My hurried, crooked, parking alignment, three feet from the curb confirms the rush of my excitement when I arrive to a Thanksgiving party last November hosted by old school friends and their parents. They were outside waiting for me to arrive with wide waves of welcome and a beautiful gift related to a forty-year-old inside joke born from an adolescent incident occurring one summer night when we were much younger.  

Although I will not share historical specifics of our youthful merriment, I can tell you we use the phrase: O Tannenbaum! to memorialize the joke as both salutation and touchstone in many of our current day communications, and at all of our special event interactions. I am fortunate in this world to rely on a steady anchor of an inside joke fitted many summers ago, grounded in friendship, high spirits, and remembrance.  

Last summer, after accepting an invitation from IEA to visit camp Yunasa West, I drove on gorgeous Colorado-in-July twisty creekside roads to tour campgrounds, hang out by the lake with Fellows, break bread with staff, and facilitate an art workshop with campers. 

Several of the remarkable experiences I had at camp include: circles of children and camp counselors and Fellows together in conversation, activity, or easeful silence; children seeking out Fellows to share progress on a project or a thought process; camp counselors welcoming me with an inheritance of being former campers themselves; dialogue with a young camp counselor who made excellent suggestions to help me best serve children in my art workshop; witnessing the simultaneous kindness, precision, and flexibility of Nicole and her IEA team in developing and supporting both the structure and flow of the camp day; being let in on a camp inside joke cryptically called Peach Juice!, which is where I wish to focus for the rest of my writing today. 

Although I do not have permission to share details of Peach Juice! with you, I can tell you it is a mighty, mighty inside camp joke, hatched during an ordinary moment, post Pandemic, from the same muse I suspect served me and my friends well in our O Tannenbaum! youth. Celebrity enough of an inside joke to have its own polished Peach Juice! board game, complete with a Michael Piechowski game character, unveiled this past summer by a bright and industrious camper. I hope the legacy of Peach Juice! has the fortitude and legs to thread through the Yunasa West community for the next forty years and beyond.  

Human happiness within the circumstances of time, space, memory, and shared experience is perhaps one of the best ways to find some meaning in this life. O Tannenbaum! has happened. Peach Juice! has happened. I was there. You were there. I hope everyone has something like Peach Juice! in their lives to hold and carry as a personal and community talisman and (also) amulet in bright times and in dark (as I write, IEA’s Pasadena and nearby areas are on fire). I also wish I could somehow see out ahead to witness these camp friends in adulthood, reuniting for a few birthdays and holidays, arriving and parking in crooked haste in order not to miss a minute together nor the toast to the well-being and bestowal of Peach Juice! 

Thank you, IEA and community of camp Yunasa West 2024, for the wonderful visit this past summer. Keep up your good and virtuous work. Stay safe and take good care. Until we meet again…Peach Juice! 

Catherine Zakoian is a licensed and national board certified counselor based in Boulder, CO. For close to 25 years she has specialized in counseling gifted, profoundly gifted, and twice exceptional (2e) children, adolescents, teens, adults, families, and organizations.

Learn more about her and her practice at: https://catherinezakoian.com/

“I’m bored out of my mind” says a piano student who practiced for hours every day under the diligent watch of his parent.

How could someone work so much and be so bored?

People who work and study for the sake of doing, or do it because of external pressure, can burnout quickly. Gifted children, who are highly sensitive and embody various cognitive, physical, and emotional intensities, are more prone to burnout and boredom, as explained in Dabrowski’s over-excitabilities (OE).

For example, gifted children can concentrate on learning one subject for a long time as long as they are mentally stimulated. This is characterized as psychomotor OE – a high-energy child. However, if their mind is insufficiently stimulated, or if they already know the subject before class starts, they get bored quickly and lose interest in the subject they are learning. Children with psychomotor OE can often be misdiagnosed as ADHD.

In addition, the thirst for knowledge, or intellectual OE, is a common trait in gifted children. They are deeply curious about the world around them, love to ask probing questions, and can be highly self-critical with their struggles to be “perfect”. The need to be “perfect”, which is often measured by test scores and achievement, can be a disastrous recipe for burnout.

Gifted children often struggle with over-developing one aspect of self, while overlooking the rest of who they are. As Dr. Michael Piechowski, author of  Mellow Out, They Say. If I Only Could. Intensities and Sensitivities of the Young and Bright.  eloquently stated, “… cognition without an emotional sense to give it value, positive or negative, is sterile. The passion for learning and mastery, so characteristic of the gifted, is driven by a very powerful emotion: intense interest.”

It is important to recognize that gifted children not only think differently than other children, they also feel differently. Their intellectual complexity combined with their emotional intensity gives them a qualitatively different way of experiencing the world. Nurturing a gifted child’s body, heart, social and emotional self is key to putting value to their achievement and finding balance.

IEA’s pioneering Yunasa summer camps unite highly able youngsters with experts in the social and emotional development of gifted children. Campers explore and grow the intellectual, spiritual, emotional, social, and physical aspects of their lives.

When I sat down to write a blog post on the wonder of Yunasa and Yunasa West, I was completely baffled as to how to begin. I sat, hands stagnant upon my keyboard as I searched for words that would adequately capture the essence of this magical summer. When I am thwarted by writer’s block, I often feel compelled to turn to the words of a beloved author or poet for inspiration. And so, I begin this blog with the words of Hafez, a Persian poet from the fourteenth century.

“With That Moon Language” by Hafez

Admit something: Everyone you see, you say to them, “Love me.”
Of course you do not do this out loud, otherwise
Someone would call the cops.
Still though, think about this, this great pull in us to connect.
Why not become the one who lives with a
Full moon in each eye that is always saying,
With that sweet moon language, what every other eye in
This world is dying to hear?

At Yunasa last year, I was deeply moved by the overall acceptance I witnessed as the uniqueness and individuality and quirkiness of each child was celebrated by the entire group. I never experienced anything like that amongst my peers as a child, and I felt grateful that a place exists where such unconditional acceptance envelopes each young person. This year, I was especially struck by the wisdom of the campers at both Yunasa and Yunasa West.

I watched, in awe, as campers – both new and seasoned – intentionally reached out to include some of the more shy and timid children; I listened, in awe, to conversations between campers that reflected profound insight and deep thought; and I shared conversations with quite a few campers whose empathy and self-understanding touched me deeply. This year, the Counselors in Training (CITs) at Yunasa in Michigan decided to orchestrate a “friendship panel,” or an open discussion with the entire population of campers about issues pertaining to relationships amongst friends. The younger campers had lots of questions, both general and specific, and the CITs demonstrated the type of wisdom one encounters within clusters of brilliant philosophers. They led an enlightening and interesting conversation that could easily have continued for hours.

Both camps were marked by traditional Yunasa Programming: Heart of the Matter – small group sessions with clinical psychologist and Senior Fellow Patty Gatto-Walden; Fellows’ Workshops, e.g., Emotional Life of the Brain with Michael Piechowski, Energy Healing with Stef Tolan, Archetypes: The Four-Fold Way with Shelagh Gallagher and Dan Tichenor, and Psychosynthesis Scenarios with Jim Delisle; Counselors’ Workshops, e.g., Duct Tape Crafts with Darcy, Russian Fairy Tales with Paul, Soccer with Lucy and Steph, History with Wade, and Music Improv with Ethan; traditional camp activities – zipline, giant swing, high ropes, kayaking, rock climbing, fishing, and hammockville; Psychosynthesis – daily guided meditation in small groups; and evening activities such as the Variety Show, Campfire, Social, and Movie Night (we watched Big Hero Six). Special guests of Yunasa West – Louise Hindle and Dr. Amy Gaesser – offered workshops on poetry and EFT, respectively. Dr. April DeGennarro, our special guest at Yunasa Michigan, offered two compelling workshops pertaining to the identity we display on social media.

At Yunasa West, each psychosynthesis group performed a skit to demonstrate one of Dabrowski’s overexcitabilities. The Fellows, counselors, and I laughed hysterically as our wise young campers harnessed their creativity and impressive theatric talent to portray individuals who exemplify the intellectual, sensual, imaginational, emotional, and psychomotor overexcitabilities. Although we all laughed – a lot – their dramatic depictions were not far from reality!

This year, we read Listen! by Stef Tolan to correspond with the Yunasa theme, which was also “Listen.” We chose this theme because listening to our bodies, minds, spirits, emotions, and, of course, listening to one another is imperative as we seek balance. At Yunasa, we aim to pay attention – to listen closely – to the world around us, even as we sit silently amongst the trees, absorbing the sounds, colors, life, and history of our surroundings. Listening and mindfulness are closely related. As I listen, I grow attentive to the way my body feels and what that means; I am able to gauge my emotions with a deeper sensitivity; I am more equipped to empathize with others.

I have now participated in three Yunasa camps, and each time, I come home with a heightened sense of attentiveness. My interactions with the Fellows, campers, and counselors of Yunasa help me return to a vibrant place of attention. We miss so much when we dwell inside our heads, bend our heads over our phones, and stare blankly as we move through life. Thank you, people of Yunasa, for existing and for inspiring.

And with that, I shall end this blog post in the same way it began.

“Ten times a day something happens to me like this – some strengthening throb of amazement – some good sweet empathic ping and swell. This is the first, the wildest and the wisest thing I know: that the soul exists and is built entirely out of attentiveness.”
–Mary Oliver

Brianna has worked at IEA since 2011 and with gifted students since 2009. She graduated from Biola University with her BA in Humanities and English and is particularly interested in how literary art can inform issues in human psychology about how individuals conceive of themselves and make decisions. 

The word “normal” is often casually batted across the field of developmental psychology, and I shudder at the implicit limitations of such a word. Sure, “normal” is a practical point of reference for understanding how children grow, in what ways and at what ages. When used descriptively, it can be a useful tool for seeing general patterns of physical, cognitive, and emotional development. The harm seems to come when we choose, often without realizing, to see normative development through a prescriptive lens. To prescribe “normal” as the measure of a healthy, happy child may confine us to a definition too narrow to allow the perspective that each child is a unique instantiation of life, and therefore will develop in his or her own unique way.

For those parenting a child at either end of the bell curve, the normalcy lens can cause more trouble than not. Any parent of a gifted or special needs child (or in some cases, the twice-exceptional child) can attest to the fact that, if normal is the rule, their child is indeed the exception. For these parents, it can be a challenge to let go of normative expectations and accept their child’s distinctive development.

These variations from the norm can be hard to define. Gifted has often been conflated with achievement and accolade, with success being the primary identifier of a truly gifted child. This seems a narrow perspective, considering the thousands of underachieving and at-risk gifted students across America, to give one example. It also fails to account for the notion that gifted children don’t develop in a linear, synchronous way. Parents often speak of their gifted child embodying many ages at once, oscillating from an “old soul” to an emotional 3-year-old from one minute to the next. Imagine, for instance, the gifted child who spends her weekends learning computer languages like Java and C++ but who falls to pieces if asked to perform a repetitive task like copying vocabulary words ten times. How can we best define this simultaneous abundance and lack, which to us can appear so out of the norm?

In 1991, a group of gifted education specialists (both parents and professionals) came together to ask the question – “What is gifted?” They gathered in Columbus, Ohio, (giving them the name “Columbus Group”) to search for an answer to this deceptively simple question. One member, Stephanie Tolan, recalls: “…we agreed that in almost every way these children were out of sync with expectations, norms, and averages” (Off the Charts, 14). Indeed, the gifted child will no doubt disappoint or confuse the parent who prescribes to normative expectations.

From their discussion, the Columbus Group conceived of the concept “asynchrony” to describe the basic features of the gifted child. Their child-centered – not product or achievement centered – definition has been adopted by many gifted organizations (IEA included), schools, and educators as the most inclusive explanation of the gifted individual.

“Giftedness is asynchronous development in which advanced cognitive abilities and heightened intensity combine to create inner experiences and awareness that are qualitatively different from the norm. This asynchrony increases with higher intellectual capacity. The uniqueness of the gifted renders them particularly vulnerable and requires modifications in parenting, teaching and counseling in order for them to develop optimally” (Columbus Group, 1991).

For young gifted people, the pressure for normalcy can easily sneak its way into their self-perception, either through internal or external influences, or both. Acceptance of their giftedness as an integral part of self is crucial during childhood and adolescence, as they are in the most critical stages of development. Asynchrony, not normalcy, should be the lens through which we understand the growing gifted individual, and should provide educators and parents alike a better framework for helping them to learn and grow into their best possible self.

If you are interested in learning more about asynchrony, I strongly recommend Off the Charts: Asynchrony and the Gifted Child. Among the contributors are IEA Senior Fellows, Dr. Michael Piechowski, Stephanie Tolan, and Dr. Patricia Gatto-Walden, as well as Yunasa Fellow, Dr. Shelagh Gallagher. We are honored to have an ongoing relationship with some of the most renowned experts in the field today. To learn more about it or order it online, please visit Royal Fireworks Press.

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“I am happy to be in a room of too’s,” said Betsy Jones, IEA President, as we concluded IEA’s Summer Spotlight this year. “We are all too’s – too emotional, too smart, too intense….”

Tuesday, June 8, was a bright evening of community, learning, and friendship as IEA and its community gathered at the University of Southern California for dinner and a time of sharing. Eight IEA Apprentices, who studied Industrial Design under Stan Kong at Art Center College of Design, displayed their impressive concept design sketches – pieces of art that would later become final projects. Posters, books, and sculptures created by Academy students, Caroline D. Bradley Scholars, and Yunasa campers were also scattered about USC’s Vineyard Room, along with plenty of photos of Academy kids at The Huntington Library, Art Collection, and Botanical Gardens; Yunasa West campers frolicking in Colorado; and CDB Scholars who convened for the Bradley Seminar in April.

After dinner, IEA’s Program Coordinators introduced speakers from each of IEA’s programs. Min-Ling Li, the valiant leader of 29 Apprentices, began by announcing both Alex T., who is studying shock waves with Dr. Eliasson at USC, and Robert, an Industrial Design Apprentice.

Alex’s speech was an expounded acrostic he created from the letters of IEA: I –“I am Alex,” he began. This is Alex’s second year as an IEA Apprentice, and he thanked the Caroline D. Bradley Scholarship program for introducing him to an opportunity that would change his life. “Once you are a part of IEA, you support it, and it supports you,” he said. E – “Eager. That is what the students here are,” Alex continued. Finally, A – “Apprentice…we are all Apprentices, because every day we learn something new. One thing I learned while I was here is of all the gifted children being overlooked by teachers. IEA works to find them and help them come to terms with their giftedness…Institute for Educational Advancement: intelligent, eager, able,” he concluded.

Robert, who came to the Los Angeles-based Apprenticeship Program all the way from Miami, is a first-year Apprentice who described his experience as a time of extremely hard work and the unbelievable opportunity to “study at a school he hopes to get into in a field he hopes to make a career out of.”

One of IEA’s earliest Caroline D. Bradley Scholars, Ryan, spoke next: “It’s much more than a monetary gift – it’s a community,” he said of CDB. According to Ryan, CDB helped him develop the confidence to be whatever it is he wanted to be. When it was time to apply for college, the CDB coordinator helped him apply. Ryan opted for Harvard, where he began by pursuing an education in engineering, ended up in neuroscience, found himself in musical theater, and finished his degree in creative arts. Now Ryan produces movies – Lego movies, of late.

Arden, a six-year-old Academy student, stood upon a chair to reach the microphone and talked about how, in the past year at IEA, he has taken a Shakespeare class from a professional actor, advanced his math skills with a teacher who made it fun, made his first short film, painted himself blue using ice and an infrared camera in his first Physics class, and was introduced to the Spanish language for the first time. “If that wasn’t enough,” he said, “IEA has given me this opportunity in public speaking!”

Finally, 10-year-old Alexander A., who also stood on a chair to speak, described Yunasa as a place where he is able to be himself, a place where he feels loved and accepted by all the people around him. At Yunasa and Yunasa West, Alexander has learned practical ways to help him calm down when he feels tense and emotional. He talked about Senior Fellows Patricia Gatto Walden, Ph.D., and Michael Piechowski, Ph.D., who have given him hugs and engaged him in conversations about deep and interesting things. Alexander’s favorite Yunasa activity is the low ropes course because, he said, “you get to work as a team to get through obstacles.”

When the young brilliant pundits of IEA finished their enlightening speeches, Betsy Jones told a story of a girl she met at Yunasa West this year. This young lady explained to Betsy that when she feels sad, she spends time with her “Too People.” She has always been told that she is “too intense, too distracted, too talkative, too quiet, too much,” so her stuffed animals became a family of “too’s” who provide a safe place where she can exist without feeling chastised. IEA has been around for 16 years, and it is still one of the only organizations in the world where, as Betsy said, these young brilliant individuals “can grow and learn and be and do whatever it is they want to do.”

Summer Spotlight was an evening of illumination – a light shone upon a community of “too’s” and the programs that help them to grow, succeed, learn, and feel safe to be themselves.

Take a look at more photos from Summer Spotlight 2014!

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IEA’s pioneering Yunasa summer camps unite highly able youngsters with experts in the social and emotional development of gifted children. Campers explore and grow the intellectual, spiritual, emotional, social, and physical aspects of their lives.

In June, 39 campers from across the country came together for Yunasa West at Camp Shady Brook in Deckers, Colorado, for a week of intellectual, social, emotional, spiritual, and physical growth.

The week started off by introducing this year’s IEA program theme: The Common Good. As we talked about The Common Good, campers shared what the theme meant to them and how they thought it would be relevant to their camp experience. They described the Common Good as acting unselfishly, doing things for other people rather than yourself, and behaving in a way that promotes the health of the group, even if one’s own best interest is at stake. We proceeded to establish our rules as a group to prepare for the week as part of a community. Each camper exemplified The Common Good in their actions towards others at camp, respecting one another and making efforts to ascertain that everyone felt accepted.

One exciting highlight at Yunasa West this year involved a workshop on energy healing, which dealt with ways to heal the body using pressure points. The campers engaged in a group discussion with our guests, Dr. Sheila Abichandani and Dr. Arin Balbinder, and then partnered up to put what they learned into action.

Each year, IEA Senior Fellows and Yunasa Fellows lead a variety of workshops on topics of high interest to campers, and this year was no exception.

Senior Fellow Stephanie Tolan taught eight participants Reiki, the ability to help or speed healing by putting one’s hands on the person who is sick or in pain. Campers met in two workshops at the beginning of the week to learn this ancient tool to help others, and the participants actually received certification for their training!

Dan Tichenor, Yunasa Fellow, led a workshop in Mindful Walking through the Labyrinth, which was built by Yunasa West campers in 2013 and resurrected this year. Nature Art was another popular workshop with Dan where campers made cairns, or stacks of rocks, as a protection and landmark for the labyrinth.

Campers experimented with sending and receiving messages nonverbally to other campers and nature using their energy in a popular “Reaching” workshop led by Senior Fellow Dr. Patricia Gatto-Walden.

Senior Fellow Michael Piechowski led an Intensities workshop where campers discussed intensities and overexcitabilities and how they manifest themselves in the life of a gifted person. Campers broke into psychosynthesis groups to talk about their own personal experiences; after the workshop, many campers said they felt more understood, accepted, and authentic.

And of course, campers took part in traditional summer camp activities such as trail rides, ropes courses, and campfires!

Overall, the week was a fun, successful exploration of campers’ unique personalities and a time of growth for our amazing community.

Click on the button below for more photos from camp!

Do you know of a gifted youngster who would be interested in Yunasa or Yunasa West next year? Sign up for our email list to get details on Yunasa 2015 camps as they become available!

Elizabeth Jones is the President and Founder of The Institute for Educational Advancement. She has worked with gifted and special needs children and their families for more than 20 years. Her current work emphasizes advocacy and the development and administration of specialized programs for underserved youth. She also consults with gifted children and their families to help them find solutions to meet each child’s intellectual, physical, spiritual, social and emotional needs.

Tragedies make us feel helpless. As adults looking for answers, dealing with heartache and trying to process what has happened, it is vital that we honor the fears and concerns of our children, as well. This can be extremely difficult when we don’t understand the events ourselves. It is hard to grasp entering into a conversation with our children without knowing the answers to who, what, why and if it will happen again.

Children can be extremely affected by catastrophes, whether acts of nature or human infliction. They see adults as the gatekeepers to their safety; but when the adults in a child’s world have no control over a tragedy occurring, children often lose their sense of security. They just cannot understand why.

Gifted children exhibit high levels of intensity and sensitivity and can be even more deeply impacted by events such as the Boston bombings. Not only do they feel a loss of security, but they also have a profound feeling of empathy for the victims and a tremendous need to understand and “fix” the problem.

A six-year-old client going through some stress recently had a dream that he was able to bring back a World War II battleship to the New York harbor on September 11, 2001, and the ship saved the Twin Towers. He used what he knew to fix a problem – and prevent a horrible tragedy – that happened years before he was born. It brought him comfort.

Emotionally sensitive, highly able students feel very deeply and have a strong sense of justice and moral fairness. It is hard enough to cope with horrific events; yet, when you feel a responsibility to fix the problem, it can be completely overwhelming. Gifted children have an early awareness of complex problems facing humanity. They experience emotional intensity at a greater level than their non-gifted counterparts. As a result, their concerns should be understood and respected. Telling children they should not worry or think about a tragic event that is now part of their frame of reference can cause children to feel inadequate because they are not able to control their emotions. Feeling insecure can trigger more anxiety and loss of control.

Michael Piechowski speaks about the complex inner lives, early ethical concerns and heightened awareness of the world gifted children experience. This often causes internal confusion and tension between “what is” and “what ought to be.”

How can we help our children cope with tragic events when we don’t even understand the why? Here are some suggestions:

• Gifted children have vivid imaginations. Without appropriate, honest conversation, they will often imagine the worst that could happen to their family, pets, friends and others.
• If possible, be the first one to communicate the event. Give your child honest answers, but do not overload them with details. Limit exposure to media and graphic images. Be prepared to have several conversations that may include asking the same question over and over. Gifted children have a strong affective memory, which causes them to relive significant moments in their lives. Your child will not forget about it, even if you stop them from talking about it.
• Be consistent and reassuring, but do not make unrealistic promises. Children take cues from their parents. Share your concerns and grief, but do not do all the talking. Listen and let your child take the lead. Ensure they know that you always do the best you can to make them and other family members safe.
• Coordinate information between school, home and other locations where your child spends time. Articulate your child’s concerns and deep feelings of empathy to the teachers and others who interact with your child. Remind these people that your child is likely to react differently than peers and that your child is likely to continue to remember and be affected by the event for a longer time than classmates. It is important for everyone in your child’s life to understand this.
• Reestablish a schedule or routine as soon as possible. The normalcy of activities is comforting and can assist children in healing.
• Work with your child to establish ways to take action to support the victims. Encourage and suggest positive ways they can make a difference, like raising money or writing notes.
• Reinforce things in your child’s life that provide safety, including police, fire fighters, school officials and protocol of what to do when a potential problem occurs. Discuss the fact that, although tragedies occur, they are rare; it is important to be prepared, though.
• Encourage emotional, physical, creative and spiritual outlets that can relieve your child’s tensions. This is a good opportunity to discuss ways to rejuvenate yourself when difficult things happen. Expression through the arts can be calming.

Most importantly, be together and reach out to help. And, by far, touch, understanding and unconditional love are the most powerful coping mechanisms for all of us.

What strategies have helped you talk to your child about tragedy? Please share with others in the comment section below.

Children who feel things with great intensity experience the world in a different way. Gifted young people are often more aware, stimulated, and affected by their surroundings. Emotional or physical reactions to events can last longer than expected and are often replayed in the child’s mind.

Intensities can be characterized by:

• Extreme feelings: positive or negative feelings; complex emotions; connection with the feelings of others; grand laughter and tears
• Physical reaction to emotion: stomachaches and headaches; blushing; rise in body temperature
• Strong affective memory: re-living or re-feeling things long after the triggering event; nightmares; elaborate daydreams connected to actual events

Psychologist Kazimierz Dabrowski studied the mental health of gifted youth and adults. He described the areas of heightened stimulation observed in gifted individuals as “overexcitabilites.” The five areas of overexcitabilites are:

1. Psychomotor: extreme physical activity and movement; rapid talk; pacing; use of hand gestures
2. Sensual: perceptiveness of sensory experiences; unusual awareness and enjoyment of sensation
3. Imaginational: clear visualizations; metaphorical speech; dreaming; magical thinking
4. Intellectual: need to question or analyze; delight in the abstract and theoretical; puzzle and problem solving
5. Emotional: intensity of feeling and relationships; natural empathy and compassion; susceptibility to depression, anxiety, or loneliness

Dr. Michael Piechowski, who studied alongside Dabroswski, has dedicated much of his life to researching the emotional and spiritual aspects of gifted children. In his book ‘Mellow Out,’ They Say. If Only I Could: Intensities and Sensitivities of the Young and Bright, he stresses the need to “give voice to the emotional life of bright young people, to show how their intensities and sensitivities make them more alive, more creative, and more in love with the world and its wonders.”

Piechowski, along with other gifted experts, teaches gifted children a variety of techniques for coping with their overexcitabilities. For Caroline, this required her teachers, parents, and siblings to understand and embrace her overexcitabilities. At the same time, Caroline learned exercises to calm her senses and help her focus.

Guided imagery and meditation are excellent tools for those like Caroline learning to master their sensitivities. A good place to start is with a simple exercise. Have your child close his or her eyes, breathe deeply, and say with the breath,

“Breathing in I calm my body,
Breathing out, I smile.”

Learning to use the mind to control the body through exercises like this — along with overall awareness and understanding — is an important step in mastering intensities.

For more strategies, see our post 15 Strategies for Managing Your Gifted Child’s Intensities.

Does your child experience any of these overexcitabilities? What coping techniques have worked for you? Please share with us in the comment section below!

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We are excited to share this post as part of the New Zealand Gifted Awareness Week Blog Tour. Gifted children worldwide share many unique characteristics, including intensities. It is important for those who are in the lives of these gifted individuals to better understand these characteristics in order to help nurture and support their intellectual, social, spiritual, emotional, and physical growth.