Have you ever been told you’re “too sensitive” or asked why you react so strongly to everyday events? It’s common for people to mistake a highly sensitive or hypersensitive nature for a flaw or weakness, but this trait is much more complex than people realize. Being a hypersensitive person means you process emotions, environments, and social cues more deeply and intensely than most, and it is called the highly sensitive person trait (HSP)--a personality trait and not a flaw or disorder.... Read More
highly sensitive kids
My Sensitivity Wasn’t Accepted by My Family: How I Survived
No one had a name for high sensitivity when I was a child or adolescent. I was just an odd kid, the one who was always moody, who made a big deal and overthought things, who cried too easily, especially when a person or an animal was suffering. My peers mostly looked away when I was “having a moment.” My parents told me to suck it up (literally!) and wondered when I’d outgrow these behaviors that embarrassed and annoyed them. It was clear--my sensitivity wasn't accepted by my family.... Read More
Single Tasking Instead of Multitasking Game Changer for HSP Women
If you learn early on in life that multitasking allows you to get more done, you can fall into the trap of feeling like you always should be multitasking instead of single-tasking--no matter what is going on and whether you're highly sensitive or not. There's something in the nature of highly sensitive women and our people-pleasing natures that impact the ways we juggle multiple things at once versus doing one thing at a time. While I do enjoy walking or driving and listening to podcasts, and while I can clean the kitchen while talking to one of my kids about their day, when it comes to high-level tasks that require focused attention and strong concentration, single-tasking wins over multitasking every time.... Read More
4 Steps and 4 Tips for Raising Sensitive Boys Well
Growing up with unsupportive or non-sensitive parents can be highly challenging for sensitive boys and girls. Rarely does a highly sensitive person escape childhood without incurring a few emotional wounds. Many of us had parents who didn’t understand our highly sensitive nature and didn’t have the skills or insights to parent us... Read More
8 Clues You Were a Highly Sensitive Child
If you were to look back on yourself as a child as though you were a detective, what would you notice? Would you have seen the way you felt misunderstood? Would you have sensed the hole deep inside where you wished you were understood? Many of us did not have the language to describe or the education around the Highly Sensitive Person (HSP) trait to notice our sensitivity.... Read More
5 Things You Probably Didn’t Get as a Highly Sensitive Child
Looking back at your childhood without knowing you were a Highly Sensitive Child (HSC), you probably didn't get exactly what you needed from your parents, your teachers, or your friends. Dr. Elaine Aron's book, The Highly Sensitive Child, released in 2002, nearly 20 years ago, and is the defacto manual for better understanding the segment of kids.... Read More