| Armed with a Ph.D. and a lucrative counseling | | | | emotional and physical pain. I began a five-year |
| professorship at age 30, I embarked on what was to | | | | apprenticeship with two Native American healers and |
| be one of the shorter careers in the history of | | | | drove the 8-hour trek from Laramie, Wyoming to |
| academia. Despite being nominated for early career | | | | Santa Fe every month. I quickly discovered why |
| awards and authoring a half-dozen research | | | | counseling came so easy. The Native American |
| publications, I decided to leave my tenure-track position | | | | community recognizes empaths. These individuals |
| at the University of Wyoming in 2005 after just three | | | | have been trained as the medicine men and women in |
| years to begin working with empaths in Santa Fe, NM. I | | | | tribes and communities. |
| had to follow my heart. After I realized I was an | | | | Research has shown that approximately twenty |
| empath, there was no turning back. | | | | percent of people are highly sensitive in general. In my |
| The cultural identity of empath is rapidly growing and | | | | experience and observation, fewer still are empaths |
| gaining mainstream acceptance; Dr. Judith Orloff's | | | | (those sensitive specifically to other people). Perhaps 5 |
| best-selling holistic healing books are evidence of that. | | | | percent of all people are natural empaths - and most |
| The primary characteristic of an empath is a high | | | | don't recognize it. I am seeing women and men who |
| degree of sensitivity to the emotional state of other | | | | have lived their entire lives wondering what was |
| people. If you've ever been told that you're a good | | | | wrong with them, being called hypersensitive or |
| listener, then you might be an empath. People feel | | | | oversensitive - who can now breathe a sigh of relief. |
| comfortable sharing their emotions and deepest | | | | What was thought to be a quirk or even mental illness |
| thoughts with empaths, and thus, we tend to be | | | | in actuality is a special gift for being able to understand |
| especially popular around high-stress times like the | | | | the emotions and motivations of other people. |
| holidays. | | | | In my coaching practice, I help empathic individuals |
| However, an empath's ability to bond with others can | | | | differentiate what energy is theirs, and what is coming |
| lead to unintended health consequences. In many | | | | from other people. We work on coping strategies to |
| cases, empaths will take on other people's emotional | | | | manage the high sensitivity and prevent the absorption |
| pain as if it was their own. In toxic situations, intense | | | | of harmful energy. |
| emotional energy can affect an empath deeply. We | | | | I'm so happy and privileged to work in this special field |
| can unintentionally absorb emotions, like a sponge. I | | | | with empaths, helping us to become more joyful, more |
| walked around for years with what felt like two fishing | | | | skilled, and more conscious of the tremendous spiritual |
| hooks stuck in my heart area. | | | | gifts with which we have been blessed. |
| In 2003, I sought out healing for my accumulated | | | | |