Adult Giftedness

As an adult who was identified gifted as a child you’ve likely wondered at times what happened to your ‘gifted self.’

Perhaps you shed the gifted identity to fit in socially only to struggle in unfulfilling careers and relationships. Or, maybe you learned to play down your intelligence to put others at ease.

Possibly, you’ve gotten used to being the smartest person in the room and are often in positions of responsibility regardless of how much experience you have. You join a committee and quickly find yourself running it? You take a class and could easily be teaching it? Maybe this began in childhood when others regarded you as a ‘little adult’.

As a ‘gifted’ kid, you may not have learned crucial skills, such as breaking down complex tasks or asking for help. You may have struggled to cope with mistakes or failure, to be patient and self-compassionate, and, to nurture self-worth beyond high academic (or other kinds of) performance.

Succeeding in environments that aren’t meaningful for you – or, struggling with skills you missed out on – you may feel a sense of being out-of-sync with others.

And, being too long in situations that don’t engage or reflect your authentic self can be corrosive or numbing. You want to feel connected and inspired, but instead you feel bored, disengaged and critical. You yearn to be supported to grow rather than always being the one to guide others.

In the shadow of giftedness can exist feelings of grief, self-judgment, and envy of those who seem to have it figured out. Low self-esteem, anxiety, and despair can grow in spaces left empty by unrealized potential.

If any of this sounds familiar, I encourage you to reach out. There is a life of congruence, meaning and vitality waiting for you. I am excited for you to claim it.

Having help through in this process from someone who understands can make all the difference.

Artists & Writers

It takes courage and resilience to be an artist. From beginning a new project to building a career, one encounters choices, anxieties, and, day-to-day realities that can dampen your creative impulses and drain meaning from your creative pursuits.

As an artist or writer, you experience unique pressures that can undermine your creative process and interfere with your emotional and interpersonal wellbeing. These may include debilitating inner criticism, financial stresses, strained relationships, and fear of public scrutiny of creative works based on intensely personal material.

In addition to the skills of your craft, sustained creative work requires that you maintain a rich relationship with your imagination and your unconscious psyche. At times, this process can open portals to complex emotional and psychological terrains that are difficult to traverse alone.

Creative blocks & resistance, self-undermining behaviours, addiction, isolation, grief, trauma, conflicts, chronic stress & anxiety, depression, and, career and identity shifts are all issues that therapy can help you to work through.

If you are struggling, please reach out.

Let’s work together to help you resolve challenges and restore creative flow. It’s possible!

Image by Joyce Huntington. Used with permission.