What Is an Empath?

An empath feels exactly what you feel in their body and mind.

An empath is an individual who is capable of feeling the emotions of others as if they were his or her own emotions. Some empaths are able to feel the feelings and beliefs of anyone to the very depths of their being. These people would be considered to be gifted with hyper-empathy. A few empaths may also be able to read entire groups, populations, markets, and organizations. Some rare hyper empaths are even able to take on the emotions of others and thus relieve them of pain and suffering for a limited period of time.

The most effective empaths are those who have also achieved wisdom as well as the emotional, intellectual, and spiritual maturity to make the best use of their talents.

To find an empath with all of these talents is rare indeed.

How Hyper-Empathy Differs From Ordinary Empathy

Nearly everyone is empathic to some degree. We read a room, we sense when a friend is troubled, and we are moved by another person's grief. Ordinary empathy of this kind works by inference. We watch a face, we listen to a tone of voice, and from those clues we draw a conclusion about what the other person must be feeling.

Hyper-empathy works in an entirely different way, because there is no inference involved in it at all. The emotions of the other person are felt completely, in one's own body and mind, at the same time that they are being lived. Nothing has to be reasoned out from clues, and this is what makes the gift useful in professional work, since a conclusion drawn from someone's expression may always turn out to be mistaken.

Working With an Empathic Psychotherapist

Imagine working with a psychotherapist who is able to know you to your very depths and to feel exactly what you are feeling. A therapist who is able to mirror for you with absolute accuracy and understanding and without any judgment.

A great deal of therapy is spent on translation. The client searches for words to describe something that has no words, and the therapist then works to understand, from those imperfect words, what is actually happening inside the person sitting in front of them. Much is lost in that gap, and a good deal of time is spent crossing it.

When the therapist feels your state directly there is no gap to cross. Nothing has to be explained before the work itself can begin. For a person who has always found it difficult to be understood, or who has spent years describing themselves to someone who never quite arrived, this is an entirely different experience of being in a room with another human being.

Jon Shore has worked in clinical and private practice since 1978, which is now forty-eight years.

Empathic Insight in Negotiation

Imagine having someone on your team during a negotiation who can tell you what the people on the other side of the table are feeling with absolute certainty.

Most negotiation is conducted on the basis of what the other side says, and what the other side says is a position. Where their limits actually sit is a different matter altogether, and it is a matter of feeling. What do they fear losing? What have they already privately decided to concede? Which parts of their stated position are firm, and which are being performed for effect?

An empath sitting in the room with you can answer those questions while the conversation is still going on and while there is still time to use the answers.

Reading a Market Before You Build for It

An empath can report to you what a demographic or region is going to feel emotionally about your new product, or can even help you create a new innovation based on your market's needs and emotions.

Conventional market research asks people what they think, and people answer with what they believe they think. That is not always the same thing, and it is rarely the thing that decides whether they actually buy. The emotional response that sits underneath a stated opinion is precisely what questionnaires and focus groups are least able to reach.

That underlying response can be read directly, for a demographic or for an entire region, at the stage when you are still deciding whether to commit the investment rather than afterwards, when the launch has already given you the answer.

Political Consulting

Imagine having an individual who can serve as a political consultant who can read the potential for a particular political candidate, or advise on exactly how to connect emotionally with a voter demographic for maximum effectiveness with 100% accuracy.

Elections are decided emotionally and then explained rationally afterwards. Polling is very good at measuring stated intention, and considerably weaker at the thing which actually moves an electorate, which is how a demographic feels about a candidate and whether that feeling has settled or is still moving.

Both of these can be read: the potential that a particular candidate carries, and the emotional ground on which a message will have to land.

Is This Real?

If this sounds impossible and unreal, it is not. It is quite real and demonstrable.

Skepticism is the reasonable response to a claim of this kind, and it is welcome. Nobody is asked to believe it because they have read it on a web page. It can be demonstrated, and a single conversation is usually enough for a person to judge for themselves whether there is anything in it.

If you have a need for someone with these abilities on your team, write to Jon Shore.

contact@empath.co

About Jon Shore

Jon Shore has worked as a psychotherapist and consultant since 1978 with a post graduate degree in psychology and 48 years in clinical and private practice.

He currently lives in Italy and Latvia and regularly works remotely via video conferencing.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is an empath?

An empath is a person who feels the emotions of others as if those emotions were their own, rather than working them out from expression, tone, and behavior.

What is hyper-empathy?

Hyper-empathy reaches a person's feelings and beliefs directly and to their very depths. Some of those who have it are able to read groups, populations, markets, and organizations as well as individuals.

How do I know whether I am an empath?

An empath is someone who can feel the emotions of others to their very depths without any visual, audio, or physical contact or clues. An empath can feel, in their own body and mind, the feelings and emotions of individuals or groups with consistent accuracy. If you are able to do this then it is likely that you are an empath.

What happens in a session?

For psychotherapy sessions, imagine you are sitting across from someone who knows you to your very depths, who never judges you and who is there to help you understand yourself and to support you.
For more information on sessions you can read more at Life's Answers

Can this be used in business, not only therapy?

Yes. The same ability applies to negotiation, market and product insight, and political consulting.

How do I arrange a conversation?

Write to contact@empath.co and describe what you are looking for.