In all honesty, many articles I come across about empaths break my heart. Too often, empaths are showcased as dis-empowered victims and offered little than sympathy and permission to avoid life because of the difficult hand we have been dealt.
Too often, online quizzes are designed to rate and gauge how empathic we are, solely by the number of imbalances and symptoms we have… As if being sensitive or empathic is an illness or disease ready for a diagnosis!
The comments following these articles and online quizzes are even worse. Page after page of seemingly gifted people solely sharing about the plight of the empath, how impossible it is to create healthy relationships because we are sensitive.. As a fellow empath, my heart breaks when I see this. Because when offered empowering tools and embodiment skills empaths are amazing. With the right support we are transformed from victims into sensitive-super heroes that hold profound gifts for everyone that has the great fortune to cross our path.

Empaths Need Boundaries
More than any other group of people, us energy sensitive folk need boundaries. Boundaries that support our ability to feel safe in our body and in the present moment. Boundaries that help us know what is ours and what is not ours. Boundaries that transform us from being victims, into empowered empaths.

What kind of empath would you like to be? 
Most of us are on a pretty large learning curve in our learning and growing. One of the wonderful things about this kind of learning curve, is that we have a fair amount of free will to choose which direction we would like to grow.
Once we figure out what kind of empath we want to be, and in truth there is no right answer, we can use everything from how we word things to our body language to enforce our path of choice and shift our traits.

5 Traits of an Unboundaried Empath
5.  We use our sensitivities as an excuse to avoid life and avoid things that are safe but make us feel uncomfortable.
4.  We use our sensitivities as justifications to place blame on others or other’s behaviors, by being quick to label and judge behaviors, feelings and situations as toxic or negative.
3.  We regularly struggle with imbalances of power and engage with others within the framework of the drama triangle by embodying roles of victim, persecutor or rescuer.
2.  We believe the term empath describes us as a very special yet disadvantaged person in the world with little resources and control of what we sense and pick up.
1.    To be an empath gives us appropriate cause to wall our self off from those around us and remain separate from those who we can learn the most from.  

5 Traits of an Empowered Empath
5.   We learn to work with our sensitives so we are stronger and more able, including in the ways we take ownership of our energetic interactions.
4.  We learn to work with our sensitivities and our personal gifts so they become super powers enriching our interactions are and creating healthy and balanced relationships.
3.   We work with our sensitives to neutralize power imbalances offered by the roles of The Drama Triangle both within our self and our within our relationships.
2.  We believe the term empowered empath describes us as being one of many extraordinary humans with extraordinary gifts to create healing within our own being and for the world.
1.  To be an empowered empath means we need special tools and the right kind of support to help us learn and grow and to live our extraordinary purpose in life.

SOURCE: https://www.joannaschmidt.com/blog/empowered-empaths