Walking around the beautiful Tarn Hows in the Lake District, I had the pleasure of sitting down with Amal Loring (formerly Debbie), counsellor, spiritual coach, business coach, and psychic medium. Our conversation wove through corporate success, cultural complexity, spiritual awakening, and the courageous journey from the United Arab Emirates back to the UK.
From IT Sales Star to Something More
Amal’s journey began in corporate IT in the 1990s, where she became the second most successful salesperson in the world and first in the UK for a major company. For a woman in the 90s, this was extraordinary.
But success brought questions.
“I’m put on the earth to do more than just earn money,” Amal realised. “There’s only so many cars and material things you can buy. I began noticing different mindsets, the glass half full versus half empty people. I thought if I could find a way to get people to look at the glass as always half full, there will be a better place.”
This led her to study neuro-linguistic programming (NLP), hypnosis, and timeline therapy in the US, setting up her practice in 1999 in the UAE.
Dubai and the Gold Rolex
When Amal’s then-husband got an opportunity to move to Dubai in 1997, nobody had heard of the emirate. The move became a career change moment when she encountered ethical dilemmas in IT.
“Somebody offered me a gold Rolex watch with loose diamonds in the middle to seal the deal,” she recalls. “The challenge is, if you do it once, you are finished. It’s an integrity question.”
She couldn’t operate in that environment, which pushed her firmly toward counselling and coaching.
Living in the UAE exposed her to extraordinary diversity, 207 different nationalities. “People were very open. You get much greater understanding and acceptance of different cultures and different ways.”
The Tissue Box Moment
Reading Amal’s book, one moment made the hairs on the back of my neck stand tall: she bought matching tissue boxes for each side of the bed, a small gesture of independence.
Her second husband’s response was:
“You may think you’ve got more independence, but ultimately, I’m in control.”
That moment lodged away. When he announced he was taking a third wife (Amal was wife number two), she knew she had to leave, but strategically.
“If I’d gone ‘get stuffed,’ then financially I wasn’t able to support myself and my daughter. So I thought, okay, I have to bide my time.”
A government official suggested she sponsor companies, acting as a bridge between foreign businesses and the UAE government. This gave her financial independence. Her daughter gained a place at Cambridge, the sponsorship laws changed in 2021, and Amal was ready to leave.
She’d planned to go in 2019. Then the pandemic hit.
Forced to stay another nine months as the country forbade residents from leaving, she finally touched down in the UK in July 2021. “It was a massive relief. I could then openly talk about being a psychic medium, whereas before, this is forbidden in Islamic countries.”
The Spiritual Awakening
Amal first saw a ghost at eight. Her mother dismissed it. Years later, working in banking, a colleague asked, “Who are you talking to?”
“Him,” Amal replied.
“There’s nobody there.”
She thought she was experiencing delusions until she connected with John and Janet, famous platform mediums who became lifelong friends and helped her train in mediumship.
“Nothing can be created or destroyed,” Amal explains. “When we pass away, our physical body is here, but our soul reunites with the remainder of us as spirits. They guide people on Earth because they understand the challenges of being in ‘the school called Earth.'”
Her first two counselling clients tested her biggest fears: a lady with MS (her father had spent 14 years in “a home for the incurables”) and a man with Parkinson’s and a tracheotomy. “Feel your fear and do it anyway.”
The Three Aspects of Her Practice
Amal’s work encompasses three areas:
- Counselling and Spiritual Coaching: Addressing philosophical questions, what happens when we die, why we repeat mistakes, finding purpose, “If anybody’s unhappy, they shouldn’t be unhappy. I’ve got tools and techniques to help them be happy.”
- Business Coaching: After the 2008 crash, she noticed patterns. With women: “Predominantly, it’s imposter syndrome. ‘Nobody’s going to pay me to do this.’ That internal battle can be crippling.” With men: they “fake it til they make it.”
- Mediumship: Sometimes guidance comes through unexpectedly. One client was considering a business partnership with someone he’d met in a pub. His deceased father came through: “Tell him no, that bloke’s a crook.” Amal asked about due diligence, discovering seven bankruptcies, the client understood.
Depression: Regrets and Fear
“Depression is often caused by regrets of the past and fear of the future. People get depressed about decisions they’ve made, not made, or should have made, then worry about the future. In doing all that, you’re missing out on the present. And that’s the only thing we have.”
She illustrates perfectly:
“If I said what time did you get up this morning and then told you to go back and stay in bed longer, you can’t. You can’t even change today. The future is a concept—it’s already past.”
Success is Subjective
“I’ve dealt with people in the UAE where happiness was sending money home to India for education or water. Through to Saudis who want seven Ferraris on the drive. If that makes them happy, who are you to judge?”
For Amal, happiness is simple: “A cup of tea, listening to Radio 4, or sitting in my house looking at birds on the feeders. It’s my house. I’ve got money in the bank to buy tea and bird food.”
She uses the new car example: pristine smell, parking carefully. Six months later? “It’s got a few scratches, that new smell has gone. Sometimes these things become burdens. Really, all we need is a reliable car to get from A to B.”
We’re All Psychic
“I’m sure you’ve experienced thinking of someone you haven’t thought of for a while, and blow me down, they send you a message,” Amal says.
This happens because everything is made up of energy. “Your energy reaches out and clicks with that other person’s energy.”
She distinguishes between gut feelings and intuition:
- Gut feelings are “been there, done that”, recognition from past experience, literally felt in the stomach area.
- Intuition comes from around the forehead, that sense that “everyone thinks ‘John’s’ fabulous, but there’s just something I don’t like about him.
Soul Contracts and Past Lives
“Everyone in your family, you’ve met before. You’ve got agreements with them from a previous life, we didn’t resolve that issue, so let’s do it all again and just change roles.”
I shared my past life revelation: I’ve always hated cleaning and laundry, which my past life reading explained, I was a cleaner in a previous life! Amal wasn’t surprised: “Everything’s always connected.”
Living in the Present
Throughout our walk around Tarn Hows, a place Amal would visualise during challenging times in 50-degree Middle Eastern heat, she kept returning to one truth: all we have is now.
“So many of us are in our heads and not in the physical body. When we’re in a physical body, we’re grounded.” She follows a simple rule:
“If the weather’s good, ditch the gym and get out. You don’t know when it’s going to be like that again. Carpe diem.”
Final thoughts
Amal’s story is ultimately one of freedom: from corporate ethics that didn’t align with her values, from a relationship where control replaced partnership, from cultural constraints that didn’t allow her spiritual expression, and freedom to finally be exactly who she is.
She spent years building toward that moment, gaining qualifications, establishing financial independence, ensuring her daughter was settled, biding her time with patience and strategy.
Now, back in the Lake District with her tea, birds, and Radio 4, Amal has found her version of success. And she’s helping others find theirs, whether through counselling, business coaching, or messages from loved ones in spirit.
Resources and Connect with Amal:
Amal offers counselling, spiritual coaching, business coaching, and mediumship readings. Her work is primarily word-of-mouth and referral-based. Her book candidly shares her journey from corporate success to spiritual awakening, including her years in the UAE.
Links:
Website: https://mbd-co.uk/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yugenwisdom?igsh=aTBiaDFsdDhld3lu
Lifting the Veil: https://mbd-co.uk/lifting-the-veil-a-true-story-of-personal-transformation-and-female-empowerment/
Tarn Hows is a very popular and accessible route. It’s offers a gentle amble around the tarn and is perfect for any time of the year. The Café is a wonderful treat on a damp, grey day!
