Yes, I feel that 1960s parapsychology is a very different beast than earlier books where characters have the second sight - although the later Billabong books are perhaps a bridge between the two, with Norah and company talking about tuning into psychic radio waves?

The Barney Snaith-Dean Priest connection is interesting - are you thinking that Montgomery needed to write a version where the heroine could get together with the Snaith/Priest character, where it would be the right and dream-fulfilling choice for her? Whereas in the Emily books, the brief get-together with Dean happens after he crushes her dreams by telling her that her book isn't very good.