A look at the claims, predictions and behavior of a media "psychic".
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A look at the claims, predictions and behavior of a media "psychic".
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| Christopher Dufresne: "His psychic ability is equal to Sylvia's."Is Sylvia Browne positioning her son to take the reins? Published: May 31 2008  Christopher Dufresne. BackgroundFor years, Sylvia Browne's son Christopher Dufresne has been following in his mother's footsteps. Recent events seem to indicate that he is being positioned to take over more of the business. This article examines that, and takes a look at other things we have been told about Dufresne. The EmailI received an email a few days ago from a woman in Manchester, England. Here, with her permission, is that email (emphasis mine):
I was gratified to hear that the site had been of assistance to this woman, but I was surprised to hear that Browne's waiting list was now supposedly seven years long. The length of Sylvia's "waiting list" changes every time I hear about it. Three years, one year, four years, three years... now seven. But almost every email I receive from someone who has had a phone reading with Sylvia Browne, as well as accounts I've read elsewhere from those who have had such readings, say that the office called them back less than a year later to say that an opening had suddenly appeared in Browne's schedule. Would they like to take the opening? Why are these people all jumping two and three years ahead of others on the list? Why didn't any of the others ahead of them take the opening? The only way this makes sense to me is that the "years long" waiting list is nothing more than a marketing gimmick to make Browne seem like she is more in demand than she actually is. The other function this supposed waiting list serves is to encourage people to get a reading with Browne's son, Christopher Dufresne. And in fact, every email I receive from those who have had a phone reading with Dufresne starts out saying that the person did not want to wait years and years to speak with Browne, and so decided to settle for a reading with her son. But seven years? It sounded like they were pushing Dufresne on customers harder than ever. The Advertisement Email advertising Dufresne's "new availability." Two days later, Browne's office sent an email out to their followers. Here is that email, interspersed with my comments (emphasis mine):
So, now the supposed waiting list is up to eight years long. Just how many people would that be? Browne has repeatedly claimed that she does twenty readings a day. Assuming that she does so only five days a week, and that she only works forty weeks out of the year, an eight-year waiting list would have thirty-two thousand people on it. I will leave it to the reader to decide just how likely that is. Back to the advertisement:
Evidently so, as he was available to the woman in the previous email in less than a week.
I am somewhat distressed by their claim that Dufresne has been a professional psychic for over 25 years. Browne states on page 85 of her book Adventures of a Psychic: "Christopher Michael Dufresne was born on February 19, 1966." Since Dufresne is now 42 years old, this would mean that Browne had him working as a "professional psychic" when he was seventeen at the oldest.
Quotes About Dufresne Readings Sylvia Browne and Christopher Dufresne. If Sylvia Browne Corp. has many quotes from people who have had readings with Dufresne, so do I. Here are a few:
Here is a lengthier quote, from an African-American woman who had an in-person reading with Dufresne:
And these are just a sample of the many such reports I have received about Dufresne. It should be noted that a few of these email authors were not totally disappointed in their reading from Dufresne. But the majority were. AnalysisThe volume of complaints I have received about Dufresne's readings come as no surprise. Several ex-ministers with Browne's church of Novus Spiritus have told me that people who work in Browne's office often complain about the volume of complaints and requests or refunds they get from Dufresne's phone-reading customers. I don't think that it is necessarily because he is any worse at cold-reading than his mother is. It may just be that, with all of Browne's books, and all of her appearances on the Montel Williams show, people disappointed in her readings may be more inclined to give her the benefit of the doubt, or to somehow blame themselves. Or perhaps his heart just isn't in it. Many people have told me that he is abrupt, rude, and can't wait to get off of the phone. And when I interviewed his father, Gary Dufresne, he said the following of a conversation he had with Chris:
ConclusionThe advertisement from Browne's office claimed of Dufresne that "his psychic ability is equal to Sylvia's." I am inclined to agree. My thanks to all of the email authors quoted above. |
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