How to Work with the Highly Sensitive Person in Psychotherapy Workshop

Event price: By donation

Booking details:https://www.thelinkcentre.co.uk/courses/online-events/

A highly sensitive person (HSP) is someone with a natural, innate temperament trait characterised by being more responsive to environmental and internal stimuli. They have a genetic, biological difference in nervous system physiology. It is inherited by approximately 1 in 5 of humans and over 100 other species.  

Those with this trait notice more subtleties and process information very deeply. Noticing more subtleties means that HSPs can sometimes become more easily overstimulated than others, for example by prolonged stimulation, like intense, or chaotic sounds, sights.  

They can also be more easily overwhelmed by prolonged negative stress or just being around other people for too long. 

The difference is quite profound, their trait creating a filter through which everything HSPs think, feel and do, is processed deeply, including many bodily responses—for example, HSPs are more sensitive to pain, caffeine, medications, temperature, light, sounds, and hunger.  

Why is this relevant to therapists? Research suggests that HSPs make up about 50% of clients who seek counselling and psychotherapy and yet this is a little known trait in our profession. HSPs often get misdiagnosed by mental health professionals and treated in ways that are sometimes not helpful and at other times damaging. HSPs are more reflective, have faster reflexes, process more slowly but thoroughly, and tend to be highly conscientious, in and out of the therapy room.