Empath Ethics

When one thinks about empathy, one primarily thinks of sharing a moment in time, both emotional and cognitive with another person. One thinks of feeling what the other person feels, and what the other person sees. And on the whole, this would be a moderately accurate description.

But what is left out of this description is the necessary ethics that must accompany this Empath gift. Great responsibilities come with any gift, psychic or otherwise, not just to ourselves but also to others.

As part of your development as an Empath, you will elaborate your own set of ethics, based on the morals instilled into you by your culture, religion, family and personal experiences.

But there is another level of Ethics, that is universal to us all. They are not dependent on a specific belief system or cultural background. The most important ethics can be broken down into a few words: temperance, humility, limits, and detachment.

1. If you choose to work as an Empath with other people, then the responsibility for how you use this gift is yours alone. You don't have to do down this path if you don't want to. But once you do, you are solely responsible for how you decide to use your Empath skills.

2. People are not toys and their lives are not a game that you can manipulate for amusement. It should be mentioned that there is no harm in seeing the experiences of other people as a vicarious learning tool. Feeling other people's experiences can foster a better understanding of those you will help in the future, as it broadens the scope of your own personal perspective. But this must be tempered with altruism, respect and humility for you hold in your hands the core of someone's being.

3. Empathy must never be used to manipulate, abuse or belittle others. Empathy has the power to heal and the power to hurt, at a very basic human level because it is directed at the emotional core of a person, instead of at its more logical cognantive side. Knowing and understanding the way people work, on an emotional level, can give an Empath a false sense of empowerment, if not tempered with humility. Also, if the Empath is not secure in his/her own self esteem and self worth, it can blind them, giving them an unrealistic sense of pride, which can foster a false sense of entitlement. This coupled with the sense of empowerment, are a dangerous combination. It is the makings of an Emotional Manipulator, or in this case an Empathic Manipulator.

4. An Empath's best friend is the ability to detach, particularly when working with others in an empathic capacity. It seems like an irony, I know. An Empath is a feeler, and not one who detaches from those they are helping. But in this, an Empath must set and know their limit, so that when and if the emotional burden of another becomes to great, they have the ability to pull away. This does not make the act of loving and the act of detaching a paradox. This is not an act of hatred, anger or upset toward another person. It is an essential act of self preservation that must be understood, honed, and utilized, given the very overwhelming nature of possessing an Empathic gift.

5. The only responsibilities you bear, as an Empath, are the ones you choose to take unto yourself. No one can force that on to you. Each person is responsible for the situations they find themselves in, the people they choose to associate with, and the way they choose to live their lives. Empaths are not super humans. They are not omnipotent, in that they can always foresee the future (though prophetic dreams and premonitions can sometimes be a part of the gift). We choose who we help, we choose our limits, we choose what we take on ourselves, all while having our own lives to live. This is true for anyone, but especially Empaths.

6. An Empath should never attempt to force their own feelings, or how they believe the other person should feel, upon another person. It degrades the very act of offering empathy to others, their experiences, and their emotions. This one is a hard one sometimes, because we as Empaths have the dual perspective of seeing what the other person sees and feels, as well as that of an outside perspective that is free from the bindings of being in the situation. So we, in our misguided pride, believe we have the answer, because we are adept at problem solving for others.

But most Empaths have the ability to know when they should not offer to much, or when it would impede the growth of the other person to try to solve their problems for them, instead of simply offering solace and a friendly ear. Its learning to listen to that skill, that Empaths find the hardest to do.

This particular skill arrises only when the Empath trusts in themselves, their gift, and their purpose for being there in that single moment. Until then, there is always room for doubt, thus always room for making mistakes on how to approach another and how much help is needed/desired/necessary.

This is only the beginnings of a working model of Empathic Ethics, from which, one can begin to expand into their own personal set of ethics. People are complex beings, so no one set of ethics is going to be the same as another person's might. But this is a start point.

Written by Misuchi. Reproduced with the author's permission.