Lojong

I have a "hunch" that through music you will find your way and your Self. Your voice is a key to your heart, and through song you will share a special connection with those you meet. All the kings horses and all the kings men...may not be able to figure you out, but when you sing the truth becomes clear.

Hi Bettina, Thanks. You seem like a good person and I know you will find your way. Empath Psychology shouldn't have any ads on it, especially my sites! My sites are under reconstruction at the moment and are offered as a public service and a playground for empathics. Eventually, there will be a wealth of information there. I have a Masters degree in Psychology and am pursuing a self-designed doctoral disseration on Empath Psychology. I have to petition to accredited universities who offer degrees in Transpersonal Psychology to endorse the work. With or without endorsement the work will be published and I will continue to follow my heart. My background is largely that of a counselor and a teacher. My downfalling is that I am uncontrollably creative, and apparently most people react very strangely to unleashed creativity. (many long stories here). I enjoy using metaphor to express myself and to explore reality - yet others tend to react to the metaphor as if I were pushing some kind of doctrine or belief. If anything that I have learned can help you at all, I am always willing to try. Jad p.s. Deadnol was my lame attempt at humor, sorry!

Interesting article, Bettina. You're not supposed to talk to any one else? I hope you don't have to marry the group leader and be his tenth wife or anything? (sorry for being sarcastic). I have identified myself as an Empathic for a long time and have spent a large portion of my life studying "Empaths." I am currently working on a doctoral thesis on "Empath Psychology" where I've compiled my findings. I do believe that one day Empaths will be medically recognized and our special needs will be addressed. The only thing that scares me is the large drug companies " Overloaded with the emotions of others? Too many premonitions in one day? Try Deadnol and be happy once again!":-p

Eggzactly!!

hmmm....I just read a post in a forum far, far away, stating that in most if not all cases of high school shootings, that the teenagers were taking prescription SSRI drugs. Has anyone else heard of this?

Hey WormHoleMan! Thanks for the reply! I understand, if you look around the internet, the word Empath is thrown around like a volleyball at the Mad Hatter's Tea Party! I love the concept myself but don't enjoy what I see being done with it. I think the most rational idea of the Empath can be reflected in what is now being identified as the "Highly Sensitive Person." The people who match this profile are also the same ones who relate to the word Empath. Unfortunately, when I started pushing the word Empath on the internet in 1997, every single Psychic, Psycho, Sillygoose, and their mother suddenly started using the word and everyone everywhere was suddenly an expert on the matter! Madam Zelda (archtype palmreader) was now claiming to be an Empath and for eighty bucks she would zap you with her abilities! eeeek! I am a serious student of extra sensory perception, and believe it or not, there is serious research out there related to the subject. But the nonsense and the moneygrubbers swarm all over the idea and make it a sorry state of affairs (in my opinion anyway). I call myself an Empath, which means to me I am a little hypervigilant in watching your facial expressions, body movements, and other small signals. I am also overly sensitive to light,sound,smell, and vibration. I over identify with the emotions you express and have extremely strong associations that trigger reactions to your presence. I take this bundle of fun and filter it through my professional training and ethical nature, and it makes me a decent counselor & helper. Scientific inquiry will always be my first love but I have to admit, my creative nature dominates!

I am interested in your comment Golden_Ratio, regarding possible "imbalance." I work a great deal with individuals identifying themselves as Empaths, and the majority of them report imbalances and instability from a number of areas in their lives. In dealing with them via the internet, I have encountered a great deal of unstable and unpredictable behavior. I don't know if that can be attributed to "the internet" itself ( as an arena for anonymous behavior) or if it truly is a consistent trait amongst a particular group of people. A large percentage of the people who respond to my websites and written material seem to have a psychiatric history of one sort or another. I do not have a medical background and cannot comment for sure as to whether or not they are experiencing some form of neurological imbalance. I am primarily interested in the organization of the subjective experience they report. Has anyone heard of any medical/scientific research into empathy, and specifically people who profess high degrees of empathic experience?

Hi K! Finally a nice warm welcome! And a warm welcome to you. I just discovered this forum last night and was attracted to the intelligent conversation going on. It looks like wormholeman is young and may be a bit rash in his expressions. I don't see a post about magic either. I have seen websites that tie empath abilities into spiritual and metaphysical concepts, I do that myself - but I recognize Empaths and Empath ability purely from a psychological and biological perspective. References to Empath ability generally do not encompass extra sensory perception or "psychic abilities" IF that is what he is referring to. Empath abilities are mostly emotional responses and intuitive impressions. Intuition doesn't have to be related to extra sensory perception. An inexperienced person would not be informed about the history of scientific research in the subject of extrasensory perception, so I am not offended by the lack of knowledge. Yes, Spith! I , too, enjoyed your comments. I am impressed by the focus of your thought process and the level of information you shared. Keep writing!

This is a very interesting discussion. An Empath is a type of personality characterization formed through identification and accumlated experience. My essential P.O.V. is a "philosophy of creativity," in that I see most forms of human expression as "creative acts." Even scientific forumlation and labeling is fundamentally creative - relying on the senses and the personal genetic configurations of individuals - to create paradigms,measurements, and systems. I am a self appointed Empath. I have spent the last thirty years researching and developing Empath models for the purpose of promulgating the Empath concept. In 1997 I looked into putting the word "empath" on the internet. At the time it was a scarce term, typically represented in "role playing games" and science fiction. I flooded the internet (so to speak) with Empath sites, imagery, and concepts. Within a year or two, suddenly EVERYBODY was an empath. Everybody was an expert on empaths. It was kind of humorous but interesting. I continue to promote the empath identity out of my need for creative expression but am somewhat discouraged by the "madness" that ensued from my project. Boy do I have stories to tell! (RE: "the madness", is what Bettina referred to earlier with the quacks and people wanting money!) P.S. For a very intelligent and well crafted explanation of "empath personality" check out ansir.com (no, I don't work for them!)