My story - how I became an Animal Communicator

For me, the journey was long and hard. For those of you that have read my book Communication with all Life, Revelations of an Animal Communicator, published by Hay House, I had a very tragic event with the horse of my dreams , Pet One - (one of those soul mate animals). For those of you that didn’t read the book, it was a life altering event. 14 hours after the birth of her colt, Pony Boy, Pet One severely colic’d (this can be anything between bad gas and death). She was this side of death. She survived (barely) the first surgery but was in ICU for 6 weeks. Suddenly, I’m left with an orphan colt. I brought Pet One home at week 6 only for her to colic again and this time, to die.

While she was still alive, I was living in a stall in Los Angeles at the time with her son Pony Boy – my son basically. There were some absolutely magical moments. However, through the course of the next three years, in an act of love and kindness, I made every possible mistake not only behaviorally but health wise – nutritionally. Eventually I lost him as well.

There are many times in my life, I could have made this choice, I could have chosen this path – but apparently I needed the big knock. I still didn’t listen. I was as committed as anyone could be to acting, writing and to the ups and downs of an artist’s life. I always joke with my father that I finally got a steady job when I became a pet psychic! There were many aha’s throughout my entire life because of my deep love and connection to animals. And then there were the conk in the head moments……The loss of both of those horses was more like an anvil landing on my head and flattening me in some Road Runner cartoon.

One of those mini conk moments was with Pony Boy. I used to hike next to him in Southern California up this mountain every Saturday. One day we got to the top of this vista and we were looking out into the horizon. I hadn’t gotten on him because I was waiting for him to turn 3. He was a week or so from turning 3 and I felt like I could just slip on his back. I shimmied myself on and as I was sitting there I heard the words “I’ve been waiting for this”. I heard it so loudly that even though I KNEW nobody was there, I had to look around. When I looked down at him, his eye was so soft and kind and we just shared that oneness of the view. Since then I realized that he was probably telling me the whole time to slip on his back as he had seen me ride so many other horses. At this day and age, at least people know what an Animal Communicator or Pet Psychic is. When I got started - I had a lot of explaining to do. Once I explained it, the majority of people were on board – because to some degree everyone knows they already are communicating with their pet. However, educating became a major thrust from the moment I started – so that people would understand how pedestrian telepathy/animal communication was and that it isn’t entirely steeped in the world of woo woo.

Whether I was in front of a crowd of hypnotherapists, volunteers at the shelters or a one on one conversation on the corner as I’m walking home in West Hollywood from a restaurant, I set about to make it look like I had the most normal job on the planet. It has resulted in a loyal following of clients and students.

I also always emphasized that 1. They could do this too and were already doing it; 2. I learned this skill. I actually took a class which led to many classes which led to a professional program which led to another program. …..more on all of that later.

Also at the time, I just left the world of theatre/film – acting and writing – I had only known that since I was 16. The one thing I did know from that world is that studying on some level was eternal. I have a degree in Theatre, I continued my studies in New York and Oxford England. I had always been in some private acting class. I had always done something to augment my education that would benefit my acting. As a result, I probably learned more for what I’m doing now than I could have absorbed entirely as an actress……..i.e. Alexander Technique.
For fun – I took every energy work class I could take. I had learned the Tarot Cards in 1986 because I played a character that was a tarot reader, so this was all just a fun hobby for me. I was also riding and always in lessons with riding trainers and have been meditating since I was 17. In Los Angeles, if I wasn’t on target with chosen career path, I was still learning or experience something spiritual or mystical - (sweat lodges, group meditations, lectures by yogis, etc.)

I’ll have to admit, my horse Gabrielle also had a lot to do with how I ended up in this chair in front of this computer now. She joined my life a few months after Pet One’s death. About the same time frame as this magical moment with Pony Boy, Gabrielle came up lame. For years I had used an animal communicator and I couldn’t find her phone number. Every lameness exam came up with nothing. I finally gave up on my desperate search for the animal communicator’s number and picked up a little local newspaper which happened to advertise for an animal communication class with a different teacher. So I signed up for the class. I did pretty well in that first class.

I found that it was harder to work on my own animal, but I definitely was pretty good at other people’s animals. I took more classes. I eventually took Carol Gurney’s professional program. At the time this was still just for fun………I was a committed actress and writer. Part of the program was to talk to a few animals a week for practice. Well word getting out in Los Angeles that I’m doing this in the mid ‘90’s was like lighting hay on fire. I was doing it for free for about a year and eventually I had to charge for gas. And eventually as I pushed deadlines off for writing jobs, I had to charge money.

If you asked me if I was going to be a pet psychic when I was in my 20’s I would have said you should change your medication. (Even though I was using one!) What I discovered in using this animal communicator, Lydia Hibby – was as I followed her (I used to video everything) I knew what she was going to say about the animal as she was saying it. I didn’t know why or how. When I’d ask her, she would just say “oh you can do this”. I shrugged it off.

What I know now is that everyone is doing this at all times. This was our original language. We forgot. But just like getting on a bicycle after many years, we do remember how to do this and then it is just strengthening the telepathic muscle. This program is merely the training wheels to get you riding down the path on your own.

In the course of developing this, I looked at what made me. I thought okay the degree in theatre helped immensely – why? Because I analyze the super objective of any situation and every character is part of that. I apply that every day as I walk into someone’s home, barn or talk to them in a phone session. Ultimately, everyone wants harmony in their home. So if the cat is peeing, the dog is leash aggressive or the horse is bucking, what is out of place? Who are the characters inhibiting this potential? And why? (a deep and vast question – could it be the person’s stuff ?– Could it be the special little contract/karma of the animal? Are they delivering a new lesson we get to use later on?)

Of course the years on the yoga mat, the years of meditation workshops all enable me to quiet my mind at the drop of the hat to stay focused or in prayer whether communicating and/or doing healing work. This includes talking to multiple dogs at the mall with the smells of food from the nearby restaurants and knowing deep in my mind there is a sale down the hall there at Nordstrom. I can quiet with non-believers. I can quiet in a barn aisle full of teens, mothers and trainers waiting for their turn. Not to mention talking to dogs at the many doggy daycares I’ve worked at during recess (do you hear the barking now as you read this?)

The years of taking energy classes for fun – led me to working with Barbara Brennan (Hands of Light), Rosalyn Bruyere (Wheels of Light), The Bio-Scalar Wave (created by Dr. Valerie Hunt) – I may have taken this at least 12 times and became the person with the animal testimonials in the workshops! I have studied with Ron Roth while he was still working and that led me to Brazil a few times with John of God. I have continued to learn modalities and alternate techniques depending on the situation – such as: EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique), The Sedona Method, The Work by Byron Katie, even MAP (Medical Assistance Program).

I was very lucky to be in the origins of the Medical Intuition program with Caroline Myss , PhD and Dr. Norm Shealy. At the time, I intended to complete my own PhD with them. I’m not that many credits away from it. More important to me than the letters was the training I got those years. (There were lots of other amazing classes I participated in like – psychopharmacology and herbs. At the time, I was the only animal person in the program. While many animal people have completed since, and I learned tons about people, I went on to learn more…………….

In Los Angeles, I took every class I could about nutrition for dogs and cats. In the mid 1990’s there weren’t a lot of classes about this – I soaked it up and then started teaching a label reading class. Just to educate people then about commercial pet food and offer alternatives in terms of other foods and raw recipes. In Denver, I linked up with a vet that taught classes. Since then, as a result of distributing dog/cat/horse/bird/alpaca food, I have taken nutrition courses repeatedly, and hosted the courses. I can’t get enough of that information.

Body work wise, I was certified in several modalities in the late 90’s. I took many body balancing courses in Los Angeles, many included energetic clearing techniques. But the most useful daily of the certification programs I took are the Acupressure classes; Cranial/Sacral for horses and dogs; and of course TTouch. These are basics I can even walk someone through in a phone session to alleviate discomfort of their animal immediately. I used to teach Animal Communication at the Boulder School of Massage Therapy for their Canine program – by locating the discomfort through the telepathy, I have some basic moves I can show or describe to someone.

Of course there are the Angel Reading courses, the Feng Shui, more Tarot card reading, Astrology, numerology, grid clearing, geopathic stress clearing, Crystal classes and aromatherapy……….that gets more into mentioning weekly vs. daily to clients. Because of the book being out, I’ve been thrown into the world of marketing. That’s a whole other kettle of fish for someone who wants to do the creative work – talk to animals, write books, teach classes, etc. But I have been studying that for the last 3 years – I don’t know if I use it all – but I also didn’t know that Alexander technique 20 years ago would come in handy for spine alignment with each and every animal.

I haven’t even mentioned the behavioral part of the job. This is too long a list to mention. But because Pony Boy was more aggressive than the horse in the Horse Whisperer, I worked with every Horse Whisperer on the west coast that the early 90’s had to offer (before the book, the movie, etc.)

I have been in riding lessons at least once a week if not more since 1988 (currently Tuesday mornings – hoping to add more a week). I’ve done more ground training with that orphan colt and since have learned Linda Tellington-Jones’ labrynth work and have been teaching that for years. There is the dog training, the agility classes and my close alignment with many horse/dog trainers and behaviorists of all disciplines in any given species, Natural Horsemanship trainers, boarding facilities, doggy daycares and vets. This is just an ongoing conversation with my peers. Through it all, due to my empathic nature this entire lifetime and some of the amazing epic situations I have been faced with (I have been known to compress karma to really get to the now) there have also been many of the above mentioned techniques I’ve used for myself, sometimes daily, sometimes weekly – regardless, to clear myself . Healer heal thyself is also a major part of this path. I can’t show up and be of service if I’m not clear moment to moment of where I am mentally, physically, emotionally, spiritually.

My own stuff needs to be left at the gate. By doing the work myself, whether with a practitioner or using my own tools – this is daily like going to the gym. This alone could be the most necessary component of this work to show up with compassion and no agenda or judgment.