Gifted Wounds, Gifted Healing

Abuse Recovery, gifted trauma, Giftedness, InterGifted, RelationshipsLeave a comment

Giftedness itself isn’t traumatizing, but the environments we grow up and live in often are. Because giftedness comes with unique developmental needs, sensitivities and social differences, it also carries particular vulnerabilities – especially in environments that misunderstand, minimize or exploit those differences. The resulting trauma can fracture our relationship with our gifted self, leaving us disconnected from our creativity, meaning and sense of existential belonging. In this article, Jennifer Harvey Sallin explores the nature of gifted trauma and what it means to heal it, by learning to create the conditions where it can be safely reclaimed. This article is an adapted version of the introduction to InterGifted’s recently published book ‘How I Healed My Gifted Trauma’, a collaborative exploration of how gifted people around the world are finding their way back to wholeness. 

Bringing our Giftedness into Therapy: Struggles and Growth for Gifted Therapists & Gifted Clients

Gifted Coaching, Gifted Therapy, PsychologyLeave a comment

Bringing our giftedness to therapy isn’t always easy, both for gifted therapists and gifted clients alike. The shame or fear we feel around our gifted complexity and/or gifted wounds, and the lack of support we’ve had for integrating our giftedness into our lives, show up in ways that dampen our ability to give and receive good gifted-specific therapy. Jennifer Harvey Sallin has written this article to open a collective discussion on the need for us to be able to bring our giftedness into the therapy process, so that our whole gifted self can heal and provide healing to others.

Productivity, Potential, and Holistic Thriving

HealingLeave a comment

The focus on productivity is important for certain tasks at certain times, but it’s only one part of a holistic expression of our potential. If we conflate productivity with potential, we lose out on many rich aspects of our full selves, such as joy, rest, play, unstructured exploration and purposeless creativity. Trauma, culture and internalized ideologies can prime us toward a dysfunctional relationship with productivity, and thus with our understanding of our true potential. Jennifer explores these themes and shares resources for change in this article.

Supporting Gifted People: Guidelines for Therapists & Coaches (and Advice for Gifted Clients)

Coaching Process, Gifted Coaching, Giftedness, Healing, Psychology, Recommended Reading1 Comment

It is essential that therapists, coaches and other helping professionals know what giftedness is, how to recognize it in clients, and how to best support their gifted clients. Anyone helping a gifted person is, by necessity, helping a gifted mind – and gifted minds work in unique ways, have unusual needs, and grow in unconventional directions. Here are some guidelines for helping professionals and the gifted clients they support.

Gifted Adults & Second Childhoods: Revisiting Essential Stages of Development

Growing Up, Healing, Psychology1 Comment

Growing up without knowing we’re gifted can be like growing up in a distorted mirror. For many gifted adults, learning about their giftedness brings them back to a “second childhood” in which they can rediscover themselves in more authentic ways. They can develop socially and personally in ways they weren’t able in their “first childhood”. In this article, originally published on InterGifted’s blog, Jen explores with us how we can best navigate the essential developmental stages of our “second (gifted) childhood”. 

Trauma, Giftedness & Healing – a Personal Story

Abuse Recovery, Growing Up, InterGifted, Psychology, Spiritual Growth9 Comments

The intersection of trauma and giftedness is not a fun topic to explore. But it’s a real one, because there are many gifted adults in the world struggling to heal from their past trauma. I’ve been wanting to write an article on this topic for a long time, but I’ve struggled to do so, ironically, because of my own trauma. If you’re working through trauma, I hope reading my story and healing journey will help you on yours.