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Stressed Woman
Stress And The Highly Intuitive Child

Intuitive children might experience more stress than you realize. They have the ability to inadvertently tune into the unspoken conflicts among family members, classmates, or friends, which can cause them to experience more than his or her share of potential stressors.

 

To help highly intuitive kids reduce their stress levels, we have to identify the causes. 

 

- Catherine Crawford, author of the Highly Intuitive Child: A Guide to Understanding and Parenting Unusually Sensitive and Empathic Children

www.lifepassage.com

How to Spot Stress in an Intuitive Child

 An implosion of emotion

  • A sudden burst or explosion of emotion

  • Inexplicable emotions

  • Psychosomaticizing

  • Social hypervigilance

  • Anxiety

  • Clouded decision-making ability

  • Distractibility

  • Spaciness

  • Depression

  • Exhaustion

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Trouble Asking for Help

Most intuitive kids want to avoid the double trouble of dealing with the original problem and the potential upset in other people when they express their own stress or need.

 

They might need even more permission to express what is bothering them and to be reminded that it is not their job to take care of other people’s feelings.

 

They also need to hear that their feelings are welcome within the family, even when it seems like these feelings could be uncomfortable for parents to hear.

 

Intuitive children might relax and open up when they are reminded that is in not their job to take on other people’s problems.

 

Additional Stressors

  • Collective Attitudes about Intuition

  • Social Stress

  • Stress of Feeling Different

 

Ways to Calm the Intuitive Child’s Stress

  • Listen to the child without judgment and without inflating or deflating.

  • Stay calm and try not to match the child’s fear or stress.

  • Give permission for the child to express her feelings.

  • Evaluate for sensory overload, and help to reduce sensory inputs.

  • Take some deep breaths together.

  • Clear conflicts if necessary.

  • If the child is caught in a random intuition, help to release it.

  • Practice asking, “Is this mine?”

  • Look for ways to shift gears and orient to the present moment.

 

Seeking Professional Help

When a highly intuitive child is experiencing high stress that doesn’t decrease despite parent interventions, it may be time to seek the help of a professional.

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