This interview by Chené Murphy appears in MysticMag.

Julie Bjelland is a Psychotherapist, Host of The HSP Podcast, and Founder of the Sensitive Empowerment Community, whose mission is to create a paradigm shift where sensitivity is embraced, valued, and honored.  As a leader in the field of high sensitivity, Julie has helped thousands of highly sensitive people (HSPs) around the world reduce their challenges, access their gifts, and discover a sense of calm, feeling grounded, inner strength, and resiliency they have never thought possible.  In this interview Julie shares more about what it means to be an HSP and offers tips and techniques to empower sensitive people to live their best lives.

Could you tell us a bit about your journey and what inspired your passion for helping and healing others?

My passion for helping HSPs stems from the fact that I’m an HSP and working with this population globally over the years has led me to realize how many amazing gifts there are inside of this trait!  I believe the world benefits from empowered HSPs.

What defines a Highly Sensitive Person and how do they experience general life?

The scientific name of this trait is called sensory process sensitivity.  Equal in gender, about 15-20% of the population has this trait and it’s also found in over 100 species and counting.  It evolved as a survival strategy of the population because people with this trait have extra information, deeper processing, more intuition, can read micro-expressions and body language the majority miss, are extra empathetic, caring, genuine and we want to get things done right the first time and done ethically.  We have a strong moral compass and generally want to help others and the world.  Sensitivity is on a spectrum and I’ve found the higher someone scores on the spectrum the more challenges and yet the more gifts too!  I have a free Sensitivity Quiz people can take that might help them determine if they have this trait.  This video describes more about the trait too.

What do you find are the more popular aspects that people struggle with and seek guidance on?

Anxiety, an overloaded nervous system, over-giving, perfectionism, feeling different and misunderstood, lacking self-compassion & being hard on self, and being misinformed that sensitivity is a weakness or a negative, when in fact it is a gift!

Could you tell us a bit more about the methods you use in working with clients?

I don’t work one-on-one with clients now as I do all global work, focusing on my Sensitive Empowerment Community, The HSP Podcast, The HSP Blog, and my online courses. In my online courses, I teach HSPs now about how brain training helps with everything!  You can intentionally activate calming centers and release feel-good calming chemicals and all of this automatically de-activates stress centers!  Brain training is a natural way to reduce anxiety and high stress, improve sleep, mood, focus, productivity, creativity, health, and more!

You have a variety of online courses on offer, please share a bit more about what insights people can expect to gain from these?

Sure! Here’s more info about my courses..

• If you are experiencing high stress, anxiety, and feeling emotionally overwhelmed or reactionary, I recommend my course, Brain Training for the Highly Sensitive Person, Techniques to Reduce Anxiety and Overwhelming Emotions. Most HSPs report feeling improvement within a couple of weeks.

• If you want to learn how to set boundaries, develop more self-love, learn how to protect your energy, and learn about natural supplements that can help you sleep and feel calmer, then I recommend my course, Blooming Brilliantly, Understanding and Loving Who You Are as a Sensitive Person.

• If you want to start or grow an online business, I recommend my course, How to Grow a Heart-Centered Online Business.

Do you have any advice for those who may feel like they are being taken advantage of, who tend to give more than what they get back?

This is so common for HSPs!  We tend to be huge givers and that can often lead to an imbalance in relationships and a need to set healthy boundaries or resentment can grow and damage relationships. Learning how to set healthy boundaries is so important! I’ve talked about this quite a bit on the HSP Podcast and Blog.  Additional resources can be found on my website for How to Set Healthy Boundaries as an HSP and Improve Your Relationships; Creating Healthy Boundaries as an HSP Without Guilt; Setting Boundaries Will Help You, the World, and Your Relationships Flourish.

Lastly, do you have any basic tips or techniques to share with our readers that can help prevent feeling overwhelmed in daily life?

Daily 2 hours alone to process, rest and restore (meditation, mindfulness, yoga, nature time) all help reduce overload on the nervous system.  Slow down your mornings, have boundaries around devices, social media, and the news.  Daily time in nature is like medicine for HSPs.  Develop self-compassion! This helps with everything! HSPs tend to be so compassionate for others but lack it for themselves.  Spend time with other highly sensitive people because it normalizes and validates your experience and is quite magical being together! My Sensitive Empowerment Community is safe, private, not on social media.

I have two free Masterclasses coming up too and there will be replays available to those that register.
High Sensitivity and Anxiety
Reach Financial Freedom Growing a Heart-Centered Online Business You Love

Julie Bjelland is a Psychotherapist, host of The HSP Podcast, and Founder of the Sensitive Empowerment Community, whose mission is to create a paradigm shift where sensitivity is embraced, valued and honored. Get a free guide to calm your brain, a letter to give your medical and mental health practitioners about high sensitivity and take the Sensitivity Quiz at JulieBjelland.com ❤️🌈❤️ (she/her)