Therapy for
Highly Sensitive People
Carly Stanton, LPC, MT-BC
I’m an HSP therapist with HSP myself.
You were told you were too sensitive.
You weren't.
If you're a Highly Sensitive Person (HSP), you've probably spent years wondering why you experience the world differently than the people around you.
When I first learned about the Highly Sensitive Person trait, I felt incredibly relieved. For so much of my life, I'd been told I was "too sensitive," and I genuinely believed there was something wrong with me. Learning that there were other people whose nervous systems simply experienced the world this way helped me stop seeing myself as broken.
That experience is a big part of why I'm so passionate about this work. My hope isn't just that therapy helps you understand yourself better. I want you to experience some of that same relief. I want you to get to a place where you stop asking, "What's wrong with me?" and start seeing your sensitivity as something to understand, work with, and maybe even appreciate.
Clients Come To Me When..
Maybe you've spent your whole life hearing that you're "too sensitive," but no one ever stopped to ask what that actually feels like.
You care deeply, notice everything, and feel emotions with an intensity that can be both beautiful and exhausting. Instead of seeing those qualities as strengths, you may have spent much of your life wondering if they're flaws.
You might recognize yourself in some of these experiences:
You replay conversations for hours—or even days.
You've been told you're "too sensitive" so many times that part of you has started to believe it.
You notice subtle shifts in people's moods, tone, or body language before anyone else does.
You need more downtime than most people—and often feel guilty for it.
Being Highly Sensitive Can Show Up in Ways Other People Don't Always See
You might recognize yourself in some of these experiences:
Noise, conflict, criticism, bright lights, strong smells, or
busy environments can become overwhelming.You spend a lot of energy managing how other people feel
while ignoring what's happening inside you.You absorb other people's emotions so easily that it can
be hard to tell where they end and you begin.You love deeply, but heartbreak and conflict can
stay with you much longer than you'd like.
Therapy with me isn't about becoming less sensitive.
The goal was never to “fix” your sensitivity.
Instead, we'll work to understand how you're wired, untangle the shame that's built up around it, and figure out what helps you thrive instead of just survive.
My hope is that you leave therapy feeling like you're working with yourself instead of constantly fighting against yourself.
Therapeutic Techniques I Use
With HSP Clients
My approach to therapy uses a blend of evidence-based practices tailored to your unique needs, including:
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Helps us accept difficult thoughts and feelings instead of constantly fighting them, and stop seeing your sensitivity as the problem.
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Helps identify thoughts and beliefs that keep you stuck, including self-criticism, perfectionism, anxiety, and feeling “too sensitive.”
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Helps you recognize overwhelm and overstimulation, recover more quickly, and respond with more intention instead of automatically reacting.
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Helps untangle how early relationships shaped the way you see yourself, including years of believing your emotions were “too much.”
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Helps make sense of how past experiences still influence your thoughts, emotions, relationships, and patterns today.
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Helps you notice thoughts, emotions, and physical sensations without immediately reacting, creating more space in how you respond.
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Helps you recognize your emotions, protect your energy, and care deeply without feeling like you have to carry everyone else’s emotions.
How Therapy With Me
Has Results
My clients report:
Stop wondering what's wrong with them and start understanding what they actually need.
Stop believing they're "too much."
Recover from overwhelm without feeling guilty for needing rest.
Trust their intuition instead of constantly second-guessing themselves.
Care deeply about other people without carrying the weight of everyone else's emotions.
Stop apologizing for how they're wired.
See their sensitivity not just as a challenge, but as one of their greatest strengths.
The goal isn't to become less sensitive. It's to stop fighting yourself and build a life that supports how you're wired. My hope is that one day you'll look at your sensitivity and think, "Hell yeah... I feel things deeply." Not because it's always easy, but because you finally see it as part of what makes you, you.
About Carly Stanton,
LPC, MT-BC
Hi, I'm Carly!
When I first learned about the Highly Sensitive Person trait, I felt incredibly relieved.
For so much of my life, I'd been told I was "too sensitive," and I genuinely believed there was something wrong with me. Learning that there were other people who simply experienced the world more deeply and intensely helped me stop believing there was something wrong with me.
That experience is a big part of why I'm so passionate about this work. My hope isn't just that therapy helps you understand yourself better. It's that you experience some of that same relief. I want you to get to a place where you stop asking, "What's wrong with me?" and start seeing your sensitivity as something to understand, work with, and maybe even appreciate.
I am anything but a passive therapist. I'll be actively engaged, asking questions, noticing patterns, and helping you better understand yourself. Therapy should feel collaborative, practical, and yes, sometimes even funny.
Outside of Therapy
Outside of therapy, you'll usually find me hanging out with my two cats, Moo Moo and Magnum, playing board games or video games. When my vertigo decides to cooperate, I love scuba diving in the Pacific Ocean. One of my favorite parts of living in Costa Rica is waking up to the sound of the howler monkeys outside my home and watching the mama monkeys with their babies hanging onto them as they move through the trees. I'm also a huge fan of improv comedy and am still hoping to find, or maybe even start, a group here in Costa Rica.
Education, Credentials, & Trainings
Master's Degree in Music Therapy
Bachelor's Degree in Psychology
Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC)
Board-Certified Music Therapist (MT-BC)
13+ years of experience across inpatient psychiatry,
crisis intervention, PHP, IOP, outpatient therapy,
group therapy, and private practice.
Therapy FAQs
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No. There actually isn't an official HSP diagnosis because being highly sensitive is considered a personality trait, not a mental health disorder. Many people come to therapy because they've been told they're "too sensitive" their whole lives or because they're wondering why they seem to feel everything more deeply. Whether you're certain you're an HSP or just beginning to explore the idea, we can absolutely work together.
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No. Being a Highly Sensitive Person isn't a mental health diagnosis. Many HSPs experience anxiety because of years of overstimulation, criticism, feeling misunderstood, or simply being more aware of things like facial expressions, tone of voice, and other emotional cues. They often overlap, but they aren't the same thing. Part of our work is understanding which experiences come from your temperament and which are things you can heal.
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This is real therapy. We'll explore the patterns, experiences, and beliefs that have shaped how you see yourself while also building practical tools to help you navigate everyday life. The goal isn't just to "manage" your sensitivity. It's to understand it and work with it.
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Absolutely. High sensitivity rarely exists in isolation. We can work on anxiety, perfectionism, people-pleasing, burnout, rejection sensitivity, relationship struggles, or anything else you're carrying. If you're feeling everything more deeply and intensely, it makes sense that you might become overwhelmed or burned out more quickly. These are conversations I have with clients almost every day.
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No. I work with adults experiencing anxiety, relationship challenges, life transitions, perfectionism, burnout, grief, and more. This page focuses on Highly Sensitive People because so many have spent years believing something was wrong with them, when really they just needed help understanding themselves and how they're wired.
Get Started in 4 Steps
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Fill out the free consultation form and tell me a little about what’s bringing you to therapy. I’ll get back to you within one business day to schedule a time to talk.
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This is a chance for us to get to know each other. You can ask any questions you have, tell me a little about what’s been going on, and together we’ll see if we’re a good fit.
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If we decide to work together, we’ll schedule your first full session. We’ll spend some time getting to know your background, what shaped you, and what’s bringing you to therapy now. From there, we’ll figure out what you want to work on together.
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From there, every session looks a little different because every week of life is different. Sometimes we’ll process what’s happening right now. Other times we’ll explore patterns that have been with you for years, make sense of experiences that still affect you today, or work toward new goals. We’ll keep building on what we learn together.
You Don’t Have To Do This Alone Anymore
If any of this resonated with you, I'd love to connect.