As a Highly Sensitive Person (HSP), I know what it’s like to feel you are too emotional. I know what it is like to read a sad book or watch a sad movie and feel upset for days. Emotions are deeply intense and long lasting. Why was I so different from everyone else? Why did I have to feel so deeply? I didn’t know why I struggled so much when relationships changed or ended. Why did it bother me when people seemed to be so disingenuous and conversations so superficial and meaningless? It wasn’t until I discovered Elaine Aron’s research on the Highly Sensitive Person, that I finally learned the answers.
It wasn’t just because I was emotional and struggled to get over things, especially the hard things like grief, relational trauma, and injustices in my life and in the lives of others. It wasn’t just because I was an introvert who recharged by spending time alone or that I loved to learn, study and think deeply. It was all of these things but so much more. I intuitively and instinctually picked up on subtleties that others didn’t. What I later learned from Elaine Aron’s research was that roughly twenty percent of the population was Highly Sensitive and had the same genetic trait. And, about half of individuals who enter therapy are Highly Sensitive. The four distinctive traits of HSP’s are: a deeper level of processing, overstimulated easily, intense emotional experiences and a highly empathic, and awareness of subtleties in the environment. As I learned more, my life and all of my experiences seemed to make more sense. I knew that I wanted to help others who were feeling and thinking the same things.
I work with the Highly Sensitive Person (HSP’s) seeking help with anxiety, relational trauma, and grief and loss. Relational trauma can result from growing up in a family who doesn’t understand the HSP trait. However, we are even more susceptible to relational trauma when we grow up in families where a parent is neglectful or abusive due to mental illness, addiction, or unresolved trauma. We can also experience relational trauma when we are in an adult relationship with someone who is manipulative or abusive for any reason.
I am passionate about the field of Psychology and have graduate degrees in both Experimental Psychology and Counseling Psychology. I use counseling methods that are empirical, creative, and thoughtful. Instead of being simply solution focused, my therapy with clients is sometimes deeper than what they have experienced previously. My approach is empathic, intuitive, and instinctual which seems to fit well with highly sensitive clients who enjoy a deeper level of processing and growth. One of my favorite comments from a client is, “I didn’t know I could learn so much about myself in one hour.”
I welcome the opportunity to help you make the changes you desire. You may find that you agree with one of my clients who said, “Counseling is the best investment I ever made”.
