Therapeutic Center for Highly Sensitive People - Blog

THIS IS WHAT I USE TO RESTORE MY ENERGETIC BOUNDARIES

2/15/2021

By Brooke Nielsen

How’s your energy today? Are you feeling on top of the world or in need of a Energizer-powerpack? Do you ever wonder what factors in your life boost or drain your energy as an HSP?

I’ve been exploring energy with some of the wonderful folks who took my Intuitive Warrior Journey program. Recently, they sat down with me and shared first-hand about their experiences with energetic boundaries.

I learned SO much, and was blown away by what they shared and I thought you would be too.

HERE'S HOW TO KNOW IF YOUR ENERGETIC BOUNDARIES ARE DAMAGED

2/1/2021

Let's talk about the different types of energetic boundary damage which causes our struggles with carrying others' emotions, feeling exhausted all the time, and losing touch with ourselves (to name a few).

First, let's recap what we've covered so far:

Energetic boundaries have to do with the unseen energy that's exchanged between you and the world (ie. how much access others get to your energy and how much energy and emotion you absorb from others).
Energetic boundaries are like energetic/spiritual skin. Just like our physical skin protects us from absorbing every pollutant in our environment, healthy energetic boundaries keep us from absorbing all the energetic "stuff" in our environment.

ARE YOU TIRED OF CARRYING THE WEIGHT OF THE WORLD?

1/17/2021

By Brooke Nielsen

I’m sure you’ve heard the term “boundaries” before; it's an important topic!

Here's the thing though: after years of my own therapy and getting pretty darn good at setting boundaries, I still felt exhausted at the end of the day, like I was carrying around a 50 lb. backpack of the world's emotional junk.

What was going on? If I was decent at setting boundaries, why did I feel this way?

A MESSAGE FOR YOU IF YOU FEEL LIKE YOU'RE "TOO MUCH"

1/3/2021

by Brooke Nielsen, LMFT

When I was younger, I was looking for permission. Permission to be me.

Looking back, I see that I was carrying around a wound. A wound that created the belief, "I don't fit in and something is fundamentally wrong with me."

That made me feel like I needed permission, validation, and approval in order to be the real me. There was even a safety issue in here: I feared that if I was myself, I would be hurt or shamed.

THE ONE THING MOST HSPS DON'T KNOW ABOUT BUT DESPERATELY NEED

12/20/2020

By Brooke Nielsen, LMFT

Can you guess THE most common challenge of being an HSP?

Here are some clues (quotes from our HSP community)...

"I can take over the feelings of other people just by sitting next to them."
"It can be painful to care so much about all living things."
"The thing I find hardest is absorbing the emotions of people around me."
"The hardest part is having to process SO much throughout the day - not only my many emotions, but sometimes the emotions/energy of the people around me."

All of these struggles come from energetic boundary issues.

WHEN YOU’VE EXPERIENCED TRAUMA AS A HIGHLY SENSITIVE PERSON

12/6/2020

By Brooke Nielsen, LMFT

Does this sound familiar?

You’re going about your day when something catches you completely off guard. In a flash, your body comes alive with energy, your head is foggy, your thoughts spin, and your hands feel clammy. Your emotions are huge, overwhelming. Shame, anger, and/or fear overtake you and you want to lash out/hide/run away. You might feel frozen.
If we looked at what provoked this reaction, something probably made you feel unsafe (physically or emotionally): you felt shamed, rejected, abandoned, or threatened.

The above experience describes a “trauma trigger”.

HOW TO KNOW IF SHAME IS FUELING YOUR PERSONAL GROWTH

11/22/2020

by Brooke Nielsen, LMFT

I know something wonderful about you: you value growth.

In fact, you're self-aware and thoughtful, you care about how your actions impact others, and you see the importance of doing personal development work.

But I have to ask you: what drives your growth?

Is it curiosity? Conscientiousness? Passion? Excitement?

I hope so! But if you're like I was, I wonder if you're also sometimes driven by shame and internal pressure?

There was a time when 90% of my personal growth was fueled by shame.

THE SURPRISING REASONS WHY HIGHLY SENSITIVE PEOPLE ARE EXHAUSTED

11/1/2020

By Brooke Nielsen, LMFT

If there's a gap between what you want to do and what you can do, that's okay.

Everyone's grappling with something extra right now:

Finding our way through the confusion of pandemic life
Navigating kids' school situation
Experiencing trauma or PTSD due to racism and injustice
Being a working parent without any type of childcare
Being a stay-at-home parent without any respite
Feeling financial insecurity
Facing a personal struggle without an easy "fix"'
Feeling distressed about any number of our societal/global crises

Each one of these takes up mental and emotional bandwidth, and bandwidth is finite; at some point, we reach our max.

DEALING WITH INTENSE FEELINGS AS AN HSP? YOU HAVE MORE OPTIONS THAN YOU REALIZE

10/21/2019

By Brooke Nielsen, LMFT

Do you ever feel at as loss as to what to do with your emotions? They can get so big and intense sometimes, you may not know what to do with them.

You might fear that if you fully surrendered to them, you'd become totally overwhelmed, never stop crying, or become non-functional.

I used to think that there were only a couple options when it came to emotions: let them control and overtake me or keep them suppressed and locked away. So most of the time I'd choose to compartmentalize them, stuffing them down by disconnecting from myself or distracting myself with social media or comfort food.

HOW TO ESCAPE THE LONELINESS OF BEING HIGHLY SENSITIVE

9/9/2019

If you’re like me, you want to feel proud of who you are and confident in being you. Sometimes, you do: you love your intuitiveness and appreciate the powerful and profound way in which you see the world.

But you still question yourself and everything around you, constantly turning over every stone in your mind. It seems like you're bombarded with so many more feelings than others, and that you feel them more deeply.

Sometimes we wonder if something is wrong with us.