Spiritualist Mediumship
Irish Spiritualist medium, author, and researcher Dr. Karen Frances McCarthy brings to her mediumship a background in literature and writing, shaped by her Irish heritage and long-standing Zen practice. Her style of mediumship meets your loved one as the complex, unique person they were: their voice, their habits, their way of being in the world. Identifying who has joined you, clearly and specifically, is the foundation of every sitting. From there, it becomes a chance to spend time with someone you love again and to hear what they want you to know.
She is also the author of several books on mediumship, spirit communication, and the continuity of consciousness, extending this work to readers beyond private appointments.
She trained at the Arthur Findlay College in England and holds three Certificates of Recognition, in mediumship, spiritual healing, and public speaking, from the Spiritualist National Union.
Teaching
Teaching is something she inherited from her father, a high-performance Olympic coach, whose instinct was always to meet people where they are and help them become the best they can be. She brings that same attention to her own teaching — to the individual, to what they are actually doing, and to their full potential.
She teaches mediumship, Irish mythology, and inspirational writing with The Shift Network, the Spiritualist National Union International, the Edgar Cayce Center, and Humanity's Team, and offers structured masterclasses in mediumship for serious students.
She is an Adjunct Instructor at New York University School of Professional Studies, where she teaches contemporary spectral and speculative fiction.
She lectures and presents conference papers on the intersections of literature and theology, science and mediumship, and the cultural origins of belief about death and the afterlife.
In this clip from an interview with The Shift Network, Dr McCarthy shares her backstory from political journalism to accredited mediumship.
Research
Her doctoral research at the University of Birmingham, one of the UK's leading Russell Group universities, explored contemporary ghost literature, evolving theories of consciousness, and the cultural forces that shape Western understanding of spirit and self. Her monograph The Re-enchanted Ghost in Contemporary American Fiction was published by Routledge in 2026.
She is a member of leading research organizations at the forefront of consciousness studies, Spiritualism, and the intersection of science and spirituality, and presents conference papers in the US and UK on literature and theology, science and mediumship, and the cultural origins of belief about death and the afterlife.
Selected Conference Papers and Presentations
"The Shape of Suffering: Empathy, Eco-Consciousness, and Spectrality in Kevin Brockmeier's Fiction," 14th International Conference on Language and Literary Studies, FSJ Conference, May 2025
"Narrative Experimentation and the Disruption of Spectral Expectations in George Saunders's Lincoln in the Bardo," American Literary Association: American Experimental Fiction, May 2025
"Literature as Sacred Text," Postgraduate Conference in Theological and Religious Studies, September 2024
"Christmas Day: The Re-enchanted Ghost" (poster), University of Birmingham Postgraduate Research Almanac, November 2023
