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Natural Awakenings Tucson

The Genius of Empathy by Judith Orloff, MD

According to New York Times bestselling psychiatrist Judith Orloff, MD, empathy is a superpower that can transform your life, your relationships and the world. In her new book, The Genius of Empathy: Practical Skills to Heal Yourself, Your Relationships and the World (with foreword by The Dalai Lama), Orloff shows readers how to ignite and embody the emotional intelligence of empathy as a daily healing practice.

The Genius of Empathy shows readers ways to tap into the gift of their sensitivities without being drained. You will learn to soothe your nervous system and stop absorbing others’ emotions. It’s a practical, action-driven guide for highly sensitive people and for those who want to develop empathy as a healing skill.

The book is divided into three sections. It begins with the magic of empathy to find greater self-love and healing—including from trauma. Subsequent chapters teach you how to apply empathy to your relationships, communities and the world. Exploring each chapter’s practices, you’ll learn the art of empathic listening, how to stop overthinking and the importance of setting healthy boundaries and showing loving detachment to prevent overwhelm and compassion fatigue.

Throughout the book, empath Orloff uses insights from neuroscience, psychology and energy medicine to teach readers how to use and amplify their empathy without feeling overwhelmed. Readers will learn: your most comfortable empathy style; techniques to enhance self-empathy and healthy giving; how to stop overthinking to prevent empathy burnout; how to set healthy boundaries in relationships, including if you are a caregiver; how to use empathic communication and leadership skills at work and in your personal life; how to show empathy for others even when you don’t like them or agree with them; how to recognize and protect yourself from people with “empathy-deficient disorder” such as narcissists, sociopaths and bullies; and more.
Each chapter has compelling anecdotes and real-life stories on how the book's techniques enhanced people's lives. “Cultivating empathy is a kind of peaceful warrior training,” says Orloff. “You will learn to be both strong and loving, neither a pushover nor rigid. Wherever you are in your life, this book can meet you there and lift you higher.”

Orloff has also written The Empath’s Survival Guide and Thriving as an Empath, which offers daily self-care tools for sensitive people. She integrates the pearls of conventional medicine with cutting-edge knowledge of intuition, empathy, energy medicine and spirituality. Orloff specializes in treating empaths and highly sensitive people in her private practice and online internationally. Her work has been featured on The Today Show, CNN, Oprah Magazine, the New York Times and USA Today. Orloff has spoken at Google-LA, TEDx U.S. and TEDx Asia. Find information about Orloff’s Empathy Training Programs for businesses, The Empath’s Survival Guide Online Course and speaking schedule at DrJudithOrloff.com.

Sign up for Orloff’s online webinar about empathic healing techniques based on The Genius of Empathy, held via Zoom on April 20, from 11am to 1pm PST, at

For more information and to purchase the book, visit DrJudithOrloff.com. Preorder the book and receive a free e-book and $300 Empathy Gift Collection at DrJudithOrloff.com/order-confirmed/genius-of-empathy-book-launch.