There are numerous names for it. The label currently used most frequently is “empath.” It’s also called being a “sensitive.” The term “highly sensitive person” originated with Dr. Elaine Aron, one of the first authors to write on the topic.
If you’re reading this and you identify with being an empath, you’ve probably been referred to as “the sensitive one” in your family. Those around you might have said, “You’re just too sensitive. You need to get over it.”
If it was just as easy as “getting over it,” we wouldn’t be in discomfort.
Indeed, empaths are sensitive. Our senses are more highly tuned than the average. We pick up on emotions around us. We take on energy that is not ours, sometimes to our great detriment. One of my friends who was highly sensitive describes it as “walking around in the world with a raw nerve exposed.”
If you are empathic and sensitive, there are tools to be more comfortable. You don’t have to suffer. You can feel better.
Grounding, centering, and healthy methods of protection are a big part of it. Learning to discern what is yours versus what is not yours is key, as is learning techniques for healthy boundaries.
This work is real, and it matters.