^{Written By Richard Caminiti
Founder: The Long Island Paranormal Research Association}

I can no longer contain myself about this subject. While perusing the web looking for educational materials for my group, I keep finding that more and more groups are claiming to be “certified” paranormal investigators, or “certified” ghost hunters, or certified this or that.

To all of those that are new to paranormal research, let me please give you a heads up.

There is no certification. While there ARE self promoted groups that WILL certify you (to their standards), for the money you give them,  there are no accredited schools in the US today that offer any courses in the paranormal for certification.  As a matter of fact, it’s pretty hard to obtain the title of Parapsychologist. You need to have a doctorate for that.

To that end I must beg the question; why DO so many groups claim they are certified “whatevers”? Do they so badly need the recognition from other groups? Do they need to increase their own self worth? I honestly don’t understand. I thought we were all in this for the truth. I guess I’m wrong.

I am not a certified “anything” when it comes to the paranormal. I am a researcher. Is there a certified researcher? I’m not so sure. I gather it depends on what you are researching. Let’s look at what the dictionary has to say about what a researcher is;

Main Entry:  research
Function: verb
Date: 1593

Transitive verb
1: to search or investigate exhaustively <research a problem>
2: to do research for <research a book>

Intransitive verb
: To engage in research
 re•search•able  \ adjective
re•search•er \noun

It looks like a researcher, well, pretty much……  RESEARCHES! No certification needed. I believe that the commitment to the study of your subject can lead to far greater benefits than you could possibly realize.

In the 1980’s there was a child named Lorenzo Odone diagnosed with ADL (Adrenoleukodystrophy). His father, who had no previous medical or scientific training committed himself to finding a cure for the disease. A full article on Augusto Odone can be found HERE.  Without the benefit of medical schooling, this man in the face of medical arrogance, decided to research his sons disease and actually found a breakthrough treatment. His triumph was most notably portrayed in the movie “Lorenzo’s Oil” starring Nick Nolte.

While I will not get into the politics of whether the oil helped people who already had ADL, it was proven that it helped as a preventative medicine for people with the ADL gene.

My point is this. While I believe it is imperative that you need certain skills and talents for paranormal research, I don’t believe that one has to be “certified” to help others and make a difference in the world. There is no paranormal certification and those that claim they are certified, continue to devalue the work true researchers are trying to do. And as long as that continues, paranormal research will always be looked at as a pseudoscience. It’s fluff people, please don’t buy into it.

There are reputable groups out there that are willing to help and educate. Some of them we have dealt with personally (especially Ghosts of Ohio who have helped us tremendously). I dare anyone to find the word “certified” on their site!

Just remember, the answer is out there, just waiting to be found. And sometimes, just sometimes, it’s the average person that finds it. It could be you.

^{Written By Richard Caminiti
Founder: The Long Island Paranormal Research Association}

I can no longer contain myself about this subject. While perusing the web looking for educational materials for my group, I keep finding that more and more groups are claiming to be “certified” paranormal investigators, or “certified” ghost hunters, or certified this or that.

To all of those that are new to paranormal research, let me please give you a heads up.

There is no certification. While there ARE self promoted groups that WILL certify you (to their standards), for the money you give them,  there are no accredited schools in the US today that offer any courses in the paranormal for certification.  As a matter of fact, it’s pretty hard to obtain the title of Parapsychologist. You need to have a doctorate for that.

To that end I must beg the question; why DO so many groups claim they are certified “whatevers”? Do they so badly need the recognition from other groups? Do they need to increase their own self worth? I honestly don’t understand. I thought we were all in this for the truth. I guess I’m wrong.

I am not a certified “anything” when it comes to the paranormal. I am a researcher. Is there a certified researcher? I’m not so sure. I gather it depends on what you are researching. Let’s look at what the dictionary has to say about what a researcher is;

Main Entry:  research
Function: verb
Date: 1593

Transitive verb
1: to search or investigate exhaustively <research a problem>
2: to do research for <research a book>

Intransitive verb
: To engage in research
 re•search•able  \ adjective
re•search•er \noun

It looks like a researcher, well, pretty much……  RESEARCHES! No certification needed. I believe that the commitment to the study of your subject can lead to far greater benefits than you could possibly realize.

In the 1980’s there was a child named Lorenzo Odone diagnosed with ADL (Adrenoleukodystrophy). His father, who had no previous medical or scientific training committed himself to finding a cure for the disease. A full article on Augusto Odone can be found HERE.  Without the benefit of medical schooling, this man in the face of medical arrogance, decided to research his sons disease and actually found a breakthrough treatment. His triumph was most notably portrayed in the movie “Lorenzo’s Oil” starring Nick Nolte.

While I will not get into the politics of whether the oil helped people who already had ADL, it was proven that it helped as a preventative medicine for people with the ADL gene.

My point is this. While I believe it is imperative that you need certain skills and talents for paranormal research, I don’t believe that one has to be “certified” to help others and make a difference in the world. There is no paranormal certification and those that claim they are certified, continue to devalue the work true researchers are trying to do. And as long as that continues, paranormal research will always be looked at as a pseudoscience. It’s fluff people, please don’t buy into it.

There are reputable groups out there that are willing to help and educate. Some of them we have dealt with personally (especially Ghosts of Ohio who have helped us tremendously). I dare anyone to find the word “certified” on their site!

Just remember, the answer is out there, just waiting to be found. And sometimes, just sometimes, it’s the average person that finds it. It could be you.