The Highly Sensitive Person's Workbook [Paperback]

Elaine Aron (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 8, 1999

Are you a Highly Sensitive Person? If so, this workbook is for you.

Do noise and confusion quickly overwhelm you? Do you have a rich inner life and intense dreams? Did parents or teachers call you "too shy" or "too sensitive"? If you answered yes to any of these questions, you may be a Highly Sensitive Person (HSP).

High sensitivity is a trait shared by 20 percent of the population, according to Dr. Elaine Aron, a clinical psychologist and workshop leader and the bestselling author of The Highly Sensitive Person. The enormous response to her book led Dr. Aron to create The Highly Sensitive Person's Workbook, designed to honor that long-ignored, trampled-on part of yourself--your sensitivity. A collection of exercises and activities for both individuals and groups, this workbook will help you identify the HSP trait in yourself, nurture the new, positive self-image you deserve, and create a fuller, richer life. You will be able to:

Identify your specific sensitivities with self-assessment tests
Reframe past experiences in a more positive light
Interpret dreams and relate them to your sensitivity
Cope with overarousal through relaxation, breathing, and visualization techniques
Describe your trait in a work interview or to an unsympathetic family member, new friend, doctor, or therapist

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Can 1.2 billion exceptionally nervous nervous systems be wrong? No way, says depth psychologist Elaine Aron, bestselling author of The Highly Sensitive Person. An HSP herself, Aron is also the reigning expert on the subject, and this workbook exists to make you a more helpful expert on yourself. It can be read in conjunction with her more narrative book--the chapter headings match--or without it. "You should use this workbook in any way you darn well please," says Aron in a typical free-yourself comment.

So what is an HSP? Aron thinks one-fifth of humanity is born with more finely tuned perceptions than the rest. In primitive times, HSPs were the first to spot the lion lurking in the bush, the last to shoot the arrow--and the likeliest to hit the lion in one shot. Later, HSPs became the tempering priestly advisors to the more aggressive warrior kings. To be an HSP is a challenge and an opportunity, she argues. This book contains self-tests to determine whether you're an HSP, and if so, which kind: introverted, extroverted, sensation seeking, and other plausible categories. Some HSPs yearn for "earlids" to shut out sound, for instance. There are plenty of blanks to fill in as you analyze your childhood, health concerns, work history, and psychic wounds, with plenty of guidance on how to do it--sample entries as intriguing as someone else's diary. If you've ever wished you could go back and retort to somebody who said something hurtful that made you speechless, Aron has the exercise to channel your resentment into insight. She gives a quick course in dream analysis (Freud couldn't outdo her job on a dream about The A-Team's Mr. T and a tiger), and rather boldly invites you to envision and prepare for your death. There's also a practical guide to setting up HSP discussion groups with enough structure to prevent fizzle and poor focus.

Review

"People who want to modify their behavioral styles have to go beyond mere reflection and making resolutions to actually engaging in a set of activities that focus them in new, productive, creative directions.  Aron's workbook does just that through her many tasks, guidelines, and action paths for sensitive people. Get it and do it!"
--Philip G. Zimbardo, Ph.D., author of Shyness

"Highly sensitive people often need help with two goals: developing a deep sense of self-acceptance and becoming more confident in their relationships with other people.  Elaine Aron's enormously helpful new workbook offers a sympathetic and effective program for highly sensitive people to make real progress in pursuit of their goals."
--Jonathan Cheek, Ph.D., author of Conquering Shyness

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Three Rivers Press; Workbook edition (June 8, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0767903374
• ISBN-13: 978-0767903370
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 0.8 x 9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #11,720 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Elaine Aron, Ph.D., is recognized internationally as one of the leading scientists studying the psychology of love and close relationships. Dr. Aron's research on love, conducted with her husband, Dr. Art Aron, has been featured in the New York Times, Time, and National Geographic. She is the author of The Highly Sensitive Person, The Highly Sensitive Person in Love, and The Highly Sensitive Child. She has lived in many places all over North America, from a geodesic dome on Cortes Island to an aging southern mansion on Peachtree Street in Atlanta, and now divides her time between New York and San Francisco.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

156 of 156 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Somewhat Daunting BUT Extremely Useful Self-Exploration!, December 1, 2002

By 

Peter Messerschmidt "denmarkguy" (Port Townsend, WA, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Highly Sensitive Person's Workbook (Paperback)

If you have read Elaine Aron's original book "The Highly Sensitive Person" and have determined that you are *definitely* an HSP, then the next logical step in personal development might be to buy this workbook-- especially if you find yourself struggling somewhat in your dealings with the world.

"The Highly Sensitive Person's Workbook" *can* stand alone, but I would HIGHLY recommend reading Dr. Aron's original book on High Sensitivity before attacking the Workbook.

This is definitely an excellent tool to teach the HSP how to become more of an "expert" on themselves, and their sensitivity. HOWEVER, I must also caution that the book might be a bit daunting, or overwhelming, for the individual to work their way through on their own. As such, I would characterize the book as "superb" in an HSP support group setting, but perhaps only "good" to "very good" for an individual. That was certainly my personal experience after I bought the Workbook. I made a number of "false start" attempts at working through the exercises in the book by myself, but it wasn't until I got involved in an online "HSP study group" (not so diffuclt to find, by the way) that I managed to get all the way through. Having completed the workbook, I will say that it was a thoroughly worthwhile effort!

Here's what you get:

This Workbook is essentially a journey of Self-Exploration for HSPs. The early chapters address how to identify and become familiar with your sensitivity; subsequently Dr. Aron takes you through sensitivity in childhood, in social intereactions, and eventually in the context of the workplace and adult (intimate) relationships. Finally, there are sections "deeper wounds" and psychotherapy; medical and health issues, and finally Spirituality. There is also a discussion on setting up, and working within, an HSP group setting.

The focus of the chapters is generally on self-examination, "re-framing" past negatives related to your sensitivity, and practical suggestions for ways to go forward. Each chapter has many exercises which are mostly designed to be done in writing, as they require considerable reflection before formulating an answer. This is definitely where a "group discussion" setting becomes most helpful.

To get the maximum benefit from the workbook, you DO have to be "emotionally honest." As such, some of the exercises may be quite difficult to some readers-- since they ask you to look at parts of your life history that may be very painful, as well as areas in which you may feel that your sensitivity is (or has been) a "character flaw."

Final thoughts: Highly Recommended (9 out of a possible 10 bookmarks), especially if you have a support group-- or maybe just a couple of HSP friends-- with whom to share feedback on the exercises.

61 of 61 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ok, by now you know you are an HSP, but what type?, May 30, 2003

By 

Gaetan Lion - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Highly Sensitive Person's Workbook (Paperback)

This follow up to the book on the same subject is excellent. By now, you know pretty much who you are. If you are interested in this workbook you know that you are an HSP.

But, the workbook really drills down. You will find that there are several types of HSPs with different levels of sensitivity depending on the life domain. Some are more vulnerable in certain situations than the others.

Your self-awareness on the HSP scale is going to get much more in depth, much more refined, more 'sensitive' so to speak. And, that is a very good think. Life revolves around knowing thyself.

45 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent workbook for all kinds of Introverts, February 2, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: The Highly Sensitive Person's Workbook (Paperback)

An excellent, well presented, and thorough Workbook that contains self-tests to determine whether you're a Highly Sensitive Person, and if so, which kind: introverted, creative, sociable, worried, and/or "other plausible categories." I agree that this Workbook can stand alone, but also that it is better to use it with one of Dr. Aron's HSP books or related books such as The Introvert Advantage, or The Positive Power of Negative Thinking, or Undoing Depression, etc. -- depending on what kind of intovert you are and what you are trying to work on right now. I recommend the Workbook format because it is an active approach to self-understanding and improvement.