Deb Sheppard, spirit medium

When Deb Sheppard and her husband were experiencing financial hardship, she says, she went on a spiritual journey and turned to meditation and feng shui to gain control of her life. She says she then realized she could “feel” her friend’s father, whom she had never met. And then, she says, “the flood gates opened.” Sheppard describes herself as an “empath” who communicates with people who are no longer among the living. She bills herself as “an internationally recognized medium, psychic, author and speaker,” and claims she is “in the top 3 percent most accurate in her profession.” Sheppard’s tapped into the spirit dimension for the past 20 years and shares her ability with audiences nationwide through Facebook Live sessions. She also conducts spiritual readings for clients over the phone from her home in Denver. She is hosting an event this Sunday in Sacramento, where she’ll connect with a room full of new faces, living or otherwise.

The No. 1 question on everyone’s mind?

Usually, are their loved ones OK? That’s probably the No. 1 question. My comeback is there are no taxes or dieting, so it must be heaven. It’s letting people know that they’re at peace and they’re not struggling like they were on this Earth plane.

What’s the biggest misconception about your line of work?

That it’s [not] real. I think most people are skeptical, which I think they should be. I think they question, can we really do this? After they usually have an experience they’re like, “Wow!”

What do you get out of sharing this ability with others?

I think that it’s another type of therapy for people. They may go to a grief group, or a therapist, or they may read books, but I think for many of them, when they get exposed to talking to a medium, and I validate things like what they wore, what they did, or things that they would say, or their favorite music, or who has a tattoo, or someone’s moved and I’ll come to such precise detail that the client knows without a doubt that we were connecting with their loved one. It also helps them open up to feel signs from them. I have therapists that send clients to me all the time and my benefit is that it helps people heal.

Some psychics say that if you die elderly, you’ll become youthful again once you die. Is it true?

When I’m doing a reading, they come through exactly how the person remembers them before they died. So if it was a grandmother who was older, that’s what I’m going see. What I do believe is that when they eventually cross over and they start going through the transition on the other side, they’re not that person in pain, they don’t have the cancer, they don’t have Alzheimer’s anymore, because they’re not in the body. So the image that people like myself get is that they’re healthy, and that gives a sense of peace.

What is the other side? Is it another dimension like the Upside Down in Stranger Things?

I think it depends on what people believe. I believe it’s another dimension, and that they’re still with us in another dimension, because energy can never be created or it can never die. That’s Einstein’s theory. We’re just energy, and I’m connecting with that vibrational energy.

Have you ever worked with police to solve crimes or cold cases?

Yes. As a matter of fact, I’ve worked with lots of detectives, and I’ve really enjoyed those times because it’s a whole other venue for me to work through. The detective will give me the name of the victim, and that’s it. I will describe the crime scene, the weapon or how the person died and I’ll get a profile on the perpetrator. I did one several years ago, and they gave me this case and I said, “This is a serial killer.” They said that it wasn’t. I drew a freeway with a second housing development, but it didn’t look like the same scene because it was quite an old case, but they checked the DNA and it was the same perpetrator.

Do you ever cleanse homes or work with children who see dead people?

When I go into buildings, homes, or do land cleansing, usually it’s not anything scary, but people think of it as Hollywood, and so they’re very scared. A lot of it has to do with what they’re attracting energy-wise, what was on the land, or perhaps something that happened with the previous owner. Usually, it’s just about educating them. I work with a lot of kids because they’re more intuitive and they’re open to it. A lot of times, I go into houses because the child is really afraid and is seeing things. So I educate the child and the family about those things. It’s not scary. It may be a loved one, a spirit guide, or it may be some energy that they’re picking up in the house, and I try to help them work through it.

Does Hollywood create challenges for you?

It just depends. A lot of over-the-top religious people, it really scares them, and they think it’s negative, but Hollywood is there to make it a story. I think it helps in some ways, and in other ways it’s just up to people’s perspectives and their experiences.

Do you foresee future events? If so, when will Donald Trump be impeached?

I get asked that all the time. (Laughs.) You never see a psychic win the lottery, correct? So we’re not always privy to information, because I think it’s about creating boundaries and balance, and we’re supposed to just live our lives and not have all that information. Between you and me, I hope there is a change in office. But I don’t know. He’s been playing the big game, so who knows?