Caroline van Kimmenade

Empath Stockholm Syndrome – do you have energy ties with scary people?

March 31, 2025

You’ve probably heard of Stockholm Syndrome. It’s the “tend and befriend” stress response in action. You start to care for and protect the same person who is also your biggest threat. It’s one thing to see this play out in a hostage situation movie, but what about the everyday closer-to-home? We women especially tend to […]

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Burning Out versus Burning Through

January 28, 2025

I used to think that the biggest risk of having too much on your plate was burning out. Burning out happened to me and getting out of burn-out was a long and tricky journey spanning many years. I had to learn the ins and outs of what made me stressed. I had to learn how […]

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8 Kinds of Spiritual Bullshit – don’t let these fool you!

January 22, 2025

There are many kinds of spiritual bullshit out there. The tricky thing is: while spiritual bullshit can be huge and obnoxious, like a massive cowpat on a patch of bare dirt… the sneakier versions of it show up as little turds in the middle of beautiful, inspiring gardens of wisdom. You’re not dealing with a […]

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The Power of Thought?

December 3, 2024

Thinking the right way can help a lot. Yet, thinking on its own doesn’t do much. I sometimes meet clients who are good at declaring very loudly what they will or won’t ever do, and what they will and won’t let happen… but those words on their own are meaningless. To illustrate, consider the following […]

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The Connection Between Overfocusing, Adrenal Fatigue and The Third Eye

November 25, 2024

The year before I developed severe adrenal fatigue, I had an extremely high academic workload. Not only was I an assistant professor, I also worked on my PHD “on the side”. This meant many, many (way too many!) hours of extreme intellectual focus. My focus is one of my superpowers, don’t get me wrong. Yet […]

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The Healing Box and the Truth Box

June 12, 2024

When an emotional experience surfaces you have to decide: does this go in the healing box, or the truth box? What are the Healing Box and Truth Box? The healing box is the category for pains and issues that perhaps reflect an old experience, an old “truth” but that is not about your life right […]

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Should (and can) You Avoid Opening the Paranormal Door?

April 28, 2024

When it comes to intuition and the paranormal, there is a kind of “frightful saying” that once you go down that terrible terrible road, you can’t go back: “once you open the door [to all kinds of spiritual gifts and phenomena] you can no longer close it!” or “once you open that door, you can […]

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Why Energy Help for Highly Sensitive People is Often Lacking

March 24, 2024

Many Highly Sensitive People are more subtly attuned to energy and this is where much clarification and help is missing. In many ways, being sensitive to energy puts you in an “inbetween” place that not many people acknowledge, understand or know how to help you with. The Psychology Approach to Energy In the world of […]

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Why Doesn’t That Difficult Emotion Go Away? 25 Reasons + Solutions

February 25, 2024

At heart, emotions are not meant to make you suffer. They are not meant to be with you for years and years on end just to “make you feel bad”. However, emotions are persistent. They have a loving agenda for you. They are there for a reason and so, if you don’t unwrap the gift […]

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The Difference Between Fear and Anxiety + why this matters for HSPs

January 13, 2024

If you thought fear is just the big sister of anxiety, you’re not alone. On the face of it, anxiety and fear are very similar. Except, for their root causes. Fear tells you that something dangerous is on the horizon. Anxiety may seem to tell you the same thing, but actually it’s very different. While […]

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The Psychological Mechanism of Narcissism: what is it really?

October 18, 2023

A lot of HSPs I speak to don’t want to label anyone they know as a narcissist. And I think that’s sweet. There is a deeper concern of: “but narcissism is bad! And I know this person up close, they have their good side! They’re likeable! They have their human struggles! I don’t want to […]

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A Perspective Shift for when you Worry you’re “Too Sensitive” and “just need to Toughen Up”

September 24, 2023

Nobody wants to be too much of anything. Am I right? So as a Highly Sensitive Person, you definitely don’t want to be too sensitive. At the same time though, are you equally concerned that you may not be sensitive enough? How are you supposed to know what is too much and what is too […]

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Is Transmuting Energy the Solution for Empath Overwhelm?

May 9, 2023

Empath overwhelm is the worst! It’s also very misunderstood. And where discussions of empath overwhelm pop up, discussions on the best methods for transmuting energy tend to follow. Many empaths see it as their job to turn darkness into light. Like Magic Alchemists, they move through the world with an all-seeing eye, ready to cleanse, […]

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7 kinds of Energy Ick that can drive you nuts when you’re Highly Sensitive and Intuitive

January 29, 2023

Nobody likes ick, am I right? But when you’re highly sensitive and intuitively aware of subtle energy, you will be confronted with energy ick on top of regular human ick. The problem is, nobody is (probably) telling you about it or what it is. So chances are you feel kind of crazy even daring to […]

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4 Simple Disciplines that Make Your Life Better

October 3, 2022

Healthy habits become your new normal over time. With enough positive habits in place, life gets better on auto-pilot. Here are 4 disciplines I believe are very worth cultivating, no matter how good – or how bad – your life is: Discipline 1: Save to make your life better Have a savings account with money […]

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Why Protecting Yourself with Better Boundaries Against Abuse Can Feel (really) Scary

August 1, 2022

Let’s face it, you don’t need excellent boundaries in order to deal with truly kind, compassionate people. Chances are, if you forget to speak up they’ll ask anyway. If you ignore your own needs they’ll check if you’re o.k. Before deciding on anything big they’ll make sure to know what you truly want and factor […]

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Do This First to Heal Childhood Trauma

June 26, 2022

Many people avoid healing childhood trauma because they’re scared of the emotional pain that might surface. They worry they won’t be able to handle it or that they’ll be stuck with chronic pain. If that’s you – even if just a little bit – I have good news for you. A responsible healing practice starts […]

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7 Big Reasons it’s Time to get Serious about Your Heartfelt Dream

June 18, 2022

Do you have a heartfelt dream? Something that feels so right but that has been on the back-burner for a while now? Something that’s been put on hold? Or something you’ve not quite pursued actively before? Or maybe you ARE working on it and serious about it (high-five!). Either way, here are 7 big reasons […]

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Empaths in Relationships – 5 Hidden Struggles

May 4, 2022

So on empaths and relationships… Gosh, this should probably be a list of 200 struggles, not just 5. But writing a whole book would take too long, so I’ll just share 5 points. These are 5 that I get a lot of “oh my gosh I had no idea!” reactions to from clients, so I’m guessing […]

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What did you do wrong? Blame versus Criticism

April 30, 2022

Nobody’s perfect, right? So it’s normal to receive some criticism from time to time. If you’re someone who makes a real attempt to hear others’ point of view, reflect on your actions and take responsibility where needed, then surely, all will be well? So why is it that – with some people – even when […]

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