In this practice, we create a space where your sensitivity is not only understood but celebrated. Therapy becomes a journey of embracing your depth, honing your emotional resilience, and learning to navigate the world with grace and strength.

Through a compassionate, integrative approach, we help transform what feels like a burden into a powerful source of insight, connection, and inner peace. Your sensitivity is a gift—and together, we will guide you to live more fully in harmony with it.

This practice offers therapy for Highly Sensitive People (HSPs), deep feelers, and neurodivergent adults seeking support for anxiety, overwhelm, emotional intensity, and nervous system sensitivity. Sessions are available in New York City and via secure teletherapy across New York State.

Find the Best New York Therapist for Highly Sensitive People (HSP)

Finding the right therapist for highly sensitive individuals in New York City means working with someone who genuinely understands emotional depth, sensory sensitivity, and heightened nervous system responsiveness. The ideal therapist will have the clinical expertise to help you manage overstimulation, navigate emotional overwhelm, and develop effective coping strategies—while honoring your temperament rather than trying to change it.

An experienced HSP therapist can also support related concerns such as anxiety, perfectionism, relationship difficulties, people-pleasing, burnout, and work-life balance. In a fast-paced, high-stimulation environment like NYC, having a therapist who offers a safe, validating, and structured space is essential. Feeling understood and respected from the first session often matters more than credentials alone.

With the right therapeutic fit, therapy becomes a space to embrace your sensitivity, build resilience, and cultivate emotional balance in a world that often moves too fast.

Highly Sensitive Person (HSP) Traits and Nervous System Sensitivity

For as long as you can remember, others may have described you as “too sensitive” or “too shy.” You may have always felt different, more emotionally reactive, or more affected by your environment than those around you. Criticism may feel especially painful. Loud, chaotic, or busy environments may quickly drain you. You may absorb the moods and emotional states of others without trying to.

Highly Sensitive People are sometimes referred to as deep feelers, neurodivergent individuals, or people with Sensory Processing Sensitivity (SPS). Navigating a noisy, demanding world as a highly sensitive person can be exhausting and, at times, disabling—especially when anxiety or depression accompanies this trait.

At the same time, sensitivity is also associated with profound gifts, including:

• High empathy and emotional attunement

• Strong intuition and perception

• Creativity and imagination

• Depth of processing

• Capacity for meaning and connection

Sometimes sensitivity feels like a gift. Other times it feels overwhelming. Both experiences are valid. You are not broken. You are not alone. And you do not need to suffer in silence.

Understanding the Highly Sensitive Person (HSP) Trait

The term Highly Sensitive Person (HSP) was introduced by clinical psychologist Elaine Aron in the 1990s to describe a temperament trait present in approximately 15–20% of the population. Research suggests that individuals with this trait process information more deeply and show greater nervous system responsiveness to internal and external stimuli.

Brain imaging studies indicate differences in neural activation patterns between highly sensitive and non-HSP individuals, particularly in areas related to awareness, empathy, and sensory processing.

Common Characteristics of Highly Sensitive People

Many highly sensitive adults resonate with several of the following experiences:

• Easily overwhelmed by strong sensory input

• Highly aware of subtleties in the environment

• Strongly affected by other people’s moods

• Sensitive to pain, medications, or caffeine

• Need for regular withdrawal or quiet time

• Discomfort with bright lights, loud sounds, strong smells, or coarse textures

• Rich inner life and vivid imagination

• Deeply moved by art, music, and beauty

• Startle easily

• Feel rattled when rushed or overloaded

• Strong conscientiousness and sense of responsibility

• Distress when being observed or evaluated

• Aversion to violent or chaotic media

• Strong reactions to hunger or fatigue

• Difficulty with rapid change or transitions

• Preference for simple, calm environments

Experiencing these traits does not mean something is wrong with you. It reflects a sensitive nervous system that requires different forms of care and support.

Therapy for Highly Sensitive People (HSP) Can Help You

Therapy for highly sensitive individuals focuses on helping you work with your nervous system rather than against it. Together, we gently build capacity for regulation, boundaries, and self-trust.

Therapy may support you in:

• Reducing anxiety and chronic overwhelm

• Learning nervous system regulation skills

• Developing healthy emotional boundaries

• Processing shame related to being “too much” or “too sensitive”

• Improving relationships and communication

• Managing perfectionism and self-criticism

• Strengthening self-compassion and confidence

• Creating sustainable routines and self-care practices

• Honoring your needs without guilt

An integrative, trauma-informed approach may include somatic psychotherapy, EMDR therapy, Internal Family Systems–informed work, and cognitive-behavioral strategies depending on your goals and preferences.

Supporting Your Nervous System as a Highly Sensitive Person

In addition to therapy, many highly sensitive people benefit from:

• Reframing sensitivity as a strength rather than a flaw

• Developing clear and firm boundaries

• Limiting exposure to chronically overwhelming environments

• Prioritizing rest and downtime

• Practicing movement, meditation, and mindfulness

• Creating daily rituals that promote calm and predictability

• Connecting with others who understand sensitivity

These practices are not about becoming less sensitive. They are about learning how to care for your system so your sensitivity can become an asset rather than a source of suffering.

Therapy for Highly Sensitive People (HSPs) – Frequently Asked Questions

What does it mean to be a Highly Sensitive Person (HSP)?

Highly Sensitive People have nervous systems that process information more deeply and respond more strongly to internal and external stimuli. This trait is associated with heightened emotional awareness, empathy, intuition, and sensitivity to environment, relationships, and stress.

Is being highly sensitive the same as anxiety or trauma?

No. High sensitivity is a temperament trait, not a diagnosis. However, anxiety, trauma, or chronic stress can amplify sensitivity or make it harder to regulate. Therapy helps differentiate what is innate from what is shaped by experience and supports greater nervous system balance.

How do I know if therapy would be helpful for me as an HSP?

Therapy can be helpful if sensitivity feels overwhelming rather than supportive—such as difficulty managing stimulation, emotional exhaustion, boundary challenges, or feeling easily overstimulated in relationships or work. Many HSPs seek therapy to better understand and work with their sensitivity rather than suppress it.

What kinds of challenges do HSPs commonly experience?

Common concerns include emotional overwhelm, burnout, difficulty setting boundaries, heightened reactivity to stress, decision fatigue, perfectionism, and feeling misunderstood or “too much.” Therapy helps bring clarity, regulation, and self-trust to these experiences.

How does an integrative approach support Highly Sensitive People?

An integrative approach supports both insight and nervous system regulation. Therapy may include trauma-informed psychotherapy, somatic awareness, EMDR-informed approaches when appropriate, and strategies that help HSPs build resilience while honoring sensitivity as a strength.

Can EMDR be helpful for Highly Sensitive People?

Yes. EMDR may be helpful when sensitivity is compounded by unresolved experiences, emotional overwhelm, or negative core beliefs. It is used selectively and carefully, with attention to pacing and regulation.

Do Highly Sensitive People need a different kind of therapy?

Often, yes. HSPs tend to benefit from therapy that is attuned, paced thoughtfully, and responsive to subtle emotional and nervous system cues. An individualized, integrative approach allows therapy to adapt to sensitivity rather than push against it.

Is telehealth effective for Highly Sensitive People?

Yes. Telehealth therapy can be especially supportive for HSPs. Working from a familiar, controlled environment often reduces overstimulation and allows for deeper emotional access and regulation.

Do you offer therapy for Highly Sensitive People in New York via telehealth?

Yes. Therapy for Highly Sensitive People is offered to individuals located in New York through secure telehealth sessions, in accordance with state licensure requirements.

Who typically seeks HSP-informed therapy?

I often work with adults who are perceptive, empathetic, and deeply reflective, including professionals, creatives, and midlife individuals who feel overstimulated, emotionally drained, or out of alignment despite outward competence.

How long does therapy typically last for Highly Sensitive People?

There is no fixed timeline. Some clients seek short-term support around regulation and boundaries, while others choose longer-term therapy to address deeper emotional or relational patterns. Therapy is paced collaboratively.

Is being highly sensitive a weakness?

No. Sensitivity can be a strength when understood and supported. Therapy helps HSPs harness their depth, empathy, and intuition while developing tools to navigate stress, relationships, and demands more sustainably.

How do I get started with therapy as a Highly Sensitive Person?

You can begin by requesting an initial consultation. This allows us to explore your experience of sensitivity, clarify goals, and determine whether this approach is the right fit.

HSP Therapy in New York City and Online Across New York State

I offer therapy for Highly Sensitive People in New York City and through secure teletherapy across New York State. Sessions are confidential, collaborative, and paced to meet you where you are.

If you identify as highly sensitive and are seeking a therapist who truly understands this temperament, therapy can be a powerful step toward greater ease, confidence, and emotional balance.