Many highly sensitive people (HSPs) realize as early as in kindergarten (me!) that something is not quite right. I shed more tears than my siblings, friends, and cousins combined, and was flat-out told that these tears were ‘crocodile tears’ and not real. Why? Because they lacked ‘good reason’ — as if feelings ran on logic. In grade school, HSPs like me often get teased for being cry babies. We get in trouble for being too much or too little in comparison to the norm.
MY UNIQUE AREA OF EXPERTISE
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Hi there! I'm Dr. Loraine Van Tuyl, and I'm an integrative and holistic clinical psychologist, a certified Depth Hypnosis practitioner, and a shamanic eco psychologist.
I have three decades of professional expertise in helping gifted, neurodiverse, and struggling empaths—sensitive, spiritual, and stressed-out students, experts, executives, and entrepreneurs—become super empaths by teaching them my HEAL LOVE LEAD with SOUL AUTHORITY™ self-care and self-empowerment framework.Â
These are the three most common areas of struggle at home and work that my clients learn to shift into key strengths:
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HEAL - Emotional overwhelm –> psychological resilience
LOVE - Conflict avoidance –> authentic relationships
LEAD - Risk aversion –> lasting, positive impact
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What CLIENTS and COLLEAGUES say about SOUL AUTHORITY:
Dana Stewart, MSW
Social WorkerÂ
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"This is a totally unique set of practices, yet also universal. I really love the framework that Loraine has created. I’ve never seen anyone teach it in this way, but it’s drawing on things anyone can tap into: nature, the elements, trees, animals. And each person brings their own understanding and wisdom to the practice, which is all celebrated and incorporated. In fact, each student is their own foundation for the practice, so it’s a very creative process that comes from within, though guided by Loraine!"
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Sasha Blum, PhD
Psychologist, UC Berkeley
"Every week, a psychotherapist who works with our students in the community visits with our postdoctoral training group and shares their techniques and trade secrets. The postdocs were blown away by Loraine Van Tuyl’s presentation because she offered them such a new and refreshing perspective. They were particularly impressed by her integration of spiritual practices and wisdom into her therapeutic work with clients, and it has vastly expanded their perspective on the potential of their future work as clinicians."
Mia de Luca, PhD
Professor of Anthropology
"Connecting to my tree guide in my sanctuary has now become a daily practice. Not only does it help ground me, but it reminds me of who I am and what my purpose is here on Earth. I use it in moments of uncertainty, to tackle anxiety, and even to drift into sleep. Even in the depths of a panic attack, finding myself in this sanctuary—with my tree and my guides—allows for a reset. Going into this sanctuary always helps me plug my energy back into a universal source."
WHAT'S A SUPER EMPATH?
A super empath is a well-adjusted, self-actualized empath who's masterful at transforming stress and daily overwhelm into creative inspiration for personal and collective healing. Super empaths are a lot like Mother Trees and Redwoods. They're spiritually mature, generous, and interconnected.
They're optimally wired to serve the greater good, but they're also very susceptible to absorbing tension and negative energy that aren't theirs due to their sensitivity, big hearts, and tendency to put themselves last.
They have trouble advocating for themselves because of their avoidance of conflict and risk. For that reason, they're underappreciated and neglected (at best) and "endangered" (at worst) especially in top positions. They need and benefit from protection, support, and empowerment that compliment their unique strengths, mindset, and lifestyle.Â
They thrive when able to set fierce, protective boundaries, resource from within, and use their gifts to create transformational impact through their life missions.Â
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AM I AN EMPATH?
Wondering if you may be an empath too? Take this 2-minute free empath test and learn about common challenges that trouble empaths. Find out if you're similar to the professional empaths I work with to help determine if we are a good match.
AM I AN EMPATH? TEST
As a child, I cried at the drop of a hat because I carried a lot. Spent hours fretting about a harsh reprimand or mean look or tone. Preferred to be alone and play in the magical Amazon rainforest that covers 95% of my native Suriname, imagining that I was Mowgli.Â
After a military coup uprooted my family, we moved to the concrete jungles of Miami. I coped with the loss of my safe sanctuary and most trusted lifeline to my true self during the awkward middle school years by becoming selectively mute, pretending not to speak English. I didn't know how else to hide.
Decades later, my rigorous studies, certification, and extensive training in clinical psychology, shamanic practices, meditation and mindfulness fundamentals, energy medicine, Buddhist psychology, regression therapy, eco psychology, and Depth Hypnosis quantum leaped my healing. Despite these shifts, I continued to struggle with public speaking terror and resisted stepping into my calling as a holistic healer and teacher.
I was most comfortable behind the scenes. Not heard, not seen,
happy as a clam in my cozy private practice . . . playing small & hiding Â
UNTIL MY BIG SOUL MISSION NO LONGER LET ME GET AWAY WITH IT.
Supported by my dream team of spirit guides, I wrote and shared my story in Amazon Wisdom Keeper: A Psychologist's Memoir of Spiritual Awakening in 2017. Since then, I have talked to audiences, big and small, online and in person, on podcasts and radio shows, at conferences, retreats, and book stores. I'd learned so much about overcoming crippling public speaking fear that I even became a WomanSpeak (transformational Toastmasters) group leader for a few years!
These transformations have allowed me to reach and empower hundreds of other spiritual and super empaths— sensitive experts, soulpreneurs, transformation agents, thought leaders, executive directors, coaches, psychotherapists, and academics—over the decades in fields such as mental health, medicine, social justice, law, engineering, conservation, the arts, business, community organizing, and integrative health.
They inspired me to design my 10-week online program, HEAL LOVE LEAD with SOUL AUTHORITY™, which draws heavily on my professional and life experiences and offers empaths the structured guidance, skill sets, and tools they're seeking and needing with greater ease and accessibility.Â
My second book, Soul Authority: Liberatory Tools to Heal from Oppressive Patterns and Restore Trust in Your Heart Compass, emerged out of this intention and work and was published in April 2022.
GUEST POSTS
A Ritual To Come Back To Yourself When You Feel Pulled In A Million Directions
in MindBodyGreen
If you were lost in the woods, would you follow a compass that was leading you in circles? Would you stay quiet if the guide you were with insisted that their compass was more accurate than the navigational clues you were picking up from the sun, the mountains, and the current of the river?
Of course not.
And yet, so many of us don't trust our sense of inner knowing on the journey through life.
If High IQ Doesn't Necessarily Make Effective Leaders, What Does?
in Thrive Global
The Glitch That High IQ Can't Fix
Arianna Huffington’s signature “tough-love” intervention in her recent Open Letter to Elon Musk brings an important point to light. Lack of genius is not the reason why Elon’s leadership abilities are currently under fire.
Arianna is well-known for leading Thrive Global’s wellness revolution by challenging negative cultural trends, such as the 24/7 work ethic mass delusion and lack of sleep."
