Dr. Judith Orloff’s Newest Book: The Highly Sensitive Rabbit
By Wendy Wong
Renowned psychiatrist and author of numerous books, The Empath’s Survival Guide, Second Sight, Emotional Freedom, Guide to Intuitive Healing, among many others, has written a book for children entitled The Highly Sensitive Rabbit (October 2025). Pre-orders can be placed now.
A picture book aimed at ages 4-8, The Highly Sensitive Rabbit is the story of Aurora, a highly sensitive rabbit, having been bullied, discovers that sensitivity is a strength, not a weakness. It is, in some ways, a picture book about Dr. Orloff’s own growing pains. She shares that she herself was a highly sensitive child who absorbed a lot of the feelings of others and took them into her own body, never understanding that she had extra sensibilities. She was misunderstood and sometimes labeled as weird.
“Aurora – which is also my nickname,” Dr. Orloff explains, “senses and knows things, but is shamed by her brothers and sisters for her abilities. She’s called a crybaby, she’s bullied, and she doesn’t feel like she belongs in the world. This is the story of how she comes into her own and becomes proud of her abilities, and how she learns new skills with the help of OTHER LOVING animals, to set boundaries, to take a breath – skills that will serve her for life.”
“I never felt like I belonged anywhere,” she says, “and I wrote this book for children who may be feeling the same thing.”
The book aims to show children and parents ways to appreciate and normalize these abilities, rather than shame kids or label them as “overly sensitive.” She also wrote this book for anyone who has a sensitive inner child who needs to be nurtured.
Highly sensitive people tend to love people, animals, and nature. They are so open that they can become easily overwhelmed from sensory overload. Although both introverts and extroverts can be highly sensitive, both need to decompress by having quiet, alone time. To take care of themselves, they need to learn to set boundaries. Without that, they can tantrum or become unwell, be mislabeled, bullied, or pathologized, says Dr. Orloff.
She hopes that this book will make a difference in the lives of young children and their parents by helping them identify as highly sensitive individuals, and give them healthy strategies early in life. For adults who wonder if they are highly sensitive, Dr. Orloff suggests taking a 20-question self-assessment in The Empath’s Survival Guide.
With a medical, scientific background as a psychiatrist, Dr. Orloff shares that it was challenging in 1996 to write her first book, Second Sight: An Intuitive Psychiatrist Tells Her Extraordinary Story and Shows You How to Tap Your Own Inner Wisdom, part memoir and part teaching guide in which she shares her personal story about initially hiding her intuitive and empathic gifts. When she received “enormous welcome from so many readers who finally felt set free that there was nothing wrong with them,” she never turned back.
Since then, she has written eight non-fiction books AND JOURNALS that emphasize the healing power of emotions, boundaries, intuition, energy, and empathy. She is a recognized New York Times bestselling author whose work has been featured on The Today Show, CNN, O, the Oprah Magazine and The New York Times, and USA Today. She continues to do private consultations and online workshops.
For a schedule of appearances on her Fall book tour for The Highly Sensitive Rabbit, please visit drjudithorloff.com. Both children and grownups are welcome!
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Callouts:
“I never felt like I belonged anywhere,” Dr. Orloff says, “and I wrote this book for children who may be feeling the same thing.”
(longer video timestamp: “….for parents to cope with their highly sensitive children.” 1:38-2:16)
Dr. Orloff wrote this book for anyone who has a sensitive inner child who needs to be nurtured.
(video timestamp: 4:51-5:01)
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Judith Orloff MD is the NY Times bestselling author of The Genius of Empathy and The Empath’s Survival Guide. Her upcoming children’s book The Highly Sensitive Rabbit, helps sensitive kids embrace their empathic gifts as a strength. Dr. Orloff is a psychiatrist, an empath and intuitive healer, and is on the UCLA Psychiatric Clinical Faculty. She synthesizes the pearls of traditional medicine with cutting edge knowledge of intuition, energy, and spirituality and passionately believes in the power of integrating this wisdom for total wellness.
Dr. Orloff has been called “the godmother of the empath movement.” She specializes in treating empaths and highly sensitive people in her private practice. Dr. Orloff’s work has been featured on The Today Show, CNN, Oprah Magazine, the New York Times and USA Today. She has spoken at the American Psychiatric Association, Fortune Magazine’s Most Powerful Women’s Summit, Google, TEDx U.S. and TEDx Gateway Asia. The New England Journal of Medicine writes, “Dr. Judith Orloff advises physicians on improving their intuitive powers. Her simple but powerful message is ‘Listen to your patients.’”
Wendy Wong is a certified Jungian coach who leverages the energy arts – Reiki, qigong, tai chi, shadow work, and dream analysis – for insight, creativity, healing, and growth. She writes fiction and narrative non-fiction, and is a staff writer for the San Diego Writers Festival and International Memoir Writers Association.
