Tony Stockwell: A Man With a Mission

If you’re a follower of the spiritual field you will know that Tony Stockwell is one of the best known Mediums in the country today, he has appeared on television numerous times and written three well received books.

If you ever see him on stage or on platform you will know that you are in the presence of a hard working, incredibly effective Medium. If you ever meet him you will quickly realise that you are in the presence of one of the world’s genuinely nice people.

If, however, you are enthusiastic enough to go on one of his training courses it won’t take you three nanoseconds to see that he takes this work very seriously and expects a deep commitment and high standards from his students; nothing but the best for the Spirit World.

That isn’t to make him sound overly serious or pious, he has a fantastic sense of humour and isn’t afraid to use it. He is also deeply committed to his students and he and the other tutors work from morning until late at night to ensure that you receive as much training as possible during your time with them.

He and his partner started their training organisation - The Avalon Project - ten years ago, at a time when there was far less training available to would be Mediums. They wanted to offer an alternative way to develop that was inclusive of everyone regardless of religion or background, and they’ve drawn together a team of tutors, both independents and from the Spiritualist religion, in order to provide students with different approaches and opinions to support them in their work.

They also knew from experience that spiritual work can be a lonely road to walk and they wanted to create an environment where students support and encourage each other. The students are as much a part of the project as the tutors, they’ve formed an amazing support group through membership of Avalon and many life-long friendships have been formed.

Tony realised that he was psychic at a very early age, but his family didn’t know anything about spirit contact or paranormal encounters, a problem that many parents experience when their child exhibits abilities they can’t begin to understand.

Tony’s family didn’t know how to encourage him but they didn’t discourage him either, they simply allowed him to develop naturally and waited to see what happened.

He would advise any parent not worry, just accept what their child says and try to make it seem as normal as possible without actively encouraging them. That way you don’t make the child feel awkward or alienated from their family and friends, but you also allow them to find their own way into development at the right time for them.

He believes that children shouldn’t be encouraged to develop in the early teenage years when they have so many other pressures to deal with, unless maybe they’re fortunate to have an experienced Medium in the family who can provide regular guidance and support. Although he has worked as a Medium since he was a young man,

Tony has always kept his feet firmly on the ground and never actually intended to become a full time Medium. Nor did he expect to find himself on television or to be a successful author, and he comes across as pleasantly surprised and grateful for all the wonderful things that have come to him through his work.

He enjoyed working full time in accountancy and then as a wedding planner before being presented with the opportunities to become a television personality and internationally recognised Medium and writer. He never aspired to become a full time Medium and feels that the opportunities just happened when the time was right, and he would encourage other spiritual workers to enjoy their spiritual work and not think of it as a new career with the pressures that go with such a step.
“If you’re lucky enough to be able to devote yourself to this work that’s great”, but he feels that people would find more happiness in first and foremost working for the joy of blending with Spirit and having that as part of their life.

He still enjoys serving Spiritual Churches as much as he did 20 years ago when he was starting out, and he would encourage Mediums to keep it real and just love what they do whenever they’re presented with the opportunity to work.
As well as his own organisation Tony is an Accredited Tutor of The Arthur Findlay College in Essex and he obviously highly recommends good training but says “take your time and don’t rush it, don’t put pressure on yourself and just take your development as it comes – and most of all enjoy it.”

As a Medium you are asked with monotonous regularity about the negative spirits that are supposedly out there in battalions waiting to pounce on the unwary, and it seemed appropriate to ask a Medium of Tony’s experience for his take on the matter.

He said that he doesn’t dwell on the negative and “just has confidence that I am always protected and safe, and working with love and all that’s good”. He believes that “working with thoughts of negative aspects on your mind can leave you susceptible to negativity” whereas he has total faith in Spirit and their higher intelligence.

He also believes that we are always in control of our own awareness and what we allow to work with us. Even after 20 years experience as a working Medium he admits to generally finding the living to be scarier than the dead, which must say something about the safety and security of working with the Spirit World if you do it properly and with a
good heart.

Tony feels that spirituality is a way of life, “I don’t believe that you have to be a Spiritualist to be spiritual; everyone can aim for that in their life regardless of their religious belief. I also believe spirit contact is there for everyone too – regardless of their religious background. However, the Spiritualist religion offers much more than just Mediumship in the way of comfort, support and philosophy, a fact that is often overlooked”.
“Spirituality and Mediumship/Psychic Development are like comparing chalk and cheese. You can of course be Spiritual in your day-to-day life without even thinking about development, or needing it. Some of the kindest people I know have not developed. You can be spiritual by helping others, protecting animals, raising money and awareness for charities and being a general all round kind and good person. Development is something entirely different; though I have to say that when you see a Medium who is Spiritual it shines through in their work.”

A real home body who appreciates his home, his loved ones and his friends Tony often finds it difficult to be away working for long periods of time “after all we are here to live a physical life and the balance has to be right. I have many things that are important to me in my life and my work is just part of that. I need to be happy and fulfilled in many areas to feel truly happy and content...This actually makes me more content in my spirit work.”

Having had his own show called The Psychic Detective he is well known for his efforts in trying to help with murder cases that haven’t been solved. We asked him about his commitment to this work as it must be highly emotional for the people involved and very difficult to work a case psychically and retrospectively.

He says that “It’s very hard to say the work you actually did resulted in a conviction or a crime being solved. However, I do know that cases I have worked on have opened new lines of enquiry, and in one case a man discovered a side of his living family he new knew.”
“Recently whilst working abroad I spent the whole day with the police trying to help on a case, and who’s to say that it did or didn’t help. I’m sure in lots of cases it never gets acknowledged and for reasons I totally understand the police try to distance themselves from this kind of thing.” He says that occasionally a police liaison officer will attend a private reading in an unofficial capacity if he reads for the family of a murder victim.

Although the work might seem unrewarding and far too easy for critics to target, for Tony it’s obviously a worthwhile part of his work to try to help people in distress and bring about closure so that they can grieve properly and move forward in life. When he says that “having your heart in the right place” is key to good Mediumship he obviously means it.

He feels enormously privileged and grateful for his past television opportunities such as The Street Psychic, Psychic Private Eyes with Colin Fry and TJ Higgs, and as part of the original line up of The Three Mediums with Colin Fry and Derek Acorah, all of which he thoroughly enjoyed.
However, he has decided that he wants new challenges going forward, a decision that has resulted in a change of management, and a new television show that begins filming in February. He is also striving to achieve greater work/home balance this year so is being more selective about which projects he chooses to accept.

He also wants more time to work at his Psychic Studio in Wickford, Essex, where he continues to be one of the main tutors delivering courses to his enthusiastic following of students.

He will be touring the UK and abroad in 2009, visiting a number of new venues for the first time. He will also be working with new and up-and-coming Mediums on tour from time-to-time. There are also a few projects abroad coming up which he’s very excited about.

He also has two new CD’s out “Healing the Wounded Soul” and “Heighten Your Spiritual Awareness”, as well as “Meditation to Help You Meet Your Spirit Guides”, all available via his website www.tonystockwell.com. He is writing his fourth book, and has a live DVD coming out later this year.

He also has two courses running at The Arthur Findlay College in April and August, and The Avalon Project seminar in March and October.

He has the big birthday coming up this year, but rather than it being a case of ‘Oh No 4 0’ he feels very strongly that his 40’s are going to be a very good time for him. In his usual positive and upbeat manner he has “always looked forward to being 40...they say that life beings at 40 and I’m sure that’s going to be the case for me too”.

This year also marks his 20th as a working Medium, yet he still remembers his first demonstration at Canvey Island Spiritualist Church with great affection. In the intervening years he has gone from a young Medium working for the pure love of Spirit without any thought of stardom, to an internationally recognised leader in the field without compromising his deep joy in his work. This comes through in everything he does and every word he speaks whether as a Medium or as a truly inspirational teacher.

Everyone who knows him will wish him nothing but increasing joy and happiness in everything he does, and that he will keep working not just for the Spirit World but with us and for us for many years to come.

© Deb Hawken - First published in Eternal Spirit Magazine, Spring Equinox 2009