Dr. Judith Orloff is an intuitive healer and unconventional psychiatrist. After learningof her life story and resonating deeply with her journey and writing, I took to her audio Professional Development Course called Becoming an Intuitive Healer. This prompted me to explore more of her alternative health initiatives.
This e-interview is part of a virtual book tour for her latest book called Emotional Freedom. As you consider whether to use this tool on your journey to wholeness, view how this dialogue prompts you to transform attitudes. Rediscover new levels of joy;
Many people are awaking to new ways of seeing and experiencing. How does this relate to Emotional Freedom?
As an Assistant Clinical Professor at UCLA, I work in a mainstream medical system wherethe spiritual/ intuitive aspects of emotions aren’t understood and are not always accepted. During my UCLA psychiatric training, we treated depression and anxiety, as biochemical imbalances requiring medication. I’d meet with patients for fifteen minutes every few weeks, write a prescription, then send them home. This initially seemed the logical thing for me to do.
As part of a family of 3 generations of physicans myself, I gain insight into perspectives on health and well-being. Which vital lessons have you learned from your evolving experience?
I never saw medications as the whole solution, but I saw many patients experience at least partial “symptom relief,” an undeniable relief of suffering. During more than two decades of medical practice, I learned emotional freedom involves much, much more.
Some people speak of the modern era as an Intuitive Age. How do you view this affecting current and future medicine?
We are the keepers of our own healing. We are keepers of an intuitive intelligence so powerful it can tell us how to heal. The time has come for each of us to claim it again. Never forget: It is your right to heal. It is your right to look inside yourself for the answers.
Another way of looking at modern society is that it empowers each person to restore resoucefulness. What would you add?
Each person is free to detach from beliefs that are no longer appropriate. You clean the junk out and your vibration shifts to different levels of consciousness. Emotion is energy. You can learn to channel energy more effectively.
What do you hope to achieve through your latest book?
I encourage people to validate and liberate their intuition. In my book, I discuss four major components of emotions that shape your health and mood: biology, subtle energy, psychology, and spirituality. We must appreciate that we are spiritual beings having a human experience. It’s impossible to grasp how we tick emotionally without a cosmic perspective; everything about us, including our biology, is an expression of the divine. Seeing emotions as a training ground for the soul—a path to spiritual awakening--frames every victory over fear, anxiety, and resentment as a way to develop your spiritual muscles and love more.
Some people are highly-sensitive to energy vibrations. How do you know if this is you?
The trademark of empaths is that they know where you’re coming from. Some can do this without taking on people’s feelings. However, for better or worse, others, like myself and many of my patients, can become angst-sucking sponges. This often overrides the sublime capacity to absorb positive emotions and all that is beautiful. If empaths are around peace and love, their bodies assimilate these and flourish. Negativity, though, often feels assaultive, exhausting. Thus, they’re particularly easy marks for emotional vampires, whose fear or rage can ravage empaths.
What determines whether fears are authentic?
It can be especially tricky to ascertain which fears are authentic, helpful intuitions. As empaths tend to absorb other people’s emotions, they may pick up fear and think it’s their own. To avoid this, always ask yourself, “Is the fear mine or someone else’s?” One dependable way to find out is to distance yourself from the source. Move at least twenty feet. If you experience relief, it’s likely you perceive another’s fear.
How do you know if you perpetuate your own fear?
As you reach that mental place where you are prepared to take responsibility for your thoughts and feelings, then you realize fear begins and ends in the mind. If you don't make it your business to overcome fear, you better believe it'll try to overcome you. Most people are subservient to this emotion though they may not know it. I define fear as the emotional response to danger, perceived or real.
Many people are controlled by negative emotions. How does one grow “emotionally free?”
Emotional freedom means increasing your ability to love. This requires you learn to cultivate positive emotions and compassionately observe and transform negative ones.
How does one stop absorbing other people’s negative emotions?
In "Emotional Freedom" my approach to transforming fear has two stages. First, take stock of what makes you afraid and distinguish irrational fears from legitimate intuitions. Second, take appropriate steps to heed protective fears and transform the others with courage. At times you may foresee real danger, but more frequently unproductive fears clobber you. As a rule, train the self to question fears tied to low self-esteem.
What kinds of tools do you offer your readers to help them help themselves?
A first step towards achieving emotional freedom is to know where you currently stand. I offer “The Emotional Freedom Test” in my book. This self-assessment tool covers a range of positive and negative emotions and invites readers to be more aware of how they typically respond to a variety of emotionally charged situations. Only by raising awareness is one consciously be equipped to make positive change.
Thank you Dr. Orloff, for sharing insight with the Dreambuilders Australia Blog community.
I encourage readers to check out her other bestsellers; Positive Energy, Intuitive Healing, and Second Sight. Dr. Orloff synthesizes the pearls of traditional medicine with cutting edge knowledge of intuition and energy medicine. She truly believes that the future of medicine involves integrating all this wisdom to achieve emotional freedom and total wellness. For further insights, see www.drjudithorloff.com
***To purchase “Emotional Freedom” with 100 free gifts from noted transformational leaders such as Dr. Christiane Northrup, Dr. Michael Beckwith, Dr. Bruce Lipton, Shirley Maclaine and more go to: http://www.drjudithorloff.com/emotional-freedom-promotion/
Thursday, December 3, 2009 at 10:11AM