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Originally Posted by Ohxpoorxme
So far all my counselor has said is that I'm an empath, and said she thought I probably avoid conflict at all cost (which is true). She did say we need to work on setting boundaries (like with my dad who won't quit drinking so he can get his liver transplant). I tend to try to fix everyone else's problems and avoid dealing with my own. Just like when I was a kid both my parents would go on a binge and be up for days and have horrible fights. Screaming at eachother cuz one of them cheated on the other. They'd call me at school to try to turn me against the other. My dad would tell me "yeah your mom said she was gonna take a bunch of pills to commit suicide" or my mom called and told me "your dad wears women's clothing when we have sex, he's crazy". But when I was home I would always sit in between them while they screamed at a each other so I could calm things down when they got too out of hand. I felt like the adult, at 10 years old. And of course I'm an only child, so I had no help. Funny thing is I had the PERFECT childhood before that. They were the head of NA meetings in the area. Head of the PTA at school, walked me into school and waiting 10-15 minutes with me until the teacher got there. And then it all went to hell
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I am an empath as well, but I think maybe your counselor is confused on what exactly an empath is. An empath is one who senses another's emotions and/or problems without being told about it. This person may or may not be nearby (depending on how sensitive the empath is). The empath then takes the emotions and issues on themselves - often times tries to counsel or otherwise assist the source of the emotions or problems. It is very draining, but it is also not a psychological, mental, nor emotional problem. It is in fact a type of capability that a person either is or is not born with. For example, when I was 5, I woke up from a dead sleep crying and screaming my grandfather on the other side of the country was dead. I had no idea what death was at that time...but I was so upset I could not be consoled. While I was crying, my grandmother called to tell us my grandfather had just died - his kidney had given out. Another example is I was talking to a friend online, she was telling me all about the things she was going to do next summer. I asked her why she wanted to kill herself then... she broke down and cried. I am not psychic. I can tell when things are wrong and it bothers me when I cant help work it out - because it affects me too. The only way to "shut it off" is to attempt to distance yourself from the person until you can "recharge" or to shut yourself down by putting up internal blocks (which harms you psychologically - I know from doing it). It's a blessing and a curse, not a disorder or problem.