Unapologetically Sensitive

It's ok to be Human: Finding Humor and Acceptance in Imperfection How do you create a balance between embarrassment and humor, and learning how to be open and honest about your humanity, your body, and your experiences? How can you recognize when dominant groups are trying to make you feel inadequate for how you show up in the world? How can you learn from your experiences and foster a growth mind...

Joyful Movement: How to Tune In To What You Need Find what works for you and let your heart, your body, and your muscles guide you. Move your body because it's delicious and it feels good, not because you're trying to outrun something. Jen and I discuss h ow you can learn to tune into what you need and to set goals that are manageable to succeed. We also talk about how to navigate the gremlins tha...

Are these Signs of Emotional Unavailability? Is being a people pleaser, a chronic rescuer, and a chronic over giver an indicator that you are emotionally unavailable? Jen and I look at this through the lens of neurodivergence, reframing, trauma, attachment, reframing, development and context in order to have a rich conversation about our thoughts.   We talk about vulnerability, reciprocity, identi...

Is it about You or Them? How can you use your sensitivity as a strength to create deeper intimacy and understanding in your relationships? We examine the nuances and complexities when a sensitive person's need or wound is met with unkindness, and how to reframe that as a strength. We discuss how to communicate with compassion and vulnerability when we have something that needs to be addressed. We...

Attachment Wounds and How They Show Up Why do you have attachment wounds, and what do they look like? How do you know when you're activated and struggling with attachment wounds? We talk about tools to use when you're activated, and we normalize that you ARE going to get activated! At the end, I provide a gentle sound bath of affirmations to affirm that you're supposed to have needs, and that you...

When People Don't Really Get You How do you determine how much to share in relationships? What do you do if you are vulnerable, and you are met with defensiveness, annoyance or rejection? How do you assess if the other person values authenticity, vulnerability and honesty? Jen and I talk about the skills and qualities you may want in a close relationship, and how to assess if they are present.  We...

How to Support Someone with Attachment Injuries   How do you to someone when their attachment wounds are present without self-defensiveness, or feeling that you did something wrong? How do you learn to deeply listen without your own bias or agenda? What are the barriers that come up that prevent you from being present for someone else? How do you make space for each other's young parts? Jen and I...

Healing Attachment Injuries This episode talks about what happens when your attachment injuries get triggered in a current relationship, but it's based on wounding from the past. How do you separate out the past from the present? How do you communicate when that young part is present (and feeling hurt, angry, and abandoned)? What does the healing/feeling part look like? How do you show up for that...

I'm Excited about What I've Learned about Myself Vanessa talks about the ways she is learning to manage her anxiety, and to use tools to identify what she is feeling, thinking, and needing. Vanessa is learning how to thrive as a Highly Sensitive Person (HSP), even though she experienced burnout, and she has a history of trauma that is stored in her body. Vanessa shares her gremlins about recording...

Ways to Reset for New Beginnings Jen and I share our strong feelings about New Year's Resolutions. We talk about other tools you can use to set intentions indicating what you might want more or less of in your life. We talk about how perfectionism can create barriers to self-compassion. We explore how mindfulness and getting curious can guide you towards what you may be longing for. We also talk a...

Setting the Groundwork for the Holidays with an Emotionally Immature Person part 2 Dr. Lindsay Gibson, author of Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents , and Recovering from Emotionally Immature Parents explains why we repeatedly give in to an Emotionally Immature Person (EIP) even when you don't want to. She talks about how to stay in touch with your true self and how to plan your actions...

Is it Harder to be in a Relationship with a Highly Sensitive Person (HSP)? We look at Orchid Theory and Differential Susceptibility and we talk about attachment.  Can an HSP be in a healthy relationship with a non HSP? Some HSPs choose not to be in relationships. We talk about attunement, self-compassion, wounding, perfectionism, as well as misperception, misunderstanding, and the lack of ability...

Setting the Groundwork for the Holidays with an Emotionally Immature Person part 1 Dr. Lindsay Gibson, author of Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents , and Recovering from Emotionally Immature Parents explains why it's harder to deal with Emotionally Immature People (EIPs) around get togethers, and the likely pitfalls.  She talks about how to plan and prepare so the experience is healthy...

We're Wounded & Healed in Relationship Jen and I have a very candid and vulnerable discussion about some attachment injuries that came up in our relationship. We talk about how we often overfunction and overperform in relationships.  I talk about the fears that come up if I am not always giving—it involves being called selfish and fearing that Jen will leave if I don't do enough.  We talk about us...

Compassion for the Symphony of Your Gremlins Jen shares what she calls her symphony of gremlins, and she looks at it through the lens of Internal Family Systems (IFS). We talk about how resistance and fear are part of the process, and how the use of Self energy and compassion and wisdom can help to create distance from the gremlins. We talk about language to use when someone is hurting, and you mi...

Self-Care When People are Angry and Reactive This is a follow up to episode 161.  How do you re-center on yourself and your experience when someone else has a different perspective? This is an emotional and vulnerable episode I. talk about crying when I'm angry, and what I did when I had intrusive thoughts, and how I created safety and asked for support. I also had several trauma responses (fawnin...

What Do You Tell Yourself About Your Feelings? The language that you use to describe what you're feeling and experiencing matters. When do you process feelings, and when do you hold off? Do you feel guilty for resting, or do you feel like you're not doing enough? Your gift as a Highly Sensitive Person (HSP) is your presence and being , which is harder to measure than being productive.  Jen talks a...

Are You the Giver or the Givee? Are you skilled at knowing how to show up for other people and meeting their needs? Do you allow others to be there for you? Are your relationships reciprocal? Jen and I talk about the gifts that come from deep connection, vulnerability, and allowing others to be there for you.  We also talk about wanting to do it yourself, and not wanting to bother others and how t...

Rumbling with Your Self-Worth and Value What are you longing for? Is it to be heard, seen, understood, appreciated, valued? When you get what you're wanting, can you take it in, or do you minimize it? Do you compare your life to others' and feel like everyone else has their shirt together? Sometimes as a Highly Sensitive Person (HSP), you may feel shame when you either acknowledge your need/want,...

Responding When Someone Has Been Hurtful Managing anger, hurt, and frustration when someone has communicated unkindly can be hard for the Highly Sensitive Person (HSP). Do you say something? Do you suck it up because it can be dysregulating having a difficult conversation? Many HSPs tell me that they don't know what to say in these situations. I went into a fawn response. Many of you have been gas...

They're Not Giving Us a Hard Time: They're Having a Hard Time It's important to understand behavior and sensitivity.  Alexis is the parent of Bunny the Talking Dog, and she talks about sensitivity in dogs. This is relatable for the Highly Sensitive Person (HSP) when it comes to self-compassion, and compassion for challenging behaviors in humans and animals. Alexis talks about how you can change th...

Unrealistic Expectations Do you have unrealistic expectations of yourself, followed by self-judgment, criticism and berating yourself? How do you honor where you're at and find the balance between honoring and pushing? Much of the healing you do is in relationship with others. There may also be an expectation that you will "arrive" at a permanent state of healing or peace, and then you judge yours...

Bunny The Talking Dog Alexis (Bunny's human), talks about wanting to have the best relationship with her dog, and she wanted to develop trust and a strong bond with Bunny, so she decided to teach bunny to talk . Bunny uses words like happy, mad, sad, concerned, ugh, sorry, and please. Alexis talks about the research that is being done at The Comparative Cognition Lab at UCSD. She says animals are...

Adjusting to Unexpected Bumps Do you expect that you will handle things with grace and ease, and you get angry at yourself (or others) when you don't? What if being out of balance was to be expected? Jen and I talk about looking at the larger context when we don't respond the way we'd like.  We talk about what may help you respond vs. react. We talk about the use of compassion, humility, and trans...

Managing Emotional Dysregulation Part 2 I share 5 things that happened in a few days that contributed to me being very dysregulated. My wounded parts were showing up in full force.  I share come of the common wounds that come up for people (hopelessness, feeling like you can't count on others; no one cares, etc.), as well as a long list of tools you can use when you're feeling out of balance. It's...