Sensitivity Isn’t Soft
By The Hope Preserve Counseling Intern Jordan Purpero
Cultural Messages about Sensitivity
As a boy in a culture shaped by capitalism and patriarchy, I learned early on to distrust my own sensitivity.
We are taught to be less emotional, more “professional,” more decisive, more polished, to have stronger “executive presence,” and to not take things personally. And the list goes on.
These messages show up in our workplaces, our relationships, and even in how we understand mental health.
Over time, many of us begin to internalize messages that our sensitivity is weakness, and if we become overwhelmed or need quieter, gentler environments, something must be wrong with us.
But what I have come to see through my work in therapy and coaching is that sensitivity is not a problem. It is often a sign of attunement, empathy, and a highly intelligent nervous system.
Many of the qualities labeled as weaknesses are actually human strengths that are stifled when we are forced to exist in systems that pressure us to conform.
Sensitivity in Therapy
Our work at The Hope Preserve is not about helping people “toughen up”, fit into, or even manage themselves in an unyielding system. It is about helping people understand their sensitivity, recognize its strength, build supports around it, and move through the world without abandoning themselves.
In our offices, we offer spaces and therapy that are intentionally slower, quieter, and more attuned, environments designed to support nervous systems rather than exert power over them, to invite curiosity rather than compliance, and to affirm that people are not the problem.
In these spaces, people do not have to shrink themselves to be accepted, and sensitivity is allowed to be a source of clarity, connection, and strength.
Support for Your Unique Sense of the World
If you’d like support with navigating any part of your world, we’d be so honored to understand your experience with you and help you navigate the friction.
Jordan Purpero, who wrote this blog, has availability now. And you’re invited to get to know the rest of the team, too, because what matters most for therapy is that whoever you work with helps you feel deeply seen, felt, heard, and understood - and we think it’s good and right that your sensitivity will help guide you to what’s most therapeutic for you.
