Living With Intensity: Understanding the Sensitivity, Excitability, and the Emotional Development of Gifted Children, Adolescents, and Adults [Paperback]

Susan Daniels (Editor), Michael M. Piechowski (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 2008

Gifted children and adults are often misunderstood. Their excitement is viewed as excessive, their high energy as hyperactivity, their persistence as nagging, their imagination as not paying attention, their passion as being disruptive, their strong emotions and sensitivity as immaturity, their creativity and self-directedness as oppositional.

This resource describes these overexcitabilities and strategies for dealing with children and adults who are experiencing them, and provides essential information about Dabrowski s Theory of Positive Disintegration. Learn practical methods for nurturing sensitivity, intensity, perfectionism, and much more.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Living with Intensity provides something for everyone who lives or works with gifted children and adults. With chapters devoted to clinical work with the gifted, family dynamics, issues affecting specifically adults who are gifted, and research studies and applications, Daniels and Piechowski have provided a noteworthy and even essential contribution to the field of giftedness." --Dr. Susan Berry, Psychologist who works with gifted children and their families, Glastonbury, CT

A detailed and insightful perspective on intensity throughout the lifespan. The section on adolescence should be compulsory reading for parents, teachers and counselors. --Miraca U.M. Gross, Professor, Director: Gifted Education Research, Resource and Information Centre (GERRIC), The University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia

A valuable resource for anyone working or living with a person who is gifted. Dabrowski's concepts of overexcitabilities and positive disintegration are helpful in understanding what might otherwise seem like inexplicable behaviors among some gifted children and adults. Living with Intensity, an apt title, provides practical insights to guide educators, psychologists, and parents. --Steven I. Pfeiffer, Ph.D., ABPP, Professor and Director of Clinical Training, The Florida State University

Living with Intensity is a can't put it down exploration of the multi-faceted sensitivities/intensities of gifted children and adults, which fuel their personal growth--if they are NOT misunderstood. It will assist all parents, teachers, and clinicians to understand and nurture the complex combination of intellectual advancement and overexcitabilities gifted individuals present, and avoid tragic misperceptions and misdiagnoses. --Barbara Jackson Gilman, M.S., Associate Director of the Gifted Development Center, Denver, CO

"The application of Dabrowski becomes clear for counselors, teachers, and parents. Nice examples of working with (not against, or trying to fix) intensity. This book is an ideal companion to Dabrowski's Theory of Positive Disintegration (2008)." --Leslie Forstadt, Ph.D., in Roeper Review

"Living with Intensity is both a pleasant and instructive reading. It undoubtedly succeeds in its declared aim of making 'highly complex material accessible without diluting its essential concepts' (p.265). Using a language that is easy to follow and being filled with illustrations and practical suggestions, this book is essential for all parents, teachers and counselors 'dealing' with giftedness and intensity. The message it advocates, that of listening to gifted children and adults, respecting and understanding them, is an imperative in today's world both scarred by a series of misconceptions about the creative self and in desperate need of creativity." --Vlad Glaveanu, Editor, Europe's Journal of Psychology

Review

"The application of Dabrowski becomes clear for counselors, teachers, and parents. Nice examples of working with (not against, or trying to fix) intensity. This book is an ideal companion to Dabrowski's Theory of Positive Disintegration (2008)."

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 260 pages
• Publisher: Great Potential Pr., Inc. (November 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0910707898
• ISBN-13: 978-0910707893
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 6.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #21,234 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #84 in Books > Health, Fitness & Dieting > Mental Health > Emotions

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

122 of 125 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sensitivity is an Asset!, February 15, 2009

By 

Kendra Kett "Author of The Pinwheel Girl Take... (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Living With Intensity: Understanding the Sensitivity, Excitability, and the Emotional Development of Gifted Children, Adolescents, and Adults (Paperback)

This book is a lifesaver for the gifted population...it presents a clear and concise overview of their inner and outer worlds, how they think and process, how they can and cannot express themselves, what is needed in their environments in order for them to thrive and offer up their unique and needed contributions to the world...I couldn't put it down because of the affirming recognition I felt in this book...the book offers enormous breakthroughs for anyone in this category who may have been living in the shadows of constant criticisms or living on the fringe for their "differentness".

For those of you who are "sensitive" and who've been told all your life you are too this, too that, and that you need to chill out, pipe down, take a break, stop thinking so much, stop talking so much, stop reading so much into everything, stop taking everything to heart, stop laughing so loud, and more...this book will help you see that you are not alone and that you are not abnormal, defective, crazy, or that something is wrong with you. You only have one life...it is so important for the gifteds and the sensitives to beam their unique perspectives out into the universe, to make their unique contributions...it is the only way for you to live your best life and the only way for humanity to move forward. There is immense power in the novel idea and in the novel perspective. Cultivate the courage to be who you are even in the face of being misunderstood. The world needs you and that is why you are here! This book will help you to cross over the painful barriers that have made you feel like you must pretend to be less than you are!

69 of 69 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book helped me understand my daughter better (and myself as well), July 6, 2009

By 

creative mama (Las Vegas NV) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Living With Intensity: Understanding the Sensitivity, Excitability, and the Emotional Development of Gifted Children, Adolescents, and Adults (Paperback)

I happened upon the definition of a "gifted" child from this book on a website:

"Their excitement is viewed as excessive, their high energy as hyperactivity, their persistence as nagging, their questioning as undermining authority, their imagination as not paying attention, their passion as being disruptive, their strong emotions and sensitivity as immaturity, their creativity and self-directedness as oppositional. They stand out from the norm. But then again, what is normal?"

It is the best description of my daughter I have ever read. This book is a must have if that above statement describes your child - or even yourself! It discusses the excitabilities phychomotor, sensual, intellectual, imaginational and emotional.

68 of 72 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The most transformational book I've ever read, May 13, 2010

By 

Doug Bell "Java guru" (San Diego, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Living With Intensity: Understanding the Sensitivity, Excitability, and the Emotional Development of Gifted Children, Adolescents, and Adults (Paperback)

I'm 49 years old. Since elementary school I've known, accepted and embraced the fact that I'm exceptionally gifted. I derive immense satisfaction from applying my intellect and have done so without the burden of concern for how that affects other people's perception of me. However, what I never realized until reading this book is how instrumental being gifted is to my emotional makeup.

When this book arrived I started reading it and highlighting the sections with which I strongly identified. Four hours later when I finished the book and my highlighter was running dry, my perspective on my life and relationships had been permanently altered. For the first time I felt like I knew who I was and who I could become.

There are two paradoxical passages in the book that particularly struck home in describing my intense inner turmoil and emotions.

"...some gifted children protect themselves and try to hide their extreme sensitivity so that they give the mistaken impression of being unemotional, impassive or indifferent, and unresponsive to social cues." (p. 13)

"Many, too, are desperate to experience communion--a deeply resonant and reciprocal connection with another--...and they are so hungry for it." (p. 65)

In addition to giving me a new perspective on who I am, there is extremely valuable information on the requirements giftedness imposes for an effective therapeutic relationship.

It's not possible to convey in a review the depth of the profound impact this book has had. All I can say is that if you're considering buying this book then you need it.