Therapy for empaths and highly sensitive people
A supportive space for people who feel deeply
in a world that often asks them not to
in-person therapy for empaths and HSps in highland park, los angeles
If you’ve ever been told that you’re “too emotional,” “too sensitive,” or “too easily overwhelmed,” you’re not alone —and there is nothing wrong with you.
Many empaths and highly sensitive people move through the world with deep emotional awareness, attunement to others, and a strong sensitivity to their environment.
This depth can be meaningful and connective, but in a loud, fast, and demanding world, it can also feel exhausting.You might feel overwhelmed in busy spaces, deeply impacted by others’ emotions, or find yourself overthinking interactions long after they’ve ended.
You may have learned to see your sensitivity as something that’s shameful, or as something that needs fixing, minimizing, or managing away, an understandable response to a world that can be harsh toward people who feel deeply.
At Kindman & Co. in Highland Park, we see your sensitivity as real, valuable, and worthy of support.
If you’re curious about what supportive therapy for sensitive people can look like, you can learn more about our approach to care.
sensitivity often means feeling misunderstood
Highly sensitive people (HSPs) make up an estimated 15–20% of the population. Many experience the world with heightened awareness of emotions, environments, and interpersonal dynamics.
When your nervous system is wired for increased sensitivity, everyday experiences can feel more intense. Sounds, emotions, or sensory input that others barely register may feel distracting, overwhelming, or difficult to filter out. Over time, this can be exhausting.
For many sensitive folks and empaths, this way of experiencing the world is not always understood by others. Loved ones may not fully grasp why certain things feel so impactful, which can leave you feeling unseen or alone.
(You can read more about this in our blog on HSPs and feeling misunderstood.)
Over time, this disconnect can lead to self-critical thoughts like, Why am I like this? or Why does this bother me so much?
You might find yourself overcompensating by hiding your needs, feeling shame or self-judgment, or becoming emotionally or physically shut down as a way to cope.
Common challenges for HSPs and empaths
When sensitivity is misunderstood, minimized, or unsupported over time, it can start to show up in ways that feel confusing, painful, or overwhelming.
These experiences are not signs that something is wrong with you — they are often understandable responses to living in a world that isn’t built for sensitive nervous systems.
You may be noticing:
Feeling overwhelmed or overstimulated
Feeling shame after being told you’re “too sensitive,” “overly emotional,” or “overreacting”
Overanalyzing or overthinking interactions and situations
Feeling alone, unseen, or misunderstood by others
Being an “emotional sponge” and absorbing the feelings of people around you
Experiencing heightened anxiety
Being strongly impacted by your environment and struggling to set or maintain boundaries
Struggling to allow or express feelings like anger, frustration, sadness, or worry
If you’ve been left feeling overwhelmed or like your sensitivity is “too much,” you don’t have to navigate this on your own.
Feeling deeply can be overwhelming and isolating. Read our blogs about navigating the world as a sensitive person to feel less alone.
Sensitivity in context
Highly sensitive people and empaths don’t exist in a vacuum. The ways you experience the world are shaped not only by your internal landscape, but also by the broader social and cultural contexts you move through.
In therapy, we attend both to your inner experiences, like overwhelm, emotional intensity, and nervous system responses, and to the larger systems that shape how sensitivity is understood and valued. A social justice–informed approach allows us to explore how sensitivity is often misunderstood or devalued within dominant cultural norms.
In a society shaped by productivity culture and capitalism, traits like sensitivity, emotional intelligence, and deep processing are often seen as liabilities rather than strengths. At Kindman & Co., we understand these qualities differently.
Through sensing the subtle, processing deeply, and feeling big feelings, highly sensitive people and empaths are often deeply attuned to connection, compassion, and meaning.
Working with an empath therapist can help you make sense of your sensitivity in context, rather than seeing it as something to fix or manage away. Therapy can support you in learning how to soothe a sensitive nervous system and reconnect with your resilience, capacity, and strength — without needing to become any less of who you are.
The highly sensitive person has an important mission, which is to serve as a balance…Although you may have been told that you are too sensitive, the truth is that the proliferation of insensitive values has created a world on the brink of disaster, and our only hope for saving the planet is by being sensitive and kind toward all sentient beings.
— Ted Zeff
How sensitivity shows up in different roles
We often see overlap between highly sensitive traits and other meaningful parts of our clients’ lives. Many creatives and artists identify as highly sensitive, and this depth of feeling and perception can both fuel creativity and contribute to overwhelm or self-doubt. Supporting sensitive creatives in working with overstimulation and inner criticism can help them feel more energized, confident, and connected to their work.
Similarly, our specialization in therapy for therapists and helpers has shown us how empathy—while essential for connection—can also contribute to compassion fatigue, burnout, and difficulty leaving work at work. We love working with therapists and helpers to develop boundaries, process overwhelm, and reconnect with the meaning and joy in caring for others.
Therapy for empaths and highly sensitive people can help shift experiences of shame or disconnect into a deeper understanding and appreciation of your sensitivity and capacity for care.
reframing sensitivity as a strength
No two sensitive people are alike.
At Kindman & Co., we work with you to better understand your unique nervous system and develop tools to manage overwhelm in ways that actually fit your life. Our therapists have experience working with highly sensitive people and empaths, and many identify as HSPs themselves. Clients often find us while searching for therapy for empaths because they’re looking for a therapist who recognizes sensitivity as meaningful, rather than something to fix.
Being sensitive and emotional is not a problem.
Highly sensitive people are often deeply thoughtful, attuned listeners, and caring partners and friends. They tend to reflect carefully, feel deeply, and bring presence and intention into their relationships and decisions. These are qualities the world often overlooks, and deeply needs more of.
Take the Next Step
Whether you’re in Highland Park, Pasadena, or elsewhere on the Eastside of Los Angeles, Kindman & Co. offers therapy for highly sensitive people and empaths, both in person and online.
If you’re looking for validation, support, and a space where your sensitivity is understood and respected, you’re in the right place.
If you’re curious about working together but want to get a feel for our approach first, you’re welcome to schedule a free info session to ask questions and explore next steps.
We offer therapy for highly sensitive people in Highland Park and across Northeast L.A. Learn more about individual therapy, support for creatives, and our trauma therapy services.