Written by Sandra Fu

Meet Dr. Shirley Impellizzeri, a clinical psychologist with a successful practice in Beverly Hills who is also a staff member at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. A spiritual woman, Impellizzeri believes in karma and that all things happen for a reason. During a particular period in her life she felt the need for some guidance and did not know quite where to turn. One day while getting a manicure she felt compelled to pick up a magazine -- which as anyone who has ever gotten their nails done knows is a huge no-no -- and despite her better judgment she did. It was a W Magazine and she flipped it open to a page featuring psychics of LA. Her desire for guidance and a list of psychics with phone numbers seemed too much of a coincidence so she called every psychic and decided the first one to call back would be the one she would get a reading from.

Meet Cheri Mancuso, a credible psychic who is greatly respected in her field. She has worked with both police departments and the FBI to help solve cases and has regularly been featured on daytime talk shows. Mancuso, incidentally, had been looking for a metaphysical psychologist for over 10 years, someone she could refer clients to that needed professional help she could not provide.

The consequent reading impressed Impellizzeri so much that she returned, at which point they both concurred it would be great if they could work together. So the two met repeatedly to assure themselves the other could be trusted for client referral and once that was established a union was born.

“We just fell into this symbiotic relationship,” Impellizzeri notes.

And Cheri could not agree more. “Our personalities just clicked. There are no egos,” she adds.

What they learned is that they both wanted to help heal people and by working together they could potentially make the healing process work even faster. However, Impellizzeri is quick to point out that she only recommends Mancuso to clients who believe in mediumship -- that she would never even mention it to clients that believe in traditional psychology -- and in fact it is only a small percentage of her clients that are referred.

Mancuso asserts that her ability to read people, with the help of spirit guides, allows her to get to the root of people’s problems. She says that often she can tell when a person is feeling suicidal or has other deeply troubling problems and when that happens she will refer them to Impellizzeri. However, Mancuso must also deal with an especially unique issue; there are times when people need professional help, but she can tell that it would place her in physical danger, in which case she will not offer Impellizzeri’s assistance.

To help determine what types of problems can be helped with this experimental therapy both women provided a few examples and also clarified how it speeds up the healing process.

“The issue of bereavement and loss is a big one,” says Impellizzeri. “It could be if someone has a block or if I kind of know what the issue is, but I feel there’s some resistance then maybe hearing things from a different point of view might open them up to dealing with a particular type of issue,” she explains.

Mancuso concurs that loss is often a reason. In her experience, identity and relationship issues are also common. People will say, “I’m always finding the wrong man or woman and those are issues I don’t want to deal with … sexual perversity is another one,” she adds. “I can sense if someone is a potential pedophile or is particularly drawn to children, then I’ll mention Shirley.”

Both women are extremely aware of how professionally they must handle this delicate arrangement. They always make certain every client gives specific permission for a reference -- though depending on whose client it is the procedure differs. If it is Mancuso’s client being referred often she will give Impellizzeri as much background information as can be provided and often receives permission to listen to the taping of the reading -- and Mancuso does tape every reading -- which gives insight that would normally take several sessions.

“As you may know, with therapy often it’s a stranger doing the listening,” Impellizzeri clarifies, “I have to do a lot of history gathering at the beginning, a lot of what happened in childhood and so then I get a picture of who the person is now, why they react the way they do. And if they’re from Cheri it breaks down all that time.”

On the flip side, when Impellizzeri gives a referral she does not contact Mancuso at all and no personal information is passed on. This procedure is necessary so that during the reading when Mancuso gives names or describes situations specific to the case it helps solidify a client’s trust in the psychic’s ability.

Impellizzeri cites an example of a client who had suffered a loss and though she had been working with for a long time, she was only able to take the client through the traditional grieving process. “Cheri was able to tune into this person who is deceased and give her information. She was really able to get some closure,” she explains.

When asked if either of their clients have ever had an adverse effect from the alternative treatment, they both assert that it has only contributed to further progress. Impellizzeri notes that her clients return to her with a better understanding and seem to be more willing to do the work, are more centered and less resistant. She adds, “Maybe a new issue will come up that we haven’t explored, but that’s not negative.”

From Mancuso’s perspective she has no desire to work with someone for their daily needs. She does not want someone to become a psychic junkie, such as one client became who had suffered the loss of her mother at an early age. Soon the readings became angry and the client grew resentful when the mother came through, often blaming Mancuso.

Her belief is that people need to take responsibility for their own life. “Once Shirley worked with her in dealing with her life, the negative and the positive here in the physical, and I handled the ethereal, then you’ve got a happy person,” states Mancuso.

Impellizzeri and Mancuso are extremely pleased with the arrangement they have come to and say that this is actually a growing trend of therapy, though many may be reluctant to admit they have tried it because of its untraditional nature. Those who are interested should make certain that both the psychologist and psychic are respected in their fields and have a working relationship to ensure to most productive process.

© Melt Magazine 2003