Identify your empath archetype and the type of career that would fit you best, based on your innate gifts!
Are You an Empath?
The term “empath” is a trendy one, at the moment, as society continues to evolve into a more emotional and intuitive way of being. Empathy, itself is becoming a more valued trait, as well. I credit this to the influx of women in positions of power. Basically, as the patriarchal model of living and working begins to crumble, we can hold more space for our emotions, as a collective.
Before we can determine your empath archetype, we need to conclude if you are an empath, at all. Although, if you’ve found your way to my little corner of the internet, clicked on my post, and made it this far, I’m pretty sure you are!
To define what it means to be an empath, we look to Dr. Judith Orloff. Dr. Orloff commonly referred to as the “godmother of the empath movement”, is a clinical psychologist and best-selling author of the book “The Empath's Survival Guide: Life Strategies for Sensitive People”.
Dr. Orloff defines an empath as:
“Empaths are highly sensitive, finely tuned instruments when it comes to emotions. They feel everything, sometimes to an extreme, and are less apt to intellectualize feelings. Intuition is the filter through which they experience the world. Empaths are naturally giving, spiritually attuned, and good listeners.”
Basically, empaths are like walking sponges. We can feel the energy and feelings of others in our aura and can pick up on even the teeniest changes in our environment.
If this sounds like you, you’re in good company (and not just because empaths are naturally kind and compassionate people). Notable personalities such as Mother Teresa, Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, and Oprah Winfrey have all made the world a better place thanks to their empathic gifts.
If you’re still unsure where you lie on the empathy scale, check out Dr. Orlofff’s self-assessment test. The rules of the test are simple, just answer ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to each of the 20 questions. Generally, if you answer ‘yes’ to at least 11 questions, it can be assumed that you possess strong empathic tendencies.
Types of Empaths
Now that we’ve determined if you are an empath, it’s time to find out what type of empath you are! To make things simple, I’ve listed what I believe to be the three most common and broadly-defined types of empath. However, it’s important to note that human beings are complex creatures. Once you find a type that resonates with you, I definitely suggest taking your research deeper to learn more about your precise empathic gifts.
Emotional Empaths
Emotional empaths are exactly what you would think by their name. These types of individuals have the tendency to absorb the feelings and emotions of those around them. This is a common occurrence with close family, friends, and especially spouses, but depending on the person, they may also be picking up the emotions from complete strangers.
Have you ever gone to the grocery store in a really good mood, flitting around the aisles, jamming out to some of your favorite grocery store songs (love hearing some John Mayer in the canned food aisle), only to end your trip with a salty cashier? Suddenly, you find yourself leaving the store in a surly mood and you’re not even sure why.
Emotional empaths may have to work harder than others to protect their own peace and happiness. Practicing emotional boundaries and energetic sovereignty will help emotional empaths from losing their sense of self when they come in contact with other highly-emotional individuals.
Best Job for Emotional Empaths
Emotional empaths make wonderful educators! Their compassion and ability to feel for others help them convey knowledge to others in a way that everyone can understand. An emotionally empathetic teacher can take one piece of content and teach it in 20 different ways, depending on the students in the room.
Since emotional empaths can feel the emotions of others, they may also be more approachable than other types of educators. Students who are having trouble in class may feel more comfortable asking for help if they can sense their teacher will support them in the specific ways that they need.
Physical Empaths
Physical empaths are not to be confused with hypochondriacs (though, I’m pretty sure I’m both lol). Dr. Orloff explains physical empathy as “when you're attuned to other people's physical symptoms, and you tend to absorb them into your own body". No bueno.
Like all other types of empaths, physical empaths must work on their own energy hygiene in order to be of the best service to others. Physical empaths who have done the work to understand their own energetic boundaries and sovereignty make excellent healers.
Best Jobs for Physical Empaths
While positions such as doctors and nurses come to mind, individuals with this gift may feel comfortable working as an energetic healers, as well. The list of energy healing work is long, but great examples for physical empaths include Reiki, yoga, massage therapy, shamanic healing, breathwork, Qi Gong, and even ecstatic dance. These jobs fulfill their empathic need to help others while utilizing their innate gift of physical healing.
Spiritual Empaths
Spiritual empaths feel and understand energy on a deeper level than the physical or emotional. These types of individuals may have a “psychic” knowing, or claircognizance when it comes to the energy of others.
Spiritual empaths may also develop intuitive connections with plants, animals, the Universe, or the collective consciousness, as a whole. If you’ve ever watched psychics on TV like Theresa Caputo or John Edward, you’ve seen how healing a session with spirit can be.
The good news for spiritual empaths is that you don’t have to be a larger-than-life personality or communicate with dead people to heal others on a spiritual level.
Best Jobs for Spiritual Empaths
Because of their sixth-sense-level of intuition, spiritual empaths make great problem solvers, especially when it comes to helping people one-on-one. Their ability to see or sense the energetic aura of another person allows them to relay information that could take years to uncover, otherwise.
A spiritual empath’s trust in their own intuition is their number one superpower. Simply being around this type of energy is healing, in itself. These types of individuals may excel in social service positions like family counselors, life coaches, and social workers. These types of careers allows a spiritual empath to connect with their clients on a personal level, which allows space for intimacy and safety that can’t be found in other professions.
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Final Thoughts
In general, empaths might have a hard time discerning which emotions they are carrying actually belong to them, and what emotional baggage they have picked up from others. Because of this, it may be hard for emotional empaths to “clock out” and leave their work at work.
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So much love,
Haley
