What's An Empath And How Does One Know If They're Empathic?

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Source: B More You Photography / Ber-Henda Williams

The term “empath” has become a buzzword of sorts on social media as of late. While it’s certainly not a new concept, many are unfamiliar and perhaps even confused about what it means to have an empathic personality. We had the opportunity to speak with empath coach Ber-Henda Williams, who schooled us on what it means to be an empath and the tell-tale signs of an empathic personality.

“An empath is someone who can feel the thoughts, feelings, and emotions of another person in a very local way, meaning that they feel it is if they are experiencing other people’s emotions within their bodies,” Williams explains.

While some may assume that they are an empath because they are sensitive, Williams says that it’s actually more complicated than that.

“There is a subtle difference. A highly sensitive person may not necessarily be an empath but an empath is a highly sensitive person,” she says. “The distinction is that the empath is able to feel the thoughts, feelings, and emotions of another person while the highly sensitive person does have a great deal with empathy but they’re not emotionally or energetically impacted in the same way as an empath.”

Some of the indicators that you may have an empathic personality include vivid dreams, a strong sense of discernment, mood shifts based on location.

“One of the telltale signs of being an empathic person is, like I said, feeling the thoughts, feelings, and emotions of another person. Someone who frequently experiences precognition, meaning that they feel things are coming. They have an instinct that something is going to happen,” says Williams. “Their energy or their moods may swing depending on where they are. So they might be picking up things in an environment, like, at work or at school, or in the building. Their dreams tend to be far more vivid. The empath has a creative impulse, They’re also really drawn to water in nature. They don’t typically like to be in crowds. They can also be prone to anxiety and depression because not only are they dealing with their own issues, they also bleed and ache for humanity.”

While those who practice Christianity would say that the described traits sound like those possessed by someone who flows in the prophetic, Williams says that being an empath is not about religion at all.

“Being an empath doesn’t have to have anything to do with religion but there is a spiritual component,” she explains. “An empath who identifies as a Christian will have a very strong spirit of discernment. You will probably see that their prophetic gift is really strong too.”

To learn more about Ber-Henda or what it means to be an empath, click here.

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