‘It's a superpower’: meet the empaths paid to read your mind

They feel your pain as if it were their own – and charge you £200 an hour to do so. Why has empathy become such a prized commodity?It is late on Friday at Piper ’s diner in Koreatown, Los Angeles. David Sauvage, a slight 36-year-old man with an arresting stare, is preparing to empathise with me. “These aren’t ideal circumstances, but that’s OK,” he says. A few night owls busy themselves with eggs and tacos; a waiter carries a tray of drinks betwee n booths. Sauvage crosses his legs, removes his necklace, exhales deeply and prepares to inhabit my feelings.“If we start with where you are now, you’re much more open than you were a few moments ago.” He pushes his head back and takes tiny gulps of air. “You’re right now in your life going through… I almost want to say a spiritual awakening? You’re searching for cosmic truth. Or some emanati on of the divine.” He shudders. “It’s very weird to have this experience in someone else’s body.”Continue reading...
Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - Category: Science Authors: Tags: Psychology Health & wellbeing Alternative medicine Life and style Science Society Source Type: news