Cleaning Out the Basement

Hello, I'm Bree and I'm an Empath, specifically a healer. It runs in my family, my Mom is a healer and my 13yr old son recently discovered he is too. I didn't know that I could heal others until I was in my late 20's, it's not something discussed in my family, but rather a secret. Since I was little I felt like I was different and as a young adult I could 'see' people's past and present without touching them, feel their emotions and occasionally hear their thoughts. It was much stronger if I did touch them though. There was a lot I didn't know or understand about the abilities, specifically how vulnerable it left me to being hurt by those close to me. I knew how to differentiate between my feelings and the ones I picked up, but when you have complete trust in people who are close it's different. It's being wide open without worrying, a taking in and giving all back. The point is I was hurt dramatically and to avoid ever going through that again I shut it all out, ignored it when it happened and stopped healing. It was like ripping a piece of myself out but that was nothing compared to what I already went through. After doing that for a couple years it was like never having had the ability, but I was left empty. This summer I started healing again, something told me it was time to open back up. It's been difficult to regain all of what I had, searching through all those mental boxes stuffed into a dark basement to find the right ones. So, not only for myself, but for the sake of my son, I need to 'see through the eyes of the hawk'. It's not a secret with him and me, I don't want him to be as blind or vulnerable as I was.