If loud environments overwhelm you or others’ energy drains you, you might be a Highly Sensitive Person (HSP). At Women’s Counseling NC, we offer compassionate, specialized support for highly sensitive women who process the world more deeply. Through personalized therapy, we help you understand sensitivity, manage overstimulation, and confidently thrive—without changing yourself.

It turns out years of research, stemming from Dr. Elaine Aron and others dating back to 1991, has found that there is a personality type to explain this pattern. Aron coined the trait “Highly Sensitive Person” to describe a set of traits. These traits include being highly sensitive to physical environments and emotional or sensory stimuli.

How Therapy Provides Support for Highly Sensitive Women

Therapy offers highly sensitive women a safe, affirming space to better understand and embrace their sensitivity rather than view it as a weakness. A therapist who specializes in working with Highly Sensitive Persons (HSPs) can help clients identify sources of overwhelm, develop strategies for emotional regulation, and set healthy boundaries in both personal and professional relationships.

Through a mix of mindfulness, nervous system education, and trauma-informed care, therapy empowers and provides support for highly sensitive women to manage stress, prevent burnout, and honor their unique needs. Ultimately, it helps HSPs build self-compassion, reduce shame, and thrive in a world that often feels too loud or too fast.

Signs You May Be A
Highly Sensitive Person

1. You process information at a deeper level than most and are highly contentious. Others may perceive you as an ” overthinker,” “perfectionist,” or “people-pleaser.” For example, you may take time to decide to move, make a list, consider all the options carefully, consider its impact on all those around you, and speak to several people before deciding.
2. You are highly intuitive and empathetic to others’ emotions. You are sensitive to subtle cues in your environment or others’ emotions. For example, you are great at reading a room or a person for subtle cues others don’t notice, such as changes.
3. You are more sensitive to physical stimuli (think five senses). For example, you easily feel over-stimulated by being in a large crowd, even if they are extroverted. You may also have a faster startle response and be sensitive to stimulants such as caffeine or other medications.
4. You may have a greater emotional reaction to events. For example, something bad happens, and everyone is upset by it, but you are devastated.
5. You may resonate with being “codependent” without meeting the criteria of enabling or colluding with someone else’s unhealthy behavior.

What does it mean to be a highly sensitive person?

People who are highly sensitive have been found to have higher rates of anxiety, depression, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), as well as allergies, asthma, and eczema.

Highly sensitive people tend to experience emotions intensely and become overwhelmed by them.

1. Difficulty setting healthy boundaries with others, leaning towards passivity
2. Struggle with feelings of guilt and fail to prioritize their needs
3. Difficulty making quick decisions and are more affected by change or transitions
4. Struggle with burnout and change careers more frequently
5. May be bored in a relationship more easily, which leads to delayed milestones such as marriage
6. Highly sensitive people may grapple with low self-esteem and;
7. Social anxiety, as well as having a dislike for small talk or superficial relationships

Being over-stimulated by sensory intensive environments can add to social isolation and the feeling of being misunderstood.

Important Distinctions

Not all HSPs are introverted, but many find comfort in alone time due to their sensitivities. While HSPs can be any gender, social norms often lead males to score lower on the HSP scale.

Building Resilience in Highly Sensitive Women Through Positivity

There are many positive qualities that can be part of having a highly sensitive personality.

Highly intuitive and perceptive, HSPs often adapt well in social settings and feel emotions—especially positive ones—more deeply. As a result, they may progress more quickly in therapy and experience healing sooner than others.

Highly Sensitive Persons are empathetic, caring, and conscientious—qualities that make them supportive partners, coworkers, and friends.

Meet Our HSP Therapists

Our therapists specialize in supporting Highly Sensitive Persons (HSPs) with compassion and understanding. They help clients manage overwhelm, embrace their strengths, and build resilience, creating a safe space where sensitivity becomes a source of empowerment.

Being a Highly Sensitive Person can be pretty intense.

Schedule a consultation with one of our HSP-aware therapist today!