About Karen Frances
Dr. Karen Frances McCarthy
Spiritualist Medium, Author, Researcher
Dr. Karen Frances McCarthy brings to her mediumship a background in storytelling, shaped by her Irish heritage and long-standing Zen practice. A former war correspondent and political journalist, she learned to find the truth in people’s stories and tell it clearly.
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 trained at the Arthur Findlay College in England and holds three Certificates of Recognition, in mediumship, spiritual healing, and public speaking, from the Spiritualists’ National Union. She is the author of four books on mediumship, spirituality, and the afterlife in literature, culture, and lived experience.
Teaching
Helping people realize their potential
Her love of teaching comes from her father, a high-performance Olympic coach, who met people where they were and helped them become the best they could be. She brings that same commitment to every student.
She teaches mediumship, trance, and Irish mythology with The Shift Network, the Spiritualists’ National Union International, the Edgar Cayce Center, and Humanity’s Team, and offers private structured masterclasses for serious students of mediumship. She is also an Adjunct Instructor at New York University School of Professional Studies, where she teaches contemporary spectral and speculative fiction.
In this clip from an interview with The Shift Network, Dr. McCarthy shares her backstory from political journalism to credentialed mediumship.
Research & Writing
Exploring the relationship between consciousness, spirituality and the human imagination
Dr. McCarthy’s 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 the Society for Psychical Research and the Institute of Noetic Sciences, 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
“Them That Believe: Ulster Scots Dissent and the Making of American Spiritual Culture,” Irish Diasporas and the Making of America, Clinton Institute Conference, University College Dublin, December 2026
“Ghosts Who Talk Too Much: George Saunders’s Humor, Heart, and the Gift of Uncertainty,” New York University School of Professional Studies Lecture, September 2026
"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 Literature Association Conference: 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
Professional Affiliations & Credentials
Faculty Member: New York University (NYU)
Course Faculty: The Shift Network
Credentialed Member: Spiritualists' National Union (SNU)