In this episode of the Colleague Down the Hall Podcast, Jeanene Wolfe is joined by April Snow, psychotherapist and HSP consultant, to discuss the traits, challenges, and the unique needs of highly sensitive people (HSPs). This neurotype affects approximately 30% of the population. April describes how HSPs experience deep emotional processing, acute detail awareness, and heightened empathy. They explore common misunderstandings HSPs face, often feeling pressured to fit into non-HSP norms, and how this can overlap with conditions like ADHD. April shares tailored therapeutic approaches, emphasizing mindfulness, somatic techniques, and resilience-building while preserving sensitivity. The conversation highlights sustainable self-care for HSP clients and therapists, with practical advice on setting boundaries, managing burnout, and navigating client relations with compassion. 

 

“A lot of people do equate it as a diagnosis, because mostly, HSPs that you're seeing in therapy, a lot of times, are struggling with anxiety, OCD, complex trauma, because we're more impacted by our environment, our experiences. But it's actually a temperament trait, so it's something you're born with. It's even prior to personality being formed, because there's, like I said, there's an evolution. An advantage to being more perceptive, more sensitive, to notice the little details, pick out the dangers, keep everyone safe. So we're going really far back biologicallly here. So, yeah, just something you're born with, and there's an advantage to it”- April Snow

 

Key points:

***Definition and Traits of HSPs: April shares how highly sensitive people (HSPs) deeply process emotions and information, are highly empathetic, and notice fine details. This neurotype makes up about 30% of the population.

***Challenges and Misunderstandings: HSPs often experience overwhelm and misunderstandings from others due to their unique nervous system wiring and feel pressure to conform to non-HSP norms, which can lead to invalidation.

***Therapeutic Approaches: Effective therapy for HSPs includes understanding their deep processing needs and using somatic and mindfulness techniques to support nervous system regulation. Therapists are encouraged to educate themselves on the unique needs of HSPs through resources like the "Sensitive" documentary and Dr. Elaine Aaron’s work, fostering a supportive client-therapist relationship.

About April Snow:

April Snow, LMFT is a licensed psychotherapist, author, consultant, and Sensitive Stories podcast host. She specializes in working with highly sensitive people and therapists to help calm the storm of overwhelm, anxiety, and self-doubt to allow their innate sensitive strengths to shine through. 

Deeply committed to changing the narrative of what it means to be highly sensitive, April has created and led HSP workshops all over the country as well as online through her Sensitive School. 

In addition to Find Your Strength: A Workbook for the Highly Sensitive Person, she has written Mindfulness Workbook for Stress Relief and The Empowered Highly Sensitive Person's Self-Care Journal.

 

Connect with April:

Website: https://www.sensitivestrengths.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sensitivestrengths

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@sensitivestrengths

TIktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@sensitivestrengths

 

 

To get updates about future Fictionalized Clinical Consultation Groups: www.CollabOasis.com/FCC_live

Connect with Jeanene:

*Get your free practice building and growing trainings (time-sensitive): https://therasummit.com/jeanene (affilitate link)

*Get your free Four Keys to Private Practice Peace of Mind workbook: https://collaboasis.com/4keysworkbook

*Learn more about clinical consultation groups: https://collaboasis.com/

*Join my free therapist Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/oasispcgt

*Connect on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/jeanene-wolfe-lcsw-64042220a/