Swenson Counseling Support for the Highly Intelligent Sarah Swenson LMHC
Greetings!
For information about my international coaching practice supporting couples in which one partner is or may be autistic, please visit TheNeurodiverseCouple.com
You might want to contact me if...
- You'd like to work with a therapist who understands the gifts and challenges that come with high intelligence
- You're not sure you have any particular mental health problem, but you'd like a hand sorting things out
- It seems the world is moving very fast and you wonder whether you've lost your bearings
- You're struggling with the politics of divisiveness
- The pandemic is bringing up existential questions and you're not sure what to do about them
01
High Intelligence
it's not bragging to admit it
Somehow, many of us got the idea while growing up that it's not appropriate to talk about or even acknowledge our high intelligence. However, it radiates in everything you do: you can't hide it. Understanding how high intelligence means high complexity in both processing and comprehension of the world around you, with attendant creativity and curiosity, can settle some lifelong anxieties.
02
Expectations
"If you're so smart, why can't you_____?" and other discouraging comments
Once you're identified as one of the smart kids, others often have expectations of you that are out of proportion to your age or your psychological development. The paradoxical effect is that you can come to believe that you're not smart at all. Talking about this can be seen as bragging. You learn to keep your struggles to yourself.
03
Perfectionism
a root cause of "not living up to your potential"
You're not on this Earth to be the person someone else believes you should be. You're here to be your own unique self. You're the one who knows what you think, how you think, and what's important to you. You're the one who knows how you feel. And if you're the one with many interests and talents, you can be frozen in your tracks from having so many choices. You may be your own harsh critic. Let's talk.
Details about my practice
I’m a licensed psychotherapist in the state of Washington. I did my counseling graduate studies at Seattle University and my clinical training at Harborview Mental Health Services/University of Washington in Seattle. I used my own life experience as the basis of selecting my clinical specialty and subsequent training, which, as a member of Mensa, led me to concentrate on supporting the mental health needs of intellectually gifted adults. We can work together in English, Italian, or German.
Individual sessions are conducted exclusively online through an encrypted portal. The fee is $250.