Tyler Henry

Last updated

Tyler Henry
Born1996 (age 2728)
Occupations
Years active2015–present
TelevisionHollywood Medium with Tyler Henry, Life After Death with Tyler Henry
Website Official website

Tyler Henry Koelewyn [1] (born 1996 [2] ) is an American reality show personality who appears in the reality show series Hollywood Medium with Tyler Henry and Life After Death with Tyler Henry as a clairvoyant medium [3] since 2016. [4] He has published two books.

Contents

Critics state that Henry's readings are performed using deceptive cold reading and hot reading techniques, and not "psychic" powers.

Personal life

Henry is a native of Hanford, California, a small rural city near Fresno. [5] He graduated from Hanford's Sierra Pacific High School and didn't complete college. [5] Henry is openly gay. [6]

Career

According to Henry, he noticed that he had clairvoyant abilities when he was ten years old. [7]

In November 2015, Henry appeared on Keeping Up with the Kardashians where he gave a reading to one of the Kardashian sisters. [8]

In January 2016, Hollywood Medium With Tyler Henry premiered on E!. In March 2016, it was announced that E! had ordered a second season of the show. [9] Henry published a memoir titled Between Two Worlds: Lessons from the Other Side the same year. [10] [11] In 2022, he published a second book, Here & Hereafter: How Wisdom from the Departed Can Transform Your Life Now. [12] [13]

A 2018 People article detailed Henry's claims about his abilities, the development of his "powers", and his reading with La Toya Jackson set to air in the new season of Hollywood Medium, in which he claimed to contact Michael Jackson. [14]

Hollywood Medium ended after four seasons in 2019. His next series, Life After Death with Tyler Henry, premiered on March 11, 2022, on Netflix. [15]

Henry has given readings to many celebrities, such as Nancy Grace, [16] Alan Thicke, [17] retired NBA player John Salley [18] and actors Monica Potter, Soleil Moon Frye, Amber Rose, [19] Jaleel White, [20] the Kardashians, Corey Feldman, Carmen Electra, Matt Lauer, Chad Michael Murray, Rick Fox, Megan Fox, Chrissy Metz, Kristin Cavallari, Bobby Brown, Roselyn Sanchez, The Try Guys, and Tom Arnold. [21]

Death of Alan Thicke

On December 13, 2016, actor Alan Thicke died due to aortic dissection at the age of 69. [22] Several months before his death, Thicke was the subject of a reading done for the Hollywood Medium TV show. Among the many topics discussed by Henry, the concern of possible heart and blood pressure problems was addressed, with Henry suggesting that Thicke had a heart and blood pressure problem like "multiple men" in Thicke's family. [23] After Thicke died, this part of his reading was referenced by Henry's fans as evidence that Henry had actually predicted Thicke's death. [23] Various news outlets reported on this. [24] [25] [17] [26] Scientific skepticism activist Susan Gerbic challenged the claim that this was a successful psychic prediction, arguing that "Henry was again playing the odds" given that heart disease is the "number one cause of death for American males". [23]

Critical analysis

Scientific skeptics argue that mediumship is a con and that Henry is not an exception. [27] [28] [29] Skeptical activists and others concerned with Henry's rise in popularity have actively attempted to counter the public perception that what Henry claims to do reflects reality. In particular, they have argued that Henry relies on a mix of cold reading techniques and prior knowledge of his subjects, or hot reading, to make his claims. [30] [31] [32] [33] Specific examples where it is alleged that he used these techniques include sessions with Ronda Rousey, [34] Carole Radziwill, [35] [36] Matt Lauer, [37] [38] and Nancy Grace. [16]

Critics have argued that Henry's actions are exploitative, [8] and he has been dismissed as one of many mediums who lack training in counseling, resulting in a "tremendous" risk of harm. [39] Henry reportedly welcomes skepticism about his work: "I am content with people asking questions", he stated in 2016. [5]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Psychic</span> Person claiming extrasensory perception abilities

A psychic is a person who claims to use powers rooted in parapsychology such as extrasensory perception (ESP) to identify information hidden from the normal senses, particularly involving telepathy or clairvoyance, or who performs acts that are apparently inexplicable by natural laws, such as psychokinesis or teleportation. Although many people believe in psychic abilities, the scientific consensus is that there is no proof of the existence of such powers, and describes the practice as pseudoscience. The word "psychic" is also used as an adjective to describe such abilities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Committee for Skeptical Inquiry</span> Organization examining paranormal claims

The Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSI), formerly known as the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP), is a program within the U.S. non-profit organization Center for Inquiry (CFI), which seeks to "promote scientific inquiry, critical investigation, and the use of reason in examining controversial and extraordinary claims." Paul Kurtz proposed the establishment of CSICOP in 1976 as an independent non-profit organization, to counter what he regarded as an uncritical acceptance of, and support for, paranormal claims by both the media and society in general. Its philosophical position is one of scientific skepticism. CSI's fellows have included notable scientists, Nobel laureates, philosophers, psychologists, educators, and authors. It is headquartered in Amherst, New York.

Cold reading is a set of techniques used by mentalists, psychics, fortune-tellers, and mediums. Without prior knowledge, a practiced cold-reader can quickly obtain a great deal of information by analyzing the person's body language, age, clothing or fashion, hairstyle, gender, sexual orientation, religion, ethnicity, level of education, manner of speech, place of origin, etc. during a line of questioning. Cold readings commonly employ high-probability guesses, quickly picking up on signals as to whether their guesses are in the right direction or not, then emphasizing and reinforcing chance connections and quickly moving on from missed guesses. Psychologists believe that this appears to work because of the Barnum effect and due to confirmation biases within people.

Hot reading is a technique used when giving a psychic reading in stage magic performances, or in other contexts. In hot reading, the reader uses information about the person receiving the reading which the receiver is not aware that the reader already knows. Hot reading is commonly used in conjunction with cold reading and can explain how a psychic reader can get a specific claimed "hit" of accurate information.

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A debunker is a person or organization that exposes or discredits claims believed to be false, exaggerated, or pretentious. The term is often associated with skeptical investigation of controversial topics such as UFOs, claimed paranormal phenomena, cryptids, conspiracy theories, alternative medicine, religion, or exploratory or fringe areas of scientific or pseudoscientific research.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mediumship</span> Spiritual practice

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chip Coffey</span> Self-proclaimed psychic and medium

Chip Coffey is an American self-proclaimed psychic from Elmira, New York, currently living in Atlanta, Georgia. He appeared as a medium on various paranormal television programs, primarily Paranormal State and Psychic Kids. On Psychic Kids he acts as a mentor towards children who claim to have psychic abilities, primarily seeing ghosts. Coffey's claims of being able to communicate with the dead have been subject to criticism by skeptics. In 2019 it was announced that Coffey will be joining Travel Channel's Kindred Spirits as the third official cast member alongside Adam Berry and Amy Bruni for the fourth season in 2020.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Susan Gerbic</span> American skepticism activist (born 1962)

Susan Gerbic is an American studio photographer who became known as a scientific skepticism activist, mostly for exposing people claiming to be mediums. A columnist for Skeptical Inquirer, she is the co-founder of Monterey County Skeptics and a fellow of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry.

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References

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