Problematic Perfectionism

Are you a perfectionist? Is your perfectionism serving your needs and supporting your goals?

Perfectionism may be (a) an adaptive mindset; (b) a maladaptive trait, (c) a barrier to efficiency, or even (d) a mental framework that orients behavior or self-identity. Simply stated, perfectionism works until it doesn't. And, when perfectionism stops working, support, insight and corrective action are helpful.

For example, are you harnessing your skills, high standards and high expectations strategically, or are you employing a habitual pattern that feels inescapable? Within therapy, together we'll explore where and when your perfectionism has worked. Additionally, we'll identify where and when it has become problematic.

Reach out when you're ready. Your high standards don't have to be a trap. There's a path forward where you can feel fulfilled without feeling overwhelmed or stuck. Click here to schedule your free 15 minute consult.

Isolation, Loneliness and Existential Concerns

For gifted and high performing people, it's common to struggle with finding truly compatible peers in childhood and adulthood. In childhood, gifted people may struggle to find peers who are equally precocious. In adulthood, gifted people and high performers may struggle to find community and true camaraderie.

For gifted people and high performers, struggles with purpose, meaning and existential concerns are common as well.

In therapy, antidotes to loneliness, isolation and existential concerns may be both philosophical and applied. An exploration of what it is to be lonely - what it is to be human - can elicit insight, mental stimulation and relief. Additionally, the cultivation of joy, contentedness, meaning and authentic connection are frequent interventional targets. These may be harnessed through behavioral, cognitive, relational, scholarly or artistic explorations.

Loneliness, isolation and existential concerns may be a part of your gifted experience. Get support today. Click here to schedule your free 15 minute consult.

Excitability - or in the literature, "overexcitability" - is a common feature of giftedness; it is a heightened response and sensitivity to experience. This may include physical, sensory, intellectual, imaginal, and emotional elements. All of these can be experienced as supportive strengths, or alternately, as features that may be barriers to wellbeing.

In therapy, these features can be successfully harnessed to support treatment. For example, someone prone to imaginal excitability/overexcitability - identified by a rich, inner world of fantasty, play, imagery and metaphor - may respond very well to free-association techniques. They may be equally predisposed to complex, multilayered defenses, networked patterns of rumination, or even maladaptive fantasy. These responses can be understood as nuanced avoidance strategies, all of which can be explored in therapy.

There are many excitability profiles. Begin exploring excitability/overexcitability in therapy.  Click here to schedule your free 15 minute consult.

Gifted people who present with co-ocurring neurodevelopmental diagnoses are considered 'twice exceptional', or 2e. This term identifies people who may be considered gifted in one domain (e.g., IQ), yet potentially challenged in another (e.g., ADHD, autism, dyslexia and more).

Twice exceptional people tend to be system outliers and may struggle to receive appropriate supports in their educational and social settings. The long-term outcomes of this lack of 'goodness of fit' cannot be understated. Deep exploration of these experiences - and their downstream impacts - is a crucially important therapeutic target. Another important goal ensures that current supports are, at any age and stage, minimally adequate but optimally sufficient.

Click here to schedule your free 15 minute consult.

Why should you choose a neurodiverse-affirming therapy practice?

• An open & inquisitive approach: Neurodiverse-affirming therapy doesn’t assume a standard or default mindset. This open-ended, inquisitive stance critically challenges key assumptions, if/when necessary. This supports insight and growth.

• A focus on environments, systems and contexts: Neurodiverse people may feel at odds with their environments. Consequently, Neurodiverse-affirming therapy re-situates your presenting concerns within greater systemic contexts. This too may elicit novel insight(s). Most basically, it supports self-compassion.

• Strengths-focused: When people feel different, it can be important to find and lead with strengths. Neurodiverse-affirming therapy uncovers and helps you supercharge what you do well and what you're proud of. This, quite clearly, can have significant positive therapeutic benefits!