FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
SANTA FE, NM - May 24, 2009 - Imagine carrying the weight of not just your own emotional and physical pain, but unknowingly and unwillingly soaking up the emotional and physical pain of friends, relatives, and colleagues like a sponge on a daily basis. Believe it or not, this is common with highly sensitive people - individuals who are known in the metaphysical world as empaths. Approximately one out of twenty people are natural empaths and don't even realize it. Many are diagnosed with depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety disorder, chronic fatigue syndrome, and fibromyalgia.
Dr. Michael Smith, 37, of Santa Fe, New Mexico, realized he was an empath at the age of 32, and is now dedicated to a unique practice of helping highly sensitive people recognize their empathic nature as a gift and teaching them how to hone their skills and protect themselves from the negative energy of others.
"I am seeing women and men who have lived their entire lives wondering what was wrong with them, being called hypersensitive - who can now breathe a sigh of relief," Smith said. "What was thought to be a quirk or even mental illness in actuality is a special gift for being able to understand the emotions and motivations of other people."
Armed with a Ph.D. and a lucrative tenure-track counseling professorship at age 30, Smith embarked on what was to be one of the shorter careers in the history of academia. Despite being nominated for early career awards and authoring a half-dozen research publications, Smith decided to leave the University of Wyoming in 2005 after just three years to begin his coaching practice for empaths in Santa Fe, NM.
"I had to follow my heart," Smith said. "After I realized I was an empath, there was no turning back."
In April 2008, Smith launched EmpathConnection.com, an online resource center for empaths. His book, The Complete Empath Toolkit, was released through Amazon.com's Kindle store on January 15, 2009 and quickly became a best-seller in several categories. The book contains information for empaths culled from his 15-year counseling career and workshop presentations in 20 United States cities.
The cultural identity of empath is rapidly growing, Smith said, and pointed to the popularity of self-identified empath Dr. Judith Orloff's best-selling holistic healing books as evidence of mainstream acceptance. The primary characteristic of an empath is a high degree of sensitivity to the emotional state of other people, Smith said.
"If you've ever been told that you're a good listener, then you might be an empath. People feel comfortable sharing their emotions and deepest thoughts with empaths, and thus, we tend to be popular around high-stress times," he said.
An ability to bond with others can lead to unintended health consequences, Smith said. In many cases, empaths will take on the emotional pain of others as if it was their own. "In toxic situations, intense emotional energy can deeply affect an empath. We can unintentionally absorb emotions, like a sponge. I walked around for years with what felt like two fishing hooks stuck in my heart area."
In 2003, Smith sought out healing for his accumulated emotional and physical pain. He began a five-year apprenticeship with two Native American healers and drove the 8-hour trek from Wyoming to Santa Fe every month. He quickly discovered why counseling came so easy to him.
"The Native American community recognizes individuals with special empathic talents. They have been trained as the medicine men and women in tribes and communities," Smith explained.
The healing Smith received through his Native American mentors has prepared him to help others through his coaching and writing.
"I help empathic individuals differentiate what energy is theirs, and what is coming from other people. We work on coping strategies to manage the high sensitivity and prevent the absorption of harmful energy."
Smith's empath client base is steadily growing, and his free monthly newsletter is reaching thousands. Smith reported that he is pleasedwith his place in this specialized field and his dedication to promote healing for empaths.
"I'm so happy to be doing this type of work," he said. "And people keep coming back, so that tells me the work has a positive effect on their lives."
END
The Empath Connection is an online resource center created by Dr. Michael R. Smith to help empathic individuals cope with emotional energy. For additional information, please contact Michael R. Smith at 505-216-7743 or visit www.EmpathConnection.com
Contact Information:
Dr. Michael R. Smith
825 Calle Mejia #931
Santa Fe, NM 87501
(505) 216-7743
michael@imagine-wellness.com
www.EmpathConnection.com
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2 comments:
Good for you, Michael. Your blog is looking good!
interesting background! Is always nice to find others of similar natures.
Your "work" taking on it's true form... at such a young age.. although age is a number it helps to know who and what the self is about, makes for more focus therefore somewhat easier to carry on!
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