Communicating with animals

Communicating with animals, animal communication, talking to animals, Animal Communicator Portland, PDX pet psychic

Being "out of the closet" as an animal communicator makes for some interesting interactions with humans. It's always entertaining to me when my riding instructor attributes any good riding I do to my animal communication abilities, and will look at me puzzled when it's not going so well, like my antenna must be off or something.

Her puzzled look is of course mainly as a joke, but I do run into similar misconceptions as an animal communicator:
1. That I am in constant conversation with any and every animal around me.
2. That because I can talk to them, they will do whatever I tell them to.

When I tell people that I am an animal communicator, I think Dr. Dolittle springs to mind for most people. Unlike Dr. Dolittle, I am not in constant conversation with any and all animals around me (just like I am not connecting with everyone's dead relatives when I am going about my day). In fact, I pretty much never initiate a conversation with an animal unless their human companion has asked me to, except when I do it simply for practical reasons or for my own pleasure of talking (usually just to tell them how beautiful they are, and please can I pet them).

(I have to admit though, that when I am riding I do try to communicate with the horse, and listen to him if he tells me I'm doing something wrong or confusing. So I guess in that way, it's helpful. However, I can't say the horse always listens to me).

Animals also aren't usually walking around telepathically broadcasting their thoughts to strangers, like they do in Doctor Dolittle. Animals tend to be centered and present and still, unless they have a reason to communicate with someone.

In addition, just because I can talk to an animal, and hear them, does not mean that they will necessarily do what I or their human companion wants them to. It really is like talking with humans: Just because I can understand you, and you understand me, does not mean you will do what I tell you to. Animals are all unique individuals, with their own personalities, desires, and needs. An Animal Communication session is really about understanding why an animal does a certain thing, and then working together to find some suitable alternatives or ways to approach it to shift the situation, in a way that honors all participants. An animal does a behavior because it meets a certain need in them. If that need isn't met in a different way, they will usually continue that behavior.

Sometimes behaviors are deeply rooted in anxiety or fear, which usually goes deeper than any kind of logical thinking on anyone's part. They might need something else in addition to a communication session, to support them and help them shift into a different state of mind. This is why I sometimes will recommend certain kinds of training or therapies for animals in a session, if I don't feel like they will respond to just our conversation about it.

That being said, animals do understand us when we talk to them, and often even if you're talking to them out loud. I have had animals reference specific conversations their human has had with them, in order to prove that they do understand. When you're talking out loud to your animal companion, you are also sending them the energy of what you want to communicate. The more intentionally you do this, the stronger it is sent, and the clearer it is.

Where we sometimes trip ourselves up is when what we intend to communicate doesn't quite match up with what we're saying. Miscommunication happens, in particular around behavioral challenges. We want the animal to stop doing something so we tell them "Don't ____", and when we do that we're sending them an image or the energy of them doing the thing we don't want them to do. It's like asking someone to not think of an elephant: they're going to think of an elephant. It becomes very confusing, and sends mixed messages. Usually, you would want to focus only on the thing you want them to do. Instead of saying "don't scratch on the furniture", you want to say "scratch only on the cat tree and scratching posts". You can even add in why, for example that we want to keep our furniture to last as long as possible, and we'd love to let them scratch, but only on the things that are made to tolerate it, like the scratching posts. Then of course, you would want to place the scratching posts close to where they have been scratching already, in order to fulfill that need in them.

I've encountered a lot of animals who do a certain behavior because they think they're supposed to. This happens all the time, because many of us unconsciously reinforce unwanted behaviors, both with our own body language AND our thoughts sending mixed messages.

 Sometimes having a conversation with our animals is enough to shift their behavior and shift the energy in the home. I've had clients begin to see shifts in their animals almost immediately after our Animal Communication session. I recently did a repeat session with a client and her dog. At a previous session, she had asked me to relay to her dog that she sometimes needs to hurry back to work after she walks him, and if he can try to go to the bathroom quicker and stand around less, that would be really helpful. I relayed it to him, explaining why. The dog put in his explanation for why he has been so slow but showed himself as willing to try. Then the client updated me that her dog has been running along during his walks lately. A client's cats who were not getting along began to show visible efforts towards fixing their relationship after our session. A client's cat who had disappeared for a few days on a walk-about came home again the same night I reached out to him asking him to come home.

Whenever my own two cats have been fighting (due to stress or tension in the house, or redirecting aggression against neighbor cats onto each other), I will take some time to explain to them what the ideal situation would be like in our home, and think through specific scenarios that would be amazing to see again (such as both of them laying on me together), and I direct those thoughts to them. Over the next few days they begin to show improvements between them. They will begin to snuggle together again, and even share my lap again. Of course, like I mentioned, talking to animals isn't always enough to shift a situation like this. Sometimes you have to employ things like play therapy or doing a proper reintroduction between the cats in addition to the communicating, in order to give them a little boost in shifting the negative associations they have with the other cat.

You too can talk to your animals in a way that they can understand, without you needing to be an Animal Communicator. Our connection and communication with animals is strongest when it's based on love. If I am working with an animal that isn't mine, I will always start off by feeling and directing my love for animals to them (it helps that I absolutely adore animals in general). With your own animal, conjure up your feelings of love for them. That is the base of your connection.

Then we can communicate with them via our thoughts.  When I communicate with an animal, I basically direct my thoughts to them, including words, feelings, and pictures in my mind's eye.

Talking out loud to animals usually works just fine as well, because when you're talking you are also sending the energy of what you want to communicate, and often pictures and feelings automatically as well. Again, you have to be clear on what you want to communicate, and align it with what you're saying. If you don't want them to do something, you have to focus on what you actually want them to do instead. That way the energy of what you're communicating matches up with the words, the pictures you're sending, and the feelings. If we can do this as intentionally as possible, with as much feeling and clarity as possible, the communication will be a lot clearer for the animal.

So if you want to help your enemy cats become friends again, you would sit down and place your awareness on the cats. Then begin to talk out loud or in your mind to them, about how incredibly happy it would make all of you if you all got along, and made an effort to be patient and accepting of one another. You would conjure up an image of them snuggling together and sharing space together again, and direct it to them. You would conjure up a feeling of peace and joy and contentment, and direct that to them as well.  If there's a specific spot in the house that one of the cats has been attacking the other, you can imagine what it would ideally look like instead, with the cats being able to walk by each other peacefully and respectfully, and be able to relax and feel safe around each other again. 

Of course, this is just one small part of my work as an animal communicator. Most of the work for me lies in receiving what the animal wishes to communicate to their human companion. This is something that everyone can do to some extent, but it takes training and a lot of practice to do it in any kind of reliable way.

I often think of a session as couple's therapy, where we're working through the misunderstanding that has happened. Giving an animal the opportunity to be heard can be very therapeutic for them (and they're always so grateful to their humans for making the effort to understand them). A session also helps their human companions feel much closer to them. It really is an honor for me to be a part of that process!

I am sending you and your animal companions lots of love this week,
Thea