Are You Gifted? Why Knowing the Answer Matters

Have people ever called you “too intense” or perhaps “too driven”? Or maybe people have said “Why don’t you slow down?” or “Can’t you do just one thing?” Do you have a habit of starting a new book to read before you have finished the old one? Is there only one person in a hundred who understands your jokes? Have you always felt like you just didn’t fit in?
 
If you can answer yes to these questions, you might just be a gifted adult. A gifted person according to the National Association of Gifted Children is, “someone who shows, or has the potential for showing, an exceptional level of performance in one or more areas of expression.”

One major characteristic of gifted adults is that they seldom realize that they are gifted. They may know they are smart, if they did well in school, but many gifted adults performed average in school.  And even if you know that you are smart, the term “gifted” seems extreme. Often times, gifted adults grew up with very little social reinforcement for who they are. When you think differently and act differently than most everyone else you associate with, most people come to doubt their perceptions and thus doubt themselves.

After years of rejection and misunderstanding, the gifted adult has much misinformation about his or herself that may even be described as a “false self.” Through psychotherapy and education about giftedness, the gifted adult can reclaim their true self and find the meaning in life that they have a hidden longing for. 

If you are a gifted adult or believe you have a gifted child, contact my office to set up an appointment. Let’s unleash that gift together! For more information, visit Personal Growth – Gifted Adults  and Parenting Effectively – Guiding a Gifted Child.