One of the first things we did as a small group when starting out was to decide on the type of group we wanted to be, the direction we wanted to go, what we wanted to achieve and how we wanted to achieve it! This decision, once made, is what you should always carry with you throughout your investigative years and what you should always revert to if things start to go awry or you start to lose your way.

 CaSPIR mission statement:

“It is the sole purpose of CaSPIR to provide a service for those who are troubled by unexplained happenings within their place of work or home.  It is the aim of each investigation to work in a scientific and logical manner to attempt to locate the source of any such reported event or activity and provide recommendations to try and rectify the problem wherever possible.” 

There are many different ways of working in the paranormal field, and not one particular way is either best or right. Sadly there are many groups out there today who are too egotistical in their manner and try to create a high persona for themselves. In truth, no one group is ‘better’ than any other, some have more experience, some sadly follow the Most Haunted route and some just want to be ‘scared silly’, but your attitude, your approach and your manner is what will govern the respect you gain in the long run, and is also all you need to get started.

Knowing your identity and making sure your founding members and committee (should you decide to have one) all agree on this is essential when starting out, and any new members coming into your team should be made aware of how you work and what your aims and goals are. This provides a like minded group of individuals, a great working atmosphere and has everyone working in harmony.

As a point of interest, it is vitally important that everyone within your team is an individual in their own right, and that any ideas, thoughts or comments they have are welcomed and considered as much as the founders, however, the end result, the aims and goals should be in unison.

We have chosen the scientific route for CaSPIR and that is not the way for some. It is however important to note that we have worked alongside both scientific and psychic run groups and have had some very interesting results in doing so. The way others work will not always appeal to your group but having an open mind and an understanding of these different groups and the way that they work will stand you in good stead and teach you a lot through the years. 

Once you have decided on your identity, make sure you work within your identity, getting to know one another in the team and really finding out who you are and learning to trust and rely on one another. Do this before you start working with other teams. You might find that as you continue to work the way in which you work changes, your ideas change or the dynamics change but starting out in this way provides a good basis for any team. 

Good luck!