The ability to help others in times of personal crisis or intense grief is a valuable and deeply human skillset, and it’s one that Amy White has turned into her career. As an intuitive medium, Amy uses her innate gifts of interpreting energies and reaching out into the unseen to help others through their lowest points and to find peace in the midst of loss. Her family’s journey with her son’s suicide crisis prompted Amy to write her new book, Closer to Paradise: A Mother's Journey through Crisis and Healing, which sheds light on navigating mental health crises to help others who are going through similar trauma. Amy shares her outlook on how modern mediums can help others not only to survive, but to thrive, in times of crisis. Read our interview with Amy to find out more about how she has opened herself up to the Universe on her path to mediumship and how she has used her gifts to help others along the way.

Where are you based?
I’ve recently relocated to San Diego, CA from the San Francisco Bay Area.

You describe yourself as an intuitive medium. Can you tell us a little bit about what that means?
Yes! An intuitive medium is someone who is able to bridge the energetic connection between the seen and unseen, between physical energies and non-physical energies. In the work that I do, I am able to connect to both Universal consciousness as well as souls who were once in human form. I use this connection to guide my clients to find their own authentic truth, trust their inner-knowing and learn to thrive in their lives.

Universal consciousness encompasses the energies of Source. It is a higher vibration knowing that allows direct access to the deeper truth that exists at the soul level, in each of us. We all have connection to this energy, though some may consider it to be instinct, gut-sense or coincidence. As a connector between Universal consciousness and the human experience, I am able to connect with a client’s unique wisdom, put words to their feelings, validate their inner-knowing and create an opening to possibilities not yet considered. I sense this energy first as a feeling and then it is interpreted into words. This allows me to share the information in a way that the client can hear and understand.

Being a medium is not your typical job. We would love to hear the backstory! What was your first spiritual encounter? How did you know you wanted to make a career out of your gift?
To say this is not a typical job is an understatement! My first career was in technology. It was exciting and fulfilling to be in an industry that required analytical thinking and linear processes for developing, building, and managing networks, tools, and teams. While I always knew, at some level, that I was intuitive, as I was climbing the corporate ladder I often marvelled at the strong gut sense and street smarts I had as a leader. It was easy for my thinking mind to discount that the strong sense of knowing, which I felt in my work and daily life, was something more than simply being good at my work.

Then in 2002, my grandmother passed away. Soon after, she started showing up around me in many different ways. I’d sense her energy in the car while I was driving; I’d feel her in the kitchen while I was cooking dinner. Her presence felt safe, organic, and loving. The more I connected with her energy, the deeper I was able to begin to trust my intuition. And as I continued the dialog with my grandmother’s energy, I began to connect with the energy of other souls and guides.

I wouldn’t say that I ever considered making a career out of these gifts. In fact, as I transitioned out of my corporate career and into a coaching and consulting practice, intuition and mediumship were not at the forefront of my mind. That said, during the last ten years of my corporate path, I had launched a small coaching practice as a side hustle. Coaching was such a fulfilling experience for me. And it was during this one-on-one work with my clients that I began to truly recognize how strong my intuitive knowing was and how I could use this knowledge to support and guide. This shift from privately using these gifts in support of the coaching work I was doing to being publicly open about this connection came one afternoon as I was working with a long term coaching client. At the time, I often pulled Tarot cards for the client, before a session, as a way to connect in with where they were in the energetic moment and to get more information about how I could best support them. I never shared this information with my clients directly, but in this particular session, I mentioned that I had pulled a few Tarot cards for her prior to our meeting. She was intrigued and asked me to share the message that had come through. When I was done she asked, “why are you not doing THIS work?” This single question was the catalyst for making a career out of my gifts.

You use your gift to help pass messages from beyond the grave to loved ones. Can you tell us a little bit about this experience? Do you have any favorite stories that you can tell us?
After the connection I had with my grandmother’s spirit, I began to recognize the energies of transitioned souls in my coaching work. If a client was speaking about their deceased father, for example, their father would energetically join the conversation. In the beginning, I wasn’t sharing this information with the client directly. I was a bit of a reluctant medium. There was a part of me that was afraid of what people would think but also coming from a very left-brained, intellectually focused background, I wasn’t always sure I believed it myself.

Luckily, I continued to remain open to the possibilities that this was a gift worth sharing, and the more open I was, the more opportunities I had to come into contact with these gifts.

During a session, I connect in with a loved one or soul who has transitioned similarly to dialing up a friend on the phone. The client will often have a specific person or people in mind that they’d like to connect with and I energetically dial them up. The connection always happens, though sometimes in ways even I don’t expect.

I work quite a bit with parents, family, and friends of souls who transitioned by suicide. In some cases, there is hesitation from the deceased party, due in part to how they chose to exit this life experience. During one session, a mediator was sent to be the intermediary between me (as the channel) and the soul of the brother of my client. I had never seen this before and it was interesting to have a messenger who was on the non-physical side of the equation working in concert with the process. It made for powerful reading and I’ve learned to allow the process to flow in whatever way works best for the non-physical and physical participants.

I feel honored and privileged to be able to be a participant in deep healing, especially around traumatic transition stories.

You started out in the corporate world. What prompted you to leave your work in corporate and focus on being a medium, Reiki Master, public speaker, and writer?
Ever since I was a young girl, I wanted to be a writer. In fact, a girlfriend and I used to play “Publication House” when we were in elementary school. I was the writer and she was the publisher. We’d put out little books made with folded over printer paper. We even named our agency Duckside Pro-duck-tions, since I had a duck rubber stamp at the time. But by the time I was in middle school, my dreams of writing took a backseat.

I starting working my first corporate job right out of college. I had done an internship in high school with a large manufacturing company and fell in love with all things engineering. I spent more than two decades climbing the corporate ladder, rung by rung by rung. It was my passion and for a very long time, my purpose. I loved technology, leading people, and solving problems. I found that in order to continue my trajectory, I had to switch jobs, companies, and even locations. For a time, it was exciting and inspiring. And then it was not. At the time I prided myself on sticking with something until the bitter end. I had a belief system that convinced me that I couldn’t leave a situation that wasn’t serving me until I had given it my all and more. If I did that, then I would be able to walk away with no regrets. At least that is how the story in my mind went. So I stayed, much longer than was good for me. In fact, one of the pivotal moments when I realized I’d overstayed my time in my corporate roles, was an evening when I was in my office past seven o’clock and googling Urgent Care because I had been unwell and knew I needed to seek medical attention. The ironic part of this story is that I wasn’t googling only to find the nearest location but to see what time they closed so that I knew how long I could stay in the office before I absolutely had to leave.

Turns out I was very sick. I was forced to take a long hard look at the life I had created or allowed to create around me and take inventory. I found myself questioning whether this career path was bringing me joy (it was not), whether I felt appreciated and respected by my leadership (I really wasn’t), and most importantly if I was able to nourish and nurture myself while continuing the momentum (I could not).

Shortly after this health crisis, I gave my two-weeks notice and walked away. I didn’t have another job lined up. But I knew that this was a big message, on the back on many messages I was pretending not to see, from the Universe that it was time for a big, bold change. So, I jumped and the net appeared. I expanded my coaching practice and that morphed into the intuitive offerings and work that I’m doing today.

Speaking of writing, you have also co-authored the International Best Seller, Bold is Beautiful: Breakthrough to Business Strategies. Now that you are in a different line of work, how has your relationship with your career and personal life matured?
This is a great question! I feel in many ways that I am on a continuous learning and maturation process across all areas of my life. I’m not the same person I was back when I was on my corporate career path, but then again, I’m not the same person I was last year, last month, or last week. One of the biggest shifts in this evolutionary process has been in my intention to release all of the coveted identities that came from the jobs, relationships, and roles. I no longer define myself by my career, or as a mother, daughter, or partner. I’ve learned that when my identity is wrapped around situations, and not who I am at the soul level, I’m more likely to perform in ways that others expect and associate with a specific identity and less tuned into my authentic self.

There are times when this process of untethering from societal viewpoints can be challenging. As a recovering people-pleaser, making the choice to pick my needs and desires over the wants and expectations of those around me was scary. I feared that if I chose to show up in the wholeness of what my preferences were, first and foremost, I would be abandoned. And there were people who did exit my life when I was no longer making them feel better than I was allowing myself to feel. The difference was that as I matured in this way of knowing myself, the shifting of people in my life became less about abandonment and more about making space for those who were more aligned with the new ways I was choosing to show up in the world. This evolutionary process is on-going and one that will continue for as long as I’m on this physical human journey.

You more recently wrote Closer to Paradise: A Mother's Journey through Crisis and Healing, which chronicles the trauma of your son’s suicide crisis. How is your son doing now? How were both of you able to overcome the tragedy of suicide? And how has that event changed you both?
Yes, this book is a memoir of my journey as I experienced my son’s crisis and the lessons, heartbreak, and healing that transformed my life as I walked this ragged path. My son is doing very well. He has a deep appreciation for his experience.

While there were attempts of suicide during this crisis, I don’t consider it a tragedy that we needed to overcome. It was part of his journey and part of mine, from different vantage points. I’m grateful that my son is still walking this earth journey with me and I can appreciate the deep pain he was in at the time that made it feel as though there was no other way to ease his suffering. I’ve had my own experience with heartbreak so unbearable that I’ve thought about an exit strategy, on occasion. Watching my son suffer was one of the toughest things I’ve ever experienced. I’m grateful that we both came out on the other side of this crisis and learned to find ways to thrive in our lives. He is thriving.

While I cannot speak for my son, we’ve discussed how we both have a strong appreciation for life and that we can ride the ups and downs of our life experiences a little better having gone through this situation.

Was writing Closer to Paradise: A Mother's Journey through Crisis and Healing helpful towards your own emotional healing? What do you hope readers learn from your experiences and lessons?
As I look back, I see that writing the book was a very cathartic process for me. When my son’s crisis first hit, I was looking for support and community with people who were experiencing or had experienced a child’s mental health crisis. I looked around the waiting rooms at the hospitals, treatment centers, and residential facilities and I saw the numb, doe-eyed looks on so many faces. It was the same look I had on my face. I sought out support and came up empty-handed time and time again. When I couldn’t find the support I needed, I decided to create a way to be supportive. I started a blog and wrote anonymously at first. I began chronicling my experiences, lessons learned, and ways that I found empowered advocacy for myself and my son. In a short time, the blog had a readership in more than 30 countries. Emails were flowing in from parents and caregivers sharing their stories. Even as I was in the middle of this painful set of events, I felt that there was healing happening for me as I interacted, shared, and supported others.

I eventually felt called to write the book. Initially, my idea was to curate the blog posts into a book of “ah-ha” moments that I’d had while going through this experience. Instead, and with the guidance of a highly skilled editor, I was encouraged to take the reader along on my journey. The hope as I was writing the book was to shine a light on this often unspoken topic and to tell the story in a way that others could find support and understanding, even if they weren’t comfortable sharing their personal journey through the behavioral health maze. This experience taught me lessons about self-care, advocacy, standing in my power, partnership, and trusting my intuition. I hoped by writing the book, others could see these things in themselves as well.

In addition to writing this book, you became a Caregiver Champion in support of your son amidst a mental health crisis. Can you tell us a little bit about this work?
As the blog grew in popularity, I began to get requests to meet with parents and caregivers to help them navigate their specific circumstances. It allowed me to share my story and hold space for others seeking support from someone who’d been through similar circumstances. In a way, it was what I was looking for when my son’s crisis first hit. Much of this work revolved around shared stories and specific actions that the caregivers could take when faced with challenges in finding support and in advocating and supporting their loved ones. I also spoke publicly at events, on NPR, and other national platforms to continue to bring awareness to an often stigmatized topic. One of the big things I learned early on was that I was often judged harshly as a parent of a child with mental health challenges, . There was much blaming and shaming going on, even within the medical environment. I understood, even from the beginning, that mental illness is a taboo subject for many, I was surprised at the finger-pointing that went on. I had to come to a place within myself where I knew, without a doubt, that my son’s illness was not a result of anything I did wrong as a mother. There was a strong desire for me to teach other parents and caregivers this valuable information.

Mental health is a big issue with everything going on in the world. Can you tell us a little bit about how your life has changed since COVID?
For the past several years I’ve traveled significantly for work and play. The ability to explore the world, meet new people, and share my work in-person at conferences, events, and private sessions is a catalyst to my body, mind, and spirit wellness. I also prioritize physical movement on a daily basis which allows me to deeply connect with and ground into my body. When the COVID lock-down started, it was truly a shock to my system. Everything halted and it took me several weeks to truly find my grounding again. In ways, I grieved not being able to freely move about the world. I missed the connection with clients and friends, and finding ways to maintain my physical activities became difficult for a period of time.

But I also found that I could still connect with others using technology and that I could find ways to continue to move my body even if the ways that I desired to do these things had changed temporarily.

The big realization for me was that I got to choose how I looked at the situation. I could choose to see around my loss of the things that I loved to do or I could choose to see the COVID-pause as a time to reset, reassess, and recommit to the things that I truly feel resonate for me in a healthy way and release those things that do not. Prior to COVID, I ( like many people I know) was caught up in a lot of doing, doing, doing without having the time to explore the why behind my choices and decisions. In a way, this time has been a gift for me to explore what I really want my life to look like, what my non-negotiables are, and how to ensure that I’m nourishing and nurturing myself first and foremost. Taking this time of exploration has been a solid foundation for my own mental wellness.

COVID is preventing many people from having their last moments with their loved ones. Are you able to help assist people to connect them one last time during these times?It is heartbreaking to hear story after story of people not being able to be physically present with their loved ones at the time of transition. As a medium, I am able to connect with souls that have transitioned into the non-physical regardless of the situation or experience at the end of their physical life. But it doesn’t take a medium to connect us with our loved ones. I encourage my clients to sit in a quiet place, whether in mediation or contemplation, and start a conversation with their loved ones directly. The key is to trust that the line of communication is open and that the loved one can “hear” what is being said. And believe me, they can. This, coupled with the work that I do as a medium to create the communication pathway for my clients, can assist in the healing process.

As a medium do you feel the effects of everything going even stronger? How are you staying sane?
One of the ways that I keep myself sane is that I set very strong energetic boundaries. This was something that I committed to doing for myself even before COVID. It is very important to me to ensure that I can take care of all aspects of myself before I do the work that I’m committed to sharing in the world. The quote, “You cannot pour from an empty cup,” has long resonated with me. I used this as a mantra when my son was in his crisis when I was going through my transition from corporate work to my own practice, and it has come in especially handy during this pandemic. I am definitely more aware of the energy cycles going on in the world and affecting the collective, as well as each individual right now, but I also get to choose how much of that energy I allow into my system. I have a choice to allow myself to be pulled into the spin, fear, and uncertainty, or not. I take time every day to connect into my physical body and live from a place of presence in each moment. I try to take each day one step at a time, consciously intending not to project too far into the future or ruminate over things from the past. This isn’t about perfection, but it is about being empowered to choose what my life looks like and feels like, no matter what is happening in the external world. Protecting my mental health by not adding to the spin is one of my strongest commitments to myself.

Knowing the suicide has increased with everything going on, how is your son doing?
I’m not aware of the statistics around suicide as it relates to COVID but I can imagine with the fear and uncertainty across the board right now, it is likely making tough times tougher for many who are already finding maintaining mental health to be challenging. My son is doing well. He is very aware of his mental wellness and the triggers that can shift him in the direction of despair. Not only is he aware but he can put words around these feelings or circumstances often. Calling the emotions out into the light, often allows us to process through our feelings rather than stuff them down. My son has learned to ask for support when he needs it and has done a really good job holding himself accountable to his health and well-being. This commitment to his wellness has likely made this time a little easier for him.

Do you have any advice for anyone struggling during these times?
The biggest piece of advice that I can give is to remember that this is not a forever situation. Things will shift. Life will flow again. It will likely look different than it did prior to COVID but that is not a bad thing. The world, in many ways, really needed a reset. We are being given an opportunity to decide what really lights up our souls, choose a slower pace, and decide what is important to us as individuals. The gift is that we can each choose to bring into our life experiences and preferences that actually fill us with joy, love, fun, and play. Stepping off the hamster wheel and getting more intentional with how we want life to really feel is a big opportunity for so many of us.

This is not to say that there isn’t real grieving happening right now. I honor and recognize those souls that have transitioned and all of those that are still here in the physical, feeling left behind and grieving their losses.

How are you and your son staying positive during shelter in place?
We talk a lot about our feelings, we process news and information together, and we do our best to co-create a peaceful experience for each other through mitigating as much risk of illness as we can, while still living life as we are able. Early on sheltering in place, we would simply take a drive to give ourselves a little adventure while keeping a safe distance. Being aware of the importance of getting out of the house, feeling sunshine on our faces, and making time for deep, introspective conversation has and continues to be essential to our mental health and well-being.

What is your motto in life?
I really love the Rumi quote, “Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and right-doing, there is a field. I'll meet you there.”

To me this means I get to choose to live my life based on what feels aligned for me AND I allow others the same opportunity without judgment.

It’s about taking personal responsibility for my own alignment, of what feels good and resonate to me, and committing to live from that place of trusting that my preferences and desires don’t have to look like anyone else’s, nor do other’s choices need to look like mine. There is true freedom here for each of us to move about the world in our own way, listening to our own guidance system and still find peaceful ways to co-exist.

You can find out more about Amy White as a medium, author, and mom at the following platforms:
Website - amywhite.co.
Instagram - @mzamywhite
Facebook - @amywhitemedium

Photography of Amy White by Nina Pomeroy Photography

Amy White - Mediumship In The Modern Age