Hello All,

I am an emotional empath or at least that is what I call what I experience - I am looking for those like me who pick up other's stuff - who are "receivers." I would like to hear how you may differentiate between what is yours and what is "theirs," and how you shield yourself if you do that... I need to figure out how to shield myself more effectively than I have been trying to do, because I am a counselor and work with emotions to make a living, and my clients usually are extremely negative and incredibly toxic on many levels. Though, I have run into plenty of people who are just as negative and toxic who aren't in therapy. The most bothersome thing for me is the physical pain of fear/anxiety/hate... I get "fear/hate attacks" that effect me most severely in the heart and sacral centers - its debilitating... I have found that these sensations have been associated with certain people and/or situations that are evolving or are about to occur - often in advance of things playing out in real time, so I can't figure out all the time where it is going to come from. This could be a warning from my inner self, it could be me receiving another's fear/anxiety/hate without a filter etc... but, in any event, I have to be in the world and around people, and sometimes it really is painful.

Any thoughts would be much appreciated.

PS - also, maybe what I'm experiencing is negs attached to people or situations/ or - negs creating negativity through people... I am confused!