Dr Matthew Smith is a writer and lecturer specializing in topics relating to psychology and the paranormal.
Matthew first became interested in the paranormal as a child, not through any personal ‘psychic’ experience, but through his interest in magic and conjuring. His fascination with the ways magicians could make it appear that they had psychic powers, led him to wonder if some people might be able to do it for real! His interest developed further as an undergraduate studying psychology at Liverpool Polytechnic when he became the president of the Liverpool University Society for Psychical Research, and as a PhD student and Research Assistant working with Richard Wiseman at the University of Hertfordshire. During this time he was awarded the Gertrude Schmeidler Award for an Outstanding Student Contribution to Parapsychology by the Parapsychological Association.
His first lecturing post was back at Liverpool John Moores University before moving to Liverpool Hope University the following year. After ten years at Liverpool Hope, Matthew recently left his post as Associate Professor of Psychology to see what else life had to offer. He affectionately refers to this decision as ‘operation freefall’!
Matthew’s research has covered such diverse topics as telepathy, precognition, luck, séances, and psychic pets, and he was for a time the resident ‘skeptic’ on Most Haunted on Living TV.
He is currently exploring the world of psychic development by seeing if he can develop his own psychic abilities!
