The creative, highly sensitive and gifted mind often sees things inside out.
The sometimes envied “normal” person sees a light pole and sees just that−a light pole. As a Creative, Acutely Aware, Super-Sensitive, Intense, Intelligent, and/or Gifted You (AKA CASIGY™), you see a light pole and see the design of the pole and also the bulb, the inner structure of the pole, the supporting foundation in the ground, the electrical wiring, its connections to the local, national and international power grids, and maybe much more.
As a CASIGY™, you may have known from an early age that you are different from others. You may sense the obstacles this places between you and successful social or business relationships. Your mind works so fast you can easily get bored with conversations, but others only know that you seem uninterested. You may see far reaching implications of a proposed change at school or work, and when you talk about it, people think you’re off the wall. It doesn’t take long before you may be feeling like a misfit who doesn’t belong.
Are you also facing stress or adversity ─ loss, illness, financial stress, tragedy? Has life dealt you some tough blows lately, and you find yourself getting stressed out more easily than what’s usual for you? Are you often feeling done-in by your sensitivities? Do you too often get overwhelmed by life’s complexity? Do you frequently feel anxious or depressed by it all? You’re not alone. The #1 issue that brings creative, super-sensitive, intense, intelligent and/or gifted people into my office for therapy and to other therapists around the world is “over-sensitivity”, followed closely by anxiety and depression[i].
You may also have a loved one who is facing these issues in their life, and you’re searching for a way of helping them. Whether you’re searching for yourself, or a loved one, You may have looked everywhere, and don’t know where else to turn. If so, I invite you to keep reading, and also let me know your questions and concerns.
Hello, I’m Sharon M. Barnes, MSSW, LCSW, – Therapist for Sensitive and Gifted. I provide counseling and psychotherapy to highly creative, highly sensitive and gifted children, teens and adults in the Denver, Colorado area. I also offer consultation and classes online as well as Presentations, PlayShops and Professional Development worldwide. In all of these services, I help CASIGYS™ thrive, heal and become fully alive so you can fulfill your creative, sensitive, gifted destiny.
You may feel like Life has dumped a pile of ‘scraps’ in your lap (or in your gene pool) by giving you this unique set of characteristics and abilities along with corresponding challenges or even disabilities. When you know from an early age that you are ‘different’ and don’t fit in, it’s easy to feel like you’ve gotten the discarded leftovers after the ‘good stuff’ has been given to others. You may have been told to ‘get over it’ or been given other unhelpful suggestions.
But have you ever been helped to “get into it”—to explore and experience the full, deep meaning behind being different? As Therapist for Sensitive and Gifted, I can help you learn to understand yourself in new ways. I can help you pick up those ‘scraps’ in your life, and find or create something beneficial and maybe even beautiful in them. You can craft a life you’ll love to live- both metaphorically and literally.
As a CASIGY™, you may also see tough times from the inside out. You’re aware of much more than others are. You perceive 
more details, more implications, more possibilities; both good and bad. When your sensitivities trigger your intensities, the catecholamine cascade can become a deluge that pulls your feet out from under you in an instant, before you or anyone else knows that anything has happened. Your head may become foggy and your legs can become like rubber. You might doubt yourself or question your knowledge and skills. You may silently judge and shame yourself because the harder you try to think your way out of your trouble, the more mired in it you become, like being in quicksand. You know that not everyone experiences life this intensely, and the fact that you are affected so profoundly by the things that happen around you can be another trigger that sends you further into a tailspin.
more details, more implications, more possibilities; both good and bad. When your sensitivities trigger your intensities, the catecholamine cascade can become a deluge that pulls your feet out from under you in an instant, before you or anyone else knows that anything has happened. Your head may become foggy and your legs can become like rubber. You might doubt yourself or question your knowledge and skills. You may silently judge and shame yourself because the harder you try to think your way out of your trouble, the more mired in it you become, like being in quicksand. You know that not everyone experiences life this intensely, and the fact that you are affected so profoundly by the things that happen around you can be another trigger that sends you further into a tailspin.
The hands often know what the frontal lobes cannot access. The hands have a direct connection with the Meaning Maker in the Psyche and with the emotional center of the brain. Especially for many visual/spatial and kinesthetic learners, the act of physically making things that are metaphors of inner
phenomenon and also using symbols that surface from the Unconscious can empower you to deal with the challenges in your life in ways that nothing else can. This is why, as Therapist for Sensitive and Gifted, I use a variety of modalities in my counseling work with clients, including Jungian/Kalffian SandPlay Therapy and Contemplative Handwork™.
phenomenon and also using symbols that surface from the Unconscious can empower you to deal with the challenges in your life in ways that nothing else can. This is why, as Therapist for Sensitive and Gifted, I use a variety of modalities in my counseling work with clients, including Jungian/Kalffian SandPlay Therapy and Contemplative Handwork™.
Would you like to transform your ‘Big Problem’ into your Greatest Gift? You can. As Therapist for Sensitive and Gifted, I serve as a guide through the Wilderness of Inner Territory. It is within this wilderness where you will find the Treasure that’s buried under the rubble of your ‘Big Problem’. As you engage in this trek into your Inner Territory, you can discover that your being different and your having a ‘Big Problem’ are not an indictment that something is wrong with you. Instead, they constitute a personally engraved invitation to embark on your own Inner Quest. 
CASIGYs™’ mascot ─ a mythical 4-legged furry creature with a red nose can show you the way. In the legend, his red nose stood out from everyone else’s black noses. Because of his differences, he was ridiculed, excluded, ostracized and eventually banished into exile. But in the end, it was that same red nose which saved the day for everyone.
Surely you know his famous cousin’s story. Their story can be your story, too. You can discover how your differences do NOT make you defective or inferior. Instead, you’ll find that you’re Different by Design. As Therapist for Sensitive and Gifted, I can help you to take your deep inner journey, and in doing so, you can transform your Big Challenge into your Big Asset and find the Magic in Being a Misfit.
As Therapist for Sensitive and Gifted, I’ll also help you get to know, understand and take charge of your sensitivities and intensities. In so doing, you can be empowered in your whole life. I’ll help you to harness your intelligence, sensitivity and creativity to transform the obstacles in your life into stepping stones. You’ll discover how depression can be the doorway to living with depth; how anxiety can be the threshold to greater enthusiasm. You’ll also find that emotional wounds, once healed, can reveal great resilience. This can enable you to access the advantages hidden deep within each and every adversity, and also hidden within your own uniqueness.
Call (303-987-0346) or click to connect with me Today for a New Tomorrow!
[i] Misdiagnosis and Dual Diagnoses of Gifted Children and Adults: ADHD, Bipolar, Ocd, Asperger’s, Depression, and… by James T. Webb, Edward R. Amend, Nadia E. Webb and Jean Goerss (Jan 1, 2005)
