High Sensitivity
&
Childhood Emotional Neglect
Also known as HSP and CEN
Do you relate?
May I ask you a few questions?
Does it feel like something is missing, even though your life seems to be working on the surface?
Do you often feel overwhelmed by people, sensory input, or strong emotions?
Do you find it difficult to express your needs or ask for help?
Do you think and feel deeply, but struggle to put your inner experience into words when you're with others?
Have you often felt different, misunderstood, or "too much"?
If you recognize yourself in several of these questions, high sensitivity may be part of the picture.
But sometimes there's another missing piece of the puzzle.
Emotional Neglect isn’t about
what they did to you,
it’s about
what they didn’t do for you
What if it’s not the Sensitivity that needs to be healed?
What if it is what happened with the Sensitivity that
needs to be understood, and shifted?
High Sensitivity and CEN
High sensitivity is not a problem in itself.
But when a sensitive child grows up without their emotions being seen, understood, or responded to, their sensitivity can begin to feel like a burden rather than a strength.
This is where Childhood Emotional Neglect (CEN) comes in.
In my work, I often see that it isn't high sensitivity itself that causes suffering. It's the combination of an inborn sensitivity and growing up in an environment where emotional needs weren't given enough space.
When we begin to understand the difference, it becomes possible to stop trying to change who we are—and instead begin healing what hurt us.
Why I wrote
The Neglected Sensitivity
For many years, I tried to understand why I—and so many highly sensitive people—struggle with self-doubt, shame, and the feeling of never quite fitting in.
Eventually, I began to see a pattern.
High sensitivity was rarely the problem itself. More often, the suffering came from the way it had been met.
That insight became the foundation of my e-book, The Neglected Sensitivity.
In it, I explore the connection between high sensitivity and Childhood Emotional Neglect (CEN), why the nervous system responds the way it does, and how the healing process can begin.
Chapter 1 is available for free, just click the link below!