Thriving as a Highly Sensitive Person
Do you have a keen imagination, rich inner life, and vivid dreams? Are time alone each day and deeply intimate relationships both as essential as air? Do others call you too shy or overly sensitive? Do you sometimes wonder if you can thrive? If you answered yes to any of these questions, you might be a highly sensitive person or HSP—twenty percent of us are. It is a valuable trait.
Many great artists and thinkers are HSP— generally highly conscientious and intuitive. There are also drawbacks: An HSP is easily overstimulated and more affected by troubled past and present stressors. A finely tuned nervous system and highly reactive brain are both trademarks of HSPs who thrive best in “good” environments. Brain reactivity means HSPs process deeply, have strong emotional responses and become easily overwhelmed in a world that is not designed for their sensitive brains and hearts. Strongly impacted by their environment and the people in it, HSPs are very susceptible to and impacted by positive interventions. We will explore the highly sensitive person’s tremendous capacity for thriving.
Reading Recommendations:
- Psychotherapy and the Highly Sensitive Person – Elaine Aron, PhD
- The Highly Sensitive Person – Elaine Aron, PhD
- The Undervalued Self – Elaine Aron, PhD
- The Highly Sensitive Man – Tom Falkenstein
- Talks at Google: Understanding the Highly Sensitive Person, Alane Freund, MS, MA
- The Highly Sensitive Person’s Survival Guide – Ted Zeff, PhD
- Documentary Film: Sensitive: The Untold Story
About the Speaker:

Alane Freund
Alane Freund, LMFT, has three decades of experience in mental health including her work as a consultant, speaker, and psychotherapist for highly sensitive people. An International Consultant on High Sensitivity (ICHS), Ms. Freund has developed and implemented programs for highly sensitive people, children, families, and the clinicians who serve them. She holds Masters’ degrees in both clinical psychology and school counseling and is the parent of a highly sensitive young adult. Ms. Freund’s Talk at Google, Understanding the Highly Sensitive Person, is widely viewed, and she hosts the twice monthly “Are You Highly Sensitive LIVE” Q&A webinars. She leads groups and retreats, including Sensitivity Circles for parents, professionals, HSPs in relationships, Sensitive & Anxious Teens, and Wise Women & Wonder Workshops and retreats include HSP University Weekends, and the HSPs & Horses™ both online and in person. Alane Freund can be reached for consultation or speaking through her website, alanefreund.com or via her YouTube channel: Alane Freund LMFT.
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Next Event:
- University of Greenwich, 10 Stockwell Street Greenwich, London, SE10 9BD, United Kingdom
- 26/06/2022

Upcoming at TWU
This episode is sponsored by our upcoming Day on Changing Consciousness, taking place at the University of Greenwich on 26th June, 2022.
This will be The Weekend University’s first ‘in person’ event in over two years, and it’s shaping up to be a special occasion. The lectures will focus on consciousness paradigms that go beyond the brain, how they work, why they matter, and how understanding them can enhance your everyday experience of reality, with talks on:
–> Panpsychism: Is Everything Conscious? – Dr Philip Goff, PhD
–> From Ego-Centric to Eco-Centric: Changing Consciousness through Psychedelics – Dr Sam Gandy, PhD
–> Is Reality an Illusion? – Professor Donald Hoffman, PhD (via live video link)
By attending live, you can interact with the speakers in the Q&A sessions, connect with like-minded participants during the conference, and get CPD certification.
Should you be unable to attend in person, you’ll also be able to tune in from the comfort of home with a “Livestream Pass”.
As a listener of this podcast, you can get a discount on your ticket, if you go to https://bit.ly/ccj-twu, and use the discount code: POD when registering.