I recently spoke with a seer who is seeing a mental health therapist. Many of the seers I speak to see therapists to deal with mental health struggles. It’s very difficult for people who regularly see into the spirit realm and the unseen war around us to cope in “normal” ways with reality, as defined in our Western scientific materialist culture.
For that matter, I too regularly speak with a therapist. I’m even married to a therapist, who is highly specialized in working with children. There is nothing wrong with attending therapy and in fact, I encourage it. They have a way of helping normalize life and get us through extraordinary situations.
This particular seer struggles with depression and she has other concerns regarding mental health issues in her family. Many seers so struggle, actually.
She told me she visits a “Christian counselor.” But she added that she hasn’t told her Christian counselor that she is a seer: she sees demons and shadows and orbs all the time. She said sharing something like this was “deeply personal” and she didn’t “want to get shipped off to a hospital.”
I’ve written before about seers who seek help from therapists but are afraid to reveal this deepest secret: they can see the unseen.
This begs the question of what good having a therapist who is a Christian is. Theoretically, a Christian is someone who believes Jesus died and came back to life, and will return to earth again someday. They also theoretically believe in some kind of future resurrection and judgement. Aren’t these supernatural beliefs? And if they can believe something so incredible as life-after-death, then why not believe that demons and angels exist and some people can see them?
Because the Bible Says Soar
I suppose the answer is “the DSM-5”, the bible of the American Psychiatric Association. American therapists rely on it over their own religious texts for guidance in how to treat mental illness (and, says one therapist who shall remain anonymous, when it comes to billing Medicaid).
The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition is the attempt by the American mental health field to apply hard science to mental health. The culture of America’s mental health field promotes looking at humans as mainly bodies of chemicals, which can be shaped to produce socially-acceptable behaviors. The DSM-5 argues “reliable diagnoses are essential for guiding treatment recommendations”, but acknowledges, “past science was not mature enough to yield fully validated diagnoses.”[ref] DMV-5 [/ref]
The science of mental health disorders continues to evolve. However, the last two decades since DSM-IV was released have seen level and durable progress in such areas as cognitive neuroscience, brain imaging, epidemiology, and genetics.
Applying science to mental health disorders related to spirituality is beyond problematic because science is not equipped to explore the spirit realm or the existence of God or other spirits. The “supernatural” is beyond the realm of what science can explore because science is equipped to study “the natural”, not the “supernatural.”
But the DSM-V gives it a whirl anyway because billing is important and they wear white coats and they really, really want to stand proudly next to physicists and biologists and chemists and other scientists.
Seers and Schizophrenia
According to the DSM-5, people who can see into the spirit realm would have some symptoms of schizophrenia. To be diagnosed with schizophrenia, candidates must exhibit two or more of these symptoms:
- Delusions: fixed beliefs that are not amenable to change in light of conflicting evidence. Grandiose delusions are when an individual believes that he or she has exceptional abilities, like seeing demons. Delusions are deemed bizarre if they are clearly implausible.[ref]87[/ref]
- Hallucinations: perception-like experiences that occurs without an external stimuli. They are vidid and clear, with the full force and impact of normal perceptions, and not under voluntary control. They can be visual or auditory. Auditory would include hearing voices. [ref]87[/ref]
- Disorganized speech
- Grossly disorganized or catatonic behavior
- Negative symptoms.
The disturbance must affect major areas of their lives, such as work, interpersonal relations or self-care. Since most seers that I have interviewed experience at least two of the above list, but their ability to perceive in the spirit realm does not cause a disturbance in a major area to their lives, they would still not be classified as schizophrenic, according to the DSM-5. They might be diagnosed with “Brief Psychotic Disorder” instead. Oh believe me, the DMV-5 will find something to diagnose basically anyone. Billing is that important, you see. Er, I mean, …yay science!
I found this interesting, under Culture-Related Diagnostic Issues.[ref]103[/ref]
Cultural and socioeconomic factors must be considered, particularly when the individual and the clinician do not share the same cultural and socioeconomic background. Ideas that appear to be delusion in one culture (e.g., witchcraft) may be commonly held in another. In some cultures, visual and auditory hallucinations with religious content (e.g., hearing God’s voice) are normal part of religious experience.
I found this fascinating. Science, apparently, is influenced by culture! What is a scientifically-labelled illness in one culture is normal in another! If seeing spirits in one culture is normal, then the seer is normal; but if seeing spirits in another culture is not normal, then the same seer is mentally ill.
A couple years ago, a college student from Ghana was studying biology in our local university and she came to a small group I led for a few weeks. When she learned we viewed the world through a lens that included the supernatural, she told us that everyone in her home town was aware that demons were real and active, and at night, she could see shadows passing and haunting the streets; but the shadows wouldn’t approach the homes of the Christians. They just afflicted the pagans. She said she knew she could not speak of this in America because Americans were not grounded in reality, but chose to view the world through a materialistic lens instead. Notice this student was in a Master’s program studying Biology. She had no problem incorporating hard sciences within her supernatural worldview, but was reticent to share this in America because here, she’d be labeled with a psychotic disorder, according to the science of the DSM-5.
Ha. It seems even the American Psychiatric Association cannot fully quantify what is mental illness and what is normative in a culture. What happens when someone who can hear God’s voice and is considered normal in his or her home moves to a culture that does not accept this behavior as normal? Is that person, like the college student, suddenly mentally ill and a danger to society? What about the student who was raised in America and could always see spirits? Is he or she psychotic?
Or could it be the culture to which he or she lives is amiss?
I also found it interesting that the example from the DSM-V is “hearing God’s voice.” What about “seeing angels and demons?” As considered here, a culture that accepts that hearing God’s voice is normative could still error in assuming the voice a prophet hears was actually hearing from God or a demon. That’s where theology and worldview really comes into play, which we started exploring in the series on Hearing God.
The problem of course is the worldview the American Psychiatric Association is writing from is flawed. It’s scientific materialism, and while this worldview has given us a lot of benefits, it’s ultimately beginning to collapse in on its own inconsistencies.
The best worldview incorporates both the natural and the supernatural in the same way that Jesus did. See the Reveal the Kingdom page for more discussion on this. It’s still an early work in progress.
Christian Mental Health Providers
Again, I come to the question of why is the seer afraid to share his or her ability with his or her therapist? One of the therapists I saw, a psychologist with his Ph.D., fully accepted the supernatural, and we invited the Holy Spirit to join us in our sessions. He could easily move with deliverance or inner healing. Most issues of inner healing would produce deliverance anyway as I began to believe truths instead of lies. The enemy, clings to you through the lies you believe in and when you set your mind on who God says you are and what God thinks about you, the enemy no longer can hold onto you. I’m digressing.
But let’s be honest. This psychologist is a rarity and he would not bring up the supernatural unless he knew I was open to it. We know most Christian therapists in America do not hold to a supernatural worldview. They don’t accept the supernatural interacts with the natural. Their world is defined not by the worldview of the Bible but the worldview of the DSM-5.
My challenge to mental health professionals who are Christians is this: open your hearts and mind to the reality presented in the Bible. The world around us is not limited by scientific materialism, but includes a supernatural reality, an unseen realm. Consider the world and your clients as Jesus did, and your practice will flourish with God’s blessing.
This article was updated to change DSM-V to DSM-5.
Thank you for this article. I agree with it, although find it amazing that others would go therapists rather than find help through prayer. I am a seer and went to four therapists and that only made matters worse by getting me to dwell on the issues I was trying to overcome. I found the best solution for me was prayer and to focus on ministering to others, using my “gift” to help others. I have found it helpful to command the issues to leave me too, although that can take time. Thank you again!
Becoming a ‘seer’ has redefined my image of normalcy. I really began seeing and hearing things 10 years ago, after a lie someone told on me caused an emotional breakdown. Although I was able to live, work and perceive reality because of the healing work of the Holy Spirit. Ten years hence I am still a ‘seer’ and ‘hearer’
I’ll give examples, in my so called Christian college where I did my degree,during flu season some students had a terrible outbreak of the cold which included a bad cough and fever. One evening as I awaited my sister as she used a computer in the computer lab, I saw a tall figure illuminated in light like a 40 watt bulb come into the room. It was coughing and sneezing and I perceived droplets being sprinkled everywhere on myself and other students in the spirit (as well as the computers). Through clenched teeth I started rebuking the figure in Christ Jesus name, saying “I am NOT going to get this cold!” The entity replied in hatred “yes, you *$#@, you know what I am doing!” and left the room. Having had terrible flu’s in the past I believe Jesus Christ opened my ears and eyes to see what actually spreads the common cold and since then every time I hear coughing and sneezing, even when no one is around, I rebuke it, it is rare that I get sick or if I do its not for long.
Secondly, While walking towards the main building in college I saw a wispy, angry entity screaming and hurtling down the passageway in the air. I realized the entity could pass near my right shoulder and I blithely drifted to the left to prevent it from touching me. I think it was some sort of emotive spirit cast out due to prayer or worship which is a normal thing during the semester day.
Thirdly, when approaching class one day I felt a whirly cold wind behind me and I heard a voice say “aye you butch, the day you leave your Yahweh I will out your lights!” it threatened. I am a heterosexual female and although at the time the difficulties with being a ‘seer’ made me frustrated in my relationship with God, this entity was NOT holy.
Fourthly, one day I heard a student laughing – but the levels of laughter in his voice went from a normal man laughing at a joke, to a heavy, eerie demonic laughter which was deep and unlike anything I have ever heard. I realized this young man probably had a demonic personality or issue under the surface.
Fifthly, I sat on a job one day and perceived an entity like a woman coming up to me. It poured a wet, slightly burning/sticky potion on my head. I immediately started to feel slightly frustrated. The gamut did not start until few days later though when I perceived a male entity hurling itself into me bodily, screaming “move on! move on!” Then came the otherwordly headaches, wrenching and thumping even when I used the bathroom or prayed. Apparently it was some type of water witchcraft. Those headaches were sooooo painful and this went on for years, until the Holy Spirit told me what it was, a Satanic attack on me.
I’ve also seen angels over the years, the encounters with them can be quite fun and healing. Gods angels appear to me and most stay around my height, about 5’7 as not to frighten me but I know God’s angels can be extremely tall – as tall as buildings. They say positive things an don’t hide my sin, encourage repentance, help me to find the best products after I pray about it. I’ve felt healing heat in my brain when I pray, the Spirit of God blowing on my head. I’ve seen and heard God interact with me -once while laying out dishes for lunch I saw a Hebrew looking guy actually putting out plates before me. He was setting the table to come “sup” with us. This is what Jesus Christ promised He would do. It encouraged me.
A while ago the Holy Spirit told me that I had Hebrew ancestry and that I was from the tribe of Juda. Being a woman of colour from the Caribbean, I thought I was grafted unto the vine because I believed in Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit said no, He said “you ARE Hebrew and I won’t let anyone rob you of your ancestry! I am the Lion of the Tribe of Judah and you are my whelp!” I heard. I never told anyone, however,some time after my sister admitted that after heartfelt prayer the Holy Spirit also told her that she was an Israelite. She admitted it to me and I laughingly told her what I heard long before she did.
My first niece as well as my second sister are also ‘seers’ and ‘hearers’ and are also attacked by the devil, but the power of Jesus Christ blood, the Holy Spirit, the anointing of oil, the Lords Supper as well as continuous prayer have stemmed the tide of those attacks. Apparently my mother used to be a ‘seer’ and ‘hearer’ but asked God to take it away. Today she doesn’t even discern Satanic attack. I realize the answer is not to ask God to take it away, its to ask God to let Him show you what He wants you to see and hear. Otherwise, you’re done for.
Also, never attend a church where people are not versed in the gifts of the Holy Spirit and who are not able to diagnose witchcraft. Beliefs like “God doesn’t gossip” directly contravene Bible knowledge which shows the Holy Spirit does give words of knowledge to people ALL the time.Don’t bother with ordinary psychologists or psychiatrists, they will only make you think you have schizophrenia. I certainly don’t, but I see and hear things supernaturally EVERY DAY in people, animals, the environment…..you name it. It is harrowing, scary but when given to Jesus Christ it is redemptive.
However, it is good to speak with other ‘seers’ and ‘hearers’
I thank God for Daniel Duval’s connections to this blog so that I can share experiences I had bottled up inside for a long time. I’ve come into contact with energy vampires and parallel realms. I’ve heard unborn children and their angelic protectors. God allowed my to get the full amph of it before tuning it down A LOT so I could live a more “normal life” I believe that teens who ‘see’ should not be afraid, just ask Jesus what He wants for your life. You have a gift that is to be used in these last days, where the veil between seen and unseen, natural and supernatural is about to be rent. We as children of God must know who we are when dealilng with what is to come on the earth! Parent’s who have children who are extrasensory should find Godly groups and therapists who can help. Don’t tell the children its all in their mind or ignore what is happening. Otherwise these children can be exploited by the wrong people or feel they are psychologically ill, when in fact they are not.
I have been hearing voices since I was 16 years old, for 13 years now.Im turning 29 years old this year and besides myself getting diagnosed with PTSD..and having auditory hallucinations..which would be all the voices I have been hearing for 13 years everyday now, I believe that I might have some what of a psychic gift. I have also experienced seeing human beings around me..but they are not real..they are like holograms of human beings…coming in and out of my parents house,where I reside. I also see holograms of my childhood and adolescent hood schoolmates coming in and out of my closet when I lay in bed at night.I have also experienced seeing a blue orb come out of my clear quarts crystal,this orb lite my whole closet up with blue light, I felt a gush of wind and something pushed me backwards onto my bed. I don’t know if I’m a seer, but I have this feeling that all the voices I have been hearing for 13 years now are human beings channeling me or something…and the physical forms of these voices are some place else on earth…but I really do suffer from this…when I respond to the voices ,the voices don’t listen to me.and sometimes because the pictures of the voices I’m hearing are manipulative,emotionally and mentally abusive,and the voices invade my privacy,I tend to get out of control with my emotions and angry,and I have bad responses and bad reactions to the voices I hear. Could it be possible that I’m being tortured by a seer? Or a seer tried to transfer their gift to me many years ago,just so they would no longer suffer? As of this moment the voices are laughing at me because they think I’m joking. I’m not joking.Im being serious. And them laughing at me makes me angry.
Hi Sandi,
So you’ve been diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder huh? Well, that sounds like one way you could have been opened to the spiritual realm. You see we human beings are spirits in a body, the body is our earth suit. However, when God breathed the breath of life into us we became a living soul (Genesis 1: 26-27). For the most part our flesh makes it hard to perceive the spirit realm. However, spirit is what we were before being formed in the womb and spirits in bodies is what we will continue to be and spirit – the past, present and future is always with us and around us.
From reading your post I realize you’re seeing different time lines. It is also possible to hear voices from different countries so you’re probably hearing those as well. However, for the most part I think the abusive or manipulative voices are demonic and they tend to be mnemonic ( which means they say the same thing over and over to make your rile and curse and get angry). This is a hard fight but you must ask Jesus Christ to reveal Himself to you, who He is. Ask Him to be your Lord and Saviour. You don’t know what a spiritual battle you are in, for your very mind and sanity, and only the God who made us can heal our hurts. Very possibly, some hurt caused your spirit or emotional realm to fracture and you are seeing and hearing in an extraordinary way.
Ask Yeshua (Jesus Christ) to heal your PTSD. As He heals the broken parts of your fractured realms, you may very well stop seeing and hearing so clearly in the spirit. However, if that does not happen then the spiritual eyes/ears that you’ve always had have been opened. Ask the Holy Spirit to tune your ears, eyes and tongue to be more like His. Sandie, if you are in a New Age religion, inclusive of the using of crystals STOP IT NOW. Ask your family to pray for you and clean your house of all objects associated with channeling or wicca.
When I became a ‘seer’ I did hear some of the voices of the two female neighbours who were involved in part of my spiritual attack. But after those girls moved out I still had times I would hear them speak loud and clear from across the road. It’s as if the space/time continuum becomes interrupted somewhat. I’ve heard the door bell ring and stop, and then resound for almost 20 minutes in the spirit realm. One day as I prayed I heard my mother come to the front door. When I went to open up she wasn’t there. The same thing happened about three more times. However, she did arrive at the door, about 10 minutes after I heard her knock so many times before. You may see/hear people who want to have a connection with you in the spirit, but these are usually people you would have come across at some point.
The next thing is, no one can really transfer their ‘seer’ gift to you without your approval such as the laying on of hands from a pastor (hope he’s Holy Ghost filled) etc or through witchcraft making you susceptible to spiritual attack. Also, ‘seers’ don’t use their gifts to torture each other. However, having a satanic attack and being targeted for a curse, hex, vex or venom is another story. Ask Yeshua to tell you what is truly going on in your case. He will answer, I promise you. Let me tell you one more story. As I sat on work one day I saw a female like spirit approaching me. It dumped some wet slightly sticky/burning liquid onto my head. I started to fee somewhat frustrated but didn’t understand it was a voodoo attack from someone harnessing the dark arts.
However, as a believer I paid for my naivete. About a week after as I sat down I saw a male like entity screaming and hitting into my body, saying “move on! move on” The most horrific headaches began, as if something was hitting into my head from OUTSIDE my body. Wrenching headaches continued, along with a heavy sticky feeling as if something was pressing on my head and neck. If I was holding something and I got an attack, I would be scrambling to hold onto the object. I used to get headaches every eight seconds. I had headaches when I used the bathroom, when I prayed, when I bathed, when I went to sleep, you name it those headaches continued. Mother wanted me to get my brain x-rayed but how could a doctor heal a spiritual attack?
For YEARS I screamed angrily at God who was there all the time. He answered me and told me who did it and why “It was like LIQUID HATE being poured onto your head” the Holy Spirit admitted. It was someone doing witchcraft because of a job I had in the media and because they probably thought I was getting attention (unwanted) from their mate. I would cry all the time at nights, rant and weep with these headaches and the only reprieve I got was good Holy Spirit and His guardian angels (won’t say his name here). I drank anointing oil, anoint my head and continue to rebuke these headaches, neck pains, jumping and twitching in my head and face. It is a fight of faith and you must be in your spiritual armor but the Holy Spirit always wins – always, and as your Advocate He’ll win for you too!
Sigh, again I write too much. Hope this comment is not too long and that it helps you. God bless you Sandie and I hope you get better soon.
Thank you for replying to my comment. All of those stories were very interesting. Everything that you said was helpful to me. I thank you again Odette.
You’re welcome Sandi, I know when I first started wading through the gamut of spiritual realities that bombarded me on a daily basis it was extremely difficult. I didn’t know who to talk to. I didn’t know what to make of it. I was not sleeping properly, eating properly but I still showed up for work nicely dressed and even graduated with a degree. But it was pure hell for the first six years and I am an adult! God did answer though……it seems the situation I went through triggered what the Holy Spirit called as ‘soul tear’. When it first occurred I used to feel as if I was totally out of my body but God sealed me up over time – and the healing process is very difficult and painful because He had to heal my brain! I used to actually feel sections of my brain open up and warm to hot air blowing in there. I know freaky right? But true. He strengthens you though. One thing I do know, the Truth and Jesus Christ made all the difference. You just need to press in and ask Holy Spirit to help you.
Hey my name is Keri and I was told that I am a seer but only to one sprit. How can I make better contact?
Better contact with the one spirit? Other spirits? The spirit realm? I’d recommend against trying to contact any spirits other than the Holy Spirit.
I feel very fortunate. I have been seeing a mental health counselor for a few years who knows my mental health struggles, but also fully believes in what I see does not relate to my mental health. She tells me that she believes that God speaks supernaturally, but she also sees that mental health is a real issue. My Christian counselor has been one of the very few people in my life who has helped me through the things I see (both good and bad, angelic or demonic, and with dreams). She has never said I was crazy or that I have delusions or hallucinations. I pray that each and everyone who has a counselor or therapists finds one with an open view.
Maybe they’re hard to see because they are higher dimensional beings. Flatland explain this process very well.
I run a ministry that helps people overcome evil entities in their lives, by using prayer, and Christian counseling. We have had much success, and are going to be creating a project to help others. We are seeking people that have had supernatural experiences, and are also seeking the help of the medical profession. Even if you had sought help in the past, I would like to hear your stories. We are hoping to use this information to help others that are suffering, and to open the eyes of the American Medical Association, as they continue to misdiagnose those plagued by evil.
If you are interested, please drop me a line at gttlp @ outlook. com