How can Counseling or Psychotherapy help?

If you identify with being an HSP, you probably know all too well the daily struggles of being overstimulated in a high sensory environment, feeling emotionally overwhelmed, being affected by the emotions of others, and generally feeling like you don't have control over your feelings or life.

From a social-emotional viewpoint, these factors can affect self-esteem, interpersonal relationships, boundaries, and identity. Depending on how long and how intensive the experiences, and how well they were managed, they may result in anxiety, depression, or a personality disorder. Or some may simply find that life is more of a struggle than it should be.

Of course, while the SPS trait is separate from any mental health condition or disorder, it still contributes to many facets of the quality of one's mental health and outlook on life.

For example, if you think of two people standing on opposing mountaintops staring down at the same valley, they will see very different things. So, too, your world (your childhood, beliefs, behaviors, and relationships) will look quite different once it is viewed from the perspective of the HSP mountaintop. This is partly what happens in counseling. We will help you to consider your life from a new perspective.

In addition to helping you reframe your experiences from the HSP perspective, you will acquire tools in counseling to help you shift from a reactive state (overwhelmed, negative feelings and responses) to a more proactive state (being better prepared to handle what comes your way and taking control over key areas of your life).

NOTE: The above content for this section is courtesy of The Nickerson Institute of Integrative Health Training.