Therapy for highly sensitive people across greater Washington and Oregon
“High sensitivity is not a disease or disorder. It is not something that needs to be overcome or fixed.”
Jenn Granneman
Have you heard this before: “it’s only a joke” “you’re being too sensitive” “stop taking everything so personally” “why are you making this such a big deal”
You’re used to feeling everything to a really intense degree, sometimes to the point of overwhelm? Whether its a beautiful nature scene, violence in a movie, an inspirational speech, or a story from a friend, nothing you feel is mild! Emotions are always an intense experience and people generally know this about you but don’t understand it? Teachers, parents, and peers always notice and you were typically told to toughen up in one way or another?
The Difficulties of Being Highly Sensitive
Maybe you find yourself not able to keep up with your friends, you just need time to recharge after a certain number of hours together? You struggle to be as productive each day as others in a similar a position as you, whether as a student or at work?
Do you feel drained by busy or loud places, bright lights, small talk, sudden routine changes? Those can be hard for highly sensitive people, even if they like spontaneity! Maybe its the texture of certain foods or clothes that can absolutely derail you until it can be changed? Strong smells might drain your energy too.
High Sensitivity is a type of neurodiversity that affects between 15-20% of people. Highly Sensitive brains simply take in more sensory information than regular brains and that means that the people who possess them feel more deeply, are going to be overwhelmed more easily, and need to recharge more often.
No two highly sensitive people are the same but most share similar struggles and share some similar strengths.
Common Strugles of Highly Sensitive People:
struggle with uncertainty, many build in their own routines and try to plan ahead when possible
tend to become overstimulated and overwhelmed by certain noises, sounds, lights, textures, smells
more likely to overthink and experience anxiety
naturally attuned to emotions present in themselves, in others, or under the surface of conversations;
always feeling emotions deeply
naturally attuned to energy changes, mood shifts, or temperature changes, even if slight
drained by casual small talk and surface level interactions
prone to physical symptoms when stressed (headaches, stomachache, IBS, sleeplessness)
many can also be perfectionistic and struggle with imposter syndrome
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Psychologist Elaine Aron uses the acronym DOES to describe the criteria for HSPs:
Depth of Processing - You naturally think deeply and have a complex, rich inner world
Overstimulation - You tend to be overwhelmed by loud noises, bright lights, certain smells, textures, sensations, and/or crowds, also startles easily. Time and space are usually required to regain the lost energy.
Empathy and Emotional Responsiveness - You feel grief, joy, pain, compassion, among others, as deeply with others as you do when you’re feeling these emotions for yourself. You pick up on the moods of others naturally and very quickly, and are keenly perceptive and intuitive.
Sensing the Subtle - Your keen perception and intuition serve you to also notice the emotional nuances in conversations that others might miss. You notice slight changes in emotional energy shifts, temperature or lighting changes, and observations that are slight enough to go under the radar for most people.
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Therapy designed by a highly sensitive therapist for highly sensitive clients offers a calm and soothing space to explore what’s going on without judgement or expectation of someone else’s timeline.
As people naturally begin to grow more confident about themselves as highly sensitive people, they find themselves speaking up a bit more, and find their relationships feeling a bit more rewarding. You’ll learn how to navigate healthy boundaries with less worry and be able to excuse yourself from overstimulating situations a bit more easily too.
Depending on your goals, this will look different according to those goals, and we always check in to make sure things are feeling like we’re on the right track.
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This depends on many factors but is mostly determined by what your goals are for therapy. You may decide to come in long term for deeper or more reflective work, or you may prefer chapters of therapy that are more narrowly focused, addressing specific issues and specific results.
Thankfully the more clear you are about what kind of results you want, the more we can collaborate in our efforts to make that happen.
Additionally, many Highly Sensitive People also have similar strengths:
uniquely observant and present
being highly perceptive and intuitive
naturally empathic and compassionate
seek deep, meaningful connections and understandings
