This audio is an excerpt from the presentation "Simple Self-Care for Sensitive Souls" by Julie Bjelland for the 2021 version of The Empaths, Sensitives and Intuitives Summit, with host Melissa Schwartz.
The Summit page noted Julie Bjelland, LMFT, is "a psychotherapist who specializes in working with people dealing with the trait of high sensitivity.
"She's host of The HSP Podcast, and founder of the Sensitive Empowerment Community, whose mission is to create a paradigm shift where sensitivity is embraced, valued, and honored."
Julie recalls "before I knew about this trait and supported myself with it - that I felt like I was this raw exposed nerve, like I just almost needed some armor on me, to protect myself, I felt so sensitive and so beaten down and so overwhelmed.
"I thought I wasn't smart, I thought I wasn't capable. I was depressed and anxious. These are actually pretty common for a lot of sensitive people.
"And unfortunately, a lot of medical and mental health providers don't know about these traits, and HSPs are getting misdiagnosed, put on medication they don't need that's actually making it worse."
But, she adds, "doing things like a breath technique to slow down the heart rate, or giving yourself those little mindfulness and meditation breaks throughout the day, and having that alone time every day, getting into nature everyday, these are things that will absolutely help us thrive."
The Sensitive Empowerment site of Julie Bjelland - articles, books, podcast, free webinars, courses, the Sensitive Community and other resources.
Also see article with videos and more: Challenges and thriving as a highly sensitive person.
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View selected episodes and articles with more resources: The Creative Mind Audio Podcast page on the main site.
Challenges and thriving as a highly sensitive person with therapist Julie Bjelland