1614 X St., Suite A
Sacramento, CA 95818
US
916-287-3430
ivy@thrivetherapyandcounseling.com
Thrive Therapy & Counseling provides high quality therapy to Highly Sensitive People and to kids, teens or adults struggling with anxiety, depression or self-esteem.
This blog is written by a therapist in midtown Sacramento and focuses on the concerns and struggles of highly sensitive people (HSPs) and of kids, teens and adults struggling with depression, anxiety or just trying to figure out what they want for themselves. There's help and hope through counseling and therapy!
Filtering by Category: HSP therapy
You know the feeling when you get that AWESOME insight and things just “click” and make sense? It’s that “Aha!” moment when you’re like “Wow, therapy is really paying off!” Just kidding…sort of. And then…it’s gone! As quickly as it enters your mind, it just floats away on the breeze! Where did it go? I like to say that some of our best insights are put on shelves somewhere in our brains, collecting dust.
Read MorePeople who are highly sensitive or attuned to their environment can experience changes in weather, light, and energy very intensely. In the past few months, the days have gotten shorter, colder, and we may have even noticed a general shift in energy all around us. This can be a welcome change for some and more difficult for others, especially when the expectations we feel don’t match up with the energy we have to deal with them.
Read MoreCrying easily is something many HSPs deal with in their day-to-day life. There are times when your nerves feel raw or you feel like a water balloon and every person and situation you encounter has a pin that could cause you to burst into tears at any moment. Crying in front of others can feel quite vulnerable and many of us may have even had experiences of people reacting insensitively to our tears.
As HSPs, we can pick up on subtleties in our environments and the feelings of others. We may have received reinforcement from our families or the wider cultures we grew up in for being able to anticipate the needs, feelings, and desires of others. We may have even been punished in some way for not knowing others’ needs and living up to their expectations. All of this to say that we can often feel flooded by the noise of others’ needs and priorities in the form of what I like to call “static”.
Read MoreAs HSPs, we may feel as though the world is constantly acting upon us, like we have no control over anything and we’re completely overwhelmed. When we’re highly attuned to our environment and the people around us, there is a lot of information coming in on a regular basis. That’s why it is so important for people who are highly sensitive to use the tools at our disposal to create a sense of balance and satisfaction in our lives.
Read MoreIt’s all well and good to bust out your arsenal of coping tools when you’re already overwhelmed, but how do we lessen our chances of being overwhelmed in the first place?
As HSPs, our urges to please others, make their lives easier, and keep things calm can be quite strong. We will do almost anything to maintain peace and harmony in our environment. But sometimes this can come at the expense of our own well-being and we find ourselves exhausted, stressed out and depleted.
Do you often find yourself exhausted but you feel as though you haven’t done very much? Are there times during the day when you feel like your head is buzzing and you just want to press PAUSE on the entire world? You may be suffering from sensory overload.
Read MoreBeing a highly sensitive person has its benefits and its challenges. You might find that you experience high levels of internal rewards from simple pleasures like the sound of rain against your window, the smell of fresh laundry, or the softness of your favorite worn-out t-shirt. But by the same token, you might also experience extreme overwhelm from what others may consider small disruptions in your environment, the daily news cycle, or even the moods and emotions of others.
Read MoreI LOVE this notion. And, it’s often so necessary for HSPs. We can struggle with our ability to state what we want and need in ways that others hear and respond to. Catch that? This is about helping other people understand and accurately respond to our requests (which—by the way—helps build secure attachment, but that’s an article for another day :)).
Take this conversation, for example:
Read MoreThis summer I had the opportunity to attend A Weekend for Highly Sensitive People with Elaine Aron and some of her HSP protégés. The retreat was held in the Santa Cruz mountains with redwoods outside our windows and hiking trails onsite. I felt a bit like a kid in a candy store with getting to meet THE person who identified, researched and verified this trait of sensitivity, on top of being in one of my favorite settings. I realize as I review my notes that I may be writing multiple articles about my takeaways from this weekend, but I wanted to start with a review of the basics--an appreciation for who we are and for how legit this trait is.
What does it really mean to be a HSP?
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