194: The Highly Sensitive Mother - a podcast by Katayune Kaeni, Psy.D.

We all know that the challenges of new motherhood can be many--and overwhelming. If you are an HSP (highly sensitive person), then those challenges may be magnified---and you probably aren’t focusing on any self-care. This topic resonates deeply with me and intrigues me in the way the trait interacts with motherhood and its challenges.
Julie Bjelland is an LMFT, an HSP psychotherapist, and the author of Brain Training for the Highly Sensitive Person: Techniques to Reduce Anxiety and Overwhelming Emotions. Julie’s mission is to help sensitive people reduce the challenges and increase the positives.Through her website specializing in highly sensitive people (the trait also known as Sensory Processing Sensitivity), she offers many valuable resources for both HSP’s and parents of sensitive children. Julie has a mission to spread awareness and education about the trait of high sensitivity and believes the world needs the gifts of sensitive people. 
Show Highlights:High sensitivity is a trait and not a disorder--and it’s NOT the same as introversion (30% of HSP’s are extroverts and 20% are introverts)

From Elaine Aron’s work on HSP’s: Depth of Processing, Overstimulation, Emotionally responsive, and Sensitivity to subtle stimuli (DOES)The judgment around being sensitive and its connection to weakness

How scientific research shows real brain differences in HSP’sOn the positive side, HSP’s are more empathetic, more aware, and more compassionate

Common for the HSP mother is to put themselves at the bottom of the priority list and take care of others firstTrained HSP vs. untrained HSP

Self-care---a conscious action you take to lower your stress and bring you to a balanced stateA key for HSP’s is getting enough sleep in order to understand and meet specific needs

An HSP mom’s default setting is to be hard on themselves and focus on everyone else’s needsCertain parts of the brain in HSP moms will be overactive, like merging into everyone else’s moods and experiences

Many people who seek treatment for anxiety will also have the HSP traitHow HSP contributes to overall perinatal depression and anxiety, since everything changes in mind, body, and spirit

Why HSP’s need creative ways to get two hours of alone time each dayThe tendency to measure everything in ourselves and others against the standard of perfection

Self-talk, with low levels of self-compassion and criticism of themselvesCommon characteristics of HSP’s: perfectionism, sleep-deprived, overstimulated, and misunderstood

Steps to help HSP’s:Develop self-compassion (Kristin Neff outlines 3 steps)

Take breaks when neededPractice mindfulness

50% of clients in therapy are HSP’sSupporting moms and dads better in pregnancy and the postpartum period could impact parenting differently and offer more support

Using the right tools for support in children can prevent many problems and help them gain confidence and have an easier time accepting who they are 
Resources: Brain Training for the Highly Sensitive Person: Techniques to Reduce Anxiety and Overwhelming Emotions.by Julie Bjelland
 The Highly Sensitive Child by Dr. Elaine Aron
  Self-Compassion by Kristin Neff
 www.juliebjelland.com
Find Julie on Facebook: The Highly Sensitive PersonInstagram: hsp psychotherapist
Twitter: @juliebjellandLinkedIn: highly-sensitive-juliebjelland
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Further episodes of Mom and Mind

Further podcasts by Katayune Kaeni, Psy.D.

Website of Katayune Kaeni, Psy.D.