Do you see sensitivity as a strength or weakness?
In this episode of “Inspiring Possible,” host Christy Pennison welcomes licensed independent clinical social worker and CEO guru of a counseling practice, Kerrie Toole, to discuss the unique sensitivity to emotion and the power it holds.
Kerrie shares her personal journey of discovering and embracing her own sensitivity to emotions, having felt more sensitive and emotional than others growing up and learning to suppress her feelings in a household that did not address emotions. She explains how she found empowerment through dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) and reframed her high emotional sensitivity as a gift rather than a problem.
The conversation delves into the scientific aspects of high emotional sensitivity, emphasizing the smaller and densely packed amygdala in individuals with heightened emotional reactivity. Kerrie sheds light on the biological predisposition to heightened amygdala response and systemic sensitivity in individuals with high sensitivity, leading to a deeper understanding of the challenges and potential health impacts.
The discussion also explores strategies for managing emotional discomfort, embracing vulnerability, and honing sensitivity as a superpower. Kerrie highlights the importance of self-compassion, mindfulness, and reframing self-narratives to validate and understand one’s unique superpower.
In this episode we dive into:
- Navigating High Emotional Sensitivity
- Understanding the Value of Emotion
- Strategies for Sitting with Uncomfortable Feelings
“Your superpower is gonna be the thing that helps you create possibilities.”
– Christy Pennison
Join Christy and Kerrie in this thought-provoking conversation that offers insights, encouragement, and practical tools for navigating high emotional sensitivity as a superpower.
More about Kerrie Toole
Kerrie Toole, LICSW is the Executive Director of Castlebrook Counseling Services, and is an independently licensed clinical social worker who specializes in Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) with adolescents and adults. Kerrie also has a subspecialty treating individuals in the transgender and LGBTQ+ community.
She is a highly empathic, validating, and energetic person, and provides supportive, solution-oriented therapy, with a focus on assisting individuals and families to develop new ways of thinking about problems and the choices that they can make to resolve or cope with them. She has clinical expertise in treating depression, anxiety, self-harmful behaviors, suicidality, borderline personality disorder, mood disorders, recovery from trauma and abuse, difficult family dynamics, as well as a multitude of other emotional, behavioral, and social issues.
Kerrie has been a practitioner of DBT for over 20 years, and is passionate about providing this evidence-based treatment to assist her clients in developing positive coping strategies and building a healthy lifestyle. Kerrie also provides clinical consultation to local schools and programs seeking to integrate DBT into their settings. Kerrie has a podcast, “It Makes Sense That You Feel This Way,” to offer support and education for individuals with High Emotional Sensitivities, and their loved ones.
