If you haven’t heard of her, Dr. Judith Orloff is the rare thing: a scientist who is also an empath (and admits it!).
Despite her career and professional stature, she is a personable and relaxed interviewee who has a pragmatic and original take on empathy and empaths.
She is also the author of The Empath’s Survival Guide: Life Strategies for Sensitive People.
In this interview with Anchor Magazine, Dr. Orloff reflects on the subtle but serous difference between taking on the pain of others and supporting others through their pain. Women raised to be codependent often fit the first category, but it would benefit us to learn how to approach situations with empathy for ourselves, also.
“What [people in service] need to be careful of is not taking on the pain and suffering of the people they’re helping, because that will cause them to burn out. There are strategies not to do that. One strategy is that you have to program your mind with the belief that it’s none of your business to take on other peoples’ suffering; that isn’t how you’re going to be of help to them; that is more of a codependent archetypal vision of suffering and helping, which I don’t support. Where I think we’re needed right now is to hold our own centre, to give to other people, to be empathic, and to give them solutions, but also just to say, “Namaste, I respect the spirit within you, but I’m not going to take on your pain.”
This intentional shift in approach can mean the difference between burnout and maintaining our energy for ourselves, our communities and our causes.
Dr. Orloff shares her childhood experience of feeling ill after inadvertently picking up others’ energies in shopping malls and having her well-intentioned physician mother tell her that she must grow a thicker skin, advice that she says was not helpful.
Now, she knows how to take time and space to replenish after over-exposure to energies that drag her down.
Follow Dr. Orloff for useful information about how to clear your energy field to protect yourself, the four types of empaths and more.
Photo courtesy of Ryan Moreno, Unsplash
