Born into a family of psychics, Mrs Nicholls knew from an early age that she also had the gift.

"I would always know if someone was going to ring. I could pick up the phone and know exactly who it would be. It was a bit scary at first."

Mrs Nicholls has since embraced her skill and now gives readings for people around the world, but she says it is not something that she can switch on and off.

One of the most recent visions came after the death of the man who ran her local milk bar.

"He'd gone to the local shopping centre and got into an altercation with another man and they had a fight and he died on the spot.

"A couple of days after he passed away, I was sitting watching television and I felt his presence; it went all cold.

"I said to my husband, 'Sam's here and he wants to give you a message'. He wanted to tell my husband that his brother was going to need his help to finalise things at the milk bar.

"Within 15 minutes the phone rang and it was Sam's brother.

"Little things like that happen all the time."

Mrs Nicholls often senses bad news.

"I often see that people are going to pass. I had one lady come for a reading who had cancer and I was looking at the cards, getting advice from 'upstairs', and I saw the death card.

"That was so hard, I could see eventually the treatment wouldn't work.

"I always try and act from a point of integrity. I always act professionally.

"Some things you can change and some things you can't. So I always say to myself 'is there something I can do about this?' I believe some things are predestined to happen and there is nothing you can do to change it.

"So I'm always learning, and I know I can't always intrude on people. But there are times when I can tell people that they shouldn't be driving a car at a particular time, or that they shouldn't take a trip they had planned."

Mrs Nicholls will share her gift at Sunday's New Age Healing and Psychic Expo in Pakenham. Details: Jean Lawson on 0425 829 281 or universalinsights .com.au