This image released by Atria shows, “Good Grief: Heal Your Soul, Honor Your Loved Ones, and Learn to Live Again,” by Theresa Caputo. (Atria via AP)

NEW YORK - Theresa Caputo is not bothered in the slightest if you don't believe that she's a medium.

The TV personality and star of "Long Island Medium" on TLC has plenty of believers and says if you're not one of them, that's OK, too.

"I'm not asking anyone to believe in what I do. Everyone has a right to their own opinion," Caputo said in a recent telephone interview.

What she doesn't understand is how skeptics think people who do believe in psychic readings are wrong: "How can someone tell someone that what they're experiencing isn't real?"

Caputo believes that if someone has a session with a medium and then walks away feeling uplifted and empowered, people should respect that.

In the current and eighth season of her show, which airs Sundays at 8 p.m. Eastern, we see Caputo read for celebrities, including Rosie O'Donnell, Carson Kressley and Bravo TV star Kim Zolciak-Biermann.

She talks about her high-profile clients and her new book, "Good Grief: Heal Your Soul, Honor Your Loved Ones, and Learn to Live Again," from Atria Books:

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AP: This season we've seen you give readings to some celebrities. Is it different reading a celebrity versus a regular person?

Caputo: For me there's no difference. Once I get over the initial shock that they know who I am and that they watch "Long Island Medium," they're just like any other client. At the end of the day we're all the same and they lost someone they want to hear from just like everyone else. People might say, 'Oh, you can easily find out things if someone is a celebrity' but the things that they want to talk about (with a spirit) there's no way I could find out. To hear the messages O'Donnell heard from her father was incredible.

AP: What's the lesson from your new book?

Caputo: (Grieving) doesn't have to be negative. We can grieve in a positive way. Spirit might come through and say, 'I just want you to live life. It's OK. Go out and go to movies again, go out to dinner.' It's OK to start dating again after losing your spouse. My clients would say, 'That's great but how do I do this? I need some type of guidance.' With 'Good Grief,' after each chapter we have healing moments where there's an activity whether it's writing in a journal or going out and doing something physical in memory of your loved one. It's giving you permission to grieve how you need to grieve and also to realize that you might not go through some of the steps of grief. You might not have emotion or guilt. Everyone grieves differently.

AP: Do you find people wonder if they're grieving properly?

Caputo: It happened in my own family. My mom and her two sisters lost their father — my grandfather. My one aunt was grieving differently than my mom and her other sister. She couldn't talk about my grandfather. It was hard for her. Where we didn't want to skip a beat and we all wanted to be together, even more so. We didn't try to talk her into doing thing but let her do and grieve the way that she felt she needed to.

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Online:

https://www.tlc.com/tv-shows/long-island-medium/

News from © The Associated Press, 2017