The Geyser Empath
The Geyser Empath is an individual who is empathic in nature with the additional tendency to fountain with emotion. All empaths are emotional, it goes with the territory but some empaths are far more emotional than others.
This type of empathic tendency is marked by high energy levels. One might even go so far as to say that shades of hyper activity start to appear with the Geyser Empath. He or she is always on the go, heading here and travelling there, seeking out people to see how they are and to exhibit their significant caring side with plenty of suitable expressions of concern, empathy and understanding.
The Geyser Empath is very useful for our kind because of how expressive they are with regard to their emotions. Their responses are exaggerated. This does not mean that they are false, far from it, the exaggeration appears as a heightened response which is very useful for us to witness and then allows us to mimic it.
There is no subtlety involved. When the Geyser Empath is happy it is shown as a torrent of joy, their concern is grave and focussed and their hurt is not of a silent tear but the wail and tears of the tortured. Such displays may seem melodramatic to some, but they are not, they are exactly how the Geyser Empath feels.
The Geyser Empath, owing to the high energy levels talks often about how he or she feels but this is not a case of them explaining that because it must be all about them, but rather they will convey those feelings in order to help others by causing them to better understand. When someone talks about being in despair, the Geyser Empath will relate how they know despair only too well and will articulate that feeling in order to demonstrate that they understand how the listener feels.
This person has a tissue thin skin and is highly sensitive. They are very easily hurt and when we lash out against them, they respond with a fountain of emotion. If they are praised, their thanks will gush from them with greater intensity than a Gwyneth Paltrow Oscar acceptance speech. If they are denigrated, the tears will not flow but they will cascade along with that trembling bottom lip and a near histrionic response to the pain caused by wounding words.
The Geyser Empath is unable to put on a brave face. Whilst the Carrier Empath is dogged and stoic in the face of adversity, focussing their empathy on resolving the situation in a practical fashion, the Geyser Empath will dissolve in a bubbling mess of tears. They are completely unable to conceal their emotions, even for a short time. A Carrier Empath can do so because they shift their feelings on to solving a problem. The Geyser Empath does not have that function. They are excellent at tea and sympathy, kind and comforting words flowing, but of little use practically.
Unlike the Magnet Empath, the Geyser Empath is better dealing with intimate and one-on-one situations rather than handling a crowd. The Geyser Empath loves nothing more than finding an individual as their project and wanting to use their biggest asset in order to resolve issues; their utter devotion to love.
They are the greatest love devotees of all empaths, they truly believe that with love everything can be solved. Love conquers everything, all you need is love, love will save the day. If you were to ask them just how this happens, they could not answer, but explain that love works in mysterious ways and by being loving, showing love and acting with love in each and everything they do, this will resolve problems, heal hurt and bring happiness to all.
This devotion to love means that the Geyser Empath is big on romance and will readily fall prey to overt exhibitions of passion, love and romance from our kind. Any narcissist which presents as the knight in shining armour will have the Geyser Empath’s attention from the beginning as he or she believes they have found a kindred spirit.
The Geyser Empath’s overt displays of emotion make our task of mirroring so much easier. He or she will wear his or her heart on their sleeve and they will suffer repeated heartbreak. Notwithstanding this outcome, the Geyser Empath is undeterred. They will suffer misery and pain from this broken heart and they will then affirm their belief in love and bounce back.
No matter how devastated they are following the shattering of their heart, they will piece it back together and will do so with greater speed amongst the empathic types. They may suffer considerable pain and they will exhibit the effect more greatly than other empathic types but they also re-charge with a greater speed as a consequence of their devotion to love. Their belief is unshakeable.
No matter how many times they are let down, hurt, cheated on and so forth, they will soon bounce back. They are not naïve but rather have an undimmed and undented belief in the power of love. This capacity for returning to the arena of love so promptly after heartache means that they are ideal candidates for post discard and post escape hoovers as they ‘refuel’ so quickly.
The Geyser Empath is highly sensitive and will be moved to tears regularly be they tears of joy or tears of pain. There will often be a need for a tissue when this person is around. One might be moved to consider them as someone pathetic but that would be an inappropriate label. Yes the Geyser Empath is very easy to manipulate into spurting out fuel and because of their beliefs they will suffer repeated hurts but their strength lies in their unwavering belief in love and how they soon bounce back following their set backs.
They will do Misery 2.0 when they are wounded and hurt, the sobbing, the wailing and the tears will be extensive but it will not last. They do not wallow, but wipe away the tears, reapply the mascara, smooth down the rumpled clothes and climb right back on to their Unicorn of Love and Hope and gallop into the fray once again. The Geyser Empath can exhibit unpredictability of response.
There will always be emotion, which suits our kind, but the extent and intensity of it may at times be so startling that it actually affects the standing of the narcissist with third parties who look on and witness what appears to them to be histrionics and melodrama. Exerting control over this emotional output can at times prove difficult for all save the Greater Narcissist.
The Geyser Empath lacks the serenity of the Magnet Empath and there is no cool deliberation of the Carrier. The Geyser will erupt with emotion with squeals of delight at the good news of a friend who is to be a parent, the triumphant praise for a colleague who has secured a promotion and the devastated collapse following the death of a loved one. The Geyser Empath believes that everyone has the capacity to love and that once they do, all their ills will be solved.
This person appeals to all schools of narcissist because of the high fuel content that is provided and the ease by which it can be provoked. They are easy to seduce but tend to suffer swifter devaluations than other empaths because they shine brighter and thus run the risk of our kind becoming familiar with their fuel in a quicker time so that the potency loses its lustre sooner.
As explained above however, they are prime candidates for hoovers and often the hoover bar is lower for them as a consequence of the narcissist knowing that so much delicious fuel will become available with the added bonus of it being hoover fuel and furthermore because the devotion to love means that the Geyser Empath has a greater susceptibility to giving second, third and fourth chances.
The Geyser Empathic tendency is evident in all of the classes of empathic individuals. This tendency is often seen amongst the Co-Dependent class when this tendency manifests in an extreme form. Its presence will exist in Empaths but tends to be mixed with other empathic tendencies as well so the effect will be slightly diluted but not muted.
With regard to the Super Empath it is unusual to see the Geyser Empathic tendency because of the Super Empath’s inherent resilience to both a sudden devaluation and being hoovered.
The Lesser is drawn to those with this tendency because the effort required is so minimal to prompt a response and thus accords with the Lesser narcissist’s lower energy levels and reduced cognitive function for manipulation and machinations.
The Mid-Ranger will also be attracted because of the fuel on offer and the ease by which it can be harvested but the emotional volatility can become wearing to the Mid-Ranger because he will struggle to assert control to achieve some of his aims.
The Greater revels in those with Geyser Empathic tendencies finding the sudden eruptions amusing and playing straight into his portrayal of the individual as unbalanced and unhinged. He or she will take a perverse pleasure in provoking the Geyser into giving more and more fuel.
34 thoughts on “The Geyser Empath”
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A dear friend of mine is a Geyser empath… very lively, honest, sensitive, emotionally deep *without* the capacity to move on quickly. She would be the perfect prey, and that’s why I told her all about red flags and the cycle of abuse.
I admire my friend for her ability to see the good in people, to view the glass as being half full, but I also worry about her for these reasons.
The Geyser empath is basically a borderline.
Would you think a Geyser would act super cold on certain occasions HG? Like being intentionally provoked?
Would a narc (lesser/mid-range/greater) pick this “fake coldness”?
How would a narc (assuming has secured another IPPS) feel if a Geyser simply shifted to another target post-discard?
Hello B, a Geyser Empath is not necessarily a borderline (other factors of borderline behaviour may be missing) but a borderline could indeed be a Geyser Empath.
I would be surprised by a Geyser being super cold, they would struggle to achieve it.
If the narc has a new IPPS he will be in the golden period with that person and therefore will delete the outgoing IPPS Geyser Empath for the time being, so if the Geyser has shifted elsewhere, the narc will not care.
I am definitely not a geyser. I know of a few though, the baby squealers (when a baby is brought in). It’s cute but foreign to me. I love kids but I’m not a gusher in any setting.
Me neither, Indy! I think I’m the opposite of a geyser. I shut off all emotion and go into observation and analysis mode when confronted or provoked. (Think that’s a self-defense tactic I learned as a child). But I have a sister in law who’s one. Frenetic is the best word to describe her! She reminds us all of Lucille Ball.
I’m the same with babies. They look like larval humans to me. I never want to hold one or look at pictures. I have to look deep to be able to see their nascent personalities before I can begin to feel a bond with them.
Yeah, I have the same feeling. I force myself to act like a “gooey” woman when the pictures are shown in the office. I will not ask about them but I will say the pleasantries (while thinking–oy what an ugly baby Hahaha). Now, with that said, once I have a bond, I get like that. My son and grandson and niece/nephew. Kids I work with too…kids on the autisms spectrum, god I love ’em (I am weird, but I really “get” them, its like a little social challenge to get them to engage and it is such a gift when they do. Maybe that’s why I did cerebral narcs, they can be a tough nut to crack too!).
I would assume that the greater would get easily bored very soon with this type of empath am I correct HG?
Per usual great article!👍
Correct. The victim would burn brightly and then fade quickly. A Greater would prefer an Dirty Little Secret Geyser Empath – repeated eruptions of potent fuel in significant quantities with a reduced risk of becoming stale.
BPD with Greater Elite. Will he come back after threatening exposure? He threatened back. I apologised profusely & groveled. Is it over H.G?
Hello Bubbly, in a word, no.
What is the difference between a Geyser Empath and borderline?
A Geyser Empath could well be someone who is a borderline, but not always so. For instance the Geyser Empath may not have issues with abandonment, nor will they lash out at people. Whilst they have a thin emotional skin, like a borderline, the Geyser Empath (who is not a borderline) will be hurt easily but will not lash out at the person hurting them, a Geyser Empath who is a borderline would do so. The non-borderline Geyser Empath will be less needy than a borderline Geyser Empath.
Thank you.
HG, I used to lash out over everything. Now that I’m older, I’m not so quick to do so. I was diagnosed as borderline 23 yrs ago but my therapist and several others who are very familiar with BPD think it was a misdiagnosis. Have you found that borderlines improve with age and learn to control their sharp tongues or would this control stem from a non-BPD? We decided I had C-PTSD instead of BPD but sometimes, I really fit those 9 criteria and my fear of abandonment and rejection is still huge.
“The Greater revels in those with Geyser Empathic tendencies finding the sudden eruptions amusing and playing straight into his portrayal of the individual as unbalanced and unhinged. He or she will take a perverse pleasure in provoking the Geyser into giving more and more fuel.”
When I read this, the first image that came into my head was like the cat playing and having fun with the mouse until the cat killed the mouse…
HG,
I was actually looking through your blog and trying to find out if you have written an article about how the Geyser,Magnet and the Carrier empaths ( sub-categories?)could be placed on the three “main categories: Co-dependent,Empath and Super Empath. Could these sub-categories be found specially in one of the main categories? Where would you place them? A little bit confused with this..
I am thinking more in terms of that if some “sub-category” of the empaths is not likely to be found within one of the main categories as for example in the case of the narcissist: the victim (cadre) narcissist is not really found within the Greaters ( school)
The empath cadres are found within the empath schools. I have not written about this yet, SX.
Thank you for your answer HG. It would certainly be very interesting if you could write an article about this topic when you have the time for doing so.
You are welcome, I have made a note SX.
“The Greater revels in those with Geyser Empathic tendencies finding the sudden eruptions amusing and playing straight into his portrayal of the individual as unbalanced and unhinged. He or she will take a perverse pleasure in provoking the Geyser into giving more and more fuel.”
You’re such a meanie pants!! 😫😢😫
Hmmm i wonder if i’m a geyser empath. I’m not sure. I’m borderline and co-dependent, and v sensitive and cry easily. But i don’t squeal with delight when i hear good news. I feel happy, but don’t overtly show exaggerated emotion. But when i am hurt, the emotion pours out like crazy. This is a toughie for me.
Thank you HG. Your knowledge of empaths is uncomparable to anything out there. 🙏
Jenna, I realize your comment is 4 yrs old but yes, you are a Geyser. I bought HG’s Empath Detector and was equal parts Geyser and Savior. I really identify with the Geyser description. And I can’t stand it. I’m sorry you’re a soggy mess of emotion like myself. It really sucks. Oh and I had a full hysterectomy at age 44 to add more emotion to my emotional outbursts. It’s a real drag to be 50 and have outbursts like a 4 yr old. So embarrassing.
✈🎫😊
Thanks Love.
Spectacular fountains..Ive never seen them before.
One day I hope to go to Vegas.😊
This is me. Wow, HG, you have given me a name, a class, geyser empath. I am embarrassed. I must have drove him nuts, and he kept that hidden all of those years. I cried and screamed and explained about everything. No wonder his “calm downs” didn’t make sense to me. I thought, “Why does he always say that, I’m just talking and expressing myself?” He did say I cried about everything, but that I was also meaner than a snake because my words would cut him into slithers when I was angry, which was rare. I was always overly happy, and overly sensitive. He always said, “For a pretty girl, you need attention because you don’t believe that you are.” I never agreed with that, but that was how he targeted me. I reeked of low self-esteem ,neediness, and extreme sensitivity, even though I was always happy and smiling.
This story about Jane and the girl you said always asked what you were thinking, having to make sure you were happy and fine, they are describing me to the letters. Wow, what a great read. So much insight into myself and how you Ns see us. I need to do some self work.
You didn’t drive him nuts Narcedout. He enjoyed every minute of your emotional outbursts. You should be able to express yourself fully and pure from the soul. I see it as a gift. Keep on flowing! 🌊
Same! “Calm down” about EVERYTHING. Of course that made me even more annoyed.
The need to explain how I am feeling all the time – that drove him mental lol
He also called me spiteful a lot, because I worked hard to realllllyyy hurt him. Plus I was angry at him often.
He is a mid ranger and couldn’t handle or control me, and grew bored. I’m better off now, thank god he’s out of my life.
Totally me
My alma mater ❤
Really interesting article…especially:
…”easy to seduce but tend to suffer swifter devaluations than other empaths because they shine brighter and thus run the risk of our kind becoming familiar with their fuel in a quicker time so that the potency loses its lustre sooner.”
Fascinating.
HG does this mean that because they shine brighter…they must be pulled down quicker? that they are so easy to extract from that they become kind of boring more quickly?
(Im an overthinker btw)
…Gwyneth Paltrow speach remark..really funny 😂
Debbie, we become boring to them because we are always boiling over. Its like the dancing fountain at Bellagio in Vegas. Initially they are fascinated by the fountain for dancing with such rhythm and passion to beautiful music with spectacular lights …. But after a while, they get bored and just pass by without a glance.
https://youtu.be/iNQpcDuE6e4
And screw them for taking such beauty for granted! Great analogy Love!
Thanks Clarece!