The Healing Empath
Good Evening Blog Readers, Followers & Visitors ~
We've been discussing Empaths, Highly Sensitive People (HSPs) and Healers. Tonight we are going to talk about Intuitive Empaths, and in particular those Empaths that have dealt with Narcissistic individuals.
A little about Intuitive Empaths ~ a person who has an unusual capacity for sensing and understanding the feelings of others. Could you be one?
Intuitive empaths know what others feel without needing to be told, and they have an unusually sharp sense for whether someone is being truthful or lying.
For this reason, many self-proclaimed intuitive empaths go into the healing professions. There’s a lot of reported evidence from psychologists for the existence of empaths, and it often seems to suggest that they are unhappier than others.
Empathy is present, in general, to a greater degree in women. A study from the journal of Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews stated that there are gender differences with regard to empathic response from infancy. It has been suggested that females are more empathic as a result of neurological adaptation to the traditional role of child-rearing, as it requires a sharper understanding of non-verbal expressions.
With the information above kept in mind, imagine an Empath dealing with a Narcissist. It would immediately strike you as odd, as well as a toxic mix.
One Empath tells the story of being involved with a Narcissist. The Empath came to the conclusion that Narcissists are special people. Although Narcissists are very focused on how great they are, the Empath realized that Narcissists are actually profoundly wounded. The Empath also came to the conclusion that something in childhood (in most cases) got to them. Something unraveled them. That something also damaged them. And, because of the wounds, the Narcissists now seek validation.
Here are the words of an Empath that dealt with a Narcissist:
"But here I am. I'm an empath. I'm a healer. I absorb what other people are feeling, and feel it as if it were my own. My own pain, my own anguish, my own hurt. Narcissists rarely know an empath's boundaries. It makes us easy to bond with. We eat their pain like breakfast lunch and dinner." ~ The anonymous empath
Intuitive Empath
Let us turn our attention fully to the Intuitive Empath ~ What are the traits of an Intuitive Empath?
1. You understand where other people are coming from
When empaths are in interactions with others, they’re able to understand how the other person feels and why they feel it. This makes them excellent listeners and great friends. However, being able to put themselves in other people’s shoes and feel as they feel can be extremely stressful. Apart from having to deal with the stress and difficulties which arise in their own lives, they take on other people’s suffering as their own.
2. You are oversensitive
If you are extremely sensitive or have been labelled as being too emotional, you may be an empath. Empaths seem to have the ability to experience emotions at a greater intensity than the rest of us. This can lead to increased joy and pleasure in life, but when they’re exposed to negative stimuli, it can cause extreme anxiety and distress. It also means that they’re more prone to mood swings than others, as stimuli from the environment can change rapidly from positive to negative. Empaths are often very sensitive to noise and other disturbances, too.
3. You can’t stand witnessing the suffering of others
At one extreme of the empathy spectrum (the low end), there are people with disorders which cause anti-social and often violent, criminal behaviour. Empathic people are on the opposite end of the spectrum, not being able, in some cases, even to watch violent films. They also find things that many people laugh at, like the misfortunes of others, unbearable to witness.
4. You aren’t comfortable in large groups
Because of the intensity and diversity of stimuli in situations involving a large number of people, empaths tend to find being around big groups exhausting and anxiety-creating. It is common for empaths to prefer being alone or with one or two people. If they have to be in social situations involving large groups, it is often necessary for them to withdraw early and take time alone to recharge their batteries.
5. You have physical symptoms after emotionally intense situations
Empaths often find that they experience physical symptoms in response to high-intensity situations. Headaches are common as well as fatigue. Empaths may also be more likely to respond to the anxiety they feel by abusing their own bodies with drugs and overeating.
Journal Notes
For your Journal, please make a note of anything that you have found to be helpful. You may also want to add the following information . . .
Empathy is something that nearly all human beings have, with the exception of people who have psychological disorders that prevent them from feeling empathy. Empathy is, therefore, something which is found in human beings on a spectrum – from high-empathy responses to low-empathy responses.
Scientists do not currently accept the use of terms such as intuitive empath just as they don’t accept terms like ‘psychic’ or ESP (Extra-Sensory Perception). Scientific research currently divides empathy into the categories of ‘emotional empathy’ and ‘cognitive empathy’. Emotional empathy is the ability to respond emotionally to what another person is going through, and cognitive empathy is the ability to comprehend another person’s perspective or mental state.
Until next Blog Session
Peace, Love & Light,
René
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