Loyd Auerbach has been an Adjunct Professor in Integral Studies (formerly Interdisciplinary Consciousness Studies) at JFK University since 1983. The university, formerly in Orinda, CA, moved to Pleasant Hill, CA in 2004. He holds an MS in Parapsychology from JFK University (1981). He serves on the Advisory Board for the Rhine Research Center in Durham, NC.

A resident of an Eastbay community outside of San Francisco & Oakland, where he lives with his wife, Professor Auerbach has been teaching Parapsychology and related topics for several years in the Bay Area and, before that, in New York. Over the last 25 years, he has taught courses in Parapsychology, Anthropology, Altered States of Consciousness, Science Fiction, Magic, Public Speaking and Mass Media. The main topics of his public lectures are "Professor Paranormal's True Tales of Ghosts and Hauntings," "Exploring the Real-Life X-FILES: Ghosts" "Mind Over Matter: Do You Have the Power," and "Psychics and Charlatans: Perception, Psi and Magic."


You are truly one of the pioneers in this field. You give credence to the field of parapsychology and you inspire confidence in your audience. How did your interest in the paranormal begin?

I've been interested in psychic experiences and abilities and in ghosts since I was very little, due to a combination of factors. You could say it's because of watching too much TV (like THE TWILIGHT ZONE, ONE STEP BEYOND, STAR TREK and especially a 70s show called THE SIXTH SENSE), as well as comic books and science fiction novels. I was also a little science geek but additionally very interested in folklore and mythology.

It was really the daily soap DARK SHADOWS that pushed my interests into reading more about parapsychology, psychic abilities, and supernatural folklore. The elements of the show sent me to the public library, where I found books by parapsychologists.

I was lucky enough to have a couple of teachers in high school also interested in the subject, one of whom sponsored a group of us for a Parapsychology club. Even better was the fact that in the New York area, where I grew up, there were a number of parapsychologists for us to meet and talk with. I also got great advice about moving into the field from these folks.


Have you had any personal experiences that you would describe as paranormal in nature and that you believe have proved to you that this phenomena is definetly real?

Here's a run down of three of the very earliest things I witnessed, that certainly caught my attention.

Back in my college days in the 70s, when my uncle Herb Norman was working as a newscaster at WMCA radio in NY City, he did a talk show from time to time. Mind you, he's a skeptic, but he did have a Dutch psychic by the name of M.B. Dykshoorn (who wrote the book MY PASSPORT SAYS CLAIRVOYANT) on the show. I was invited down to sit in and meet with Dykshoorn.

After the show, Dykshoorn offered me a reading. It was more than just interesting, as he didn't do the normal reading one would expect -- instead, he picked up on all sorts of people in my life, described them (came up with a specific couple of names) and even did impressions of them. He was dead on with everything.

Even looking back on it with my now-extensive magic and mentalism knowledge, it's clear the only explanation other than psi was that he would have had to have me observed for a couple of weeks, had folks around me videotaped, and then added that to the reading. As there was no way he could have known I'd even be there until a few days before, and the expense to observe me -- a student, not anyone important -- would have been high, I can't accept that as an explanation.

Also in the 70s, when I was a senior at Northwestern, I took a series of seminars in Parapsychology at Mundelein College from John Bisaha and Brenda Dunne. During one, on psychokinesis, I watched a woman move an object inside a water cooler bottle. Very impressive.

Finally, when I worked at the American Society for Psychical Research after grad school, I met with a distant cousin who worked as a medium in Canada. Even my Dad didn't know she was doing this kind of work when she called him to say "hi" when visiting NY. My Dad told her what I was up to (she hadn't seen me since I was a kid), and arranged a meeting for me. Just before I left to head into NY City to meet her, the phone rang. It was a friend of my brother Ron's looking for him (by the name of Adam). At lunch, she dropped numerous very specific observations about me and my life, about experiences I'd had in grad school, and even at the ASPR. She mentioned that the best psychics can pick up names, dates, and places. She immediately followed that with "for example, I'm picking up that just before you left home to meet with me, you got a call from a friend of your brother Ron...his name was Adam, right?" Okay, was the phone bugged? I think not...

These are just a few things -- besides my own personal out of body/bilocation experiences, and PK experiences early in my career -- that showed me that psychic phenomena and abilities do exist.

As the years went on, I witnessed many objects moving in cases, individuals capable of PK, personal experiences with olfactory apparitions, and even being walked through by a ghost.


You inspire many but who inspires you?

Some of the people who inspired me in the past were folks I have had the great fortune of working with or knowing well. These included Karlis Osis, D. Scott Rogo, Alex Tanous, Robert Morris, Marcello Truzzi and Martin Caidin, all sadly now deceased.

There are many folks within and on the perimeter of the Parapsychological community whose work inspires me – or at the very least gets me thinking. Top of my head, I’ll mention

Dean Radin, Gary Schwartz, Rupert Sheldrake, Michael Persinger, Tony Cornell, and so many more…


What would you say to someone who wants to learn more about the field of parapsychology but is undecided as to where to study?

First, there are some excellent books out there, and recommendations for such can be found on the websites of the Parapsychology Foundation (start with www.parapsychology.org) and the Parapsychological Association www.parapsych.org). The internet is severely lacking in good information (unless you know the good sites, such as the preceding ones. It’s amazing how many “experts” in Parapsychology there are who have no connection to the Parapsychological Association and often can’t even get their definitions in line with the community. Read books.

There are currently no schools offering degrees with parapsychological content or focus in the US, other than an undergrad psych degree with a parapsychology track at Franklin Pierce College in New Hampshire. There are at least 20 universities in the UK where one can get several parapsychology courses as part of another degree program.

[Note: there are many diploma mills offering “degrees” in Parapsychology – don’t waste your money if you ever want to be taken seriously at all; this will be a black mark against you.]

Visit my webpage at http://www.mindreader.com/education for info on education in Parapsychology and some suggestions. There are also resource and recommended reading lists there.

In the meantime, I offer a certificate program in basic Parapsychological Studies through HCH Institute in northern California. There are several courses, all of which are available (as is the full program) for distance learning (an audio based program, with phone contact time with me).

Full info can be found at:
http://www.hypnotherapytraining.com/parapsych, including info on how to purchase the program or separate classes. You can also purchase classes/the program through www.ghostvillage.com

And several of us in the field are looking at how we can offer an expanded group of courses (most likely video and audio based) to really underscore and address the need for education in Parapsychology.


Any upcoming work that we can look forward to?

I’ll be working on more outreach to groups around the US – trying to provide them with a better knowledge base of the relevant concepts in Parapsychology and better skills to deal with people/families who have ghost experiences.

Part of this will be a development of further courses (hopefully in conjunction with organizations in the field). Part will be workshops in different parts of the country.

I am also working with the Forever Family Foundation (www.foreverfamilyfoundation.org) on their major conference in San Francisco January 19-20, 2008, “Investigations of Consciousness and the Unseen World: Proof of an Afterlife?” We hope this to be the first of many around the US, geared at raising awareness of the best evidence for life after death.

I’ll be speaking amongst major names in the field of Parapsychology, and I’ll also be performing my mentalism/ mind reading act the Sat. night of the conference, as a fundraiser for the Foundation.