Therapy for Highly Sensitive Persons
Does This Sound Like You?
You tend to get overwhelmed easily by stress
You have strong emotions, and feel everything deeply
You tend to withdraw or isolate yourself when you’re feeling overstimulated or overwhelmed
You frequently feel emotionally exhausted, worried, or anxious and don’t know why or unable to pinpoint a specific reason
You can be strongly self-critical, are a perfectionist, and tend to fall into people-pleasing behaviors
You have a difficult time asserting yourself, and holding boundaries in relationships
You are more likely to experience sensory overload due to busy places, crowds, changes in temperatures, scratchy fabrics, loud noise, or strong scents than others
You struggle with transitions, changes, and making decisions
Alone time is a must to decompress after a social outing or busy day
You struggle to let go of things that have happened, been said, stewing over it for a longer period of time than you would like
You have trouble getting to sleep because everything weighs heavy on your mind
If So, You May Be a Highly Sensitive Person (HSP)
No need to be alarmed, this doesn’t mean there is anything wrong with you. High Sensitivity or Sensory Processing Sensitivity (SPS) is a completely normal trait that occurs within 15-20% of the population. HSP is not a disorder, or diagnosis, but rather a completely normal (and special!) trait that occurs naturally as a part of a person’s temperament.
From an evolutionary standpoint, HSP traits are perpetuated because it is helpful for survival. Every tribe needed those who could pick up on potential dangers and sensitive to subtleties, such as changes in the weather, or recognizing resources in the environment that others may miss.
What Does It Mean to Be a Highly Sensitive Person?
Each highly sensitive person is unique and has their own areas of sensitivity. However, research shows there are four characteristics commonly shared by all HSPs. They are represented by the acronym D.O.E.S.
D- DEPTH OF PROCESSING
Depth of Processing is one of the foundations of the HSP trait. Research studies using fMRI brain scans have shown that when exposed to the same stimuli, highly sensitive people’s brains became more activated than non-highly sensitive people’s brains. This shows a greater depth of processing of the same information for HSP individuals.
This dept of processing can lead to careful consideration and exploration of all possibilities. This can sometimes result in taking longer to make a decision or pausing longer before taking action.
O - OVERSTIMULATION
Because 80% - 85% of the population are not highly sensitive, the world we live in is not always designed for HSP’s finely tuned nervous systems. This looks like the fast-paced busy cities, and high-pressure work and school environments. Things that may not bother a non-HSP, may affect an HSP significantly as HSPs can be more susceptible to overstimulation and overwhelm because they pick up on so much more and process it more deeply. Overstimulation can lead to fatigue of our nervous system.
E - EMOTIONALLY RESPONSIVE / EMPATHETIC
The most often highlighted trait of HSP is their capacity to feel deeply and react more strongly to emotional experiences and environments- both positive and negative. What this means is that our environments play an important role as we are more impacted by our surroundings than others.
Research has shown a higher level of activity for HSPs in the parts of the brain that help us relate to other people’s emotions, meaning that HSPs have a higher capacity for empathy.
S - SENSING SUBTLETIES
HSPs pick up on subtle details that others miss, such as small shifts in our surroundings, or non-verbal cues and communication from others. We are also more impacted by sensory input such as strong smells, bright lights, loud noises, itchy uncomfortable fabrics, and hunger.
How Does Being a Highly Sensitive Person Impact Your Life?
Due to how much a HSP can pick up on everything and anything around us, coupled with the ability to process things deeply, it is easy and common for HSPs to become overwhelmed, overstiumlated or emotionally exhausted. As a HSP myself, I am familiar with these challenges and experiences in my own life.
Some common challenges for HSPs are:
Overwhelm
Over-stimulation
Anxiety and Depression
Intense emotions, both positive and negative
Shyness or Social Anxiety
Difficulty developing and maintaning fufilling relationships
Emotional and Compassion Fatigue
Difficulty with life changes and transitions or making decisions
Feeling misunderstood, isolated, or alone
Persistent stress from work or school environments
Perfectionism and Self Critical Talk
Not prioritizing yourself and your needs
Difficulty setting healthy boundaries and limits with others
Despite These Challenges, Being a Highly Sensitive Person is a Gift!
Being Highly Sensitive does not mean that you are weak, fragile or broken in any way. There is no needen to harden yourself, and your sensitivities, despite the pressures from the world to “toughen up” and “push through".” HSP’s have a more finely tuned nervous system than the rest of the population which allows us to process infomration that may not be on others radar.
This sensitivty is a gift, as when a HSP hones in on their sensitivity there are many benefits and uses that come along with it.
Highly Sensitive People tend to be:
Smart, intuitive and perceptive, often noticing nuances that others miss
Highly empathetic, compassionate and considerate
Creative in their thinking or in participating in art making activities such as dance, music, painting etc.
Deeply moved and connected to art, nature, and others
Quick learners and deep thinkers
When harnessed and embraced HSP can become a “super power”.
In Embracing Your Sensitivte Super Power You Can…
Learn to manage your strong emotions without getting overwhelmed or withdrawing
Get off the emotional roller coaster and stay calm even when things feel intense
Stop worrying and feeling stressed so your natural intelligence can shine through
Choose when you want to let something go so that you can fall asleep more easily or relax
Stop feeling like you’re broken, have to hide your sensitivity or “toughen up”
Learn how to work with your sensitivity so that you can improve your relationships
Embrace your sensitivity and find your unique gifts / strengths so they can work for you!
How Can Therapy Help Me as a Highly Sensitive Person?
In being a Highly Sensitive Person, there may be a stigma that you have endured due to your sensitivity. This can lead to pushing your gifts to the side or vilifying them. Because sensitivity is not entirely valued in society, we may move through life not knowing how to manage it. This can lead to some areas of your life being impacted by your sensitivity, sucha s depression, stress, and anxiety. I work with you to identify what your challenges are and teach you how to manage your sensitivity so that it no longer leads to overstimulation that gets in the way of the life you want to lead.
In therapy, our goal is to understand all aspects of you with self-compassion towards a more whole authentic self and life. In honoring and empowering your sensitivities, we will work together to learn new tools and move past life struggles. Learning to work with your sensitivity takes many paths, such as mindfulness and somatic practices to promote regulation of the nervous system. As well as processing emotions and patterns in your life that may no longer be working, and developing skills to change the narrative.
In Therapy, we will
Identify your triggers and learn how to calm yourself and detach from negative thoughts and behaviors.
Apply strategies for minimizing stress and anxiety
Learn to step into your sensitivity as a bodily response, dialogue with it, and move through it
Develop preventative coping skills for stress and anxiety
Practice mindfulness and making choices from a place of empowerment
You always have a choice about how we approach your treatment and I work collaboratively with my clients to figure out what works best for each person.
