Giftedness
Giftedness refers to a range of qualities and abilities that might be best understood as “extra” or “heightened.” Typically we think of these as high intelligence and academic achievement. However, gifted individuals often experience a set of sensitivities that are also a bit “extra.” Consider the following:
Do you tend to learn quickly, and pick up new skills and information quickly?
Have you noticed yourself perceiving details that others don’t see?
Have you felt an intense passion and drive in a particular field of interest?
Have you been told you’re intense, or too much?
Do you feel things powerfully and sometimes overwhelmingly?
Were you identified as gifted as a kid, but now feel like you haven’t amounted to anything?
Have you been told to slow down, keep it simple, or that you think too much?
Do you find yourself sacrificing what you want, or what you know you’re capable of, in order to help others along?
Have you been relied on by others (parents, teachers, bosses, etc.) to help bring others up to speed?
Do you feel stupid when you don’t understand something immediately?
Do you feel a deep sense of purpose, but struggle to identify it or actualize it?
Are you interested in numerous topics, but sometimes struggle to focus as long as others think you should?
Do clothing tags or the relentless tapping of a spoon on a saucepan drive you nuts?
Do you find yourself interested/stimulated/passionate/completely undone by existential issues, like climate change, systemic racism, spirituality, or the nature of consciousness (just to name a few)?
Do you have strong moral convictions, but find yourself struggling to live up to them?
Do you find it challenging to find peers, or friends who really get you?
Do you feel at odds with yourself, like you’re never reaching your full potential?
Are you an accomplished procrastinator? Perfectionist?
Do you feel like an impostor?
Have you been told, “you’re so smart, you can do anything!” and felt totally paralyzed?
Do you experience chronic, undiagnosed pain, leaving medical professionals baffled or dismissive?
Do you turn to food, alcohol, cannabis, exercise, etc. to turn down the volume in your head?
Do you recoil at the word “gifted” because you feel it evokes a kind of superiority?
If you resonate with any of these, I encourage you to consider giftedness. Giftedness is a kind of neurodiversity, an actual neurological sensitivity that renders life and personal experience as more. More and bigger emotions. More thoughts. More ideas. More stressors. More activity. More pain. Giftedness rarely feels like a gift, because what gets valued by society (intelligence and achievement) is only a tiny fraction of your experience.
In therapy, we focus on your actual experience, not what others think you should be or feel. It is a space to take stock of what you truly feel in order to fully accept and appreciate who you are. Rather than trying to fix you, we consider how you’re wired as a way to continue becoming yourself. Sometimes this looks like figuring out what needs healing and what needs management, where you need attention, and where you might need new skills. There is no one size fits all, so together we take your particular experience as the foundation for our work together.