About high sensitivity and giftedness
This page offers a brief introduction to high sensitivity and giftedness so you can see if you resonate with either, and may benefit from working with me around these traits. I have linked to sites with comprehensive information about each trait if you want to do deep dives into either.
High sensitivity and giftedness: what counts?
As a starting point, when it comes to suitability for working with me on either trait, it is enough if you believe yourself to be highly sensitive and/or gifted, or simply want to work with a coaching model that accounts for these experiences of being. I do not need any proof! This is about experience of self and world, not tests or thresholds.
High sensitivity
High sensitivity is a trait present in 15-20% of the human population, as well as several other species. It is an innate trait, related to the amount of stimulation that “gets in” for the person. It often shows up as sensitivity to noise, or light, or social interaction, or emotion, or pain, or others’ suffering, or any number of other things. It is a neutral fact of existence, like eye colour, but how it is treated culturally and relationally can vary - some cultures revere sensitivity while many (including mine) have historically treated it as a flaw to be corrected.
You can read more about high sensitivity direct from the source: Elaine Aron is the original researcher who brought high sensitivity into mainstream understanding, and her website is replete with information and resources for understanding the trait.
Giftedness
Giftedness is a wildly misunderstood trait, or set of traits, that is also innate and neutral. It appears in a much smaller proportion of the population (around 5%, with numbers of highly, exceptionally and profoundly gifted people below 0.2%). It usually encompasses high sensitivity to some extent, and moreso the more highly gifted a person is.
Giftedness is often understood to only represent intellect, or perhaps creative talent, but it is in fact a whole being experience of life and physiology. It is defined by complexity and speed of processing, not just of cognitive information, but also of emotional, sensory, somatic, relational and existential material. In my practice I use an adapted version of Intergifted’s holistic model of giftedness.
To be gifted, especially at the upper levels, is to have a much more intense and more sensitive experience of life, often one fundamentally different from the neurotypical norm. In this way giftedness can be understood as a form of neurodivergence.
Sometimes the word “gifted” can be treated as a kind of elitism, or a belief in the superiority of one person over another. I reject this, and honestly wish the word “gifted” could be exchanged for something more neutral, since the trait brings enormous challenge with it, and doesn’t make anyone better than anyone!
Every person has a bundle of strengths and limitations. The (neutral) truth is that giftedness is simply a different bundle of strengths and limitations to those of the neurotypical norm (and the limitations can be considerable, unfortunately).
Given how different these bundles are from the general population, generalised advice, therapy, parenting, teaching, coaching, and support of all kinds can often be inadequate or even completely unsuitable for gifted people. This is why it can be vital to identify giftedness when it arises, to learn about it, and then to account for its realities in the ways you navigate your life.
If you want to learn more about giftedness and all the many facets of its experience, do explore all the information and resources on Intergifted’s website.
Determining whether you are highly sensitive or gifted
If you are unsure whether you are highly sensitive or gifted, you may like to review the materials on Elaine Aron’s site for highly sensitive people, or Intergifted’s description of its model of giftedness and related articles, to see how much you connect to. I use an adapted version of Intergifted’s model of giftedness (and giftedness often includes high sensitivity).
Again, whether or not you perfectly fit into the descriptions here or on these sites does not matter for working with me. It is enough that you feel some connection to the material and want to work in the way I work.
Does sensitivity or giftedness have to be the subject of coaching?
I work with clients who have these traits, but we do not work only on the traits themselves. There can be some education and processing, if that is useful, and I am in the process of training to work on gifted integration specifically. That will become a separate offering in time. However, know that the focus of coaching need not necessarily be the traits themselves.
We work on what is current and important to you, which may include playing bigger, leadership, work, life, contribution, relationships, or any number of other things. The traits are relevant to the relational environment and the approach to many issues, but the subject of the coaching is usually much broader.