***Another brilliant article and worth the read!  {We did not write this}***

Health and Safety as a Whole – By Allen Marston:

Today’s post is going to be thinking a little outside of the box. We have discussed our physical and spiritual health and safety as well as the safety of our clients. Today we will discuss the health of the field as a whole.

In the last decade or so there has been a huge “paranormal boom” if you will. Things that were taboo to discus in everyday life have become more acceptable. With the acceptability rising so have the number of teams out there. Many people have seen the rise of teams as a negative for many reasons, but this in fact is an AWESOME thing. Not only are we more able to blanket the planet with investigators, it gives a chance to discuss and test out more theories than ever before. However, for the health of the field there should be some guidelines that we all need to adhere to.

Before I get a little more in-depth with I would like to make this one statement: I am not an expert, nor will I profess to be. Hmm, I guess this would be a great place to start this off. When talking to other teams or posting in forums or FB pages you will ALWAYS see a few people who seem to be or claim to be experts in the paranormal field. To be completely honest, there are no EXPERTS in this field nor will there ever be until this is a proven science. Yes, there are people who are knowledgeable in certain areas and do know what they are talking about. However, in my opinion the most credible people in the field tend to be the ones that keep an open mind and actually discuss each other’s theories and stay pigeon-holed to one way of thought. Always keep the mentality that you are a student of the field (a friend of mine expressed it this way and it has stuck with me since) always learning and never an expert. But no matter what – STAY PROFESSIONAL in everything you do related to the field.

This leads us into evidence. This one aspect is probably where the field loses a lot of its credibility. Every team wants to be the one that discovers the one piece of evidence that proves it all. How many times have seen or heard evidence that you know can be discounted very easily? I know that all of you who have been on the page for a while have seen this. You have probably seen many people asking questions that could seem that they don’t believe what is shown. Most of time it’s just someone who is passionate about the field and want to see the field progress. Don’t see the question as a negative; use it as a positive to help you decipher what could be seen as a credible piece of evidence before you post or release it. WHEN IN DOUBT THROW IT OUT. With that being said, the one thing that really brings the field down is faking evidence. NEVER, NEVER, and I say it again… NEVER falsify evidence! By doing that you are doing nothing to help advance the field, you’re only bringing it down.

There are more things that need to be discussed but this is getting pretty lengthy, so I will sum it up like this:
1.) Always be professional 2.) Always be a student of the field 3.) DO NOT FAKE EVIDENCE 4.) When in doubt throw it out 5.) Take criticism and learn from it 6.) Always be courteous to other’s theories and thoughts.

This by no means are the only ways to keep the field healthy. I would LOVE to hear from all of you your views on the things that are keeping the field healthy and what is making it sick. What are your thoughts?

SOURCE: http://national-paranormal-society.org/health-safety-whole/