First, Do no harm

[Rich]

From Bob Hunnicutt
Posted on My Space


Last week I received a case referral dealing with a family being terrorized by activity from a newer group in Georgia. I applaud this young man for openly admitting to me that his team had no experience dealing with these types of cases especially when so many new groups would have jumped on it. For some reason, people seem to think investigating negative hauntings will propel them into the next level of paranormal credibility without realizing how quickly they can spin out of control and someone gets hurt. Sadly, these individuals are so intent on making a name for themselves, they lose sight of the ultimate rule; First, do no harm. Don't believe me? Keep reading.........

A family in North Georgia is literally being terrorized in their home, apparently the activity had followed them from their previous residence. If that isn't bad enough, when the family attempted to get away for a vacation, the activity followed them overseas for an entire week. To make matters even worse, no less than 3 other so called paranormal experts had already conducted investigations prior to the families attempt of a short get away. First came the psychic, then a paranormal investigator and last but by no means least, a demon hunter! One actually charged the client for their services, another apparently gathered superb evidence and left, the last provoked the spirits by placing a blessed medal on the back of one of the daughters without her knowledge which caused a violent sustained reaction and when they didn't know what to do, they ran to call a well known demonologist for help. When that didn't help, they suggested the family call an ambulance to give themselves an out. These so called investigators obviously did not have the clients best interest in mind, only their own. Then to add insult to injury, none of the above teams would return phone calls when the family made multiple attempts to contact them for help. Not only is this unprofessional, it goes way past incompetence and not only failed to help but actually caused more harm.

The phrase; "First, do no harm" originates from the medical profession and is pretty self explanatory basically saying if you can't do anything else, do not make things any worse. It is an important and vital concept that should and must be applied to the paranormal field and everyone that takes part in it; it's only common sense!

My interviews with the family provided a lot of important information, including the names of the individuals and teams involved. Rather than disclose them publicly, I'd rather make a public plea to those involved in this case and others who have been in similar situations.

(1) Please remember the people who call us for help are taking us at face value, all they have to judge us is either on your web site or what you tell them. If a particular case is over your head, there is no shame in referring it to a more experienced team or investigator. The shame comes when your actions betray that trust and not only places the client in danger, but your team members as well.

(2) Forget about self appointed titles, it's not a title that offers assistance, it's you. Try to remember how a lot of corporations choose to give employees jacked up titles in attempts to pacify them instead of more money. An undeserved or fictious title is worthless.

(3) Do not abandon your client! If you accept the responsibility of taking on their case, you must stick with it until your job is done. If their needs continue to grow beyond your means, refer them to a team or individual capable of handling their case, but refusing to deal with them at all can come back and bite you in the butt when you least expect it.

Do no harm must be observed for the safety of the client and your fellow team members. If this is too difficult, for God's sake, find a less demanding field of interest. Maybe bird watching.