Highly sensitive person therapy in Denver
High sensitivity is a temperament trait, present in roughly one in five people.
We help adults who process the world more deeply than most people
Highly sensitive person (HSP) therapy at My Denver Therapy helps adults who process the world more deeply than most people turn that trait into an asset instead of a daily source of overwhelm. Our therapists work with HSPs across Denver, Greenwood Village, Lone Tree, and Arvada, and online throughout Colorado, using approaches built for a sensitive nervous system: Internal Family Systems, somatic therapy, Brainspotting, and EMDR when past experiences are part of the picture.
You notice the hum of the fluorescent lights before anyone else does. A sharp word from a coworker stays with you for days. You leave a crowded brunch on Tennyson Street drained while your friends are planning the next stop. You have probably been told you are too sensitive your whole life, and some part of you has started to believe it.
High sensitivity is a temperament trait, present in roughly one in five people. It is a way your brain is wired, and it comes with real strengths. Therapy for HSPs addresses the parts that hurt: chronic overstimulation, absorbing other people’s moods, difficulty with boundaries, and the exhaustion of performing “normal” in environments that were never designed for you.
What does it mean to be a highly sensitive person?
A highly sensitive person has a nervous system that takes in more information and processes it more thoroughly. Researcher Elaine Aron, who identified the trait in the 1990s, calls it sensory processing sensitivity. It is innate, it is not a disorder, and it shows up in four consistent ways.
Depth of processing. You think things through completely before acting. Decisions take longer because you are weighing more.
Overstimulation. Noise, bright light, scratchy fabric, tight schedules, and busy rooms wear you down faster than they wear down other people.
Emotional responsiveness and empathy. You feel your own emotions intensely and pick up on other people’s with very little effort. Movies, music, and conflict land hard.
Sensitivity to subtleties. You catch the shift in someone’s tone, the detail everyone else missed, the change in a room’s mood.
Most HSPs recognize themselves in that list immediately. Many also arrive at therapy carrying a different label, which is why the next question matters.
Is high sensitivity the same as anxiety, ADHD, or autism?
No. High sensitivity is a temperament trait, not a clinical diagnosis, and it frequently gets confused with conditions that share surface features. Sorting this out is often the first thing we do together.
Anxiety involves persistent worry and anticipation of threat. An HSP can be calm and content in a quiet environment and still get overwhelmed at a concert. Many HSPs do develop anxiety, usually after years of being overstimulated without recovery time, and the two respond to different kinds of support.
ADHD involves difficulty regulating attention. HSPs typically have strong, sustained focus in low-stimulation settings and struggle only when the environment floods them. The overlap is real, and some people have both.
Autism involves differences in social communication and often in sensory processing. Sensitivity to sensory input is one shared feature, but HSPs usually read social cues easily, often too easily.
Trauma can also produce a hypervigilant nervous system that looks like high sensitivity from the outside. Our trauma therapists are careful about this distinction, because a sensitive person with unprocessed trauma needs trauma work, and a sensitive person without it needs something different.
How does therapy help a highly sensitive person?
Therapy for HSPs has two jobs: reduce the suffering that comes from living in an overstimulating world, and build a life that fits your wiring instead of fighting it. We do both.
Nervous system regulation. Somatic therapy teaches you to notice overstimulation early, before it becomes a shutdown or a meltdown, and to bring your system back down on purpose. For HSPs this is the foundation everything else rests on.
Working with the inner critic. Years of “you’re too much” create a harsh internal voice. Internal Family Systems therapy helps you understand that critical part, where it came from, and how to lead from a steadier place. IFS is one of our most requested approaches, and it suits deep processors unusually well.
Boundaries that hold. HSPs feel other people’s discomfort so acutely that saying no feels like causing harm. We practice boundaries as a skill, in session, with the actual people and situations in your life.
Processing what got absorbed. Sensitive people often carry experiences that were small to others and significant to them. When a specific memory or pattern keeps activating, Brainspotting and EMDR resolve it at the nervous system level rather than talking around it.
Designing a sustainable life. Work, relationships, parenting, and social life all look different when they are built around real recovery time. We help you make those decisions deliberately, without apology.
Why highly sensitive people choose My Denver Therapy
Choosing a therapist is harder when you are sensitive, because you will feel it immediately if the fit is wrong. Our team of 20+ licensed therapists gives you real options, and we match you based on how you actually process, not just on scheduling.
Our therapists are trained in the modalities that work best for sensitive nervous systems: IFS, somatic attachment therapy, Brainspotting, EMDR, and ACT. You will not be handed a worksheet and told to think more positively.
We offer in-person therapy in Denver, Greenwood Village, Lone Tree, and Arvada, and online therapy across Colorado. For many HSPs, telehealth from a quiet room at home is a better container than any office, and we treat that as a legitimate clinical choice.
Appointments are typically available within a week. We are a therapist-owned practice, out-of-network with sliding-scale options, and there are no separate intake or administrative fees.
Signs HSP therapy may be the right next step
You do not need to be in crisis to benefit. People usually reach out when:
- A normal week leaves you depleted, and weekends go to recovery instead of living
- You replay conversations for days and cannot let small conflicts go
- You consistently put other people’s needs ahead of your own and resent it afterward
- You have tried therapy before and felt rushed, misunderstood, or pathologized
- You have been diagnosed with anxiety or depression and suspect something underneath it was never addressed
- You are a sensitive parent raising a sensitive child and running on empty
Frequently asked questions
Is being a highly sensitive person a mental health condition?
No. High sensitivity, or sensory processing sensitivity, is a normal temperament trait found in roughly 15 to 20 percent of people. It is not in the DSM and does not require treatment on its own. Therapy helps when the trait collides with environments, relationships, or past experiences in ways that cause distress.
How do I know if I’m a highly sensitive person?
Most HSPs recognize four patterns: deep processing, getting overstimulated easily, strong emotional reactions and empathy, and noticing subtleties others miss. Elaine Aron’s self-test is a reasonable starting point, and a therapist familiar with the trait can help distinguish it from anxiety, ADHD, autism, or trauma responses.
What kind of therapy is best for highly sensitive people?
Approaches that work with the nervous system and the inner world tend to fit HSPs best. At My Denver Therapy we most often use Internal Family Systems, somatic therapy, Brainspotting, and EMDR for sensitive clients. Purely cognitive approaches can feel dismissive to people who already think deeply about everything.
Can therapy make me less sensitive?
Therapy does not remove the trait, and it should not try to. It reduces the overwhelm, the self-criticism, and the burnout that come with being sensitive in a loud world, so that the strengths of the trait, including empathy, creativity, and conscientiousness, become more available to you.
Do you offer online therapy for highly sensitive people in Colorado?
Yes. Our therapists see HSP clients via secure telehealth anywhere in Colorado. Many sensitive clients prefer online sessions because they control the environment, and we consider that a clinically sound preference rather than a compromise.
What does HSP therapy cost at My Denver Therapy?
We are an out-of-network practice. We provide superbills for reimbursement and offer sliding-scale rates for clients who qualify. There are no intake or administrative fees. Details are on our therapy cost page, and we are glad to walk through options on a free consultation call.
Other Specialties
When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.
Victor Frankl
Meet our therapists
As a therapist-owned practice, we care about helping you heal, grow, and thrive. We take a client-focused approach to counseling and approach each session with a commitment to your progress and growth.
Availability
We’re always accepting new clients at our conveniently located offices in Denver, Greenwood Village, Lone Tree, and Arvada. All of our therapists can meet with clients online.
We specialize in you
You are welcome here. Because we have a large team with a wide range of specialties and trainings, we work with clients of all ages, backgrounds, and life stages.
We can match you with a male or female therapist who matches your goals, location, and schedule. If you have a preference for gender, age, religious background, or a person with a specific type of training or life experience, we can match you with a therapist you feel comfortable with.
Trained in effective therapy modalities
To support your mental health journey, our team is trained in some of the most effective forms of therapy available today, including EMDR, Brainspotting, CBT, DBT, and IFS.
Whether you’re looking for help with anxiety, depression, trauma, or want to better understand your relationship and attachment styles, we can help.
Insurance information
We’re out of network with insurance and Tricare and are unable to take Medicaid or Medicare.
Unlike many Denver therapy practices, we don’t charge separate intake or administration fees or charge more for your first session or specialized therapy methods like EMDR.
Get matched with a therapist
Contact us today, and one of our therapists will reach out to you directly, usually the same day.