Empath: A Complete Guide for Developing Your Gift and Finding Your Sense of Self by Judy Dyer

Empath: A Complete Guide for Developing Your Gift and Finding Your Sense of Self Reviews

• 
  Carla Cilvik

  There's a variety of information throughout, yet not too much information. Since I'm an empath and connected to the metaphysical, I can say it's truly a steadfast beginners guide to many different aspects of the metaphysical world such as essential oils, psychic abilities, energy and energy healing. These are the basics many should learn and get to know and feel comfortable with. After all, being an empath is a way of being and a lifestyle.
• 
  Teresa Barrera

  This book talks about what an empath is and different types of empathy. It also goes over some information on how to incorporate emotions and basically how to live a healthier life with the gift of being an empath. It tells of how the outside world can drain you and what to avoid as well as how to keep your energies in balance.
  This was an interesting read.
• 
  Neide Gomes

  4/5 stars!
  
  “Being an empath is not limited to high sensitivity and emotions; they intuitively know the intentions and motivations of others.”
  
  This book contains: sensitivity, meditation, energy vampires, normalization, thoughts and the gift of empathy.
  
  I feel like I should give some context about me and my life before I write the actual review, so here it goes!
  I always knew I felt empathy for others in a deeper way. Not only that, but I capture energy and information in a very natural way - to the point that it becomes quickly overwhelming - and I also read people and their intentions relatively fast.
  The sad part is that for the longest time in my life, I thought about this part of myself as a disability. While growing up, I often felt confused due to the overload of information that I received daily and I never understood why. And to be completely honest, even though I'm better at it, I still struggle with it to this today. One of my oldest friends that I met in elementary school still tells me that I sometimes look like a weathercock - yes, you read it correctly - because I keep looking everywhere even when she's talking to me. At this point I'm just glad she still wants to hang out with me! Kudos to her, she's a true friend :)
  
  Well, the truth is that I'm just a big ol' empath. I get distracted easily, I absorb other people's emotions, and I get overwhelmed. It is what it is. So when this book was recommended to me by my beautiful friend Sofia, I was very interested to see what it was all about. Even though I'm getting better at dealing with this constant overload of information, I still want to know more about ways of dealing with it in the best way possible.
  
  The first thing I need to say about this book is how impressed I was only by reading the first chapter. The way the author describes empaths blew my mind! It felt like she observed me for years and then decided to write a book about me! She even talked about the kind of music empaths listen to and how they dream and later analyse every aspect. It made me feel like I'm not alone in this, which I appreciate!
  
  I also love how concise and straight to the point the book is. It is a very short book - so you go through it quickly - but everything that is said is relevant and all the tools given are practical, useful and easy to apply in the everyday basis. This is great because it means the author was very thoughtful about who she knew would read her book. No BS content, just straight forward content for straight forward people.
  
  Overall the book was very helpful to me in very different ways. It always makes me feel better to know that I'm not alone in this. I feel comforted to know that there are so many people that go through this as well. I wasn't aware of the concept 'normalization', but it means that you should be grounded for time to time, so that you don't get so overwhelmed. I'm definitely going to practice this with the tools given.
  She definitely gave me confidence to accept this HUGE part of me and work with it, not against it - which I also appreciate. I only wish the book was longer, because I was very happy to read something so useful to me. I would highly recommend this to all my empath buddies out there! It's completely worth it.
  
  More reviews and book related content on my blog:
  Sprayed Edges Blog.
• 
  Jawshan Shatil

  There is a scientific benefit of Meditation, but exactly how meditation benefits us, it is still a point of exploration. So far all we understand, Meditation helps to reduce stress and become a routine for the body and less stress lead to maintaining the telomere health of the body. But that is scientific thinking. But people who practice meditation installed it into the culture or made it as a part of religion like Buddha, they were not a scientist. They always gave a mystical explanation of meditation, the benefit of being kind and grounded a human being, the way they talked about this made themselves a mystic to popular culture. So, here is my dilemma, being a scientist I can not accept pseudoscience, but at the same time, I find it difficult to discard the mysticism of Buddha and pop culture of mystics. So, I started to read books which let me know the view of mystics, psychics, guru and their theory of soul, etc and cross-examining those with the scientific mindset. I do not like mysticism, I like a definitive explanation. I do not know I would ever get to resolve the existing conflict between mystic-vague explanation and definitive science, but it feels interesting to try.
  
  This book has a lot of incorrect science explanation, without any groundwork, but I enjoyed reading it as a people enjoy reading folkore!
• 
  Stacy

  I would definitely suggest this to a beginner, as it has the majority of the information I would pass along in an organized manner, but it still leaves room for a curious mind to research. I have read and listened to a lot of info about being an empath, and a lot of authors would rather give their life story, which is often unrelatable, or provide the occasional exercise that doesn't give much foundation to the actual skill accrual. Here, there is just enough information for someone who is slightly familiar with the concept, without the overwhelm.
• 
  Francesca

  Well worth reading
  
  It was a quick, simple easy friendly read and helped me to understand my current challenges and how to move forward and on.
• 
  هاجر

  short and easy read.
  in many of the reviews people recommended this as a beginners book on empaths, i would actually recommend elaine aarons’ “the highly sensitive person: how to thrive when the world overwhelms you.”
  
  there, the author goes more in-depth on the subject of hsps and empaths. aarons’ book also emphasizes the metaphysical — in a spiritual or religious manner. dyer mentions this but she also highlights the energy healing/energy science approach (telepathy, crystal healing etc...) which personally i’m not a big fan of and haven’t found to be as effective, except that which is in-line with my religious views. it goes without saying that you’ll get the most out of books like this by catering them to your own values and beliefs so you have to be somewhat openminded in that respect. i’d recommend this book to someone who was looking for quick, general information about empaths.
• 
  Madison Farr

  Amazing!!! I really loved this book, insightful and full of empowering thoughts! This book is a great read for counsellors or highly sensitive individuals! A very quick read!
• 
  Cindy Cunningham

  Excellent read
  
  What a powerful book. Judy’s book really makes sense for an empathetic soul. I highly recommend this read. I can’t wait to read her next book
• 
  Hannah

  5 Stars Are Not Enough
  
  This is my first book by this author...but by the second chapter, I was already in love. She is a natural story teller, allowing the reader to easily understand concepts and take action on it. No unnecessary words and effusive writing. I hated when the book ended. But I appreciated the knowledge, the fun and the heart put into this book. I really hope Judy writes more! 5 stars are really not enough.
  
• 
  Kevin

  Very succinct and clearly written. Was easy to understand and so helpful for me at this time in my life.now I’m reading Judith orloff book to help me understand even better that I have gifts and not curses.
• 
  Zoey Perkins

  Amazing Book! You won't regret this buy!
• 
  Jen Hackathorn

  Awesome book
  
  She is an amazing author and keeps it in plain english so anyone can understand it. I would recommend to every empath.
• 
  Toni Broussard

  It’s a good book for beginning to understand energy sensitivity!
• 
  Caitlin

  Loved it
• 
  dalia jordan

  Loved it!
  
  The book is great for everyone that haven’t put a name to their gift and want to know more about it. Very helpful when you have empath children as well.
• 
  Krys

  I am an empath and also an introvert. I struggle with feeling over whelmed and drained. So I was eager for any advice she could offer me. I finished the book with mixed feelings.
  
  The pros:
  Easy to understand dialect for people who are new to the subject
  She covered a broad range of topics like; yoga, anxiety, crystals, and grounding techniques
  I found validation when she talked about how empathy need lots of space alone multiple times a day. Yeees! That is SO me. People always misunderstood that as anti social behaviour but I’m doing it for everyone’s else’s good! Trust me lol.
  Her advice on how to deal with peoples energies in the work place was helpful and practical. She says that you can’t control other peoples negative energies and It is not your job to be their punching bag or therapist. She talks about reframing it as helping others or the community so that you don’t feel like work is mundane or meaningless
  
  Cons
  The writing was too generalized. She spent like the first 10 pages with lists of characteristics of empaths but the characteristics were so general and vague that anyone could be an empath based off those.
  Empaths are not superior or any more special than anyone else. I’m not looking to feed my ego I just want to find balance. I have no super powers.
  I kept asking myself what is the purpose of this book?
• 
  Susan Anderson

  Extremely validating
  
  This was a great book to read as I found it provided the feeling of crossing all the T’s and dotting all the I’s. After living many years and knowing something was a bit off, it was validating to read this as it provided an understanding as to why things were such a struggle. Reading this book allowed me to move forward due to providing answers I didn’t even know how to ask for. This book was the, “aha moment” for the majority of my life already lived. Someone who is sensitive is frequently told they are wrong, paranoid, personalizing, projecting, everything that really isn’t the core of what’s happening. I now know that I was not wrong, broken or weak. This information has provided the tools for compassion towards self. Get ready to feel empowered.
• 
  Sabrena Miller

  The beginning of my true self was inside!
  
  In all my years of life, I have tried to figure out what it is about me that kept me separate and different. I could never understand how people could be so cruel and cause others so much pain. I always tried to lift up and support others when they were in a dark place because I knew their pain but couldn’t quite pinpoint what I had been through that made me know it so deeply and vividly. This book made me laugh..and it made me cry. The relief of finally realizing that there is nothing wrong with me actually took my breath away. The elation I felt throughout the chapters just kept getting stronger. As I started this book with doubt (I might as well just live with my perpetual doom and constant pain) by the time I reached the last page, any doubt I had disappeared. It was my story! Almost every trait, every scenario, every description was me! If you have any inkling that you might be an Empath, if you want to know more about what characteristics are most common in Empaths, if there has been a spark deep in your soul that won’t let your need for more information rest (like the spark left in mine), then this book is a perfect start! Judy gives easy to understand explanations, uses descriptive words that resonate with the feelings and “wow” factor examples of what, as an Empath, you may have experienced in your life. Her love and light are literally immures through the turning of the pages! She gives you the answers to questions that have probably loomed inside of you for as long as you can remember! I am taking every suggestion, hanging on every word, and am focused on becoming the mature and confident Empath I want to be!
• 
  Zingari

  Good source of information and definition. I most appreciated the included case studies on certain topics. Wouldn't call it a guide in the way of a step-by-step, but it offers some good tips and helps with awareness on what being an empath entails.
  
  Being an empath can certainly lead to much confusion, and possible hypochondriac worries, when you can't understand why being around people is exhausting, or why you have an intense aversion to violence even in a fictional setting, so I must say I truly did appreciate this. It brings a bit of self-awareness that I've been personally seeking lately.
  
  This work is a good well of information and I definitely would recommend it instead of sifting through countless websites in order to get a grasp of understanding.
• 
  Audrey Tolhouse

  Empaths 101
  
  I was honestly kind of disappointed. I expected a deeper level discussion on empathy, the different ways that it impacts recognition, how an empath can notice and feel sensation and energy from videos, tone, body language, etc. The entire book felt like a broad generalization of empaths. I feel like the information presented can easily be retrieved from a Google search engine. I’m giving the book four stars because I love the recipes with the essential oils and lotions at the end of the book. If you’re looking for a complete and exhaustive unabridged work on empathy, this is not the book. However, if you’re in the mood for a surface level introduction to empathy, this is the one.
• 
  Jamie Casey

  This book was quick and to the point. Not a ton of explanation however I do feel like it can guide you to figuring out if you are an empathic not. If you are looking for a lot of explanations you won’t find it in this book. However. I do think that it has useful information and has its place as refresher to help guide you when you fall off the path.
  
  I enjoyed it. I know I am an empath. I’m now wondering about my children. Very worthwhile read for me. Highly recommend. Especially if you are looking for direct and straight to the point.
• 
  Linda R Smallman

  Gaining Understanding Over Your Own Emotion
  
  If you're the type of person who tends to absorb emotions of others and quickly feel the depth of their plight, this book is a must read! The author helps identify what's going on with the 'easy absorption ' of others moods & feelings, normalize it & offer ways to ground yourself so as to not allow everyone's emotions to weigh heavily upon you.