Robertson, B. (2022). The medium and community: The medium’s experience in an esoteric online community of integrative transpersonal practice [Unpublished Master’s thesis]. Alef Trust & Liverpool John Moores University.

This study examines the personal and professional experiences of mediums who partake in an intuitive community of shared integrative transpersonal practices. The aim was to understand participants’ perceived experiences regarding the influence of community involvement on their faculties of intuition, psychism, and mediumship, as well as on their mental, physical, emotional, social, and spiritual wellbeing. A qualitative research design (IPA) was used. Using purposive sampling, six participants were selected from the larger online Sophia community. A third-party interviewer used a semi-structured interview guide to gather participants’ reflections of consistent involvement in Sophia over a one-year period. The results clearly indicated that, prior to attending Sophia, participants were frustrated with the dearth of professional and personal support and systematic mediumistic education. They strongly voiced their support for a community that addressed the components of esoteric history, critical thinking, skill development, current knowledge and research, and the opportunity to be “visible” with others sharing intuitive faculties. The results highlighted the need for the continued holistic development of the medium to further the wellbeing of the mediums themselves, and to raise the standard of mediumistic service for the public. It appears that there is relevance of the format of this holistic model to participant satisfaction and their reported changes, not only to those working in the intuitive professions, but to other organizations looking for pragmatic avenues of transpersonal evolution.