Rebecca Rosen explains the difference between a psychic and a medium and why the distinction between the two is very important.
Whether one refers to him- or herself as a psychic medium, spiritual medium, intuitive medium or any other similar title, it's all essentially the same thing—the emphasis being on talking to spirits in the afterlife. While I refer to myself as a "psychic medium," there is a big difference between a psychic and a medium.

A psychic isn't necessarily a medium, but a medium is a psychic. This is an important distinction and a good place to start, because I meet clients all the time who misunderstand the difference and confuse the two.

Psychics tune into the energy of people or objects by feeling or sensing elements of their past, present and future. Simply put, psychics rely on their basic sense of intuition and psychic ability to gather information for the person being read.

Mediums take it a step further. A medium uses his or her psychic or intuitive abilities to see the past, present and future events of a person by tuning into the spirit energy surrounding that person. This means mediums rely on the presence of non-physical energy outside of themselves for the information relevant to the person being read.

Similarly, all medical students are required to take the basic entry-level medical courses, such as physics, biology and chemistry. Premed students are trained in the basics before moving on to higher-level courses and choosing their medical specialty, such as cardiology, pediatrics or oncology.

The emphasis of my work is mediumship: making connections with and delivering messages from people who are no longer living to those who still are. I receive information primarily and directly from the dead, spirit guides and angels.
While there are a few different forms of mediumship, I work as a mental medium, which means I communicate with spirits through the use of telepathy. Spirits impress my mind and body with thoughts and feelings that come in the form of "clairs." I mentally "hear" (clairaudience), "see" (clairvoyance), "know" (claircognizance) and/or "feel" (clairsentience) messages from spirits. I like to say that I act as the bridge between the spiritual and the physical world, with the intention of healing both worlds.