Helping Highly Sensitive Introverts and Therapists create a life outside the box that allows them to embrace their Sensitive Strengths.
All tagged relationships
A common boundary strategy for HSPs is to amplify what you’re feeling or escalate the severity of your needs to be understood. Exaggerating a bit is a form of self-protection because it may feel safer saying no with an “excuse” - giving some compelling reason that justifies your need to the other person. It also saves you from hearing “it’s no big deal” or “you’re too sensitive”.
As an HSP, you need to live for yourself and not follow someone else’s compass. It’s important to reflect on what you need to honor your sensitivity and how you’re sacrificing yourself to make others feel more comfortable at your expense.
Being misunderstood as a highly sensitive person is common because most people in your life don’t have the same type of attuned nervous system that you do or need the same amount of downtime and recharging. The solution is not to bend beyond your bandwidth, but to communicate your needs and experiences more clearly.
Highly Sensitive People often feel misunderstood, resentful and overwhelmed in relationships, so it’s important to find a balance of quiet downtime for yourself and meaningful shared experiences with your partner.
When you’ve been told your emotions and perceptions are wrong, you can’t help but begin to question yourself. Every instinct, feeling, thought becomes uncertain and confusing. Your feelings will often be different than others and you will often know things without knowing why. This is part of your gift of being born highly sensitive - more aware, intuitive, emotionally attuned to your environment and the people around you.
Why criticism is so difficult for Highly Sensitive People, typical responses when facing conflict and ways to manage without apologizing or blaming yourself.
For highly sensitive people, boundaries can feel intimidating, scary, unfamiliar, and bring up feelings of guilt. If you haven’t built a strong relationship with boundaries yet, slowly ease into the practice setting clear limits - with yourself and others. This will preserve your downtime and ultimately strengthen your relationships.
