Are you a Highly Sensitive Person?

The term Highly Sensitive Person was coined in the 1990s by the psychotherapist and researcher Dr. Elaine Aaron in the mid-1990s. Dr. Aaron is a highly sensitive person herself and is passionate about empowering HSPs as well as making evidence-based information about this trait available widely. She has written several books on this topic, for example 'The Highly Sensitive Person', The Highly Sensitive Child', 'The Highly Sensitive Person in Love' and ‘The Highly Sensitive Parent’.

In a nutshell, research shows that as a HSP you are more aware of subtleties in your environment because your brain processes information more deeply. And because you observe more of what’s around you and also reflect on it more, you are more affected by it. This leads to the fact that you are more easily overwhelmed when things are too intense or chaotic for a longer period of time.

Being highly sensitive is a trait we are born with, much like introversion or extraversion, and it is not something that a person can be ‘trained out of’ or ‘toughened up from’. Actually about 1 in 5 humans - and also 1 in 5 in over 100 other species - is born with the trait of High Sensitivity and the numbers are equally distributed between males and females. HSPs are often introverted but 30% of HSPs are actually extraverted.

Some examples you might recognise from your own life are:

·        Do you find bright lights, noises and smells overwhelming?

·        Do you need to rest and recover in a darkened room or another quiet, private setting after a busy day or social activities?

·        Do you enjoy deep conversations and struggle with small talk?

·        Do you avoid violent and upsetting movies and TV-Shows?

·        Do you find yourself reflecting on things deeply and feel things deeply?

·        Do you remember being perceived as a sensitive child by your family?

To find out if you or your child is highly sensitive you can complete the self-test as per Elaine Aron, which is on her website ( https://hsperson.com/ ) .

Once a person recognises themselves as a HSP it opens the door to navigating life in a new way and to recognise the gifts this sensitive disposition can offer.

Starting therapy can feel like a big step, so I’ve written about how to choose the right counsellor, including a question you can ask about how a counsellor works with sensitivity..

If you are interested in finding out more about high sensitivity or would like some support, I would love to hear from you. I am highly sensitive myself and offer HSP-informed sessions in person in Castle Hill, for women across the Hills District and Sydney, as well as online via Zoom for clients Australia-wide.