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What happens when you experience emotional overwhelm? That moment where your natural and helpful attunement to others’ emotions feels like it’s taking on a bit too much. This can lead to compassion fatigue and a need to shut down. It might bring up a part of you that feels panicked, urgently trying to find ways to “keep it all together.” Sometimes, emotional overwhelm can bring up a self-critical mindset, where you begin to berate yourself for not feeling in control. This is where Therapy for Empaths in Los Angeles, CA comes in.

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As an empath or highly sensitive person, your sensitivities to others and your ability to attune to yourself and the outside world can be overwhelming. This may lead you to adjust your communication style. This is done to shield others from what you sense as a vulnerability. By absorbing these fragile states in others, it makes sense for your interpersonal relationships to pose specific challenges. You may find difficulty around boundary setting or staying within a boundary.

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You love your child so deeply, but more days than not, you find yourself feeling overwhelmed by this tiny human who seems to bring out the worst in you. You’ve read all the books and asked all the questions in your parenting communities. Yet somehow you’re still struggling to understand how to care for your child in a way that doesn’t feel so hard all of the time. You find yourself getting stuck in the guilt and shame cycle because you feel you “should” know better, but what you’re doing just isn’t working. And, at the end of the day, it’s not just your kid who’s had the meltdown, but you’re having them too.

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Compassion fatigue often used interchangeably with secondary traumatic stress or vicarious trauma, refers to a specific type of burnout. One that can occur when one is experiencing an overwhelming amount of stress. This is a result of overexposure to other people’s suffering. It is common in people working in helping professions. But it can happen to anyone who is operating in any sort of caregiving role, whether it’s emotional, physical, or spiritual. Therapy for Empaths in Los Angeles, CA with Therapy on Fig, provides specialized support to help individuals navigate the unique challenges of compassion fatigue. All While developing coping strategies to protect their emotional well-being.

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Life transitions, whether by choice or circumstance, are commonly followed by conflicting feelings. Moving to a new city may bring joy and sorrow. Advancing in one’s career can bring fear and excitement. Entering a new decade of life can unearth gratitude and worry. Divorce or a breakup can be followed by relief and sadness.

In addition to conflicting feelings, another common thread amongst all life transitions is change. For Highly Sensitive Persons (HSP), change may result in feeling shaken up and overstimulated. This is due to being highly attuned to the shifts in one’s environment. What once may have felt familiar and secure begins to feel unstable and chaotic. For HSPs going through life transitions, it is possible to be in a relationship with one’s sensitivity through change — one that feels less distressing and overwhelming.

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As we close out January 2024, you may reflect on this first month of a new year. As an HSP or Empath, you may be keenly aware of the passing of time. Settling into a new year then brings up different emotions. Maybe this brings up feelings of being behind, grief, or anxiety about the future. It may even bring up joy and expectation, or a million things in between. 

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As an empath or a Highly Sensitive Person (HSP), you possess a unique and valuable trait that presents challenges and opportunities. One area where you may face distinct considerations is your career choices. In this blog post, we will delve into how being an empath or HSP can impact your career decisions. We will also talk about how Therapy for Empaths in Los Angeles, CA can provide guidance on finding a fulfilling and balanced professional path.

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An empath is someone who possesses extraordinary sensitivity and attunement to the emotions and inner states of those around them. This awareness also makes it more likely that empaths spend time and energy in service of helping others. But, this sensitivity can lead to porous boundaries between self and others. This, in turn, can negatively affect mental and emotional health. In Therapy for Empaths in Los Angeles, CA, empaths can learn how this quality impacts their mental/emotional health and relationships.

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Therapy can be incredibly healing because we feel heard and seen. Our pain is witnessed, not dismissed. The therapeutic space is held with compassion, not with judgment. We are held with care, not with indifference. Although these qualities may seem simple, a therapist can only effectively implement these skills if they are culturally sensitive. As some of you may relate, it can take so much from us to feel safe and comfortable enough to open up to someone. Some of us may have attempted to share vulnerable feelings and memories with others, which turned out to be a negative experience.

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The unexpected death and sudden loss of a loved one due to an accident, suicide, forced separation, or war ask the bereaved to confront two tasks: healing from trauma and metabolizing grief. In the face of trauma-related grief, the task of healing from trauma involves reprocessing memories.

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Relationship conflict, family-of-origin issues, and communication challenges are some of the most common reasons people seek Trauma Therapy with Therapy on Fig. Clients often ask, "Does everything really tie back to my childhood?" While not all issues are necessarily rooted solely in one's childhood, past traumas, and stressful events can impact one's present-day relationships. Trauma Therapy in Los Angeles, CA can be a safe space to gain clarity around how these past traumas might be impacting your relationships. While answering the question, "How did we get here?"

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Recent trauma research has indicated a link between a history of trauma and being diagnosed with an anxiety or adjustment disorder in adulthood. Instead of seeing anxiety disorders as a biological defect in the brain, we are learning that these responses may be heightened. This is due to an overactive nervous system. One that appropriately matched the stressors of our external environment growing up. Even if the trauma does not lead to a complete PTSD diagnosis, we can still be left with the lingering effects of trauma. This can manifest as anxiety symptoms like hypervigilance, excessive worry, panic attacks, and restlessness. If you're experiencing these symptoms, seeking help from a trauma therapist who specializes in Trauma Therapy in Los Angeles, CA can provide you with the support and tools you need to heal and manage your trauma-related anxiety.

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As a deep feeler and thinker, you find yourself overthinking and worrying about being a burden, often people-pleasing, in hopes of preventing that. These fears aren’t new; maybe they have become constant companions from growing up hearing things like, “Just get over it” and “Stop being so sensitive.” Finding yourself stuck in these cycles has brought resentment and feeling at odds with yourself. 

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Oftentimes, clients come to therapy with a general awareness of their pain points, triggers, and tendencies/patterns. In the early stages of therapy, I often will conduct an informal assessment to determine if a new client’s observations of themselves may align with traits of a Highly Sensitive Person (HSP). In this blog, from us here at Therapy on Fig, we will explore the idea of an HSP and how HSP therapy in Los Angeles, CA can help.

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After exploring podcasts, books, talking with friends, and past therapy experiences, you're realizing that being highly sensitive and an empath is a big part of who you are. It affects almost every part of your life. You may have picked a profession that aligns with your ability to pick up on subtleties and nuances, such as a therapist. You could also find yourself in a highly driven, high-pressure tech company where high performance and its optics are prioritized and valued. In both situations, you've learned how to access and leverage your natural strengths in different places. It's been tough, and you're looking for an HSP therapist who understands what it's like to be highly sensitive and can help you even more. This is where Therapy for Empaths and HSPs in Los Angeles, CA with Therapy on Fig can help you!

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We don’t discuss it as often as we should, but friendships can be challenging. Especially for those who identify as highly sensitive persons (HSPs), friendship dynamics can sometimes feel stressful and overwhelming. HSPs have a high level of depth and attunement to our emotions and the emotions of others, are often sensitive to our environment and sensory output, and may become overstimulated more easily.

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Many people come to therapy with an awareness that intergenerational trauma exists in their family. I often hear clients express a desire to heal and move forward from intergenerational trauma by trailblazing a new path. This "new path" might look like:

1. Considering a career change or pursuing past interests/passions.

2. Re-imagining a new life for the next generation, such as parenting your children or relating to your nieces and nephews differently.

3. Exploring identity development/formation and figuring out, "Who or what do I want to be?"

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Even though we may intend to show up completely authentically with our therapist (and we may wholeheartedly believe we are doing this), our protectors might be taking up more space than we realize. The part of us that seeks out therapy may not be the one that sits in the therapy room. The part of us who really needs to be heard may not be the one doing the talking. It's unrealistic to assume that our protective parts would suddenly relinquish control, even if we genuinely connect with our therapist.

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Religious trauma, much like experiencing physical and sexual abuse or a severe accident can produce the same effects. Feelings of isolation, shame, guilt, anger, and dissociation are common. Direct and indirect messages from beliefs, religious leaders, and the spiritual community can become rigid, shaming, and fear-mongering. So it makes sense to find yourself desperate for control to make yourself "good" and avoid punishment. 

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