{"id":16888,"date":"2025-08-16T11:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-08-16T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/durangoan-offers-communication-services-to-owners-and-their-pets\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T04:02:07","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T04:02:07","slug":"durangoan-offers-communication-services-to-owners-and-their-pets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/durangoan-offers-communication-services-to-owners-and-their-pets\/","title":{"rendered":"Durangoan offers communication services to owners and their pets"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Marcie
Marcie Draheim, who is an intuitive animal communicator, certified hypnotherapist and reiki master, sits with her dog Bear on July 24. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>Jerry McBride<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

According to Marcie Draheim, intuitive animal communicator, certified hypnotherapist and reiki master, telepathic energy communication with animals \u2013 when boiled down to its most generic form \u2013 is \u201cjust quantum physics.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the mind of Draheim, who grew up \u201cvery much in an animal advocacy family,\u201d the connection between animal communication and quantum physics relates to the principle of \u201cthat which is like itself, is drawn in.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s your intuition, it\u2019s your gut feeling,\u201d Draheim said. \u201cYou know how you picture someone, and then they\u2019re calling? That\u2019s basically how animals communicate, through the five senses. Telepathy, at a very basic description, is talking with intuition.\u201d<\/p>\n

Draheim has been working in pet communication, mostly via an online business presence, since 2012, and said she has served hundreds of clients \u2013 both human and animal, as well as local and national \u2013 since she began her practice.<\/p>\n

Before Draheim moved into intuitive energy work, she was involved in the business and psychology fields, rubbing elbows with the likes of Jeff Bezos in the early days of Amazon and working as a certified counselor at both a safehouse for battered women, and within a court ordered placement home for delinquent adolescent boys. But, Draheim said, those career paths just weren\u2019t for her.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think my clients were ultimately, for me, meant to be animals,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Draheim trained in intuitive animal communication with Penelope Smith<\/a>, known in the animal communication field as the \u201cgodmother of intuitive animal communication.\u201d<\/p>\n

She also trained with several other animal communication teachers, some of whom, such as Carol Gurney of the Gurney Institute of Animal Communication<\/a>, have published literature on the concept of intuitive animal communication.<\/p>\n

\"Draheim
Draheim has been working in pet communication, mostly via an online business presence, since 2012, and said she has served hundreds of clients \u2013 both human and animal, as well as local and national \u2013 since she began her practice. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>Jerry McBride<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Over the course of her work and training, Draheim has worked with dogs, cats, horses and even fish \u2013 but says hedgehogs are a favorite to communicate with, because of their \u201cgood sense of humor.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her work primarily involves meeting with pet owners and their pets, over the phone or in person, and acting as a bridge facilitating communication between the two, either in response to behavioral issues or conflicts; during a period of hospice for an animal; or stemming from a simple desire from a pet owner to understand their animal better.<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes, I have clients that I work with call me up and say, \u2018Marcie, we\u2019re having a human baby. How do we make this work out?\u2019\u201d Draheim said. \u201cOr, \u2018we\u2019re moving to a different state \u2013 I need to know how Rover feels about this, and how we can make it a success for him.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

She said communications from animals can take on a range of forms.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnimals do communicate through pictures, through sounds, sometimes words, and through feelings,\u201d Draheim said. \u201cAnd then animal communication teaches people how to interpret and translate that, basically, into language that humans understand.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Marcie
Marcie Draheim said communications from animals can take on a range of forms. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>Jerry McBride<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

She said her initial communications with animals can be abstract, but after \u201csitting with it\u201d for a moment, the messages form into interpreted words in her mind.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter years of experience, it just kind of happens automatically,\u201d she said. \u201cI tend to hear things more with my intuition, or feel them versus seeing them first, then my intuition comes in words, which makes it a little bit easier to communicate with pet parents.\u201d<\/p>\n

Carla Marie Toth, who owns the Life in Flow Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine clinic in town, has been a client of Draheim\u2019s for several years.<\/p>\n

Toth asked Draheim for help communicating with her 9-year-old dog, Dusty Bottoms, during a period of anxiety and physical pain while Dusty was recovering from surgery. Toth said after a conversation between herself, Marcie and Dusty, Dusty the dog agreed to pursue chiropractic for his injuries, and is now back on his feet and feeling good.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe really had a long discussion on what he needed for recovery, and what he was willing to do and not do, and now we\u2019re back up to walking six miles on the weekends,\u201d Toth said. \u201cHe was also really anxious, and that\u2019s calmed down quite a bit.\u201d<\/p>\n

Toth prefers to keep an open mind about animal communication services, especially given the positive effects she saw in Dusty after working with Draheim.<\/p>\n

\u201cMarcie is just so connected to animals, and all kinds of things are possible that our minds want to convince us aren\u2019t,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Draheim feels a key to successful pet communication is for a pet parent to be readily involved in communication attempts, like Toth was with Dusty \u2013 much like attending a therapy session with a family member.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a lot of negotiation between the pet parent and the pet to fulfill both of their needs related to whatever the situation is,\u201d Draheim said. \u201cIt feels like sometimes I am a counselor, translator and negotiator, and I\u2019m thrilled to be in that position. It\u2019s nice to be able to use that psych degree.\u201d<\/p>\n

She really starts to have fun \u2013 and especially feels like she takes on a counseling position \u2013 when multiple animals from the same household are involved in a session.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s much like siblings. And cats especially, they\u2019ll rat out the dog immediately,\u201d Draheim said. \u201cA client will call me, usually for a dog issue, like, \u2018My dog is doing blah, blah, blah.\u2019 And then I\u2019ll be like, \u2018do you want to know what the cat thinks?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

She is aware that some might be skeptical of her work.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would (implore people to) study it themselves, because there\u2019s a whole bunch of ideas out there that people have, good or bad, that come about just because they really don\u2019t know anything about it,\u201d Draheim said. \u201cA common misconception is that it\u2019s a foo, foo, fake, bunch-of-bull-crap, woo-woo pet psychic thing, and that I\u2019m making money off of people\u2019s fears.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

Cost and logistics of animal communication services<\/h4>\n

Draheim said phone or text sessions are possible with pets and pet parents, as she says she does not need to be in the same physical space as an animal to communicate telepathically. Initial sessions are at a fixed price point \u2013 usually between $60 to $200, depending on the length of time \u2013 and returning clients are charged by the minute for briefer check-ins. For more information, visit www.marciedraheim.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The concept of an animal being \u201ccured\u201d by Draheim\u2019s services, without the presence of Western medicine or vet care, is another common misunderstanding in her line of work, she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is not a cure. It does not replace Western medicine in any capacity,\u201d Draheim said. \u201cIt\u2019s like going to a chiropractor and wanting them to reset your broken leg. There\u2019s parameters and boundaries around it, and it\u2019s very much complementary to other modalities of healing, like veterinary work.\u201d<\/p>\n

Overall, intuitive animal work feels like a calling to Draheim.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we have multiple purposes throughout our lifetime, and this is one of mine,\u201d she said. \u201cI think that\u2019s why I feel so great doing it. I feel energized afterwards, versus feeling drained. It\u2019s a passion of mine.\u201d<\/p>\n

A portion of the population inevitably remaining skeptical of the legitimacy of her work is OK with her, she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverybody goes to different sources and people for different things,\u201d Draheim said. \u201cIt\u2019s all individual-based. So, if you don\u2019t believe in it, find something that works for you. No harm, no foul.\u201d<\/p>\n

Multiple veterinary and animal care sources in La Plata County declined to provide insights or comment about the practice of animal communication.<\/p>\n

epond@durangoherald.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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