Allison DuBois

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Allison DuBois

Allison DuBois (born January 24, 1972) is an author and self-proclaimed medium. DuBois says she uses her psychic abilities to help law enforcement agencies across the United States solve crimes, and also works as a jury consultant.

Her life is the basis of the TV show Medium. She was born in Phoenix, Arizona, and graduated from Corona del Sol High School in Tempe in 1990. In college, she worked as an intern at the district attorney's office in Phoenix. She received her B.A. in political science with a minor in history from Arizona State University.^[1] Her powers as a medium were tested by Gary Schwartz of University of Arizona, giving rise to much controversy.

1 DuBois as a medium
2 Criticism
3 Books
4 Medium (TV series)
5 References
6 External links

[edit] DuBois as a medium

DuBois refers to herself as a medium and profiler, rather than a psychic, because of the negative connotation she feels is associated with the term psychic. She says that she became aware that she had the ability to communicate with departed souls when she was 6 years old. ^[1]. DuBois says she uses this ability to connect deceased loved ones to the living, and also to help law enforcement agencies solve crimes, such as the Texas Rangers and the Glendale, Arizona police department, and that she used these abilities as a jury consultant.^[2] These law enforcement agencies have since denied any such cooperation happened.^{[citation needed]}

According to the TV Guide, Allison DuBois spent four years participating in various tests at the University of Arizona to assist with their studies of mediums and psychic phenomena. Dr. Gary Schwartz, a tenured professor, Harvard Ph.D., and Director of The VERITAS Research Project at the University of Arizona's Human Energy Systems Lab, says that DuBois has psychic abilities, arguing in the March 6, 2005 TV Guide, "Anyone who's looked closely at the evidence can't help but come to the conclusion that there is something very real going on here." At their first meeting, Schwartz says DuBois accurately described a friend of Schwartz's who had just died. Impressed, Schwartz conducted a series of experiments, including one in which DuBois stated she contacted the late husband of a woman in England, knowing only the woman's name. The woman, after reading a transcript of the session, affirmed that 80% of what DuBois said was accurate.^[3] Schwartz published his research in a book titled The Truth About Medium. According to a statement by DuBois, she does not endorse the book or Schwartz.^[4]

[edit] Criticism

Skeptics such as Dr. Paul Kurtz and Dr. Ray Hyman say that DuBois does not have psychic powers.^[3] CSI's Ray Hyman questions the scientific integrity of Schwartz's approach to such psychic phenomena, in papers written for the organization.^[5] Schwartz responded, claiming that there were logical errors in Hyman's and other published criticisms of his work.^[6] In his response, Schwartz presents quotes of Hyman's paper into which numerous typographical errors have been mysteriously added. Schwartz's experimental methodology is available for public analysis in papers uploaded to his web site.^[7]

Skeptic James Randi says that people such as DuBois give the appearance of psychic powers through cold reading techniques. For example, DuBois, when doing her first reading of Schwartz, told him that his deceased friend was telling her, "I don't walk alone," which Schwartz understood to be a reference to his friend's confinement to a wheelchair, which DuBois could not have known about. Randi says that Schwartz leapt to an unsupportable conclusion, since the notion of "not walking alone" can mean any number of things, and "certainly does not describe being in a wheelchair." Randi also asserts that experiments that allegedly yield positive results of psychic powers, such as the ones done with DuBois, are not conducted using proper scientific controls.^[8] In light of Schwartz's assertion that "some" of his experiments with DuBois were performed under such conditions, Randi questioned why weren't all of them, and points to a report showing how a few of Schwartz's experiments were not performed according to standard scientific protocol.^[9]^[10] Dr. Schwartz's point-by-point response to Randi's criticisms came out in 2005. ^[11]

Randi has offered to have DuBois tested for his One Million Dollar Challenge. According to Randi, DuBois declined his invitation to the challenge.^[12]

Former FBI profiler, behavioral science expert and MSNBC analyst Clint Van Zandt challenges DuBois's statements about helping law enforcement and putting people on death row, arguing, "If psychics were truly successful and if their results were not simply the consequence of trickery (at worse [sic]) or good interviewing skills (at best), then why don't law enforcement agencies have psychic detective squads, a real X-Files Unit, or other ways to integrate these paranormal investigative capabilities?"^[13].

[edit] Books

Allison DuBois is the author of three books dealing with mediumship.

Don't Kiss Them Goodbye. Fireside (2005) ISBN 0743282280
We Are Their Heaven: Why the Dead Never Leave Us. Fireside (2006) ISBN 0743291131
Secrets of the Monarch: How the Dead Can Teach Us About Living a Better Life.

[edit] Medium (TV series)

Main article: Medium (TV series)

The NBC television drama Medium is based on Allison DuBois's book, Don't Kiss Them Good-Bye. The show was created by Glenn Gordon Caron, creator of Moonlighting and many other hits, who is also one of the writers for the series. It is produced by Paramount Pictures and Grammnet, the production company owned by Cheers and Frasier alumnus Kelsey Grammer. Patricia Arquette was cast to play the role of DuBois, at the suggestion of Caron's girlfriend. DuBois stated in the January 9, 2005 TV Guide that she initially thought Arquette was too liberal to play her, remarking, "I mean, I have a gun, I have put people on death row. I wanted to make sure that was something that didn't bother her. But she assured me that she believed some people may have that coming."

"Every episode is not a biography of my life, it is simply based on my life experiences. It is an accurate portrayal of my life and the people who share it with a little Hollywood magic thrown in," DuBois has said.^[1] She does state in both her book and in the January 3, 2005 edition of Science Fiction Weekly that the program closely resembles the truth of her own life.^[2] Several details of Arquette's character match DuBois's life, such as the name of her husband on the show (Joe) and the fact that he is an aerospace engineer. Both the character and the real-life Dubois have three daughters, and the first case the character "consults" on in the show's pilot is with the Texas Rangers, the law enforcement agency with whom the real-life DuBois alleges she first worked.