Empaths and hyper sensitive people are often misunderstood and many people don’t know there is a name for them. They often feel there’s something wrong with them. The Empath’s Survival Guide: Life Strategies for Sensitive People by Judith Orloff, Ph. D. and published by Sounds True, is a great resource for anyone with these concerns. The first priority is to clear up the difference between empathy and an empath.
“Having empathy means our heart goes out to another person in joy or pain,” says Dr. Judith Orloff. “But for empaths it goes much further. We actually feel others’ emotions, energy, and physical symptoms in our own bodies, without the usual defenses that most people have.”
Ask yourself these questions –
- Have I ever been labeled overly sensitive, shy or introverted?
- Do I frequently get overwhelmed or anxious?
- Do I often feel like I don’t fit in?
- Do noise, odors or non-stop talkers overwhelm me?
- Am I afraid of becoming suffocated by intimate relationships?
- Do I absorb other people’s stress, emotions or symptoms?
These are just a few of the questions in the beginning of The Empath’s Survival Guide: Life Strategies for Sensitive People. They offer an idea of some of the traits that are common for empaths and sensitive people. If these describe you, then you will benefit from the information in this book.
Any of these, will create challenges in our everyday lives. This book shares a series of self-assessments for the reader to determine if they are an empath and what type of empath. She outlines common challenges empaths face and challenges that are common for each gender.
Empaths can be affected through their emotions, their health, through eating and drinking, through their energy or other people’s energy, on the job.
In the chapter about emotions she goes into great detail to help the reader understand how their health and emotions are impacted. This chapter is fascinating and has a huge impact on life. The self-assessments are the key to start and then dig into more details about various conditions including tips, exercises, self-protection strategies and more.
Learn how being an empath affects your love and sex life and how to have a positive and satisfying relationship and to find a partner. There are special demands on a partner of an empath and you both need to be prepared for these demands, but in turn, your partner can benefit from an empathic partner.
Parents definitely need to dig into chapter 6 on empathic children. How to know if your child is sensitive? And how to raise a sensitive child? They will need special care to understand how to handle the challenges they will face and how to develop their “gifts”. Speaking of gifts, don’t miss chapter 9 on the Gift of Being an Empath.
I Highly recommend The Empath’s Survival Guide: Life Strategies for Sensitive People by Judith Orloff, Ph. D. for anyone who may be an empath or sensitive person or who wants to understand what this means better. Is there a sensitive person in your life? You need to read this book!
Chapter 1 Are You an Empath? Introduction to Empathy
Chapter 2 Empaths, Emotions and Health: How to Stop Absorbing Other People’s Distress
Chapter 3 Empaths and Addiction: From Alcohol and Overeating
Chapter 4 Empaths Love and Sex
Chapter 5 Protecting Yourself from Narcissists and Other Energy Vampires
Chapter 6 Empaths, Parenting, and Raising Sensitive Children
Chapter 7 Empaths and Work
Chapter 8 Empaths, Intuition and Extraordinary Perceptions
Chapter 9 The Gift of Being an Empath
Creating Community: Setting Up Your Own Empath Support Group
