The UKPN team give support to families and individuals who believe they are experiencing paranormal activity in their home or work place. This support is not public knowledge - it is private support and confidentiality forms will be signed by both parties. Our aim is to give phone and email support as required, home visits will be undertaken with full written permission of the homeowner. We will endeavor to assist as much as possible in helping people come to terms with what is going on in their home and educate them as to ways of coping with any unexplained activity and teach ways to rule out natural explanations.. Our support and visit will not just be a one off - we will be there as long as you need us - or as long as we think you need us. We will give full written reports of any findings - available to the team and the home/business owner only. We can't possibly find out in one night if a location is/isn't haunted. It can take many visits, many tests and re-creation attempts and even then conclusion may be impossible.We will ask personal questions - to give you our full support there must be full disclosure and trust.We will not come fully equipped on initial visits - there is much discussion and base testing to be done initially. We do not charge for private support!
Contact sam@ukparanormalnetwork.co.uk to discuss your concerns. Below is the guidelines we adhere to - these are written as guidance for other investigators - however should also give homeowners an indication of what to expect from us.
Private Paranormal Investigation Guidance.
To protect yourself and your clients there is an enormous amount of preparation required.
- Communication
It’s highly important to get to know who you are dealing with and also give them the opportunity to get to know you and your team. Numerous phone calls and emails should be carried out to ensure you know what/who you are dealing with, to explain how you work and discover their expectations– also allowing the customer the chance to opt out if they are not happy with anything.
- Consent
Consent forms should be signed by the home owner that state you have their permission to be in their dwelling. Copies should be retained by both parties.
- Insurance/Protection
Make sure you have public liability insurance!!! Accidents DO happen. You need to make sure you are covered for any breakages or accidents. Get your electrical equipment tested – show them your certificates! Risk assess the property – you don’t know the layout of the house or if it is safe. There may be clutter on the stairs or in front of plug sockets ... be sensible ... .not hurt!
- Police
Letting the local police know you have been asked to carry out an investigation is always a good idea. Not only will this cover you for any ‘torch light’ seen by neighbours, but it also allows the police to give you any information that could pertain to your own safety with the particular individual or area. It also protects you if the homeowner decides they are not happy with your services and makes a complaint or allegation – (this is where the written consent would come in handy too)
- Identification
Ensure you have identification to show – this should always include a CRB (Criminal Records Bureaux Disclosure) and a personal form of identification (i.e. driving license/passport)It is important to know you are safe in showing this identification – hence the need for the police call beforehand. The people we assist may be vulnerable or have underlying issues and as much as we need to protect them in knowing we are who we say we are – we need to protect ourselves too.
- Psychological Profiling/Interviews
These should be completed before any investigation or meeting in their home. It isn’t always easy to ask a person about their mental/emotional health – however it is important to know if they are on any form of medication, or has an illness as it may make a difference in how you approach an investigation. Many people have underlying issues that need addressing before you even consider investigating paranormal activity. Marriage break ups, Childs behaviour, domestic violence, mental health issues (to name a few) all need to be taken into consideration. You need to know their background, their belief system, any major life changing experiences they may have had. If a person really does need help, they will be more than happy to complete these questionnaires and interviews. This need to be done more than once to ensure there is no variation in people’s answers. Psychological knowledge, Counselling skills and body language training are highly valuable tools in completing this stage.
- Diary
Ask the people involved to keep a diary during the interview and ‘bonding’ process that includes any activity, but also includes days there is no activity at all. Ask them to also tell you of any potential factors that they think may contribute to the phenomena. Again, if people really do need your help, they will be happy to do this.
- First Meetings
If possible meet first outside the home on mutual ground. A park, a Cafe, a busy shopping centre. Never go straight in and do an investigation – you still need to ensure that the customer is happy with how you work and approach things – you need to make sure you feel comfortable and safe too! On entering a property always look for the quickest route out – sit where you can get out if needed, make sure you don’t go alone. If it is a single woman and you are male, make sure you have a female team member with you. If it is a single male and you are female, make sure you have a male team member with you. When entering a property you put yourself at risk – even though you may have spent weeks or months talking to them on the phone – you are not going to know for definite until you meet them face to face. You are at risk of false allegations – not just potential physical attack! (Again, this is why it’s necessary to inform the police) Keep the police number on speed dial... always have another team member or friend who knows where you are and how long you expect to be – arrange for them to phone after an hour to check you are ok – set up a key word if they need to phone the police for you, or if you don’t answer... it may look like bad manners to the client – but if you explain yourself to a genuine person – they WILL understand and they WILL respect you more for it.
- Ethics
This may sound like common sense to some but it is important I get this in!!
COURTEOUSY!! Manners and politeness cost nothing, it is illegal to swear in the street so don’t do it in some-ones home. If someone calls you in see it as an honour – do not try to fleece them for any money - if you don’t want to pay for petrol - don’t go!! Pay attention to what they have to say, to them it is important. Their views and opinions should be respected at ALL times.
EXPLAINATION!! Be honest with people about who you are and how you work. If you do happen to find anything, give them as many explanations as possible. If you feel they need to be referred to a professional agency for other issues – discuss it with them... sometimes people just need a listening ear, someone to talk to. You are not there to be their friend; you are there to do them a service and as a professional should make necessary referrals if required to agencies.
BELIEFS!! Just because you believe in things, never force your views on others.
MEDIUMS!! – unless the family specifically request a medium – don’t use one! (1) A medium believes in what they do – the family may not. (2) If a family are scared or vulnerable, the medium will only make the situation worse. (3) Power of suggestion – you may have spent months empowering a family to come to terms with the phenomena (if any) and a medium could go in and its back to square one and the family are scared again.
RELIGION!!, religions follow different beliefs and you may say or do something that offends – don’t risk it – ask the questions initially and research if needed.
CULTURE!! See religion! (Can you see the importance of correct initial interviews?)
SAFEGUARDING!! All agencies working with children, young people and their families taking all reasonable measures to ensure that the risks of harm to children’s welfare are minimised; and Where there are concerns about children and young people’s welfare, all agencies taking appropriate actions to address those concerns, working to agreed local policies and procedures in full partnership with other local agencies. Know the law!! Know the procedures!! You are not called into do anything other than assist with the paranormal – however you may be a witness to an incident or be told sensitive information. Never promise the family complete confidentiality – you can be confidential with the paranormal phenomena, but if someone discloses information to you regarding a child or domestic abuse - EVERYONE HAS TO REPORT IT! Do not ever try to ‘fix’ it yourself – leave it to the professionals! Never discuss ghosts in front of the children – even if the family do – they are not your kids and you may cause serious damage to the child’s confidence. Don’t allow children in the house if you do investigate overnight – imagine being 6 years old and needing the toilet and finding loads of strangers in your house – the damage can take years to repair!!
- Finding Phenomena (or not)
It is not up to you to tell a person their home is or isn’t haunted – they have to live there – you don’t. You can do serious damage by telling someone they have ‘an evil entity lurking upstairs’ Always look for natural explanations, let them be involved in looking for natural answers. If you can’t find any reason – say it’s interesting – don’t say ‘it must be a ghost’. In the same breath – don’t tell them their house isn’t haunted – who knows what goes on when you’re not there? – only the family do. Educate them in looking for answers. Many people who call will be fans of TV entertainment shows – explain to them that the shows are at least 24/48 hours condensed into 1 hour and that true investigations are not like that. Our job as paranormal investigators is to support people in making their own minds up – not forcing them to believe one way or the other. An investigation cannot be completed in one night – it could take weeks, months or years! Be prepared that if you are going to start – you need to see it through until the people no longer want or need you!
© Sam Brown
UK Paranormal Network Ltd
