Are You An Intuitive?

I have always been quite intuitive. Looking back, I realize it’s probably what led me to my chosen profession.

When I ask, “Are you an Intuitive?” I mean something different than simply asking, “Are you intuitive?” I believe we all have intuition, but an Intuitive is someone who actively develops and uses their intuitive and psychic abilities with intention—to heal, guide, and support others, whether individually or collectively.

I’ve relied on my intuition my entire life—most of us do. But it wasn’t until I experienced my own healing and studied to become a psychotherapist that I began to refine and fully understand these abilities. What once felt like random moments of perception or deep knowing started to make sense.

Knowing, Sensing, and Feeling

As a child and young adult, I had many experiences of knowing, sensing, and feeling. At times, they were completely overwhelming. I didn’t understand how to filter or manage the flood of emotions and sensations, and afterward, I often felt exhausted and drained.

Now, I recognize that I’m an empath—I pick up on the emotions of others and feel them as if they were my own. But simply being an empath or having strong intuition isn’t enough. Without mindfulness and awareness, these abilities can be ungrounded, even chaotic. In fact, without insight and control, an unbridled empath with strong intuition can unintentionally cause harm.

For years, I wanted to shut it all down. I struggled to categorize, define, or even understand what I was experiencing. For short periods, I succeeded—I leaned into logic, using just enough intuition to get by. I didn’t want the weight of these perceptions. It felt uncomfortable knowing things without knowing what to do with that knowledge.

Have you ever experienced something similar?

• Sensing something about a person or place and feeling an overwhelming need to leave.
• Picking up on the emotional residue of a location, as if the air itself carried past trauma.
• Knowing what someone will say or do before they do it.
• Feeling the presence of a spirit, familiar or unknown, but not with fear—rather, with a quiet sense of knowing.
• Feeling someone else’s emotions in your own body, as if they were yours.
• Discovering you’ve shared a dream with another person, as if you were both there together.
• Knowing a someone’s medical or emotional state before they’ve spoken a word.
• Recognizing when someone is psychically intrusive—and being able to send a mental message back for them to stop.
• Channeling messages through writing or conversation.

The Clairs

Over time, I learned to embrace these abilities. I found language to describe them, a framework that gave me clarity: The Clair Senses.

For me, Claircognizance (clear knowing), Clairpresence (a deep awareness of energetic beings), and Clairsentience (clear feeling) are the foundation of my intuitive gifts. They help me make sense of what I’ve experienced my entire life. Other clairs come in- clairvoyance (clear seeing), clairgustance (clear tasting), clairsalience (clear smelling) are additional examples.

My experience has been that when I began to use my clair abilities intentionally, all the clairs came out to play. Claircognizance is still the dominant clair for me, but other clairs show up to confirm my extrasensory experiences.

Understanding and naming these abilities didn’t just validate my experiences—it helped me harness them. It allowed me to move from feeling overwhelmed to feeling empowered, from confusion to clarity.

If any of this resonates with you, perhaps you, too, are an Intuitive.

TAKE ACTION: Interested in learning more? Consider a course with DeeAnna at the Essential Soul Care® Academy.