physician, who said, “Oh, no, dear, you just Barbara: In the book, you also define four
don’t have a thick enough skin.” Not a good emotional types. What are they and what
thing to tell an intuitive child! But as I’ve can they tell us about ourselves?
matured intuitively and as a physician, I’ve
realized that people on a spiritual path tend Judith Orloff MD: They are “the
to gain more sensitivity as they develop. intellectual,” “the empath,” “the gusher,”
Thus, they need to learn how not to absorb and “the rock.” These are the filters through
outside energy so they can feel joyous and which you see the world—the default setting
free. This book discusses how to be of your personality to which you revert,
compassionate but stay centered without especially under stress. Each type is
becoming a n emotional sponge. determined by inborn temperament,
upbringing, and perhaps karma. Since
emotional freedom means being able to
remain sensitive but centered in an
Barbara: When dealing with difficult overwhelming world, it’s essential to know
personalities, it’s easy to lose our cool or your emotional type. Without this
attack back. How can Emotional Freedom knowledge, many people dysfunctionally
teach us to cope in a calmer manner? hunker down in their type for decades
without examining which aspects do and
don’t serve them.
Judith Orloff MD: There’s a chapter on
emotional vampires, which is my term for
many difficult people—for instance, a Barbara: Your section of the book about
criticizer, a victim, a narcissist, or a sleep and dreams is fascinating. What can
controller. I say, let them be our teachers, they teach us about emotional freedom?
rather than tormentors. We must ask
ourselves: How do they teach us to
communicate with more heart and better
boundaries? How can we deal differently Judith Orloff MD: Sleep and dreams are a
with feeling irritated, controlled, or insulted? conduit for emotional freedom. Sleep is a
The old way is to get nasty or withdraw. The great awakener because your linear mind
new way is to not simply react when your quiets down, and you enter a purely intuitive
buttons get pushed—a behavior that state where you can better understand your
perpetuates war. Practice what I call “the emotions and other realms. Dreams are
namaste effect,” which is, ”I respect the revolutionary states of consciousness that
spirit within you even if I don’t like what impart intuitive wisdom about being free.
you’re doing.” Your victories over
emotional vampires are not small—they’re Here’s a personal example. Once, I went
huge. With every success, you are creating through a period of complaining a lot when
more hope for the world. From an intuitive nothing was working. Projects were falling
standpoint, we are all interconnected: my through, patients were canceling
emotional freedom affects your emotional appointments, I couldn’t even get the
freedom affects everyone in the world. plumber to come and fix the toilet. I was in
victim mode. Then I had a dream in which
my deceased father came to me, and he was
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