Is 'Long Island Medium' Theresa Caputo Speaking to the Dead, or Is She Just a Good Talker?

The reality show Long Island Medium follows the average day in the life of Theresa Caputo. However, this working mom is far from "normal." She spends her days not only raising a family but connecting strangers with their deceased loved ones. Yes, she is a psychic medium. 

However, not everyone believes Theresa's claims that she can speak to the dead and many find her "gift" to be a scam. 

From her hit TV show to live shows across America, Theresa, 52, has made her money convincing audiences that she can communicate with the dead. But not everyone is convinced. Inside Edition sent a reporter to one of her live shows back in 2012 to investigate the accuracy of her readings.

"On TV, she's almost always dead right, but at her live shows, we watched her strike out time and again," the reporter revealed. The investigator for Inside Edition, Mark Edward, claimed that Theresa used classic psychic techniques to trick the audience. One technique is called cold reading, which means the medium is able to throw out generalized questions until someone can relate.

Another technique that Theresa allegedly uses is that when she gets something wrong, she will place blame on the spirit, telling guests that the spirit meant to relay this message to another individual.

Though some are skeptical when it comes to the truth behind the Long Island medium, not everyone is convinced she's a fake. During a 2014 Hello Beautiful interview, one client of Theresa's revealed that her session was very intimate, and she did not feel the reality star's reading was a scam.

“We got into the hour session and she was hitting on things she had no way of knowing and they weren’t like cold reading tactics. There were things she predicted that I couldn’t match to my situation right away, but months went by and I’d be like holy &%^$ that’s what she meant," the client said. 

Theresa herself has spoken out against her biggest critics, and defends her supernatural talent — and refuted claims that she does "cold readings."

"I always say it is not my fault or spirit's fault that there are only so many ways that people can die and common burdens and guilt that we might carry,” she explained to Paper magazine. "During my sessions, I want the spirit to talk about things that not only no one would ever know about, but that you experienced. Because nobody can take away from you what you experienced or tell you what you experienced wasn't real." 

Along with her readings, the personal drama on the show is also very real for the mother-of-two. "From the day I signed up to do Long Island along with my entire family, we said that we were going to share our life," Theresa, 52, said of her separation from her husband of 28 years, Larry. "It is [hard]. But again, what I am doing is helping people."

She continued, "A gentleman came up to me recently and said to me, 'I want to thank you for sharing what you are going through, because my wife and I were watching the show and we said that is us.' They put themselves in therapy." 

Though there are skeptics and fans alike, Theresa is certainly still popular among TV audiences. Long Island Medium continues to be a hit TLC show that is now continuing into its 13th season. Catch new episodes of Long Island Medium on Mondays at 8 p.m. EST on TLC.