Life After Death: Is Tyler Henry a real medium?

Tyler Henry is the topic of conversation once more now that his new Netflix series Life After Death with Tyler Henry is here. But is the Hollywood Medium the real deal or a highly-practiced con artist? It all depends on who you ask.

Tyler Henry aside, people have been debating whether or not self-proclaimed mediums, psychics and clairvoyants are real or if they’re all faking it. It’s not always nefarious either, some people that these folks are just in a state of denial about their perceived abilities. You’ll never get a 100% clear answer since we can’t read minds (at least, not yet) and know what someone else is seeing, hearing or experiencing.

In Netflix’s new show Life After Death with Tyler Henry, the self-described psychic travels around the country to help people gain closure after the death of a loved one. Since you can’t register yourself as a medium or take a test that proves definitively one way or another, the veracity of their talents is usually decided upon by their clients and the people who most believe in their abilities.

To his credit, Henry must be doing something right since the Netflix synopsis of his show claims he has a waitlist of over 300,000 people. He’s also been around for a while. Henry is best known for his E! reality series Hollywood Medium where he gave readings to people like Bella Thorne, the Kardashians and, in one particularly memorable episode, he supposedly channeled late actress Brittany Murphy while chatting to Jaime Pressly.

Life After Death: Is Tyler Henry a real medium?

Bustle published a great article that touches on the challenges of believing in mediums and psychics. At the end of the day, one should proceed with caution and skepticism, but how much you’re willing to believe, or not believe, will come down to the individual.

Mediums know how to use various tricks and illusions to make people think they’re seeing things or communicating with people that aren’t really there. One of the easiest ways they do this is by coaxing their clients into giving up important information that they can then use to make general predictions. Some just make broad, general claims that could be true of just about anyone. Depending on the client’s response, the medium or psychic can then push them in one direction or another.

On the other hand, Erin Jensen of USA Today claims she had an eerily accurate reading with Henry as part of the promotional process for his new Netflix series. By the end of the session, Jensen says she became convinced of his ability.

"“Like him, I believe we all have intuition. ‘It’s really a matter of trusting (your instincts) and refining them,’ he says.”"

I’m a fierce skeptic when it comes to these sorts of things, but I think what matters most, at the end of the day, is whether or not Henry is helping people work through something.

The placebo effect, as its known, is widespread for a good reason. Even if his tactics aren’t real if they’re working, does it matter? I don’t know. Again, it’s all up to interpretation and opinion. You’ll have to watch the show yourself and see how you feel about it all by the end!