Why is it that every time I have dinner with Rita, I am sick for two days following our visit? And the last time I went to that business luncheon, I couldn’t go back to the office because I was too sick and exhausted to make it through the afternoon—now that I think of it, that is how I felt the last three times I went.

This is the continuing saga for Nancy. She blamed it on the food, the long hours at the office, that deadline, not enough sleep. Maybe you can relate to Nancy—you accept the dinner invitation from your long-time friends and neighbors, and by the time you arrive at their doorstep you’ve got that queasy feeling in the pit of your stomach. When you return home that night, you lose your entire meal down the crapper, your icepack is cooling your throbbing head and you’re “down for the count.” This is exactly what Dr. Judith Orloff, psychiatrist and practicing intuitive, author of Positive Energy, and bestsellers Guide to Intuitive Healing and Second Sight, and international lecturer on the relationship of intuition, energy, and medicine, would say is one of the classic symptoms of absorbing negative vibes.

So now you’re asking—how can I be sure if I am having symptoms of negative vibes, or am I just plain old sick? Dr. Judith Orloff claims that you can gain back your health, your vitality and your life. Dr. Orloff has garnered an exciting new discipline to boost your energy that you can read all about in her latest book called “Positive Energy,” released in 2004 and due out in paperback in September 2005.

The power of intuition and its role in healing the damaging affects of emotional and physical attacks is revealed through an exclusive interview with Dr. Judith Orloff. Read to on to determine if you are an intuitive empath, where the true source of needless suffering begins, and what you can do about it.

KL: What led you to write Positive Energy?
JO: I wrote Positive Energy because I believe there is an epidemic of exhaustion in American and in the world – people are walking around tired, listless, depressed, numb, and not connected to their lives. They accept these feelings as normal. Positive Energy introduces a new field of psychiatry that I call “energy psychiatry”

KL: What is “energy psychiatry?”
JO: It integrates traditional medicine with intuition, subtle energy, and Spirituality for a new strategy of treatment. Now there are ten different “prescriptions” to combat exhaustion brought on by oppressive negative energy. The first chapter in Positive Energy is the prescription for awakening intuition and rejuvenating yourself. The book is divided into ten Rx’s to develop physical energy, positive emotional energy, positive sexual energy—and to combat “energy vampires” that suck the life right out of you.

KL: What made you decide to create this new model of psychiatry?
JO: I come from a lineage of 25 physicians and I was raised by two physician parents. I struggled for years to understand my own intuitions, premonitions and dreams that came true. I grew up believing there was something wrong with me. I came to terms with my own intuition as I evolved into becoming a psychiatrist. My autobiography, Second Sight, focused on the energetic aspects of wellbeing. Next was Intuitive Healing, where I talked about the five steps to using intuition for healing. Positive Energy, my most recent book, focuses on using intuition to increase our energy.

KL: How does one begin exploring their higher energy?
JO: First one must ask am I feeling out of balance. Am I Exhausted? If the answer is yes, I would suggest reading the disciplines set forth in Positive Energy and following the recommended prescriptions. By doing this, you can immediately begin making significant positive changes in your health. Many reading groups around the world are using my e triad of books as a source of discussion and group healing. In fact, when a new reading group is being formed, I encourage booking a 15 minute phone session with me to get a sense of direction and guidance for creating the best possible outcome. I can answer questions before the reading and healing begins. These groups are very powerful in developing positive energy because the participants use the recommended techniques together.

KL: How would you define intuition?
JO: There are different kinds of intuition and varying levels of intuitive empathy that I describe in the book. One can be a “gut feeling” – a sense that something feels good and says it is okay to move forward, or it can be a strong sense of danger that tells you “no, this isn’t something I feel comfortable with.” You can get a message in your gut—a “gut feeling” in the form of intuition. Intuition can come through in many ways. Some people are very “visual” and see images and messages about things. Some are very auditory and hear messages, while others are kinesthetic and feel energy around people. This type of “feeling” is the kind of intuition that I primarily talk about in Positive Energy. You learn how to sense the energy that comes from people and can assess where to go in life based on the positive or negative energy you pick up.

KL: How does this tie to improving and increasing energy so that one is not exhausted?
JO: If you are extremely sensitive, often labeled as overly sensitive, you have to learn how to center and protect yourself so you are not demolished by the world. While many can sense energy coming from other people and some actually absorb the energy in their bodies. They become exhausted by it without knowing why or how to stop it. When I was little, I couldn’t go to a shopping mall and crowded place, because I would walk in feeling fine and walk out feeling exhausted. I was an energy sponge. Many people come to me with chronic fatigue, fibro-mialgia, depression and energy depletion. They have gone the full circuit with doctors and endless medical testing, and have not found anything specific to cause their exhaustion.

KL: Is traditional medical care missing something?
JO: Traditional medicine is missing the appreciation of subtle energy. If I determine that a patient is an intuitive empath, then I have a whole different course of treatment as I explain in Positive Energy.

KL: How are we to get traditional healthcare professionals to embrace this form of healing?
JO: I give a course on intuitive healing in patient care, which is designed for healthcare professionals. It is a four day course on how to incorporate intuition and positive energy in patient care. I teach professionals to use their intuition in treating patients, and for the professional to teach patients how to use their own.

KL: How can you learn to trust your intuition and does this tie to self-esteem and self-confidence?
JO: It’s totally related to self confidence because oftentimes people don’t trust their intuition. They don’t have faith in their own senses of the world. When I first started using intuition with my patients, I lacked incredible confidence. I took my own experiences and learned how to develop my intuition into seeing what was on and what was off. I gained greater faith and now teach my patients to develop their intuition through energy psychiatry. I hold their hands through that period where one lacks self confidence and help them develop a stronger belief in their own intuition.

KL: What is the connection between reading people and health?
JO: This is a huge point that I make in Positive Energy, because so many people are drained by their relationships. You need to use your intuition to sense who is giving off positive energy and determine who the energy vampires are in your life—the people who are sucking you dry. Knowing when your energy goes up or down around somebody is an important piece of information. If you are around too many energy vampires, it can cause you bad health and I am convinced it can even kill you. I have seen people have heart attacks and die from not protecting themselves from these energy vampires. Because who you choose to be around is so critical to your life, learning how to read people and making your decisions accordingly is the way you will improve your health. There are people that look good—they’re funny, smart, attractive, successful, but you wonder why your energy goes down when you’re around them. This is the most important factor.

KL: What happens when we realize that the people we consider close to us, our friends and even family are actually draining our energy—how do we deal with this?
JO: In chapter nine of Positive Energy, I describe different types of energy vampires and how to deal with them. One common vampire in the family is the blamer or criticizer. You could be at a family dinner sitting next to a blamer or criticizer and be demolished by words alone. Words have energy and when they go from one person’s mouth into your body, it can feel like bullets exploding inside of you. This can cause a lot of damage to a person’s self-worth. But, there is a visualization technique I recommend that can be used if you cannot get away from the family member and you’re stuck.

KL: Can you give a visualization technique that can be used?
JO: Yes. Visualize a protective barrier field around you and build an energetic protection so that damaging words can’t get to you. This is a similar technique used by doctors who teach their patients with cancer to visualize T cells eating up cancer cells to promote survival. In this same way, we can protect ourselves from negative energy. Another type of energy vampire is the constant talker—you can’t get a word in edge-wise. Another type is the drama queen, exaggerating small incidents into off-the-charts dramas, and life being unbearably good or bad. You need to identify the drainers in your life and learn how to deal with them. Many people go right to Chapter Nine in Positive Energy to begin identifying the energy vampires in their own lives.

KL: How can I know for sure if I am an intuitive empath? Are their varying degrees?

JO: Absolutely. Some people have been exhausted for so long and don’t know why. If they realized that they have been taking on energy from other people, they need to begin taking strong action to protect themselves. On page 29 of Positive Energy, there are a set of questions you can answer to determine if whether or not you are an empath. When you can better understand your own sensitivity level, you can do something about it and improve your health.

KL: Is there a fast track to awakening intuition, or is it a process?
JO: It is a lifelong process, but the fast track would be to simply look at how your own energy relates to people, if your energy responds in a positive or negative way. Take an inventory of the people in your life—who gives you energy? Who stops it? This is the easiest way to begin understanding your own intuition.

KL: Does this intuitive healing stand alone, or can it be combined with other forms of healing such as energy medicine, Reiki, acupuncture, massage, and other alternatives?
JO: Intuitive healing is energy work and there are different methods that help to open up to physical, emotional, and Spiritual wellbeing through intuition. I have combined everything I have learned, including traditional medicine—all is of equal importance to me and my practice of energy psychiatry.

KL: Are there other areas of health and wellness that can be improved with energy psychiatry?
JO: Diet and fitness! There is an obsession with food and diets, and intuitive empaths are especially affected. As a result, they end up with an energetic eating disorder, causing energy defensive eating. At the turn of the century, healers were typically obese women who claimed they needed to remain obese to protect themselves from taking on negative energy. While thin empaths are more vulnerable to soaking up untoward vibes, fat is not a healthy coping mechanism. There are other ways to deal with negative energy other than eating, which I describe in Chapter Three of Positive Energy.

KL: Does food become like a drug to an empath?
JO: Yes. If you are an Empath, you may think food is your protection on a subconscious level. You may not even realize that you are using food in this way—to protect yourself from negative energy. I suggest looking at alternative ways to protect yourself, and notice if your food intake is affected.

KL: What is the first step in taking control of our energy?
JO: Notice the signs of positive energy in people—do you feel relaxed, are they emanating a peaceful glow, do you feel better around them? Notice signs of negative energy in people—do you experience a sense of being demeaned or constricted, an unsafe, tense or on guard feeling? Then take the “Am I an Intuitive Empath” quiz. You are on your way to improved health and energy, eliminating exhaustion once and for all.

For more information about Dr. Judith Orloff, and a complete schedule of workshops go to www.judithorloff.com Register today for “The Power of Intuition and Positive Energy to Heal”—Rye Brook, NY, September 30-October 1; www.theconferenceworks.com

Karen Lynn Ferraro is Principal Consultant for AKLYN & Co. www.aklyn.com offering business and professional marketing assessments, strategies and services, “Art of Placement Solutions” for business, workplace and home, and holistic approaches to promote personal—professional wellbeing.

www.liwomen.com
June 2005