By Barb Oates
Tyler Henry is not your average 20-year-old. He’s been seeing the dead for quite some time. The charming, shoe-loving clairvoyant/medium has wooed Hollywood stars and viewers with his abilities to see and connect with their deceased loved ones, as well as offer his intuitions on the future. Henry takes viewers along for the ride — literally — in Hollywood Medium With Tyler Henry (returning to E! on Wednesday, Aug. 10), as cameras document him en route to client visits, and show his surprise and sometimes awkward (ahem, who are you?) moments as he delivers some special messages.
Can you share a little bit on who you will be doing readings for in Season 2?
Tyler Henry: Season 2 has just a wide array of clients all in various facets of entertainment. We have people ranging from Kris Jenner to Tori Spelling to Melissa Joan Hart. Each experience has been profoundly unique, just as unique as the individuals being read. In Season 1, I really didn’t recognize most of the clients. Not much has changed with Season 2; however, there are more recognizable clients, for me. In going through this process, it’s been interesting being starstruck and then having to sit down and go into this person’s personal life and navigate that intuitively. So Kris Jenner was probably the most profound example of me being completely shocked and starstruck and overwhelmed and having to compose myself and sit down and do that reading. When we did, it was one of my favorite scenes in the entire show. There was such a moment of vulnerability and it’s a really beautiful connection that I think everyone’s really going to enjoy.
I saw in a clip that you’re telling one of your clients about some future health issues, specifically a back problem coming up, a knee problem and an ankle issue. Do you see her just walking in crutches, having a bandaged knee — how does that appear for you?
I always say my sixth sense kind of uses the other five senses to communicate, so when I go through my process in various ways, I connect information. Being a clairvoyant, I usually receive information visually, but there are cases in a medical intuitive reading where I basically take on a pain physically. So that’s actually an empathetic pain that kind of corresponds with a client’s health issues. Oftentimes, I use those indicators in my own body to help get an idea of what a person in front of me might have a susceptibility to. So in doing so, they are generally able to validate these issues that they’ve dealt with, but I think with medical intuition it’s a really great preventative tool to help avoid issues before they become problems. If someone is going through something, to help give them an idea on the direction in which their health is going. That is really helpful. I always encourage people to see doctors and go to medical professionals.
You come across as incredibly caring and genuine in the message that you’re giving these people. How do you keep your composure? Do you ever ask cameras to stop filming and just kind of have a private moment?
My goal in doing readings is really, it’s an informational process, so my job when I sit down with a person is to receive their information, interpret it and deliver it. On my end, that requires me to be a clear vessel of information, so if I’m biased with my emotions and feelings, it can actually make it a little bit more difficult to connect. Of course, naturally, this is a very emotional subject, so there are times where my own emotions come out. One of the interesting things about Season 2, you’ll see there are a couple times where I actually do have a very strong reaction. I think back to a trip to New York. They filmed me in a cab and I was headed to a reading. I basically just broke down. … There are definitely moments of vulnerability, but my goal really is just to help people in these sessions. If my own emotions get too involved, it can construe the message.
At the end of a reading, are you hungry, thirsty, sweaty, relieved?
All of the above. I do find that readings can be very draining and depending on the type of question, some are more draining than others. I find generally medium readings and medical intuitive readings can be some of the most draining because they oftentimes go through more, whereas looking at someone’s love life is much easier intuitively to just kind of navigate. So I do find, oftentimes, I’ll leave readings wanting to go take a nap. It’s a process of decompressing and coming down from all that information.
During your readings, we see you scribbling on a notebook. What happens to those things? How many do you have?
Oh gosh, yes, I had to get a larger apartment to accommodate all the notebooks I have. I literally have stacks and stacks and stacks. Oftentimes, clients will ask for their scribbles — some people have even framed it, which I find really interesting. I’m not much of an artist. People definitely put sentimental value into those scribbles and so some people will ask to keep them, and if they don’t, generally I hold on to them and will occasionally look through them.
Ever have a spirit that was annoying you, where they kept showing up and you’re like, “All right, I got that message the first time”?
Usually I find that when an individual comes through, for the first time, we are usually able to kind of communicate all of what they are trying to say, in a single instance for the most part. So usually I’ll find that there aren’t consistent recurrences, but in my own personal life, there are some instances where I’ll feel my grandmother. Since her passing, I’ve probably felt her over 10 times. So she definitely comes through to me, but I find that oftentimes people on the other side come through not only to comfort their loved ones but for that soul’s purpose, it’s oftentimes important that they deliver messages to their loved ones and they ask to provide perspective.
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