison DuBois: Well, there’s a difference between skeptics and cynics. People who are skeptical are just on the fence. They have to hear a certain thing or see a certain something for the paranormal to make sense to them. Cynics are totally different. They are people who spend their life putting up websites, talking about something they don’t understand. To me, that’s very different.

That’s such a good question because quite honestly, what other people do… as long they’re not hurting a child or something, it’s like, to each his own, right? And I don’t understand why there are [cynics] to whom this matters so much, but they seem to have a lot of anger. And anyone who carries that much anger tells me that it has nothing to do with the supernatural or me, we’re just being used as a focus for anger they already harbored in their life so I don’t really take it personally.

[Cynics] need to prove [the paranormal] doesn’t exist if this was going to be a fair fight, but nobody asks them to so they’re kind of just talking about something they don’t know about and throwing mud at the wall to see what will stick. But by and large, people who are intuitives are considered nice, open-minded people. When you say the word “cynic,” you never hear, “you’ve got to meet my friend the cynic, he’s a real blast, a real nice guy.” [Laughter]. So I think that kind of says it right there.

Evelyn Reid: There appears to be this notion or expectation that a real psychic doesn’t need to ask questions to conduct a reading and that a real psychic is 100% accurate, on the ball all the time. Do we hold other professions to the same standards?

Allison DuBois: I think psychics and mediums are put up to this unrealistic expectation. We’re not superheroes, we’re just human beings with turned up senses. That’s all. Like dogs can hear a whistle that human beings can’t. I just think I hear at a frequency that maybe you’re not hearing on. I think it’s as simple as that. I know a lot of people find it wondrous and I’m glad I can do it, for sure, but I just think I’ll never sing like Kelly Clarkson does and some people will never talk to the dead like I do. It’s an ability, it’s a gift, but it’s very human, and I do think there are unrealistic expectations and any psychic medium that says they’re 100% is just full of it. Anybody can misread a sign, you know, and saying they’re 100% is saying that they’re above human.

Evelyn Reid: A sign… you see images in your mind sometimes. But an image can mean so many different things.

Allison DuBois: Exactly. And that’s what I love about Medium. They’ll show that what she saw is true but she interpreted it incorrectly at first. And that can happen.

How can the average person spot a psychic fraud?

Evelyn Reid: And yet with your profession, there’s so much controversy, especially in proving mediumship using the principles of science.

Allison DuBois: You know, I’m married to a scientist. I think that, like my husband Joe said, just a couple hundred years ago, scientists used the stars to predict things.

Science has done some great things, they’ve also screwed a lot of things up. And Joe and I laugh about that. It’s just so funny that any one group can claim to have all the answers.*  And if a skeptic says, “well prove it to me,” I say, “when you die, you’ll know.” I spent four years in a laboratory being studied, which in my opinion, was a big mistake because we were being used to sell books, so I left. And I already knew what I could do, and I had a sense of my gifts. I didn’t need other people to validate me. I think a lot of people have more faith in strangers than they do in themselves and I try and teach people to do the opposite and trust what they get, and not to rely on other people. And I think science doesn’t necessarily teach you to trust your feelings because feelings are not a part of science.

What I do is emotionally based. Science is not emotionally based. The two should never marry. That’s just my opinion. One day, I think they’ll show there’s a gene, that [my gift] is genetic and why it runs in families. I know that they’re already studying villages in Ireland that just happen to be very intuitive and I’ve got to tell you, the U.S. is one of the most closed-off countries in the world. I’ve toured Japan. They’re Buddhist. The word “skeptic” never came up. It was wonderful and it was healthy. And I think if anyone has a problem with it, they don’t have to do it. Don’t go to somebody who’s a psychic medium. It doesn’t matter. Just live your life and don’t get caught up in who’s right and who’s wrong. People need to just be, I swear.

Evelyn Reid: James Randi’s million dollar challenge… any thoughts on why no one has succeeded in proving paranormal activity exists according to his foundation’s criteria?

*Author Note: While some groups may claim to have all the answers or “take sides,” real scientists do not. Impartial observation is a watermark of scientific professionalism. And as per Marcelo Gleiser, Professor of Physics and Astronomy and Professor of Natural Philosophy at Dartmouth College, New Hampshire, “nature has plenty of mysteries to keep us busy for a very long time.” -Quote retrieved from New Scientist (2010, May 8-14), Issue #2759, p.28.

Allison DuBois: It’s not that no one is able to. He will never allow anyone to. He’s not a rich man. He’s not going to let go of that million dollars. And who would allow somebody who absolutely hates people who do what I do to be the judge, jury and executioner? It’s ridiculous. And as far as this million dollars, Victor Zammit has put out a million dollar challenge to Randi to prove there’s no life after death. And I don’t see Randi taking him up on that. And why he cares so much about what we do is curious to me. He spews out a lot of hate and anyone who spews out that much hate, you have to wonder, what happened to them to make them that way?

Evelyn Reid: Allison, are these gifts only genetic or can they be learned?

Allison DuBois: I think it is genetic. You know, my grandmother knew when people were going to die, my mom has healed tumors she had in her body just by visualization and she knows when things are going to happen. In my family, it seems to run strong, in my three daughters as well. It’s just some people accept it more and embrace it more and I think the more you exercise it, it’s like a muscle, the stronger it gets.

So you could have somebody totally gifted who doesn’t want to deal with it, but [not dealing with it] is going to make them feel like something’s missing in their life and they might even get a little pent up and angry but it’s still there. It’s just a matter of grabbing the bull by the horns so to speak. I wanted to be a prosecuting attorney. [Being a medium] is not what I set out to do. But I have a faith that is strong. And I have faith in myself, and I was like if I’m going to do this, I’m going to be great at it, or I’m going back to law school because I don’t want to do something average. I don’t think a lot of people who have abilities need to do it professionally, they just need to incorporate it into their lives.

Evelyn Reid: Can the dead tamper with the living?

Allison DuBois: That’s a good question. I’ve seen the dead do some things that absolutely blow minds. I’ve had audiences actually witness some of them where they’re ready to walk out of the room because it freaked them out so much.

But they can mess with electrical… I think that their energy must be similar to electricity because they’re able to manipulate computers and cell phones and lights, making lights go on and off, and telephones ring and nobody’s there and there’s no caller I.D. They can manipulate things around them. Also I’ve noticed when you walk through them, it steals your breath, and you’ll just go “ugh!” and it’s because they walked through you. And you wonder, what’s that? You just made contact with someone in your family is what it is. It’s just a matter of teaching people what it is they’re doing.

Are there “ghosts” out there who aren’t human?

Allison DuBois: I’ve never seen a poltergeist. I’ve never seen that sort of a thing. I can’t say it doesn’t exist, but the ones with whom I deal seem to be pretty positive. I’ve only had one occasion where a young man died, like late 1800s, very early 1900s at the latest. I was staying in a haunted hotel which I laughed about, saying it probably wasn’t haunted. I’m pretty hard to impress.

But I woke up being stabbed in the back and I was sleeping beside [my husband] Joe. [The spirit] woke me up that way. But he wasn’t trying to hurt me. He was trying to get my attention. And I acknowledged that he died young, that he was hung because he killed a law enforcement [officer] and that he had no family and nobody cared and nobody acknowledged him dying. And so I said “I’m sorry that you had the life you had and I’m acknowledging your passing and I hope you have a better life now,” and then he was gone. Sometimes, they just need to be acknowledged. Nine times out of ten, they just want you to acknowledge that they’re there and then they shift their energy into something positive.

“Sometimes, they just need to be acknowledged. Nine times out of ten, they just want you to acknowledge that they’re there and then they shift their energy into something positive.”

Evelyn Reid: This is going to sound weird. Do you only see people who have passed or have you seen other “beings,” entities that perhaps were never human or ever in corporeal form?

Allison DuBois: You know, I’ve only seen that once. And it was when I was interning in homicide, and I was conflicted over which direction to go because it was like, “wow, do you want to be a prosecuting attorney where people are grateful you helped their family or do you want to be a medium which is going to be a hard road,” although I heard a lot of lawyer jokes when I was in school too. That was a hard place to be.

So I was laying in bed and I swear I saw, it was almost like a white, milky face. It’s the best way I could describe it. And it leaned its head around the corner of my closet, a walk-in closet, and kind of laughed and pulled itself back so it couldn’t be seen but when it pulled itself back, it wasn’t moving in a human manner and it really freaked me out. It did that a couple of times. Then I learned that if you ask the other side to block any mischievous or negative entities, then they can’t access you. So I did that and it worked. It creeped me out.

I feel like there were some people in life whose intentions were, like they were mostly mischievous or pranksters. I think that may be what we’re seeing. When you die, you’re the best form of yourself, all of your problems are gone, so sarcastic people come through sarcastic, cracking jokes, dedicating songs to their wife that end up being songs played at the funeral, songs that come on when they’re thinking of them.

You know, I’ve had women who drank vodka martinis come through with a martini in their hand. Whatever their version of heaven is where they’re at. Smokers come through smoking, they’re like, “it can’t kill me now.” I’m not promoting smoking, but I’m just saying if it makes them happy, it’s a part of who they are. I’m from Arizona, the ones who are sarcastic, unapologetic cowboy boot wearing men and women, they’re still that, and they’re happy they were that. They spoke their mind in life and they have no regrets. I think like energies are drawn together. Like in LA, you’ve got a lot of celebrities, you’ve got a lot of people who want to be celebrities, and they’re all the people who didn’t fit in. They’re drawn to LA. It makes sense. And so, cities carry certain energies. That’s why we get attracted to some over others.

Are there people who can’t be read?

Evelyn Reid: Interesting observation. Have you ever been to Montreal before? What does the energy feel like to you?

Allison DuBois: You know, I don’t know if I’ve been there. Isn’t that awful? I wake up wondering, “where am I?” My manager has to tell me. I know I was in Ontario last year because they had that missing girl, Tori, who was in Woodstock, and I stopped by to do a write-up for them, on the person who abducted her. But Montreal, I’ll have to check on that and get back to you.

Evelyn Reid: Are there some people you simply cannot read or as you say, ‘head tap’?

Allison DuBois: That’s an interesting question. Yes. I know this is going to sound weird and I didn’t even realize until I was playing Texas Hold’Em with a bunch of girlfriends who I won’t name but, one of them was on Adderall, which I guess is supposed to make you focus, it’s like ADD medication. I couldn’t get into her head because when people are on medication, I feel the effects of what they feel and because she was focused and living in the moment, I couldn’t plot any of the past energies. I know it might sound strange but apparently, that’s a kryptonite to me.

Also, I feel like I can pretty much access anybody, it’s just every now and then I’ll get a guy who thinks he’s smarter than anyone else, and won’t admit certain things. But then the wife comes up and says, “you were right.” And I’m like, “yeah, what a jerk.” At least be honest, suss up, you know. So I don’t feel like I have a problem accessing, it’s just some people are more enjoyable to access than others.

If you’ve got somebody who’s negative in life, you don’t really want to sample their energy. If it’s somebody who’s a whole lot of fun, it makes you want to, it’s almost like a rush, an adrenaline rush, “yeah, let’s go do something!” I think we all feed over each other’s energy, it just affects me on a higher level. I’ll take on their personalities. When I do readings, I get the inflection of their voice, and what their personality was like in life. It’s how I access them. And living people will be like, “wow, that’s exactly what he was like!” And I’m like, “I know!” I’ve got his voice inflection and drawl, it’s what I do.

Evelyn Reid: I was looking for video footage of previous events to get an idea of what goes on. Tell me more about attending your events. Who should go?

Allison DuBois: Nobody under 8. The people who attend my events are people who want to learn about their own abilities. I’m also a trauma specialist, and I get a lot of suicide cases. I read as many people as I can in the two hours we have. I try and walk people through what life after death is, and I have seen people in more pain than almost seems humanly possible, like it’s palpable how much pain they’re in…

How much they suffer, and to watch them leave, breathing, with color in their face? It’s very rewarding. I’m trying to teach people to connect, I want the audience to understand, put your hand on their shoulders, reach out. I’m trying to teach people in life to reach out because I think people can shut down and we shut down as adults especially and so the people who go to my events are people looking for answers and that’s why I do it.

What’s next for Allison DuBois?

As far as video footage, as far as getting releases signed from people, I just haven’t taken that step, and I think readings are kind of private and personal so the only time I ever share that is in a book where they sign a release: they want to share their stories so other people can learn from it.

I don’t know of other mediums who’ve written the way I write, which made me really happy, but I let the person I read write their take on the reading and then I give my take on it so you can see both sides of what I did and what mattered to them.

And so, I like to give people a voice they don’t have in life because when somebody loses someone to suicide or murder, nobody knows what to say to them. They lose all their friends and family.

Evelyn Reid: I was going to ask you about that. You were saying in a previous interview that a lot of mediums, unless it’s reaching someone who died of old age, don’t want to touch trauma.

Allison DuBois: They can’t stomach it. They say, “it’s too hard, it hurts.” But that’s our job! We’re supposed to take on their pain for them. That’s what we do. We help to remove it. They have to rejoin the living, it’s our job to do that so they can finish their life. So I actually prefer the trauma readings because when I walk away, I’m exhausted when I leave the event, but I did something that changed somebody’s life and that’s big and if I can do that for the rest of my life, I’ll die happy because if people live better lives because of me, then I guess I was born for a reason.

Evelyn Reid: I’ve got one last question for you. You have an Emmy award-winning prime-time TV show based on you, you’ve made it on the New York Times Best Seller list, you’re on tour… what’s next for Allison DuBois?

Allison DuBois: I wish I could tell you what’s next! I actually know but there’s not a lot to say. I’ve got some big things in the works for TV next year. I’m negotiating a couple of contracts right now and I’m writing my fourth book and I wrote my first television series and I wrote a movie I’m trying to get made. I just like to write.

But I think I’m ready to take a vacation with my family because I’ve been very work-oriented and my family has to carry equal weight—my middle daughter just turned 13 and last Saturday was her party and Maria Lark who plays her [on Medium] came for a sleepover and watching the two of them together on their laptops playing their dragon video games made me realize we need more time together—so I’m going to spend the next year balancing family with work.

But I’m at that point where I don’t know what to do for an encore. I’m just really proud of the show and hope it gives people a different take on the fact that [mediums are] not perfect, that we’re human beings and we could be anybody, a priest or a mother, anyone. I’m just proud of where I’m at and I hope my girls pick different professions. [Laughter]. I’m like, “be a doctor and use your intuition or something but don’t do this professionally just because you can.” So they’ve all picked different professions from what I do so I’m happy. I always say, “you don’t break a glass ceiling without getting cut” so that’s what I’m doing. I’m making it better for the next generation.