What is the nature and source of Kes’ powers?

[BohandiAnsoid]

Kes is one of my favorite characters in Star Trek. But she is also pretty unusual. On one hand, she is curious, compassionate, eager to explore… But on the other hand, she has quite unusual and powerful powers and abilities. She has telekinesis, abilities to deflect telepathic attacks (like from the Bothan) and normal telepathy, to name a few. And this is unusual as she is less powerful than, say, Q or all these TOS entities, but she is more powerful than most normal characters, even Vulcans. She is not trained in using it, but she has great potential.

If it was in Star Wars, I would say she is Force - sensitive, but this is not Star Wars. This is Star Trek. Although there are some similarities in abilities and effect.

But, based on what we know from Star Trek, what can be said about nature and source of Kes’ powers?

 

[Starflight]

In the first episode she says that she believes Ocampans have latent powers that have been lost due to dependency on the Caretaker (or something like that). She meets the dude later on who helps her unlock some of her skills, so presumably Ocampans are just naturally powerful espers and they could all do what she's doing if they really tried.