Therapy for Highly Sensitive People in Oakland, CA

For the deeply feeling, often overwhelmed, and quietly intuitive.

Do you feel everything—maybe too much?

If you’re a highly sensitive person (HSP), the world can feel like a lot. The lights too bright. The sounds too loud. The news too heavy. Other people’s emotions too intense.

You might find yourself absorbing everything around you, like an emotional sponge—without quite knowing how or why. You may crave solitude and beauty, while also longing for connection. You might feel like you were born without the protective armor others seem to wear.

And you may have spent much of your life wondering: What’s wrong with me?

I want to tell you something gently, but clearly: There is nothing wrong with you. In fact, your sensitivity is a strength—though it may not have always felt like one.

Understanding the Highly Sensitive Person (HSP)

Being highly sensitive isn’t a disorder. It’s a temperament trait studied by psychologist Dr. Elaine Aron. Around 15–20% of the population are born with a more finely tuned nervous system. HSPs process things more deeply—emotionally, mentally, even spiritually.

If you’re an HSP, you may:

• Notice subtleties others miss

• Get easily overstimulated by busy environments

• Need more time to decompress after socializing

• Feel deeply moved by art, music, or nature

• Struggle with criticism or conflict

• Feel things intensely—joy, grief, fear, beauty

• Sense the emotional undercurrents in a room instantly

This isn’t a weakness. But without support or understanding, it can feel like a burden. Many sensitive people grow up in environments that don’t mirror back their depth, and instead learn to mask, numb, or self-abandon just to survive.

The Hidden Wounds of Sensitivity

You might have been called “too sensitive,” “dramatic,” or “too much.” Maybe you internalized that message and began to believe it. Maybe you started hiding the parts of you that felt too tender, too emotional, or too intense for others to handle.

You may have learned to be the good girl, the helper, the overachiever. Or maybe you rebelled against the pressure to be someone you’re not. Either way, the result is often the same: a deep inner conflict between who you are and who you’ve been told to be.

This can lead to symptoms like:

• Anxiety and overwhelm

• Chronic self-doubt or people-pleasing

• Difficulty setting boundaries

• Emotional exhaustion or burnout

• Depression or a sense of meaninglessness

• Shame about your needs or sensitivities

• Longing for deeper, more soulful connection

These are not personal failures. They are signs that your sensitivity needs tending—not fixing.

Depth Psychotherapy for HSPs in Oakland and Online

As a depth-oriented, Jungian therapist in Oakland, CA, I offer therapy that honors the complexity of your inner world. My approach is relational, soulful, and non-pathologizing. I see therapy not as a place to “solve” you—but to see you, fully and without judgment.

Together, we can explore:

• The childhood origins of your sensitivity

• How you’ve coped with being “too much” in a world that often asks us to be less

• The protective patterns that helped you survive—but may now be limiting you

• Your dreams, images, memories, and symbols that hold wisdom from the unconscious

• How to access your intuition and live with more authenticity

Depth psychotherapy invites you to go beneath the surface. It honors not just your symptoms, but the soul behind them. We’ll listen to what your sensitivity is trying to say—not silence it.

A Jungian Approach to Therapy for Sensitive People

Jungian depth therapy sees each person as whole, even when they feel fragmented. It trusts that the psyche is always moving toward healing and wholeness—even when the way is unclear.

In our work, we’ll use tools like:

• Dreamwork – Uncover the messages and images from your unconscious

• Active imagination – Explore internal conflicts and voices symbolically

• Shadow work – Reclaim the parts of yourself you’ve hidden or rejected

• Inner child healing – Tend to younger parts of you still holding pain or fear

• Somatic awareness – Help your body feel safer, grounded, and more resourced

Rather than talk therapy alone, this is a slow, gentle deepening into the layers of your experience. We follow what arises—your pace, your truth, your soul.

“I Worry I’m Too Sensitive for Therapy.”

This is a concern many HSPs have. Therapy can feel overwhelming if you’ve been misattuned to in the past. You may have had therapists who didn’t understand your sensitivity, who rushed you, or who made you feel like a problem to fix.

I want you to know: There is nothing too sensitive, too dark, or too strange to bring into our work. Your sensitivity is welcome here.

I will never pathologize you for feeling deeply, needing time, or questioning everything. Therapy with me is not about pushing through—it’s about gently unfolding. We go slowly, together, with care.

Why Therapy Can Be So Healing for HSPs

Sensitive people often feel unseen in the world. In therapy, you’re met, not managed. Understood, not judged. Heard, not hurried.

Over time, therapy can help you:

• Reclaim your sensitivity as a gift, not a flaw

• Build boundaries that protect your energy

• Let go of perfectionism and people-pleasing

• Develop self-trust and inner steadiness

• Make peace with your past and your pace

• Cultivate a life that reflects your true values

• Feel more connected—to your Self, to others, and to something greater

This isn’t about becoming someone else. It’s about coming home to yourself.

HSPs and Spiritual Sensitivity

Many highly sensitive people also describe themselves as deeply spiritual or intuitive. You may feel connected to dreams, nature, energy, or something sacred you can’t quite name. You may have had spiritual experiences that were profound—or unsettling.

In depth therapy, these experiences are not dismissed or pathologized. They’re seen as meaningful aspects of your journey.

I welcome seekers, intuitives, and those navigating spiritual emergence or longing. If you’re craving a therapist who honors both your emotional and spiritual sensitivity, you’ve found the right place.

Therapy for Highly Sensitive Women and Caregivers

Many of my clients are sensitive women—caretakers, therapists, teachers, artists, helpers—who have given so much of themselves to others that they’ve forgotten how to care for their own inner world.

If you’re burned out, grieving, or quietly unraveling, I want you to know you’re not alone. You’re not broken. You’re just being called back to yourself.

You Deserve to Be Seen

If you’ve made it this far, something in you is seeking healing—seeking space to be as you are. And that is a beautiful beginning.

You don’t have to keep bracing against the world or carrying everything alone. Therapy can be a space of deep remembering: who you are, what you feel, what you need, and what’s possible when you’re no longer hiding.

If you’re ready to explore therapy for highly sensitive people in Oakland or online throughout California, I invite you to reach out.

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