Intellectual and emotional giftedness: understanding, hypersensitivity, support and adapted therapies.
Supporting intellectually gifted individuals requires a specific approach that considers their particular cognitive and emotional functioning. Neither 'everything is fine, they're smart' nor pathologizing the difference: it's about understanding the real needs of these atypical profiles to offer adapted support. This article explores support strategies for gifted children, adolescents and adults at home, school and in the workplace.
Classic therapeutic approaches are not always suited for gifted individuals. Their rapid cognitive functioning, need to understand underlying mechanisms, heightened sensitivity and tendency toward analysis can make certain therapies ineffective or even counterproductive. This article reviews the most relevant therapeutic approaches for HPI and HPE profiles: third-wave CBT, existential therapy, EMDR, art therapy, sophrology and body-based approaches.
Intellectual giftedness (HPI) and emotional giftedness (HPE) concern approximately 2.3% of the population for strict HPI (IQ above 130). Beyond IQ, these profiles are characterized by qualitatively different cognitive and emotional functioning: tree-like thinking, hypersensitivity, need for meaning, emotional intensity and frequent social disconnect. This article explores the neuroscientific foundations, distinctive characteristics and specific challenges of these atypical profiles.
Hypersensitivity, long perceived as weakness, is now recognized as a neurobiological trait present in 15 to 20% of the population (Aron, 1996). In emotionally gifted individuals, this sensitivity is amplified and touches all dimensions of experience: emotions, sensations, relationships, environmental stimuli. This article explores hypersensitivity mechanisms, its specific manifestations in HPE, and offers concrete strategies to transform this characteristic into an asset rather than a source of suffering.