Cindi Muntz sees the world a bit differently than the average person.

She's been clairvoyant since she was a kid—it's not something that she can turn off and on, and it's not something she asked for.

But her sixth sense is something she embraces.

Muntz is the owner and founder of Researchers Investigating the Paranormal, a Bolingbrook team that investigates haunted locations both in Bolingbrook and throughout the Midwest.

"Essentially all ghost hunting is, is taking tools that can evaluate the environment for changes," she said. "Spirits have the ability to change the environment while they're there."

The R.I.P. team uses electromagnetic-field meters, night scopes, thermometers, cameras, and voice recorders to determine first, if there is a ghost problem at a given location and second, to gauge its severity.

Muntz has hundreds of "other-worldly" recordings on her computer.

She sees spirits everywhere, similar to the boy in the Sixth Sense, just not as gory, she said.

In fact, she brought her husband to see the movie when they were dating to warm him up before breaking the news.

She said spirits are not usually dangerous and referred to some she's encountered in the past with words like, "cute" and "sweet."

But they can also be melancholy.

She described one experience with a ghost who'd been hanging around our earthly existence since 1832, unable to "cross-over."

"It's kind of sad, isn't it?" she said. "Sometimes they (the spirits) are cranky. We all get that way when we're not in a good mood."

She explained that everyone has at least one spirit guide—she even has her own named "Sam."

She uses dowsing rods to communicate with Sam, and said anyone can talk with their own spirit guide if they want to—the rods don't even have to be made of any special material; plastic pens that cover the bent ends of wire hangers will work just fine.

But there isn't any crossing of the streams or anything like that. In fact, the word "extermination," makes Muntz cringe.

It's more about teaching both the spirits and the humans who live with them how to coexist peacefully, she said. She's not interested in banishing them or trapping them—but when she can, she will help them get wherever it is they are trying to go.

She cited one instance in which a client was being poked an prodded by a ghost incessantly; flicking his earlobes and tousling his hair. By the time Muntz got the call, his friends had diagnosed him with Tourette's Syndrome.

With a little rapport, she was able to help the spirit on his way.

"Our bodies are just a vehicle," she said. "When we die, our spirits live on. Some just haven't made it to the 'other side' quite yet."

For more information visit CindiMuntz.com.