Ep. 34 - The Brilliant Empath: How to flourish

Are You an Empath? The 20 Question Self-Assessment Test by Dr. Judith Orloff, the New York Times best-selling author of The Empath’s Survival Guide: Life Strategies for Sensitive People.

To determine how empathic you are take the following self assessment test. Listen and notice how many of these questions you answer yes to.

1. Have I been labeled as “overly sensitive,” shy, or introverted?
2. Do I frequently get overwhelmed or anxious?
3. Do arguments or yelling make me ill?
4. Do I often feel like I don’t fit in?
5. Am I drained by crowds and need alone time to revive myself?
6. Am I over stimulated by noise, odors, or non-stop talkers?
7. Do I have chemical sensitivities or can’t tolerate scratchy clothes?
8. Do I prefer taking my own car places so I can leave early if I need to? 
9. Do I overeat to cope with stress?
10. Am I afraid of becoming suffocated by intimate relationships?
11. Do I startle easily?
12. Do I react strongly to caffeine or medications?
13. Do I have a low pain threshold?
14. Do I tend to socially isolate?
15. Do I absorb other people’s stress, emotions, or symptoms?
16. Am I overwhelmed by multitasking and prefer doing one thing at a time?
17. Do I replenish myself in nature?
18. Do I need a long time to recuperate after being with difficult people or energy vampires?
19. Do I feel better in small cities or the country than large cities?
20. Do I prefer one-to-one interactions or small groups rather than large gatherings?

To calculate your results:

• If you answered yes to 1 - 5 questions, you’re at least partially an empath.
• Responding yes to 6 - 10 questions means you have moderate empathic tendencies.
• Responding yes to 11-15 means you have strong empathic tendencies.
• Answering yes to more than15 questions means that you are a full blown empath.

If you have recognized signs that you are an empath within yourself, you might wonder which types of empath you are. There are 6 types of empaths. Emotional empaths, physical empaths, geomantic empaths, earth empaths, animal empaths and intuitive empaths.