Life with HSP: Online Therapy Asheville, NC
Being where you are professionally today has taken a sacrifice of time and heartache that most people don’t even realize is under the surface.
Your growing up years ….
were mostly spent….
translating presented information into an understandable format to earn mandatory A’s and B’s.
Each horrific SAT and GRE score ..
felt like a bomb exploding in your chest, leaving your heart in total destitute of self-assurance.
Each comparison…..
between yourself and others who speedily handed in every assignment with complete confidence, was a gut-wrenching affair.
Your recent past….
has come to sleepless nights contemplating all angles of projects to which your boss and coworkers seem oblivious.
And spending endless hours of time, that could be devoted to family, commuting back and forth to work because it’s more convenient for your boss.
At first…
you were excited about meeting expectations in a creative way that is unique to you….
Reaping the benefits of others’ satisfied faces and compliments.
But then……
you noticed these rewards being fewer and weaker, followed by even more frequent and urgent requests, which you know are unsustainable in the long run.
Recent mandatory presentations have you blundering all over the place, something you never do when rehearsing alone.
You used to rest assured that you were appreciated for the work you do in your own unique way but now you are not so sure given the reduction in compliments and the building pressure trickling from the top for more production at a faster pace.
You know the expectations are ridiculously unachievable, but you can’t bring yourself to ask for more time at the risk of being a dissapointment and admitting that your level of quality takes more time than others. So, true to your history, you decide to avoid confrontation at the expense of your highest self’s best interest.
Now……….
you're angry at yourself for lack of assertion, you’re resentful toward the situation and your boss for not recognizing your personal needs, you’re fearful of losing unredeemable family time, you’re jealous of your coworkers for having magic ability to roll out production at light speed, and you are full of shame for not being faster at what you do.
You have tried reading books on the validation of the highly sensitive person and joined facebook groups as well as reddit conversations, but this only leaves you with either too technical or unproven information and a new confusion about which came first HSP or emotional neglect, which has nothing to do with what you are actually looking for.
You feel like a fountain that has lost its spring to shoot up from its roots and fill the cup beneath.
Your intense focus on others and on trying to be what you are not has robbed you of fluidity for sustaining your current speed. You feel dried with nothing left for your cup.
Let’s get something straight, though …..
What's a Highly Sensitive Person (HSP) mean ?
Think DOES
-
D for Deep Processing: You process things more deeply, looking for patterns, similarities, and meaning on several different levels of what you are studying
O for Easily Overwhelmed: if you notice everything, you are naturally more easily overstimulated when things are too intense, complex, chaotic, or novel
E for Empathy: Feel others emotions more intensely and have trouble recognizing who (you or them) is responsible for what
S for Subtleties: You are more aware of small differences than others: your brain processes and reflects on information more deeply than others
You are probably more misunderstood- Because you may prefer to look before entering new situations, you may have mistakenly been labeled “shy”, “Inhibited”, “Fearful”, or even less intelligent than others.
The upside!!
While the HSP traits have potential drawbacks, there is sooo much potential for these same characteristics to be great strengths.
The intense emotion you often experience acts as a motivator for positive change.
HSP’s are just as responsive to positive support as they are to dysfunctional and negative feedback, making them extra resilient when supported by therapy.
Their attention to detail and potential outcomes of certain decisions helps them make consistent informed decisions that usually end up benefiting them greatly.
Imagine….. Lights, Camera…
Considering your empathy for others and your deep sense of processing as a treasured gift, a never ending well called your depth of insight. This is your ability to sense subtle details of your environment and your inner experience that shed a wealth of knowledge into every situation.
Action….
Your ownership of this ability allows you to tap into the never ending well of resources in such a way that an effortless stream of helpful endeavors pours out of you each day without any hint of fatigue in the evening.
You are able to actively reserve time and energy to identify your emotions and your unique needs so you can directly address what matters most to your inner self.
You trust your infinite depth of insight that leads to believing in the possibility of being not only accepted but vigorously sought after and celebrated because of your inner self.
Imagine arriving at a compassionate reality, making effective communication with others seem effortless. You have a fresh outlook for your future and a steady progression to brilliant possibilities that are beyond your wildest dreams.
I’ve personally witnessed many of my clients go from burnt out and self-doubting people pleasers to efficient, self-assured, and respectful boundary setters.
What it will take:
If you are ready to honestly face some of your most frustrating characteristics including emotional intensity and being easily over stimulated and their residual effects with a sense of Yoga inspired self-compassion and nonjudgmental observation (more on yoga for HSP), I am willing to join and guide you on an imaginative and deeply healing intuitive journey called EMDR, an evidence based method for processing trauma .