Highly Sensitive Person Treatment. Therapy for Empaths Near Me.
If you’ve found yourself asking “how do I find a good empath therapist near me?”, then we have a great suggestion that has worked for many other empaths.
A good highly sensitive person (HSP) therapist should be positive, professional and patient.
They should also provide a range of options to handle both short-term and long-term concerns, offering different ways to aid the empath in better understanding himself.
And last but not least, a goods empath therapist may teach you how to manage your empathy and the anxiety and sorrow that come along with it so that it doesn’t weaken you.
How do I find a good empath therapist near me or an online therapist?
First off, it’s important to pick a therapist who has specific experience with offering therapy for empaths, most aren’t experienced with empaths.
Here at Psychology Help we highly recommend using BetterHelp, they have dozens of online therapists with experience in helping empaths.
Going for an empath therapist online as opposed to offline gives you not only more affordable help and convenience, it also lets you to choose between thousands more therapists.
Start by filling out this questionnaire carefully. BetterHelp uses your answers to match you with the therapist that is best suited your needs.
You can easily change therapist within the BetterHelp network later if that’s what you want.
Get matched with a Betterhelp Empath Therapist.
Effective, convenient, and affordable online sessions. Start by filling out this survey in it’s entirety.
What is an Empath?
The vast majority of us can put ourselves in another person’s shoes, to imagine what they must be feeling. We know when and how to express sincere concern when the situation calls for it, we know how to and when to feel happy and share in another’s joy.
So what makes an empath different? Well, beyond just understanding how others must be feeling, an empath actually feels the same emotions along with the person, often with an equal degree of intensity. This isn’t a learned behaviour either, it is automatic, subconscious and beyond the empaths control.
This ability to strongly feel what others around them feel can be overwhelming and filtering out what are your emotions against what are the absorbed emotions of others can be difficult. This can make an empath’s abilities both a gift and a burden.
Empaths therefore require a special type of therapy to help them cope with the emotional sensory overload they are bombarded with daily.
How do I know if I’m an empath?
All empaths are unique, however there are some commonly shared traits which many empaths exhibit.
- Often, the first indication a person has that they may be highly sensitive or empathic is from comments by others which, unfortunately, tend to be negative. You may be used to hearing things like “toughen up”, “stop letting everything get to you so much” or “you need to grow a thicker skin”. However, those making these comments don’t really understand you and how overwhelming being highly sensitive can be. And you certainly don’t need to do anything mentioned in their comments. What may help though is a little guidance to help you understand and control your abilities better.
- People who are highly sensitive tend to be overly self-critical, a desire to please others and often try to avoid conflict. Very empathic people can also often find it difficult to fit in can come across as being shy.
- Furthermore, due to this desire to please, ultra-empathic people can find themselves having difficulties getting their voice heard in relationship, both personal and professional.
- Another experience highly-empathic people commonly share is their need to help people meaning they are drawn into dysfunctional relationships as they look to ‘fix’ someone.
- Finally, empaths have highly attuned senses, meaning they can often be easily surprised or startled.
If you feel that you can relate to many of the points outlined above, you may be a highly-sensitive or empathic person.
Why not ‘normal’ therapy methods?
‘Normal’ therapy methods can actually be detrimental to if the therapist is not knowledgeable of the difficulties and pitfalls that can exist when treating highly sensitive people.
Therefore, it is important to find a therapist who is experienced and knowledgeable about highly sensitive person treatment, like the ones at BetterHelp.
Highly sensitive people are often worried that their ability will be considered a disorder and a therapist may try to ‘cure’ it. This is not something highly sensitive people desire. For them, their highly attuned empathy is like a sixth sense and removing it would be like taking a less sensitive person’s sight or hearing.
How does online therapy for empaths work?
When working with highly sensitive person treatment, there are a number of extra steps that are required compared to treatment for less sensitive people.
The objective is not to stifle or restrict an empathic person’s abilities but rather help them understand and control them to a greater degree. Fortunately, there are many tried and tested treatment options for highly sensitive persons that can help with this.
As many empathic people are very self-critical, there is a need to reduce the influence of that inner voice over a person’s beliefs.
Beyond this, therapy looks at reducing a person’s desire to please others. Whilst it is good to help, this must not lead a person into apposition where they can be abused. Highly sensitive person treatment looks at helping an empath recognise the warning signs in a relationship and aids them in learning how to handle such relationships.
Finally, there is a focus on being able to differentiate between one’s own emotions and those of others. There is also a focus on prioritising personal emotions so that the person is in a better condition to help others, as their natural inclination may be to do.
How does online therapy for empaths differ from traditional methods?
As with all online methods of therapy, there are a number of inherent advantages with online therapy for empaths and highly sensitive person treatment. Perhaps the foremost of these is convenience.
Therapy sessions can take place anytime and anywhere. There is no travel time to worry about and so no need to take time of work or other activities. This also means that you can keep the therapy sessions as solitude as you are comfortable with.
There is no need to inform anyone if you do not wish to. Others finding out about you using a therapist is often a big fear for many as unfortunately there is still a stigma attached to mental health issues.
The good news is that this stigma is lessening everyday as more and more people start to feel comfortable with talking about their mental health.
Online therapy for empaths with BetterHelp and other treatment options highly sensitive persons can take a number of forms, meaning there is surely a method that fits for you.
Those who are more comfortable with therapy may choose a face to face method, perhaps through video calls, others may prefer talk based sessions over the phone. Finally, there is also the option to conduct the therapy through email if that is how you are more comfortable.
Interventions can include psychoeducation, which teaches the person about why they feel like they do and methods to control their feelings. Another method is lifestyle assessment, which looks to find a better balance between a person’s professional and personal life while also looking for areas where self-care can be introduced.
Something that can commonly effect highly sensitive people is negative early life experiences. Re-framing these past experiences is a further method which can be employed to help bring a better quality of life to highly sensitive people.
It is common for highly sensitive person treatment to include some level of learning how to set boundaries. As mentioned, empaths often look to please others which can lead to them being used.
As such, learning when and how to say ‘no’ is an important aspect of many treatment options for highly sensitive persons. In doing this, strong trusting relationships can be built in your life, taking away much of the emotional strain you likely feel every day.
This range of options means there need be no fear factor involved in seeking help. All methods show good results and each can be tailored to your specific needs. You can even change methods if you believe that something else may work better for you after a time.
It is important to validate your experiences and take time to look after yourself.
How will therapy for empaths affect my life?
As you learn to better control your empathic abilities better you should notice a few differences in your day to day life.
Through engaging with treatment options for highly sensitive persons you will start to enjoy your life more as you will feel more relaxed, especially in highly charged situations that would normally easily overwhelm you. You will be better able to focus on yourself and your goals. You will feel comfortable with yourself and all that you are.
This is very helpful, thank you
It sounds very tempting to try
Hello, I am an emapth looking for a therapist to assist And lead me into my own self care. Virtual sessions are preferred and acceptance of insurance
Becky Southwick
Beckysouthwick@msn.com