HSP: highly sensitive person
Highly sensitive person: when you feel everything deeply
Online counselling across Australia for women and sensitive, deep-feeling people.
Are you a highly sensitive person?
If you have ever been told you are 'too sensitive', 'too much' or 'overthinking', you may be a highly sensitive person. It is not something to change. It is a natural trait, and it can become one of your greatest strengths.
I offer online counselling across Australia for women and sensitive, deep-feeling people. Your sensitivity is welcome here.
What would it feel like to be met exactly as you are?
What is a highly sensitive person?
A highly sensitive person is someone whose nervous system takes in more of the world and processes it more deeply. The term comes from psychologist Dr Elaine Aron, who describes it as a natural trait called sensory processing sensitivity. Her research suggests that roughly 15 to 20 per cent of people share it.
High sensitivity is not a disorder, a diagnosis or something wrong with you. Highly sensitive people tend to:
Process things deeply, and think and feel before they act
Become overstimulated more easily by noise, crowds, pressure or too much at once
People whose ideas move faster than their systems can hold them
Feel emotions strongly, and feel other people's emotions too
Notice the subtle things: a change in mood, light, tone or atmosphere
Common traits of highly sensitive people
You may have searched for highly sensitive person symptoms. Because high sensitivity is not an illness, I prefer to call these traits. You might recognise some of them:
A rich, busy inner world
Deep empathy, and sometimes empathy fatigue
Needing quiet time alone to reset
Being moved by beauty, music, nature or art
Feeling stressed when rushed or overloaded
Feeling criticism, conflict or tension for a long time afterwards
Strong intuition, and a sense of 'knowing'
A tendency to put others first, then feel worn out
The gift, and the weight
Highly sensitive people often bring depth, creativity, intuition and a quiet kind of wisdom to the people around them. The same sensitivity can also feel heavy. Many highly sensitive people learn to please people-please, to overthink, to push for perfection, or to hide how much they feel, because somewhere along the way they were told to 'toughen up'.
You don't have to. When we feel safe, our sensitivity becomes one of our greatest strengths.
A gentle self-check: are you a highly sensitive person?
This is not a clinical test, and it can't diagnose anything. It is a soft way to notice yourself. Read each line and see whether it feels true for you.
I notice small changes in a room, such as a shift in light, sound or mood.
Busy places, loud noise or strong smells drain me faster than they seem to drain others.
I feel other people's emotions as if they were my own.
I think about things deeply, and often replay conversations afterwards.
I need quiet time alone to reset after a full day.
Beauty, music or nature can move me deeply.
I feel rattled when I'm rushed or have too much to do at once.
Criticism, conflict or tension stays with me for a long time.
I have often been told I am 'too sensitive'.
I tend to put other people's needs first, and then feel exhausted.
If many of these feel true, you may well be a highly sensitive person. That is not a label to carry. It is an invitation to understand yourself with kindness.
How counselling can support highly sensitive people
Counselling with a highly sensitive person in mind is more intuitive and subtle, always led by you. I will never ask you to explain yourself further or justify why you feel and process so deeply. Together we might:
Understand your nervous system, and learn tools to settle it
Move through overwhelm and empathy fatigue, and find boundaries that feel kind
Meet the protective parts of you, such as the people-pleaser or the inner critic, with curiosity and compassion
Make room for your sensitivity to become a strength and to understand what this means for you individually
Sessions are held online, by secure video or phone, so you can meet from a space that feels calm to you. My work is trauma-informed and somatic, and it draws on Relationship Counselling, Trauma-Informed Counselling and, from November, IFS Therapy.
WHEN YOU’RE READY
Begin when you're ready
Taking the first step should feel safe and low-pressure. Share a little about what is bringing you here, and I will reply personally to talk through what comes next. You'll find fees and what to expect on the Fees & FAQs page. Let's begin when you're ready.