Maybe you’ve heard about empaths and wondered, “Am I an empath?”
If you’ve asked, there’s a good chance you are.
After all, your senses are keener than those of most people.
But is it possible your empathic powers (which can be a mixed bag) are more perceptive than the average empathic abilities?
If so, you could be an intuitive or psychic empath.
Whether you call yourself a highly intuitive empath, an empathic, or just a “very empathetic person,” you know by now that other people’s moods tend to influence your own.
But how much do you know about being an empath with heightened intuitive and psychic qualities?
And are you ready to take the intuitive empath test below to learn just how strong your empathic abilities are?
Your test score might clarify just how tuned in and perceptive you might be.
Are Intuitive Empaths and Empaths The Same Thing?
Empaths are more likely than others to pick up on the moods and emotions and even the physical pain levels of those around them.
They do this not by analyzing other people’s body language or asking pointed questions (though they might do those things, too) but simply by being around them and remaining receptive to impressions.
But they are unable (or likely to find it difficult) to detach from those in need — even from energy vampires.
They also are hypersensitive to loud noises, bright lights, crowds, bad news, and stimulating environments.
They are people who have these same empathic traits with a strong dose of gut feelings and heightened perceptions.
They are tuned in with an almost psychic ability to read people and situations.
How Do You Know If You’re An Intuitive Empath?
Empaths take other people’s emotional (and sometimes physical) pain upon themselves, and if they’re not careful, they’re likely to take on too much and suffer as a result.
A psychic empath is believed to foresee these situations, allowing them to prepare – to protect themselves and anticipate the needs of others.
Here are the dominant traits of an intuitive empath:
All of the characteristics of empaths listed above
Receptive to first impressions — which tend to be correct
A strong sense of “knowing” that appears psychic
Openness to messages from dreams
Sensing telepathic messages from others
Feeling able to communicate with plants and animals
Heightened gut instincts and physical signs
How Do People Get Empath and Psychic Abilities
While it’s generally true that empaths are born that way, being born with a natural gift for empathy doesn’t make you an empath — nor does it prepare you to make the best use of your EFP (extra-feeling perception).
Becoming a true intuitive empath in the fullest sense of that word means acknowledging your sensitivity to the moods and pain of others and recognizing the value of your highly instinctive perceptions.
All empaths need to act on their sensitivities and insights in compassionate and responsible ways and practice mindful self-care to prevent burnout.
So, becoming an intuitive or even clairvoyant empath isn’t as much about adding a superpower as learning how to cultivate and make the most of innate abilities.
Someone who already knows they’re sensitive to other people’s emotional states and aware of gut feelings may choose to develop those into a strength that serves the well-being of others as well as their own.
You should know that while there is anecdotal evidence for claircognizant/intuitive empath abilities, there is no scientific evidence proving them.
Take The Intuitive Empath Test
Are you an empath or an intuitive empath?
And if so, would you like to know more about making the best use of your gifts?
Enjoy this intuitive empath test and use it as a catalyst to becoming a more mindful empath — capable of helping others while maintaining a balance between vulnerability and self-care.
For each of the following questions, give yourself a zero for every “never,” a 2 for every “sometimes,” and a 3 for every “always.”
Tally up your answers at the end of the empath test and determine what your empath score says about you.
1. Does your mood or emotional state change when someone enters (or leaves) the room?
2. Do you find you can’t watch violence without feeling sick (even if it’s just in a movie)?
3. Do you ever feel so overwhelmed by the suffering and emotions of those around you, you feel a strong need to be alone?
4. Does a sensory-deprivation chamber sound like the height of luxury?
5. Do you find that you always feel the same emotions around certain people? Do you notice your mood changing in adaptation to their emotional states when you come into their presence?
6. Do you feel drained around certain people (even before they vent, complain, sigh, start talking, etc.)?
7. Do you sense other people’s sadness or emotional pain? I don’t mean, “Do you notice from their body language that they seem sad?” but “Do you actually start to feel at least some of the sadness others around you are feeling?”
8. Do you take longer than others to recover from seeing something sad — like a child grieving the loss of a pet?
9. Does anyone ever ask you why you have to feel everything so deeply — or why you can’t just “let it go”? Has anyone ever said something like, “You take things too hard”?
10. Do you ever feel sick or even in pain when you’re around certain people? Does it ever seem as though you’re taking on other people’s physical symptoms?
11. Do people seem drawn to you — as if your company restores them or relieves some of their pain and makes them feel better?
12. Do you have vivid dreams that seem predictive or offer you guidance or insight into people and situations? When awake, do you ever sense you are receiving a message from someone?
13. Do you get strong first impressions (negative or positive) from people — and find out later your impressions were right?
14. Do you ever walk into a room and immediately sense the predominant mood or emotional state of others in the room — even without obvious signs?
15. Do you ever feel that your emotions change dramatically from one moment to the next, but you don’t know why (and you’re tired of people assuming it’s hormone- or stress-related)?
16. Do you prefer to be near water — and especially when you’re feeling overwhelmed? Does the sight of water (a river, a lake, the ocean, raindrops splashing in puddles) make you feel calmer and have the effect of flushing stress out of you?
17. Do you ever feel the need to recover by spending time in nature (walking barefoot in the grass, walking on the beach, camping, etc.)?
18. Do you ever feel compelled to take care of others and to put their needs before your own? Do you have a hard time tending to your own needs because you’re too busy tending to others?
19. Do you ever suspect or even believe that animals and plants have souls and awareness and that your behavior toward them has far-reaching effects? Do you talk to animals — or even plants — out of a conviction that your words affect them deeply?
20. Do you get overwhelmed when there are many people around — even before you’ve socialized with any of them? Do you start to feel your mood change in strange and unexpected ways within a few minutes of entering a crowded place?
21. Are you ever hyper-aware of shifts in the moods of those in your surroundings? Do you ever sense when someone’s mindset has changed?
22. Do you ever, when you approach someone, immediately feel their internal reaction to you, even before they’ve said anything?
23. Do you feel a deep need to make the world better – not just for the people you love but for everyone?
24. Do you find that you attract broken people or bullies – without trying (or wanting to)?
25. Do you find it hard to say “No” to people – even when it would be best for you to do so? Do you think it’s because you feel responsible for making their lives better or making them feel better?
You’re generally not affected by other people’s moods, which isn’t to say you don’t care about them. You’re able to be in a crowded place without feeling overwhelmed by the emotional states of those around you.
Sometimes, maybe, you secretly envy those who can pick up on other people’s emotions, even when the latter do their best to hide them.
But you’re in no hurry to feel the distress, angst, or bitterness of others, and you don’t really understand how other people’s internal business can so influence your empath friends.
On the one hand, you’re grateful that you can be around others and genuinely care for them without having to feel what they’re feeling. On the other hand, sometimes you feel you’re missing something — a deeper level on which you could connect to those you love.
But it hasn’t compromised your ability to meet people where they are and be the friend they need you to be.
Score: 26 to 50
You’re an empath, and you probably know it — at least on some level. But you’re not so overcome by your receptivity to the pain of others that it adversely affects your quality of life. And you may not have the psychic abilities of an intuitive.
You know how to balance your vulnerability to others with your own self-care needs, and that has served you well. You love being an empath, and you love that others are drawn to you, though it can be exhausting sometimes.
You wouldn’t give up your gift for all the wealth in the world because it enables you to engage others on a deeper level, let them know without a doubt that they’re not alone, and help them take the necessary steps to recovery and to a more joy-filled life.
Score: 51 to 75
You’re an extremely intuitive empath who is having a hard time balancing the needs of others with your own. You can’t help feeling overwhelmed by other people’s pain — emotional and physical.
But fortunately, your instincts and sense of knowing can help you prepare if you pay attention.
You can’t watch the news or any movies with violence or sadness in them because it’s just too much, and it makes you feel sick for hours afterward.
You need to find a way to protect yourself around others so you don’t spend any more of your life as a human sponge for the pain and destructive moods of others.
It’s not your job or your purpose to siphon off other people’s pain and bear it in your own body and soul. And you can’t fulfill your purpose if you burn out trying to do what no human is designed to do long-term.
Making the best use of your gift involves taking good care of the person endowed with it.
Practicing mindfulness when you’re around others is essential to protect yourself from taking on — and holding onto — the pain in those around you.
It doesn’t mean you’re holding back and depriving others of comfort; think of it as putting on your “oxygen mask” before helping others with theirs. You can’t help others if you can’t breathe.
Wherever you are on the empathy spectrum, you have plenty to offer others, even as you strive to find balance and harmony in your life.
It doesn’t matter whether you can add the words “psychic” or “intuitive” to your empathic abilities. Appreciate your giftedness and recognize that you are a shaman of the modern age.
