How the Hollywood Medium Channels the Other Side

Twenty-one-year-old clairvoyant Tyler Henry, host of the eponymous reality show Hollywood Medium with Tyler Henry, has an uncanny ability to seemingly connect people with departed loved ones, delivering messages to the living from the other side.

Functional medicine expert/longtime goop contributor Dr. Alejandro Junger (he created, among other things, one of our supplement protocols), is a self-described healer groupie: He’s introduced us to incredible, fascinating practitioners and mediums (including Medical Medium Anthony William), with whom he’s worked professionally, integrated into his medical practice, and known personally. Junger doesn’t separate mental, emotional, and physical wellness; he describes the three as overlapping and often morphing into one another. He’s seen mediums deliver messages that bring peace and resolution to people, as well as unlock unresolved issues, from guilt to anger, which Junger says can result in positive physical changes (for example, lower blood pressure).

Junger had long wanted to meet Henry for a reading—particularly to hear from his dad, who Junger was very close to before he passed away. Junger and Henry sat down in the goop offices for a closed-door reading. Afterward, we spoke to Junger, who described the experience—during which he connected with his father—as revolutionary: “He has a gift,” says Junger. “He told me things that he wouldn’t have been able to find out, and he’s also so humble and even-keeled—his presence made me feel better. It was what I wanted—and then some. I think I’m still coming down from the cloud that he put me in.”

Here, edits of a post-reading conversation between Junger and Henry—in video and text forms—where Henry explains a bit about his methods. (For more, Henry’s E! show returns on May 17, and his book, Between Two Worlds, has a whole chapter with answers to commonly asked intuitive questions.)

A Conversation with Tyler Henry & Alejandro Junger, M.D.

JUNGER: Tyler, thank you so much for my reading. Exactly who I wanted—my dad—came through. The strong connection you talked about between my dad and my son, even though they’ve never met… A lot of people comment about how my son resembles my dad. I wasn’t expecting you to bring this up, but you were on point and it was validating.

HENRY: Validation is such an important part of the process. People can see lots of practitioners and mediums and when they can hear the same thing, it can be really validating—knowing that as we go throughout our lives, those connections are real and that they’re with us.”

JUNGER: Where are you from?

HENRY: I’m from Hanford, California, a little town in central California near Fresno, about three hours north of LA.

JUNGER: And you’re twenty-one years old?

HENRY: Yes, I am.

JUNGER: When did you notice that you had this gift or ability?

HENRY: I call it an ability but it was something that I initially learned when I was ten years old. My grandmother had been ill with cancer, and I had a premonition of her death one night. I went to tell my mom that I felt we had to say goodbye, and before we even had the chance to walk out the front door to get in the car, my mom’s phone rang. It was my dad on the other end, saying my grandmother had just died.

That was the first instance, but it took a lot of time and refinement to really turn it into an ability that could be applied in a reading.

JUNGER: You said you had a premonition? Did it come in the form of an image, a feeling, a voice?

HENRY: In my case, it came through as a knowingness. Now, in readings, I communicate what I see, hear, and feel, but often times it just revolves around a feeling of knowingness. Sometimes it’s like having a memory of something that hasn’t happened yet, or a memory that isn’t mine, but is someone else’s, and when I relay it, it gets validated.

JUNGER: So what happened in our session, was it a mixture of knowingness, feelings—

HENRY: Yes, taking impressions and interpreting them.

JUNGER: Do you see images?

HENRY: Yes. I always say my sixth sense uses the other five sense to communicate. So when I sit with a person, I might hear a voice, I might get a visual, I might get a physical sensation that corresponds with how someone passed away. I have to take all of that and turn it into a cohesive message that can then be delivered to and validated by the client, so a lot is going on in the reading.

JUNGER: A big part of the world’s population believes in reincarnation: Could you still contact a soul that has reincarnated?

HENRY: That’s a good question; there are cases where I’ll sit down with people and sometimes their loved ones won’t make a connection; I have wondered before if that means they’ve reincarnated, or what else that might mean. I don’t have a full answer for that yet, I’m still learning through every reading, but I do believe there is a continuation of life, that life happens in cycles. I think that even if someone has continued on to a different dimension, I can still connect to the essence of who they were, and what they want loved ones to know.

JUNGER: Another common belief around the world that I’ve encountered: people say kids choose the family they come into. What is your understanding?

HENRY: So that’s a big idea. I talk in the book about soul contracts—the idea that we basically have individuals who we enter this world with. There is an agreement from a spiritual perspective that we are going to teach each other mutual lessons. Sometimes that can be parent-child relationships, sometimes it can be adversarial relationships or friend relationships. There are many different ways, but I do believe that there is some degree of a choice here, as far as learning certain lessons in life, and that our parents can sometimes be part of that.

JUNGER: Have you ever come across the concept that certain plants (like mushrooms, cacti) have the potential of making that veil drop and giving people the ability to be intuitive and even communicate with the other side?

HENRY: That’s an interesting question. I think physical health is such an important part of our intuition, and for me, as an intuitive, I have to eliminate any distractions from my world when I’m doing a reading. If I’m not feeling well, then I’m going to be sluggish and I won’t be as efficient in the reading. Focusing on health, and having optimum health is really essential to being able to connect mentally and emotionally, and being able to really understand what’s going on.

JUNGER: The reason I ask is because during one of my experiences with one of these plants—ayahuasca—I was able to communicate with dead spirits, or at least I had that impression. It occurred to me, that maybe in this way, everybody could become Tyler…ha.

HENRY: I definitely think certain triggers can unlock certain feelings or impressions, and that some things make people more receptive. If we can find those things, we can certainly be in touch on a deeper level. I think there is a difference between just being intuitive, which a lot of people are, versus being able to sit down and do readings.

JUNGER: Can it be taught to anybody?

HENRY:I feel that we all have an intuition. The way I do readings can be taught to people in terms of how to refine it, how to meditate, how to understand signs when they get them. I don’t know why I was chosen to do this, or why I have this ability, which I think of as a natural predisposition. I think we’re all wired to be drawn to certain things, and I was just wired to be a medium. But we all have an intuition, we can all develop it by meditating and being present; focusing on this goal, we can live more intuitive lives and have the best health possible.

JUNGER: Have you had readings that involved medical information?

HENRY: There have been instances where medical information has come through. In the book, I talk about an instance with my teacher: I sat with her and her grandmother came through and kept acknowledging uterine cancer. I told my teacher this. Shortly thereafter, she went for a checkup and was diagnosed with uterine cancer.

JUNGER: What about people coming to you and potentially experiencing less guilt or less anger? I believe guilt and anger generate certain diseases, and so in a way, what you’re doing can be seen as medicine.

HENRY: Yes, in the sense of being able to alleviate emotional and mental strain that people hold onto and often take with them their whole lives, that does have physical manifestations. I think if we alleviate a lot of these mental and emotional barriers, we can have optimum health. In readings, I’m trying to help people on a spiritual level, but maybe as a result, it helps them on a physical level too.

JUNGER: Tell me more about the upcoming season.

HENRY: The show has been fascinating. You can expect to see readings with Eva Longoria, Dr. Drew, Nancy Grace. And some follow-up instances, too. I love seeing where the information lands, and I love following through with people. This season has families watching the readings in the background, so you can see their reactions. That’s my favorite because sometimes I sit with clients and they might not understand a certain message, but Mom does.

JUNGER: Can you give me a preview of any favorite moments?

HENRY: There were so many. I would say in season two, my reading with Janice Dickinson was by far one of the most unique because a lot of information came through. There was a random connection that people are going to find shocking. She licked my face, she jumped on my lap—it was a very immersive reading, and it was really entertaining. And in the first episode, you’ll see my reading with Bobby Brown, which was intense. I actually didn’t recognize him. Everyone expected Whitney and his daughter to come through, but there was such a connection with other family members who weren’t in the public eye, and the validations and details they came up with left him knowing they really had a connection to him.

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